We’ve all heard the saying, “you are what you eat.” And maybe some of us have even realized that food affects our mood. Instead of just eating to eat, try eating with intention. Every single food holds very different qualities and energies and can impact your body in very different ways.
So we challenge you to flip the script and instead of letting the food dictate our mood, let’s choose the food for the mood we want to feel!
Want to feel grounded and relaxed?
Eat More:
- Root vegetables: carrots, radishes, beets, turnips, sweet potatoes, ginger, turmeric, onions, etc.
- Sweet vegetables: snap peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, beets, rutabaga and squash
- Beans: lentils, split pea, black-eyed pea, pinto, chickpeas (garbanzo), black beans, kidney beans, etc.
- Meat/fish
Ways to prep this food: stewing, pressure cooking and baking → Notice that all three methods require slow preparation. In order to relax, we must slow down the pace at which we move, including our food prep.
Want to feel light, creative, and flexible?
Eat More:
- Leafy greens: romaine, kale, spinach, collard greens, swiss chard, etc.
- Quinoa: high energy grain (history: helped the Incans run long distances up mountains)
- Fruit: naturally occurring sugars energize the body and engage the senses
- Raw foods: detoxes and cleanses the body while the high enzyme count wake the brain up
- Chocolate: at least 70% pure cacao, antioxidant rich
Ways to prep this food: boiling, steaming and gas stove top → Notice that all three methods involve a transformations from a liquid to a gas. The bubbles will inspire your light, creative and flexible side. These methods are easy going.
Want to feel connected and harmonious?
Eat More:
- Organic foods: foods that are free from chemically formulated fertilizers, growth stimulants, antibiotics, or pesticides
- Whole foods: foods that have not been modified, cut, divided, milled, grounded
- Local foods: the closer the foods were grown to you, the less time they spent traveling and losing nutrients, plus they are already assimilated into your environment so these foods “know you best”
- Brown rice: complex carb that balances blood sugar, controls mood swings, promotes good digestion, and quenches thirst
Ways to prep: home cooking and home gardening → Notice that these are foods and preparation techniques where TLC (tender-loving-care) are also ingredients, connecting you to your food and your food to the people you feed it to.
Now, what happens if I’m already in a poor mood? Like feeling tense and anxious?
Food/Substances/Food Prep to Avoid:
- Sugar
- Caffeine
- Alcohol
- Factory-Farmed meats
- Microwave
- Electric Stove
Sugar, caffeine, and alcohol are all substances that cause inflammation in the body. Think of it like your organs are getting angry by what you are feeding them! When they’re angry, you can feel it directly. The organs are annoyed that they now have to work harder to function and heal. Can you relate?
Factory-Farmed animals live in stressful, cramped, poorly ventilated, disease-ridden areas. If we take on the food’s energy, then we certainly will feel the animal’s distress from the meats we consume. If purchasing meats, splurge a little and buy free-range, cage-free, grass-fed, organic meats. You will feel better because the animals feel better.
Food to decrease inflammation or an inflamed mood: YOU HAVE LOTS OF CHOICES!
- Tea: Green and white
- Spices: Garlic, ginger, turmeric, curry powder, chili peppers, basil, rosemary, thyme, cinnamon
- Fish: Wild Alaskan salmon, Alaskan black cod, Herring and sardines
- Legumes: beans, lentils and peas
- Nuts/Seeds: almonds, walnuts, hemp, flax, chia
- Gluten-Free grains: quinoa, brown rice, buckwheat
- Veggies: dark leafy greens, carrots, beets, onions, peas, squash
- Low Sugar fruits: berries, peaches, citrus, red grapes, plums, apples, pears
- Mushrooms
- Water
After reviewing these moods and food, do you feel empowered to choose the foods that will make you feel your best? Or do you feel overwhelmed because you didn’t know that this much thought should go into choosing your food?
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, let’s take baby steps! Pick an emotion that you want to feel this week. Then pick 1-2 foods off that list and try it.
When you do, take time to notice how you feel before you eat, while you eat, and after you eat.
Our bodies are wonderful communicators. Are you interested in listening to what yours has to say?
Share your Moody Foodie stories and experiments below. We would love to hear what you learned about yourself
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