Can specific ingredients hinder our mood? Could we manipulate our diet to enhance positivity? Is it possible? In short: yes.

In fact, a Yale study done on healthy kids without ADHD were divided into 2 groups, a sugar drinking group (equivalent to drinking a 12-oz Coca-Cola) and a non-sugar drink.

  • The researchers evaluated and measured blood glucose levels, a variety of hormones, and neurotransmitters before and after the boys drank the beverage.
  • Four hours after drinking the beverage, the boys who drank the sugary drink had 5x the amount of anxiety (adrenaline levels) as the non-sugar drinking boys. When this occurred, the children felt panicky, shaky, and weak with a pounding heart.
  • What we choose to consume can directly have an impact on our mood.

Anecdotally, I’ve seen this after I did my MRT Food Sensitivity/Inflammation test, that peanuts make me feel angry. I sense a low level of anxiety if I overdo cheese (yes, I am on a gut-healing protocol), but nonetheless, food affects more than digestion.

For good vibes, choose more:

  1. Dark chocolate
  2. Cruciferous vegetables: broccoli,  Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower- rich in folate and vitamin B12. Being low in these vitamins can cause carb cravings and low energy levels.
  3. Beans, seeds, and nuts: fiber!
  4. Turmeric w black pepper – the black pepper increases the absorption of turmeric and helps fight inflammation.
  5. Avocado: High in fiber and magnesium which supports depression.
  6. Probiotic-rich food: source fermented vegetables like sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, kefir. Note pickled vegetables and fermented are very different and pickled vegetables do not have live probiotics.
  7. Fatty fish including wild salmon: support omega 3/6 ratio in the body, hence inflammation.
  8. Eat foods you love that love you back. Tune-in to how certain ingredients make you feel and support your bowels.

In the last 15 years, there has been a 65% rise in medications for both adults and children for anxiety. Using food as medicine paired with strategic quality nutritional supplement support, you can rebalance your brain chemistry and achieve mood stability while eliminating side effects and achieving a synergistic response in your body, such as increased energy, brain clarity, weight loss, improve digestion, reduce joint pain, and overall disease.

Preserve good vibes by minimizing:

  1. Guilt or fear w your diet. Healthy or healthier eating isn’t a competition or a race. The worse thing you can do is eat something you want and shame yourself for it. Enjoy that thing 100%, and don’t swallow it whole or eat it while doing 5 other things and miss out on the pleasure of it.
  2. Corn, especially if it’s not organic.
  3. Soy isolate
  4. Conventional dairy. Have you met my friend Kerrygold butter? There’s no margin for error.
  5. Gluten
  6. Sugar (and all the different ways it’s worded, cane sugar, rice syrup, etc).
  7. Food dyes
  8. Trans fat can create aggression – these can be tucked into chips, peanut butter and processed foods

I will be creating a video on this material and posting in my private Facebook community for my 10-Days of Wellness. If you can’t join us, no worries. I’m already begging for a repeat in November.

Until then, just focus on improving by 1% on whatever health habit you are most interested in this week.