Our Mood And What We Eat
When we look are our health holistically we can see how everything is truly related.
Holistic is defined as “characterized by the treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the symptoms of a disease”.
From the standpoint of health and in its simplest form, you could say that what we eat affects our mood and our mood affects what we eat and how we digest it.
As an example, have you had a bad day and at the end of it treat yourself to a nice dessert to compensate? Did you notice afterwards how you didn’t feel so good physically? And did you feel a little guilty about what you just ate?
What about when you’re preparing for a job interview or some big project that you’re nervous about? Does that affect what you eat? A lot of people are unable to eat when their under stress and others overeat when under stress.
Hormonal Changes
For women going through perimenopause and menopause, it can be a time when our eating habits change. Eating too much in most cases!
It can increase cravings for sweet foods.
The hormone changes can also affect us emotionally. You can experience highs and lows like you’re on a rollercoaster. It can also make you feel sad for no reason. After childbirth, a similar situation occurs with hormones – for any mother who has cried for what seems like no reason (I certainly did!) for days or weeks after the birth will know what I’m talking about.
None of these situations should be classed as “diseases”. They are symptoms – yes – but they’re symptoms of what is happening in your body and your mind.
See the diagram below.
What Happens When You Eat Sugar & Refined Carbs?
If you eat sugar, refined carbohydrates or are going through perimenopause/menopause this can lead to hormone imbalances and digestive issues (gut problems). This affects and suppresses your mood which can result in anxiety and depression. Conversely, if you’re suffering from anxiety or a great deal of stress this affects your hormones and your digestive system which suppresses your mood and worsens the anxiety and can lead to feeling depressed.
Do you see how it’s all related?
Can you think of an example in your own life when what you ate affected your digestion and your emotions, or a time when you were under a lot of stress which affected your digestion? This can be such things as heartburn, bloating, constipation, diarrhoea, IBS etc.
Holistic Health Solutions
There are a number of solutions to take which will deal with this holistically, depending on which side of the diagram you are on:Your Diet
- Quit sugar and refined carbs
- Fix the digestion and gut issues
- Adopt a healthy eating plan
- Exercise
Your Emotional State
- De-stress
- Self-care activities
- Life Coaching
Each of these subjects is interrelated and doing one will likely involve the other. For example, quitting sugar and refined carbs will actually help improve your digestive system. Adopting a healthy eating plan will involve quitting sugar and refined carbs.
De-stressing is a kind of self-care activity and self-care activities will help you to de-stress. Eating a nutritious diet, free from sugar and refined carbs, will give you more energy and make you feel happier and less stressed.
I have a number of programs available to help with each of these areas. Click here for the free programs which cover physical health as well as stress and self-care. And here is a healthy eating plan to help get you on track.
If you have any questions or need some help I’m here for you, just drop me a line and I’ll get back to you.