It is known how food affects your mood, with both long-term and short-term effects. Some foods boost immunity, clarity, focus, and more. Others make you feel good and relaxed and may even become your support when you are stressed, tired, overwhelmed, or depressed, providing a temporary boost—a happy feeling. This is especially true for unhealthy food, which often makes people feel happy and energized. It seems to give happiness and prosperity, but is this really true? Or is it just an illusion? While it may seem like the easiest solution, relying on such foods can have serious consequences, ultimately leading to the destruction of your body, mind, and mood. If you find that your eating habits are affecting your mental health, it may be time to consider depression therapy in Ottawa to address the underlying issues and find healthier ways to cope.
Reasons
Do you wake up in a bad mood every morning and don’t want to get up? The purpose that people have is to be happy and clear their minds if this is possible. With a wrong way of thinking, there will be no progress. The most common reasons that people eat unhealthy and have psychological disorders are:
- Problems with their jobs
- Low productivity
- Problems in their personal life
- A lot of stress and anxiety
- Not satisfied with their life
- Lack of sleep
- Pessimistic thoughts
- Bad nutritional habits
How food affects your mood can create chronic health conditions such as empty feelings, mood disorders, sadness, restlessness, and loss of interest, and you might feel all the time.
Solutions
Life is difficult, but because we live only once, we should be grateful and do something about it. Food helps us not think about problems and try to avoid them, but they still exist. At the end of the day, everything will be the same. Energy, happiness, and hope won’t be there. So, this is not the solution. There are small steps that we can follow to improve the quality of our lives.
- A walk in nature walks the soul. It can change our whole mood
- To be more active (for example, at home or at work)
- To laugh more often and try to stay positive
- Invite a friend
- Be more athletic. Do gymnastics, exercise your body and mind
- Get more sleep
- Last and more important, change your nutritional habits
Beyond these steps that will positively change our psychological mood, some foods are precious for a good life. If people start to be more careful with their daily diet, they will discover a different life. Your weight and lifestyle matter, too. People who are obese are at a high risk of becoming depressed. Food plays a significant role in our physical health.
For example:
- Nuts are a very good choice to prevent the appearance of depression.
- Meat can boost your alertness (a small amount and not every day, or else you will have the opposite results),
- White bread, flour, vegetables, liver, eggs, cheese and whole grains (cereals) help to avoid depression
- Yogurt can reduce your anger and your bad mood
- A banana can change the quality of sleep
- Fish (including Omega-3 Fatty Acids) is another superfood that can reduce the appearance of psychological disorders.
- As a double benefit, it is good for your heart
- Dark chocolate can make you feel relaxed
Depression affects sleep and thinking and can make you feel sad, disappointed, and desperate. Emotions are like waves, and they are continuously moving. Everybody has ups and downs. Something that can help reduce these unpleasant feelings is to avoid foods such as cold cuts, sugar (which can significantly impact your mood), soft drinks, fried foods, and lots of coffee.
It is an indisputable fact that junk food, sweets and all kinds of unhealthy foods are the most common ways that our mind escapes from, are problems and thoughts that torture us.
Generally speaking, some of these little changes in your diet may help decrease your symptoms and have a positive effect on your daily life. As advice, stay positive, eat healthy foods, and you will not regret it. Plenty of nutrient-rich foods can help us keep our brains and bodies healthy. It takes time to adjust to the new style of life and the changes you are making, but in the end, your life will change for the better.
Get to know the connection between depression and nutrition. Book a session at Willow Roots Therapy to learn how making the right food choices can improve your mood and mental health. We take a holistic approach to treating depression, exploring the links between food and mental health. Book a consultation today to discover how dietary changes can support your well-being with our depression therapy in Ottawa.
