Healthy Diet, Healthy Mind
Knowing what foods we should and shouldn't be eating can be really confusing, especially when it feels like the advice changes regularly. However, evidence suggests that as well as affecting out physical health, what we eat may also affect the way we feel.
Improving your diet may help to:
Improve your mood
Give you more energy
Help you think more clearly
Eating Regularly
If your bloody sugar drops you might feel tired, irritable and depressed. Eating regularly and choosing foods that release energy slowly will help to keep your sugar levels steady.
Slow release energy foods include: pasta, rice, oats, wholegrain break and cereals, nuts and seed.
Quick Tips:
Eating breakfast gets the day off to a good start
Instead of eating a large lunch and dinner, try eating smaller portions spaced out more regularly throughout the day
Avoid foods which make your blood sugar rise and fall rapidly, such as sweets, biscuits, sugary drinks and alcohol
Staying Hydrated
If you don't drink enough fluid, you may find it difficult to concentrate or think clearly. You might also start to feel constipated 9which puts no one in a good mood!)
Quick Tips:
It's recommended that you drink between 6-8 glasses of fluid a day
Water is a cheap and healthy option
Tea, coffee, juices and smoothies all count towards your intake (but be aware that these may also contain caffeine or sugar)
Managing Caffeine
Caffeine is a stimulant, which means it will give you a quick burst of energy, but then make you feel anxious and depressed, disturb your sleep (especially if you have it before bed), or give you withdrawal symptoms if you stop suddenly.
Caffeine is in tea, coffee, chocolate, cola and other manufactured energy drinks
Quick Tips:
If you drink tea, coffee or cola, try to switch to decaffeinated versions
You might feel noticeably better quite quickly if you drink less caffeine or avoid it all together
Getting your 5-a-day
Vegetables and fruit contain a lot of minerals, vitamins and fibre we need to keep us physically and mentally healthy.
Eating a variety of different coloured fruits and vegetables every day means you'll get a good range of nutrients
Quick Tips:
Fresh, frozen, tinned, dried and juiced (one glass) fruits and vegetables all count towards you 5-a-day
As a general rule, one portion is about a handful, small bowl or small glass
For ideas on how to get your 5-a-day, visit the NHS Choices website
Eating the right fats
Your brain needs fatty acids to keep it working well. So rather than avoiding all fats, it's important to eat the right ones.
Healthy fats are found in: oily fish, poultry, nuts (especially walnuts and almonds), olive and sunflower oils, seeds (such as sunflower and pumpkin), avocados, milk yoghurt, cheese and eggs.
Quick Tips:
Try to avoid anything which lists 'trans fats' or 'partially hydrogenated oils' in the list of ingredients such as some shop bought cakes and biscuits). They can be tempting when you're feeling low, but this is the kind of fat that isn't good for your mood or your physical health in the long run.
