2024-10-04 14:30:00
Food plays an essential role for our physical health, but it can also affect our morale. We’re going to see this together. Let’s say right away that most of the information on the benefits provided by this or that nutrient or even certain foods on our mood is in the realm of the imagination. So, when we are suggested to eat chocolate for morale, it is pleasant to hear but it is not based on science.
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It is true that chocolate contains substances like anandamide, which act on the psyche, even with euphoric effects. It’s also apt that it contains tryptophan, an amino acid that converts in the body to serotonin, a chemical messenger in the brain involved in regulating mood. But as is often the case in nutrition, deducing from the chemical composition of a food that it has clinical effects in humans is totally exaggerated. No clinical studies show that chocolate itself is an antidepressant. On the other hand, tasting chocolate may have a “pleasure” effect. According to a study, the positive effect of chocolate on mood is only seen if it is consumed mindfully with real tasting.
What I say about chocolate is true for most of the nutrients that you are told will boost your mood: magnesium, omega 3, vitamin B6.
Fruits, vegetables and the Mediterranean diet
So, what to eat to improve your mood? Simply fruits and vegetables! Studies from around the world show that people who eat fruits and vegetables every day are more likely to be described as “very happy.” You will tell me that it is perhaps because they are happy that they eat fruits and vegetables and not the other way around. That’s for sure, but it has also been observed that eating fruits and vegetables one day predicts good mood the next day, and not the other way around.
This is why we can hope that fruits and vegetables are, more than fatty, sugary, ultra-processed foods, natural antidepressant foods.
Better than fruits and vegetables to obtain an antidepressant effect: the Mediterranean diet. The results of the Smile study carried out in people experiencing depression are telling: the introduction of a Mediterranean diet reduces depressive symptoms and increases the probability of emerging from depression.
In practice, we stop looking for the miracle antidepressant food, because it is rich in this or that, and we move closer to the Mediterranean diet, the one which has the best chance of maintaining a good mood while reducing the risks of chronic diseases.
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#foods #good #morale
