How You Feel is What you Eat (Part 1: Food, Mood and Your Brain)
There are 100 billion cells in your brain. What are you feeding them?
Your brain is “always on” especially at work and even sleeping at night. Your brain requires a constant supply of fuel and that fuel comes from the food you eat. The quality of the fuel matters. Whether it’s a day of marathon meetings, the stress of nailing deadlines, the heavy lift of homework or the drama of workplace politics, your brain needs to be nourished. Not haphazardly with whatever you can stuff before your 1pm meeting, but meaningfully and intentionally because medical research is illuminating what we intuitively know – you can only think as good as you eat.
There are things that drive your cognition. Some are obvious like nutrition and the devastating effects of stress and others less so like increasing blood flow to your brain and the important role of your microbiome (your gut). One particularly interesting area is the role of diet on your mood. Yes, your mood is strongly influenced by what you eat.
People who eat nuts, fruit, vegetables and fish have a significantly lower incidence of depression than those who eat sweets or processed foods, according to a meta-analysis published in Molecular Psychiatry. The researchers found that those who ate more sweets and processed foods (not whole foods) were more likely to be diagnosed with or treated for depression than those who ate primarily whole foods. Simultaneously, multiple studies have found a correlation between a good-quality diet (high in plant-based antioxidants, polyunsaturated fats, lean protein) and cognitive performance. The reason, researchers speculate, is that certain nutrients in whole foods protect and fuel our brains and surprisingly, our gut.
Food, your gut and your mood
There are trillions of organisms in your GI tract, collectively called your microbiome. A vast new body of research is showing the importance of your microbiome as essential to your health - from your immune system to your heart health to your mental health. The primary reason your gut microbiome has such a strong effect on mental health is that they are primarily responsible for making many of our brain chemicals - neurotransmitters (NT). If the right gut bacteria aren’t present, then the production of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine is compromised. In addition, your microbiome is responsible for producing other important compounds like brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) which enhances the survival of your neurons and promotes new neuron growth. (Yes, your brain can grow neurons.). “Any unhealthy gut microbiome is an unhealthy brain. Food’s most profound effect on the brain is through its impact on your gut bacteria,” says Dr. Uma Naidoo, Nutritional Psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School. You needs foods that promote healthy gut bacteria.
The right foods to grow your healthy bacteria.
Dietary fiber. 97% of Americans are deficient in dietary fiber. Your gut bacteria feasts on soluble and insoluble fiber. Whole grains, oats, quinoa, chia and flax seeds are good sources.
Omega-3 fatty acids from fish like salmon, herring, sardines and plants like flax seeds, walnuts, chia seeds.
Foods rich in B-Vitamins from grass-fed meat (B12), leafy greens and nuts/seeds (folate), whole grains (B1, B6).
Foods loaded with iron and magnesium from avocados, seeds, nuts and lean red meats.
Polyphenol-rich foods from fruits, veggies spices and herbs. Research is now showing that inflammation can be the cause of brain fog and many mental degenerative diseases and high antioxidant foods such as spices are promote anti-inflammatory reactions in our bodies.
When food is broken down and fermented in the gut, its components directly influence neurotransmitters which travel to the brain and change the way you think and feel. You’ve probably heard of serotonin – a neurotransmitter that helps regulate sleep and appetite, supports learning and memory, and promotes positive feelings. If you are running low on serotonin, you might feel anxious or depressed, a little irritable or aggressive (hope that sass just might be food and not their innate personality), maybe a little impulsive or less willpower including craving carb-rich foods and feeling fatigued. Here’s what’s interesting about serotonin – even though it’s a brain neurotransmitter, about 95% of your serotonin is produced in your GI tract. Your GI tract is lined with a hundred million nerve cells, or neurons, so that your digestive system doesn’t just help you digest food, but also guides your emotions. What’s more, the function of these neurons — and the production of neurotransmitters like serotonin — is highly influenced by the billions of “good” bacteria that make up your intestinal in what is called your microbiome (more on this in a later post). So how can you boost serotonin?
The right foods to boost your mood. You technically can’t get serotonin directly from food. Instead, you can get it by eating foods rich in the amino acid tryptophan which is converted into serotonin in your brain. But it’s not as simple as eating tryptophan-rich foods, thanks to the blood-brain barrier. This is a protective sheath around your brain that controls what goes in and out of your brain. There are lots of things competing to get through the blood-brain barrier including other amino acids. In fact, even though we commonly know turkey to be high in tryptophan, because its loaded with other amino acids, actually little of the tryptophan passes through to your brain. Here’s what one research study found: “When tryptophan is ingested as part of a high protein meal, serum tryptophan levels rise, but brain tryptophan levels decline… due to the mechanism of transport used by tryptophan to cross the blood-brain barrier.” So one way to hack the system is to eat foods having a high tryptophan to total amino acid ratio. Seeds and nuts hit the mark here like pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, quinoa, sunflower and sesame seeds, almonds walnuts and cashews. (Aside: this is completely anecdotal, but we have had more than a few people tell us that they seem “happier” after eating BB1 - could it be the chia seed?)
A few other ways to boost serotonin: 1. Exercise. Exercising triggers the release of tryptophan into your blood. It can also decrease the amount of other amino acids. This creates an ideal environment for more tryptophan to reach your brain. 2. Bright light. Spending time in the sunshine appears to help increase serotonin levels, and research. Try to spend at least 10 to 15 minutes outside each day.
Foods that increase or reduce anxiety and why you might be craving carbs during certain times of the month…next blog post