Our diet really can be seen to affect our moods. It has been speculated that low serotonin, a prime mood enhancing neurotransmitter is linked to carbohydrate craving. Serotonin is made from tryptophane, an essential amino acid of our dietary protein. When we eat carbohydrate, it may be helping tryptophane to cross into our brains more easily. Yet eating carbohydrates all day disrupts our sugar balance, which affects our mood still further and can lead to weight gain, as excess carbohydrates can be turned into fat. What we need to do is to make sure we do not suffer from low dips in our blood sugar levels, and consequently periods of irritability and tiredness.

Provide a diet with complex carbohydrates to support a stable blood sugar. Eat good nutritious foods for supplies of the essential amino acids. Generally the whole diet should be supplying ample nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids. Please do not neglect healthy fats, which are essential components of brain cells. Fish does indeed have a role as a brain food, just ensure the fish is of good quality and preferably brought as fresh produce. Lipids, which are a term that covers fats, are essential for neurone structure. There are phospholipids, and to make these we need folic acid, vitamin B6 and B12 along with good protein sources.

The phospholipids can indeed be supplemented, which may especially help the aged. The neurones need to be structurally sound to function well. Think of a house made of straw, in a climate that has gale force winds. It just would not be able to function as a suitable shelter or habitat, as it would be prone to destabilise. Cells have a protective sheath called a membrane. Without this membrane the cell could not carry out its functions. The membrane is mostly made of lipids with a large part being phospholipids and a smaller part being cholesterol. Please do not faint! Cholesterol has its merit. When we are healthy we can easily build structurally sound cellular membranes to permit uptake and release of substances (cell visitors and inhabitants). One type of visitor may be a neurotransmitter. This neurotransmitter may need to ‘knock on the door and enter’ but when the membrane is in a poor state it can not properly introduce itself and make its desired effect. Chemical imbalance is a key component of mental illness while even in day to day moods; our neurotransmitters are running the show to a large degree so to speak. Food substances may uplift mood. Chocolate is often sought out for inducing the ‘pleasure effect’. That effect may be due to a combination of its components.

The sugar content lifts up the blood sugar, which affects our alertness and wakefulness. In addition; certain chemicals may interact with our neurones or activate some ‘feel good’ neurotransmitters, which eggs on a state of optimism! Drugs are chemicals that can be taken to alter our mentality, some calm us (like valium) while others can be said to be ‘happy pills or uppers’. If any drug is taken it should be under proper medical supervision with strict adherence to intake guidelines. The effect of mind or mood altering substances in food is so subtle, so that it can be ignored but should not be. There is one issue for exceptional cases, which are allergies. Sometimes when one is allergic to a specific food or groups of foods, the effect can be superficial (skin reaction), deadly (anaphylactic shock) respiratory (allergy triggered asthma, hay fever) or of less common mental effects (altered mood, aggression, depression). Then there is our lifestyle and mentality to address.

Do you get enough sunlight? Not the sun exposure of midday but rather the less intense light of early morning or late afternoon. Sunlight enhances melatonin levels. Melatonin is another chemical that seems to have a role in seasonal affective disorder or SAD when it is deficient. Lack of adequate sunlight should be addressed in SAD. Exercise induces our bodies to release ‘feel good’ chemicals called endorphins. Try moderate exercise of a type you enjoy and that is not done as a chore, but do enforce the rule of regularity. Sitting, sloughing and brooding over past regrets or sad memories can lead to gloomy predictions. The power of thought is immensely pivotal in overall health.

We know that our immune system is beleaguered by stress. The mental and physical links can be seen as revolving. Depression does often tread over long-term stress. Let go of resentments, disappointments and realise that each person is unique. You are only in power of yourself; you are only responsible for yourself. Think, ‘life is short’. What would make you, not anyone else but you happy? Whatever it may be, do it, try it! Better to laugh at your folly, than regretting your passivity and cowardice in later years. If you can move, act now to enforce your happiness. Your happiness brings a smile which usually infects others with smiles. A smile spontaneously, naturally somehow makes one feel happy. Do not be glum, what is the use? Be positive, for yourself, and learn more from www.quantumtouch.com


Anastacia Sampson D.N. Med