Food and Emotional Wellness
Are Interconnected

Have you considered that emotional wellness might be related to the food you eat? Some years ago I read Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. In the novel a young woman is only able to express her passions and feelings through her cooking, which causes the people who taste her food to experience what she feels.

Have you ever been in a restaurant where the people working there were grumpy and unpleasant? That makes me want to leave immediately. I can’t help but feel that the food I’ll eat there will be tainted by their unhappiness and negativity.

Scientific Connection

Besides these somewhat esoteric food-body-mind connections, there are scientifically validated associations between emotional wellness and food.

Bonnie Taub-Dix, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, said in a report by ABC News, “Food really does have a lot of power. Use it properly and have a well-balanced diet and you really can improve your mood.”

There are studies that show that foods like sugary snacks and whole grain breads can raise and lower mood-altering chemicals in the body.

Click here to learn more about how eating well can help you avoid depression, anxiety and worry.

Berries for Depression

He says to eat one or more containers of berries for breakfast for 5-6 weeks on an empty stomach. Don’t eat anything else until noon. According to David, berries are a well-balanced food and will help with mood swings that often are associated with blood sugar fluctuations.

Of course, it’s also important to not binge on alcohol, refined carbohydrates, sugary snacks (including dried fruit), all of which can cause erratic blood sugar swings.

“ Raw plant foods (from herbs to fruits and everything in between) are the single most effective antidote to anxiety, depression, disease, fear, immobility, insomnia, pain, stress and worry!” --David Wolfe

It seems to me there's an elegant interconnection at work here. Eating unhealthfully contributes to negative emotions, and when you clean up your diet or fast, the negative emotions, just like physical toxins, are released from the cells and eliminated from your body.

To read of my experience while on a 30-day raw foods diet, click here .

Return to Motivation from this Eating for Emotional Wellness page.

When your spirit hungers for something and it isn't food, check out vitamin N.

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