Food and Mood

By Dr. Georgianna Donadio, National Institute of Whole Health | 

 

I just finished an interview for a national magazine on “Food and Mood.” It reminded me how intimately our mood and our food are connected. The article was about “what foods help our moods,” but perhaps the larger question is, “What do our moods have to do with what we eat?”

It’s interesting that the emphasis is usually on how things from the outside of us affect our insides, when in reality so much of what’s going on inside us affects our outsides.

This is especially evident in terms of weight loss and weight gain. The way we feel about ourselves—our work, our life, whether we’re fulfilled or dissatisfied—has more to do with what or how much we choose to eat than with how a food “makes us feel.”

One reason diets don’t work is that the “work” is being done on the outside of the problem instead of the inside. I have been a nutritionist for more than 30 years and have seen tens of thousands of patients who want to change the way they look or the way they eat.

When we start working on the goal, within a relatively short period of time they become aware that there are underlying feelings and emotions associated with not eating the foods that help them “medicate” or mask their feelings.

They often become discouraged because the feelings are uncomfortable—and sometimes painful. It is our human nature to avoid pain and move toward pleasure. It takes courage to tackle and confront the underlying issues of “food and mood.” Rather than focusing on the outside of the problem, we need to focus on the inside.

Here is an exercise you may find valuable. If you are dealing with mood or food issues, keep a journal for 10 days. Write down everything you eat and how you feel when you don’t eat what you want, as well as how you feel when you do eat what you want.

Simply becoming more aware of what you put in your mouth—and how it translates to how you feel after you eat a particular food—can be the start of a healthier, happier relationship with both food and mood.

— G