Foods vs. moods

As promised, here is the first in a series on how foods affect our moods... What do foods have to do with our moods?  Plenty! At the chemical level, food is the brain's primary link to its environment and structure. Your diet affects the brain chemicals that influence your moods, thought processes, emotional reactions, and behavior...which ultimately creates the story of your life! Sounds kinda deep, but really, how many times have I mentioned that it all starts in your brain? Well it stands to reason this behooves us to consider "What are we feeding the brain?" Fortunately, what you eat is within your power to control...your will power to control. The more you know about the food-brain connection, the more empowered you are to choose foods thatbenefit your brain. Nutrients provide the biological building blocks for brain chemicals called neurotransmitters which affect how we think and feel. Neurotransmitters are chemicals made by the body (or not) that send signals from one nerve cell to another. It's like when you communicate on a cell phone. "Can you hear me now?" Without signal, you don't hear the voice or get the message. The same goes for your brain! You get the message or you don't... Or maybe there is static on the radar, uh oh... How are neurotransmitters made by the body? Our bodies make them from amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein.  Almost half of these proteins (9 out of 22 in adults, 13 of 22 in children) must come from food because the body cannot make them and the amount required depends on age and health.  Do you want to feel good?  Do you want your brain to hear its signals? What kinds of signals? All of them! It all begins in your brain...signals for pleasure and happiness, touch, feeling and movement, memory, learning, arousal, calming, hunger, sleep, even autonomic nervous system functions like breathing, eye-blinking, heartbeat, temperature...everything! When you don't eat enough "neuronutrients" or brain nutrients (vitamins, minerals, and related nutrients), your body cannot make adequate amounts of mood-enhancing neurotransmitters. Can you hear me now? Has anyone ever called you a "FATHEAD"? Find out in my next post why this is actually a COMPLIMENT, LOL:) Think healthy, eat healthy, and stay well!