3.3 Moods and Foods

Emotional and Psychological Ties to Eating

Do Now:

In your notes, answer the following questions:

1. How does your family celebrate your favorite holiday?

2. What do you do when you are feeling stressed out or depressed?

3. How is that different from when you were a toddler?

Introduction

We eat food to nourish our bodies. Our bodies require energy, and food

provides the necessary calories for our bodies to perform their basic functions.

Our bodies also need nutrients from a rich and varied source of healthy foods to keep them healthy and strong.

Without food, we would die.

Learned Behavior

When we are infants, all we know is that it doesn’t feel good to be hungry, and if we cry, we’ll get fed.

Babies don’t eat until they’re so full they have to undo the top button on their footie pajamas.

Babies don’t stop eating before they are full so that they can look like the babies in the magazines.

All of the negative ways in which we use food are learned behaviors.

Look at your answers.

What did you say for questions 2 and 3? Do you eat when you feel stressed out

or depressed? When you were little, what did you do?

What we learn: It’s only as we get older that we

understand the other ways that food plays into our lives. We learn the nutritional value of certain

foods. We learn that when we are good we get

food as a reward, like a lollipop after a shot. We learn that when we are upset, food can

make us feel better, like getting a lollipop to stop us from crying.

We learn that certain body shapes are “good”.

What we forget:

There are some healthy things that very young children know better than grown-ups: When you are sad, you cry. When you are mad, you shout. When you are happy, you laugh, play,

sing, dance, etc. When you are bored, you play! When you are tired, you sleep. When you are hungry, you eat.

Food is such an essential part of the human experience that we use food for a wide variety of uses other than the health of our bodies:

art (like in fancy restaurants and cooking shows) cultural and religious identity (keeping kosher, eating traditional

Indian food, etc.) reward for good behavior response to negative emotions entertainment expression of affection (like cooking a nice meal for someone to

show them you care, or bringing a box of chocolates to your valentine)

Can you think of others?

Look at your answers.

What did you say for question number 1? What kind of memories and emotions

come to mind when you think about these foods?

Food and Celebration

Food is an integral part of our celebrations.

It is very closely connected to our cultural identities.

Preparing special meals is a way of showing people we care about them.

This is a very good thing, but it can be hard when food and eating habits gets confused with being a “good” or “bad” person.

Food as a Value Judgment Often, when we eat a normal, healthy

diet, we take it for granted. If we decide to treat ourselves to a

decadent dessert, we often say we are being “bad”.

If we have a bad day, mess up, and accidentally eat the entire bag of chips, we feel even worse about ourselves.

When we see people who maintain a very strict diet or food regimen, we say they are being “good”.

Eating habits can be healthy, unhealthy, in-between, or just one slip up on a bad day.

Are eating habits what make up a person’s moral character?

Write down 5 character traits that make someone a “good person”.

What did you say? Did “thin” or “adheres to South Beach

Diet” make the list?

Food and Negative Emotions

Sometimes we use food to make us feel better when we are stressed out, out of control, angry, sad, anxious, tired, or bored.

Some people limit or cut off their food intake in response to these negative emotions.

Others binge or eat “comfort foods”.

Comfort Foods

Some foods are “comfort foods” because of the happy memories associated with them, like with the holiday food. They remind us of being cared for.

Other foods are “comfort foods” because of the physical effect they have. They can actually be mood-altering.

Can you think of any foods that literally change your mood?

Chocolate

Chocolate can increase the levels of serotonin in your brain (a chemical that makes you feel happy).

It also has caffeine, which can increase your energy level, and even help ward of Alzheimer's disease.

Dark chocolate has powerful antioxidants, which prevent aging and certain types of cancer.

Chocolate is high in saturated fat, which can contribute to heart disease in the long run.

Chocolate is usually high in sugar as well.

Too much caffeine can cause trouble sleeping, headaches and heart palpitations.

Chocolate cannot write your 10 page paper or make your boyfriend apologize.

Sugar/Simple Carbs Simple carbohydrates,

like sweets and baked goods can give a brief increase in serotonin.

Complex carbs, like whole grain bread and fruit will give you a longer lasting boost in energy and serotonin.

Simple carbs can be addictive.

They go quickly through the body and don’t give you energy for long.

Carbs that aren’t used up are stored as fat in your body.

The only downside to complex carbs is that they can’t fix your relationship with your parents, or make you the world’s best parallel parker.

Good Foods to Help your Moods

Omega-3 fatty acids

Depression, attention

Salmon, walnuts, flax seed, avocado

Complex Carbs Bad mood, anxiety

100% whole grain cereals, fruit

Protein Alertness Lean meats, legumes, nuts

Folic Acid Depression Spinach, OJ

Selenium Depression Brazil nuts

B Vitamins Depression, memory

Lean meats, nutritional yeast

Getting the Root of the Problem

Although there are foods that can literally get you out of a bad mood, food can’t address stressors in your life that cause bad moods.

There are many healthy ways to react to emotions that have nothing to do with food.

In groups of 3, brainstorm at least 2 ways to deal with each of the emotions on this chart.

You will have 4 minutes to work on this, and then I will compile your answers on the board.

Sad/Depress

ed

Bored Angry Stressed Out

Anxious/ Nervous

Tired

Healthy Practices

Here are some things you can do to handle negative emotions before they begin:

Celebrate healthy food and enjoy it! But don’t get caught up in feeling guilty if you

make an unhealthy eating decision. Nobody’s perfect.

Exercise for 30 minutes a day. This will release endorphins that make you feel

better. Get plenty of rest.

You need at least 7 hours of sleep a night.

Find a healthy stress-relief practice that works for you. Yoga, meditation, journaling, and

artistic/musical expression are good examples.

Keep in touch. Having a network of supportive

mentors and friends can help you deal with all of your emotions and life events.

Ticket Out

On your ticket out, please write the following:

1. one new thing you learned;2. one question you have about the

lesson;3. one healthy practice that you

would like to develop in your life.