- Your Essential Fatty Acid Intake
Oily fish for omnivores/pescatarians, fish oil supplements (not cod liver oil) or algae supplements for vegans are important for mood.
Why? Because they have been scientifically proven to lower inflammation while improving cognitive help (wrote a whole post about omega-3 – scroll back!).
Is your diet is high in absorbable omega 3 sources?
Sadly chia seeds, walnuts and other non-animal based omega 3 foods do not deliver us with a form omega 3 which our bodies can’t break down into DHA and EPA – which are the anti inflammatory constituents of omega 3.
- Your bacterial make-up
If you’re eating lots of crappy foods, not getting a balanced diet, drinking loads of alcohol, smoking cigarettes, not exercising, have a history of medication (particularly antibiotics & NSAIDs), you might be more at risk of having low moods.
All these factors can diminish your good bacteria population, while encouraging the colonisation of bad strains which make us sick – and pretty damn depressed. Not to mention, brain fog, confusion, lack of motivation & anxiety.
I cannot stress this enough. If your diet is whack, your mood is bound to be too.
To feed the good bugs which help improve your mood and overall health, eat a balanced diet, go easy on all the things I mentioned above which mess up your health and get some exercise (anything not too strenuous – and preferably enjoyable!).
There are some great probiotic products out there with selected strains which target mood with phenomenal success, however these do need to be prescribed by a professional clinician, as they aren’t right for everybody.
I hope this series has been helpful in enlightening you on how foods can interfere with your mood.
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