EFFECT
OF FOOD ON OUR MOOD
It is easy to understand
that ingredients in food can be useful or harmful to the body and that
certain foods can bring about healing, while certain ingredients, when
eaten excessively, can lead to the deterioration of our physical
condition. This is easy to understand, because there is a lot of
information from research conducted in this area.
Instead, something
that has been researched only a little is the effect of different
ingredients in food on our mood and even on our behavior. According to
some studies, unhealthy food can cause depression, irritability, and
other mental symptoms. Especially sugar, additives, and allergies can
affect our mental condition. Let’s look at these separately:
Sugar
is one ingredient that has been regarded as one possible trigger for
irritability, hyper activity, and problematic behavior. In studies
made in juvenile prisons in the United States in the beginning of
1980s, it was observed that unsocial behavior among the prisoners had
a clear connection to the consumption of sugar. Bad behavior was found
to decrease among those prisoners whose food contained only a little
sugar. The most extensive study researched 3,000 young prisoners who
were deprived of most snacks and ready-made meals (Readers Digest:
Terveyttä vai sairautta ruoasta?, p. 10).
Also Dr. Messenger David L. tells in his book a few examples of the
impacts of sugar on our mood. He says that sugar is an ingredient to
which many are very sensitive and which does not suit them. Other
harmful ingredients may be, for example, wheat, milk, eggs, nuts,
meat, citrus fruits, and other food ingredients that can cause
reactions like headaches, bellyache, dizziness, coldness, rash,
breathing difficulties, irritability, and depression in persons who
are allergic to these products:
I
remember one 20-year-old woman who came to my clinic because of sudden
events she had had since the age of 12. She was in a state of
confusion two or three times a week. Her parents had taken her to see
the doctor several times. The test results were normal, and so the
doctors concluded that she was suffering from difficulties in her
emotional life, and not from any organic, wavelike disturbance in the
brain. (...)
It appeared that this
woman was extremely sensitive to sugar. When she changed her diet and
stopped using sugar, the events disappeared completely. She has not
had any for the last five years. Her story is only one of many cases
in which the problem is physical, but doctors have been unable to find
its origins. Her physical problem also caused serious difficulties in
her emotional life. (...)
I have many patients
who have recovered from their depression and fear, hallucinations,
quick temper, sudden oppressions, headaches and insomnia by avoiding
all food containing sugar and other refined carbohydrates. By changing
their diet and by adding a large portion of vitamins, minerals, and
amino acids to their diet, they have healed completely. (7)
Additives
are another possible factor affecting some people negatively. This was
noted when all additives, color ingredients, and preservatives were
removed from the diet of children suffering from behavior problems and
learning difficulties. Their behavior greatly improved after this.
According to one study made in the United States, as many as 30–50
hyper active children calmed down considerably after artificial
coloring and flavorings agents were eliminated from their food
(Readers Digest, Terveyttä vai sairautta ruoasta?, p. 464).
On the other hand,
fish oils and fatty acids (omega-3) of fatty fish may have just the
opposite effect. Some studies have indicated that the fatty acids
found in fish can positively affect children who are hyper active or
have learning disabilities or are depressed or schizophrenic. Their
symptoms have notably decreased when they have eaten this kind of
food.
Hypothyroidism and
hyperthyroidism
can also cause depression and irritability. It is, however, not always
a question of the diet – even though iodine deficiency, for example,
causes both of these disorders – but of a metabolic disturbance caused
by the thyroid gland. If a person has this problem, it is usually also
connected with other symptoms such as tiredness, being cold, putting
on weight, dry skin and hair, forgetfulness and struma in case of
hypothyroidism, or slimming, tiredness, fast vital functions, such as
a faster pulse, sweating and struma, in case of hyperthyroidism:
Doctors could tell how
many cases of depression are caused by deficiency diseases, hormone
disturbances and imbalance in the chemicals of the human body. Quite
an illustrative case is a metropolitan woman, who suffered many years
from depression. She was treated with medicine, some times even in
mental hospitals. The disease was naturally classified by the
symptoms. The medicine calmed her, but the disease did not heal. But
then – in one common hospital – they found out while carrying out
other general inspections that she suffered from hypothyroidism that
could be treated with medicine. A miracle took place, and the
depression was gone. (8)
