Does what you eat affect your mood?

We all know that eating healthier foods will have a positive effect on our physical health.  How does what we eat affect our mental health?  Are there really “brain foods”?  A review of 41 studies on diet and depression was recently published in Molecular Psychology.  In their review, the researchers looked at different diets such as the DASH diet, the Mediterranean Diet and the Healthy Eating Index.  

Most people realize that if you fill up on junk food, you won’t feel your best physically or mentally.  My neighbor calls it “brain fog”.  Research has shown that people who eat lots of fruits and vegetables and fish seem to have better mental health.  But is there an overall diet that is good for better mental health?  Yes.  The Mediterranean Diet came out on top in a review of many diets.  I wrote about the Mediterranean Diet in January as this diet is ranked number one as “Best Diets” for overall health by U.S. News & World Report (Best Diets for Health 2021).  The Mayo Clinic also recommends the Mediterranean Diet for heart health and now this diet is being recommended for brain health.  

What foods are emphasized on the Mediterranean Diet?

• Focus on fruits, vegetables – not just 5 A Day but more like 7-10 servings a day
• Focus on Whole grains – whole grain cereal, whole grain bread, whole grain crackers, whole grain rolls, whole grain chips, whole grain pasta.
• Focus on healthy fats like olive oil, canola oil, corn oil, safflower oil
• Eat fish, beans, eggs and poultry every week
• Cut back on red meat – you don’t have to eliminate red meat but cut back on it.
• Dairy – have some yogurt, cheese and I enjoy a glass of real milk at every meal

Why is the Mediterranean Diet not only good for your physical health but also your brain health?

The Mediterranean Diet helps fight inflammation.  According to Drew Ramsey, “an associate professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and author of “Eat Complete”, inflammation can affect the way your brain repairs itself.  He also notes the Mediterranean Diet is also good for your “gut microbiome” which also affects depression.  Why would the Mediterranean Diet help your gut?  As I teach in nutrition, the good bacteria in your gut thrive on fiber.  Because the Mediterranean Diet focuses on fruit, vegetables and whole grains, it has lots of fiber which promotes good gut health.

No one food can ward off depression and improve mental health.  One doesn’t have to follow a Mediterranean Diet exactly to reap the benefits of eating healthier and promoting brain and physical health.  But you can add more fruits and vegetables to your diet and choose a healthy oil to have in your pantry.  So many people have diets with no whole grains.  If you aren’t eating any whole grains, how can you add some to your day?  As I noted in a previous blog, look at what you are eating and see if there is a whole grain version.  For example, I noted a student in my class snacked on Gold Fish.  If this student switched to whole grain Gold Fish, they would easily add some whole grains to their day. Another student snacked on Ritz Crackers.  Switching to whole grain Ritz crackers would add some whole grains.  Read about how you can add some whole grains to your day at:  Add some whole grain snacks to your day. 

What “brain foods” can you add to your diet this week?  

Sources:  review , Molecular Psychology , DASH diet , Mediterranean Diet , Healthy Eating Index , foods , healthy fats , Eat Complete , Add some whole grain snacks to your day  Image Sources:  Brain food ,  Mediterranean Diet , mood food

What are some healthy lunches for at home or to pack?

What are some healthy lunches to eat at home or to pack for work or for going on a car trip?  When we go on car trips, we usually bring along a picnic lunch.  Just recently I went away with my two daughters and one daughter brought our picnic lunch.  Lean deli meats, whole grain rolls, fresh fruit, some greens for our sandwiches and some sides of egg salad and potato salad.  My husband and I also pack our lunch when we go on road trips.  This week we ate our picnic lunch on the way to our destination.  Sandwiches of whole grain bagels, lean deli meats, fresh fruit, whole grain chips, yogurt and milk.  So much healthier than any Fast-Food restaurant meal and often less time consuming.

What are some healthy lunches you can pack or make for yourself at home?  Eat This, Not That! asked some dietitians about healthy lunch options and here are some of their suggestions. 

1.  Pack an adult or child “lunchable” meal. So popular with kids but adults can also enjoy their own “lunchable” and much healthier than most pre-packaged “lunchables’ you can buy. 

• Cheese – choose a favorite cheese.  Mozzarella part-skim cheese is a good choice as it has less saturated fat than other cheese. Or, instead of cheese include some yogurt and get some healthy probiotics.
• Whole grain crackers – a great way to add some whole grains to your day.  Choose Wheat Thins, triscuits or other whole grain crackers.  Not a fan of whole grains?  Then try some RITZ crackers made with whole grain.  Not 100% whole grain, but you are getting some.  For a kid, choose some whole grain Goldfish.  An easy way to add whole grains to a child’s lunch.
• Fruit or vegetable – add some grapes (cut up for small children), apple slices, slices of green or red pepper, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, cut up fruit salad- strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, kiwi fruit.
• Nuts – a handful of nuts is such a healthy choice. Nuts add protein, some fiber and a heart-healthy fat.  

Make your own "lunchable".  (Cut up grapes for small children.)

The nuts and cheese will add protein and some fat, both of which will help you fill full longer.

     2. Salad with all 5 food groups – a lettuce salad can leave you hungry so make a salad from all the food groups. 

•  Dairy – include some goat cheese or other cheese for the dairy group.  Note:  that people who are lactose intolerant can usually enjoy some cheese, especially hard cheese, as hard cheese is pretty low in lactose.
• Grains – add some quinoa or farro – both are whole grains
• Fruit – some fresh apple slices, raisins, strawberries or orange slices
• Vegetable – use a Spring mix or other mix of greens.  Lettuce is not very healthy so choose some darker greens like spinach for the salad.
• Protein – choose some lean meats – turkey or chicken or some nuts like walnuts for the salad

Eat This, Not That! has a recipe for Warm-Kate Quinoa Salad that has all the food groups. 

3. Soup and Sandwich – one of my favorite lunches when I eat at Panera is the half sandwich and soup combo.  But you can easily make a sandwich and soup lunch at home. 

•  Soup – tomato soup is quite healthy. In fact, cooked tomatoes like the tomatoes in soup are even healthier than raw tomatoes.  Why?  Cooking actually increases the antioxidant, lycopene, that is in tomatoes.  Choose a vegetable soup and you add a vegetable serving and a good mix of different vegetables to your day.  

• Sandwich – choose a whole grain bread, bagel or those 100 calorie bagels or bagel thins.  Or a whole grain English muffin.  Cheese and lean meats like deli turkey, ham or chicken are good choices. Skip the luncheon meats or the pre-packaged meats like bologna, or salami as these are considered “processed meats” which may increase cancer risk according to the World Health Organization. I like fried egg sandwich with melted cheese.  I “fry” the egg in a heart-healthy oil like Safflower or Corn oil, add some real American Cheese (not cheese food) and serve on a toasted whole grain English Muffin.  Make a tuna fish salad sandwich or just a plain PB&J.          

4.  Scrambled Eggs and Tortilla Wrap – kids may like this as it is easy to eat.  Choose Whole Wheat Tortillas.  Scramble some eggs with cheese like pepper jack cheese, or black beans.  Add some veggies like mushroom, onion, green or red pepper, or diced tomatoes.  Serve in the tortilla wrap.  To balance the lunch, add some fresh fruit such as apple slices, grapes (cut up for small kids), sliced pear or other fruit. 

      5.  Open-faced avocado sandwiches – my daughter likes to make these and serve them to guests.  Fry 2 eggs, or hard-boil some eggs.  Spread some real butter on whole grain bread.  Add a slice of cheese, like Swiss cheese, the fried egg, some avocado and top with another bread slice.  Then grill the sandwich on the stove until each side is golden brown.  

Need more lunch ideas?  Eat This, Not That! has over 70 more healthy lunch ideas for you to try. Some of their lunch suggestions are great for those wanting to lose weight. 

If you are returning to work, taking road trips, or eating at home, take the time to pack and eat a healthy lunch. 

Sources:  lunch , Wheat Thins , triscuits , RITZ crackers , Goldfish , Warm-Kate Quinoa Salad , lycopene , World Health Organization ,  healthy lunch, Scrambled Egg Burrito         Image Sources:  Homemade lunchables  , Egg burrito , Avocado Toast

Scrambled Egg Burrito (adapted)

Ingredients:

2 tsp. olive oil (a heart healthy oil)

2 c. Chopped broccoli – or add some black beans

3 scallions, sliced, whites and greens separated

¼ tsp. salt  - use iodized salt

Freshly ground pepper

Cook eggs, scallions in oil, add broccoli.  Serve in a whole grain tortilla.

How many fruits and vegetables do you need?

Almost everyone knows that fruits and vegetables are good for you.  But many people have no idea how many fruits and vegetables you need each day.  Many of my students say it is important to eat healthy but then have trouble defining what that means.  One thing “eating healthy” means is that you eat fruits and vegetables every day.  And there is a minimum you should eat.  Do you know what that number is?  Easy to remember, “5 A Day”, every day.  Early on in teaching I told my students to eat 5 fruits and veggies a day.  Then one student ate 6 fruits and veggies and told me they had to cut back.  I was puzzled, and asked, “Why are you cutting back on fruits and vegetables?”  She told me because I taught them “5 A day” and 6 must be too much.  So now I very carefully say, “at least 5 A Day”, as eating more than 5 is good for your health. 

The next question is – how many fruits and how many vegetables?  Can it be 4 fruits and 1 vegetable, 3 fruits and 2 vegetables?  There are many variations to get to 5 A Day.  My sister sent me a Harvard study that answers that question.  The Harvard study found that 2 fruits and 3 vegetables were just the right number of each to live a longer life. 

If you want to add years to your life, then aim for eating 2 fruits and 3 veggies a day.  If you aren’t anywhere near eating 5 A Day, as many of my students are not, then try to add another serving of fruits or veggies until you can get to 5 A Day.

Why fruits and veggies?  This study and other studies have found that eating fruits and vegetables lowers your risk of cancer and heart disease. 

So how many people are eating 5 A Day or more?  Not many.  The authors found that only 1 in 10 Americans are eating the recommended 5 A Day.  Some of the students in my class eat this amount but often the only “vegetable” eaten is French fries from a fast-food establishment.  A review of many student’s diet recalls shows no fruit at all, often no vegetables or the vegetable is only French fries.  As noted in previous blogs, one person’s only fruit serving was the slice of lemon in her ice tea.  Which, of course, does not count as a serving of fruit.  Some think drinking lemonade is a fruit serving, when lemonade is mostly sugar water.  Others think sports fruit drinks are a serving of fruit when many of these drinks have no fruit at all, just fruit flavoring.  Thus, I am not too surprised that only 1 in 10 people are reaching the minimum goal of 5 A Day.

How did this Harvard study come up with 2 fruits and 3 veggies as a recommended amount?  They looked at the Nurses’ Health Study which has followed a group of 100,000 nurses for over 30 years.  Every 2-4 years the nurses are asked detailed questions about their diets.  The Harvard study researchers also looked at 26 other studies from 29 nations and covering 1.9 million people. 

From these studies, they concluded that eating 5 A Day is the best number for living a longer life.  The longest life was for those eating 3 vegetables and 2 fruits a day. 

Some vegetables to emphasize are dark green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale, and dark lettuce.  Not the iceberg lettuce but darker greens like arugula and the spring mix you can buy at the store with baby romaine, endive, chicory, or spinach. 

Spring mixes are a healthy choice.

For fruit focus on good sources of vitamin C and darker orange fruits for vitamin A.  This would include citrus fruits (oranges, grapefruit, tangerine, and kumquats).  Yes, lemon and limes are also citrus but one would have to eat them to get the benefit and not just add a slice of lemon to tea.  Carrots are loaded with vitamin A as are sweet potatoes, acorn squash, butternut squash, pumpkin.  Tomatoes, green peppers and red peppers are also loaded with vitamin A.  

If you are trying to add more fruits and/or vegetables to your day, what are some ways to do so?

1. Start small – one student in my class had no fruits or vegetables in his diet, except French fries.  He finally added some V8 juice to his day.  Another student started to eat an apple a day.  Not a lot of variety but real fruit and it was a start.
2. Add a fruit to every breakfast.  I eat a banana every day.  Or drink some real juice (be sure it is real juice and not a juice drink like Sunny D).  Enjoy some melon, add some berries to your cereal.
3. Make a smoothie and add some fresh fruit or vegetables.  Some people don’t like the mushiness of blueberries or grapes.  So, add some blueberries to a smoothie. Or add any fruit you like.
4. Add vegetables to foods – making an omelet, add some onion, mushrooms, or some spinach, green pepper.  Making some meatloaf – add onions, some cut-up carrots. 
5. Enjoy some soup – there are so many soups chocked full of vegetables.  My daughters hate tomatoes but they like tomato soup.  Find a soup with some vegetables that you enjoy eating.
6. Add some vegetables to a snack.  Hummus is popular now and very healthy.  Enjoy some whole grain chips and salsa.  Salsa is very healthy. 
7. Try a different fruit or vegetable like kiwi, some fresh pineapple.  A student in my class said her kindergartner came home from school and asked why they never ate zucchini.  The student was surprised her son even knew what a zucchini was.  The student found out the kindergarten teacher introduced a fruit or vegetable each week in class and the kids got to taste it.  From then on, my student bought some zucchini.  The kindergartner added new vegetables to the entire family.
8. Out running errands and need a pick up?  Stop at Starbucks and pick up one of their protein boxes.  Choose a box with the fruit or veggies in them.  You not only get some high-quality protein (cheese, egg, or nuts) but most have some fruit or veggies.  

Starbucks' protein boxes are a healthy snack.

How can you add some fruit and veggies to your day?  Are you eating at least 5 A Day?

Sources:  study , fruits , vitamin A , ways , different , protein boxes   Images Sources:  boxes , mix  , Day

 Simple fruit smoothie (Adapted)

                Here is a way to us up ripening bananas and make a smoothie

Makes 1 serving:

                ¾ cup yogurt – plain

                ½ cup berries (can use fresh or frozen strawberries, blueberries, or a berry of your choice)

                ½ ripe banana

                ½ cup pineapple juice

Optional:  Add some ground flaxseed (about 1 Tablespoon) and get the healthy omega-3 fats

Directions:   Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend to combine.  For different flavors, add some cinnamon, vanilla or mint.