Important role played by food during myriad of moods

“The food that enters the body must be watched as closely as the food that enters the mind”, says Patrick Buchunan, an American food analyst. Like he says, have we ever noticed what we eat when we are in different moods? Have we ever noticed what we consume when we are happy or sad? Have we ever noticed why they make sweets during festival times? Have we ever wondered the logics in that?

Well, it’s all a ‘no’! Research scientists have proven that there is a connection between a person's mood and the food he or she eats. It’s also that eating a certain food can influence a person's mood, at least temporarily.

Food that we consume during different moods:

Slightly rewind your mind to those unforgettable school days, the times when we were young and innocent. During times when we get our annual examination results, we used to go to these nearby shops and have a candy or ice - cream. Have we wondered why we like to have ice cream instead of rice or chapattis?

It’s because there are some tastes that lingers throughout our body and mind and makes us feel even better. There is a connection between the brain and the food. A person consumes food depending on his mood.

For e.g, if you have noticed many people eat chocolate when they are slightly depressed. They think that eating chocolate gives them a break. That’s because, chocolates has certain elements in it that gives a person a relaxed mind and a euphoric feeling. Chocolate is also consumed when we are very happy. It is because of sugar, an amount of caffeine and other feel – good chemicals that make us feel better.

It also happens when a person seems to be very miserable, sad or tired; they either quit food at that time or eat something very light or by ending up with a juice or a glass of milk.

Gayathri, 24 years, says, “When am depressed I don’t feel like eating. But it always happens that someone forces me too, so I end up have a bowl of curd rice or plain milk. I don’t know why, but it seems to go along with my mood”.

“When am dead tired or exhausted, I feel like having a semi- fluid foodstuff rather than forcing myself to have food. Having a complete meal tires me even more” says Ashwin, student.

When people are really excited over something or someone, people tend to party. For instance, for a birthday or anniversary, we are really happy and excited over it. People tend to throw a party with food which is spicy like chicken curry, biriyani and more. These foods have the tendency to make people feel more excited and happy because of the spicy elements in it.

“When am really happy and feel keyed up, I love to have spicy food like chicken tikka and the similar and my meal with a desert” says Gaddy Disney, student. He says it gives him a sense of completeness and carries the excitement the whole day.

Apart from eating food according to our moods, certain foodstuff like onion, drum stick, deserts, coffee, tea and other eatables which has an element of caffeine in it arouses sexual feelings. It is also proved by a research that by consuming these foodstuffs in excess arouses a person erotic feeling.

Traditional value:

For centuries, a typical traditional meal in South India has been served on a "vazhaillai", a freshly cut plantain leaf. It is believed that food, when served on a clean banana leaf, not only tastes better but also imbibes the nutritional values of the banana tree.

And also during festival seasons like Diwali, Pongal and the other, they make sweets and savors. Like said the content of sugar makes us feel good the whole day and lightens up.

There is also another tradition followed by South Indian people. They serve sweets first before serving the main course of food. It is believed that consuming food in the beginning increases your metabolism rate and helps food get digested faster.

Food supporters:

Foodstuff like water, vegetables, fruits, oil rich fish, nuts and seeds, wholegrain food, fibre, protein and organic food are considered to be the food supporters. They are not only rich in content, they also gives us a pleasant feeling.

"Water is the most neglected nutrient in your diet but one of the most vital".Many people during workouts consume bottles of water to keep their energy level high and help them do more of it.

“Two and more glasses of water early morning makes my body feel light and energetic” says Rajendran, 55 years. He says that one should have a minimum of eight glasses of work a day, to sustain the energy and remove toxins from your body.

Usage of fresh juices instead of aerated drinks will also give a refreshing effect. These fresh juices should be taken along with food if possible which gives us a lot of energy and health.

Food stressors:

Food apart from giving a nice and happy feeling also tends to give adverse feeling. Certain food that we consume gives us stress and depression. Foodstuff like caffeine, alcohol, addictives, and saturated food, wheat containing foods and eating large size meals might end up giving stress to your mind and body.

Too much fatty and hot food makes our system slow because the stomach takes twice the amount energy to grind and most of our blood is drawn by the stomach and the brain becomes slow.

A lot of men and women tend to consume larger amount of rice in the afternoon. It is to be noticed that they get little drowsy, inactive and lazy, by ending in doing nil amount of work after lunch.

Though onions have content that are very good for health, they make us cry whiling cutting them. It’s because of the smell and other sulfuric content in it which tends people to shed tears while cutting.

There is an old saying which goes to say, “Have breakfast like a prince, lunch like a king and have dinner like a pauper”. The fact being that a heavy breakfast keeps one going for the day with energy. A medium lunch would sustain the person during the post lunch period. A light early dinner would ensure a peaceful sleep.

Eating accordingly not only gives you balanced diet but also allows the mood swings to flow properly in the mind. Next time when you eat, watch it. Not for diet but for your mood!

- By

Sharanya CR

Post Script:

Article written for Food Journal. Thanks for Sumitra & Chandini for give me this topic. I love food and loved to write about it;)