How Does Food Affect Your Mood?

Amy Fox, Certified Nutritionist, and Founder, Food and Mood Lab, explains how food choices affect your performance.

There's a lot of information about food. However, missing largely from the public conversation is food and mood. Clearly, how we choose to fuel our bodies directly impacts how we feel and how we show up in all areas of our life. Food is our body’s fuel and it’s vital to make choices that allow you to perform better, boost energy, improve focus, and reduce stress. To educate the public and practitioners about food and its impact on mood, Certified Nutritionist Amy Fox founded the Food and Mood Lab, including her Master Your Mood video series with food and wellness tips and information on how to boost energy, live healthy and feel great.

Transcript

Phil: 0:14

Welcome to Lost in the Supermarket. Today we're gonna explore how does food affect our moods. Joining me is Amy Fox, certified nutritionist and founder of the Food and Mood Lab to explain just how our food choices affect our performance. Amy's mission is simple, to educate everyone about how our food choices affect our moods, our health, and our vitality. She has a master of science in Food and Nutrition Sciences. And Amy, welcome to Lost in the Supermarket.

Amy: 0:47

Thank you so much. It's great to be here. So I appreciate, again, the opportunity anytime I can be talking about food and feeling good, it's always just a fun, fun way to spend my time.

Phil: 0:59

Well, it's important, especially as we're coming out of the pandemic. I don't wanna say we're totally out of it yet, even though everybody has said so. I think that when people were shut in for so long, they s eemed to gravitate towards a lot of junk food cuz it was there or available o n our supermarket shelves. And when I look at studies from the American Psychological Association and other groups, I mean, people are in a bad mood. They're depressed. Th ey d on't wa nt g o into supermarkets, they don't wa nna w alk in to s upermarkets, which is why having you join us is just so i mportant. Let's start out by talking about what the Food and Mood Lab is and how you're using it to educate people about our food choices.

Amy: 1:49

Yeah, sure. So Food and Mood is my passion project. It's really an opportunity for me to provide awareness and education about the power of food because we truly are what we eat. And when I believe when you are feeling good and you've got energy and you can focus it just starts to trickle down in every way that you show up in life. And there's just so much information out on the internet and social media and it's confusing for most people. I mean, almost every week it feels like there's a new schtick on what you should eat or what you shouldn't eat, or a new diet or a new fad. And while we have so much more information that's easily accessible right at our fingertips, we just keep getting unhealthier and unhealthier. And so I'm just super passionate about the topic for personal reasons and and so I've been informally learning and really living this. And they decided years ago to formalize that and get my Masters and really start to help people. And I think the way that I can do that best is by having conversations with people like you, sharing content in simple, easy ways and just kind of breaking through all that noise with just simplicity and just really focusing more on like how we feel less than diets or or just all in type of plans. So the Food and Mood Lab is really a source, a place, a hub for people to go to, to collaborate, to share, to learn and also to get some recipes and ways to just kind of activate the thinking and make it a lifestyle that is easy to stick with. Because that's really the key is , Do you want to reach for those foods or explore those new areas of the supermarket? Do you want to be doing that? Because if you're not going to want to do it, you just won't do it. So that's my that's my passion right now.

Phil: 4:03

So this morning I had the occasion to read in the Washington Post, a really interesting and disturbing article. And I've been disturbed for probably the past three or four months about this whole trend of Ozempic and where people are losing weight. 30, 40, 50 pounds. In fact, the author talked about the fact that she's lost 40 pounds on Ozempic . She has a friend who lost 75 pounds on it. So when I read these things, I'm really concerned that we're not really changing behavior and , again, I am not a scientist. I don't develop medications, and this might have no effect whatsoever bad effect on people. But I'd be curious to know how you think about these, these diet drugs. I mean, yes, they're designed for for diabetes, but they're getting approval as diet drugs, how that changes everything because yes, we know that obesity leads to cancer and heart disease and diabetes and all kinds of things. So you've got a whole fraction of people who are saying, well, let's take the drug to avoid those health concerns. But I'm concerned about the people themselves and especially as, as you talk about food and mood the writer of this column was talking about. Oh, now she's in a much better mood because people are saying, oh, you really look good and stuff like that. How does this whole play out in your brain?

Amy: 5:45

I think it's complicated and I think it's a little controversial right now. And I think because there are people who, well, let me take a step back. The drug has been through clinical trials, and it's been shown to be effective for weight loss, but for a specific target audience. And I think what we're seeing here is people who want a quicker fix and want to just lose weight and may not necessarily, some people may not qualify for the clinical reasons and benefits by getting their hands on it. And then it's making it harder for the people who could really benefit from it to get access to these types of drugs. So it concerns me for the same reasons, because it's not,, and actually I've had flashbacks to my younger years or watching my mom with some of the old, like diet drugs that were on the market. And it reminds me of that because it's a fix. It's it's not changing behavior and helping you to understand the choices you can be making long term . Cause we all probably have read the same things if you read that, what happens when you go off the drug. So yeah, it's I think it's complicating matters because people continue to think, might there be a pill or, and there is, I've also read there are many other options like these that they're trying to get approved that are a little bit easier to get your hands on and not injection based . So I don't think it gets at the root issue. And again, for certain people, absolutely it can have a huge benefit and be a lifesaver, people who are obese or in dealing with other chronic health conditions that are a result of that. So it's exciting for those reasons, for the people that could really use them and perhaps gained back years that they might not have or have a little bit of an easier path getting healthier, but for the people who wanna just a quicker path to just lose weight and look skinnier. Have you heard about the Ozempic face ? People are saying that there's a look that you can now tell . So unfortunately I live in a community that I don't see a lot of people. I know that Ozempic. But yeah, I'm all about, as you can probably tell by what you've looked at and just what I've shared about the Food and Mood lab. I mean , it's about sustainable healthy habits long-term and simplifying the journey along the way. And so I'm aligned with you. I have very similar concerns about it. And it'll be interesting and maybe even scary to see what happens because we don't know the long term effects of these types of drugs yet . So Jury's out.

Phil: 8:45

And I think emotionally it could do more damage. So let's talk about real emotions, real moods and real food and how those intersect with each other. So if I have an apple, for example,I happen to like apples. if I have an apple I take a bite out of it, I feel good. And let's go beyond the apple. What are the kinds of foods that we should be consuming to put us in better moods? Because it's probably not caffeine. And it's probably not soft drinks. Okay.

Amy: 9:30

Yeah. Occasionally I gotta get the caffeine , especially yeah. But I hear you and you're right. I mean, think about a situation that you've been in where you've enjoyed yourself over a weekend or you've just enjoyed yourself and had some of the foods that are either sugary or fried . I mean, sometimes we do have those foods and most of the time people potentially feel like they have a hangover of sorts or the blues, even when you have had a day or a period of time where you've eaten more unhealthy choices or just kind of dinged a little bit. And that's absolutely a real thing. And how literally the food that you choose to eat has a direct impact on how you feel. And it might be helpful to just highlight before we get to the foods, just some of the mechanisms or what's happening there. Just to help any listener understand that there truly is some science behind this. And there's not a hundred percent certainty about these mechanisms of actions, that there's enough data and evidence that is allowing us to make some conclusions or have some good insights. That nutrition and what's happening in the gut microbiome is part of the answer and definitely part of the process. So when we decide we're having ultra processed foods, so foods like that are made, like in fast food restaurants or foods that have a lot of ingredients, they're boxed or bags, and you start to see ingredients that you along with , or a list of things that you can't quite pronounce. Those are a great way to identify ultra processed foods and some of the toxins. Cause a lot of those foods, especially a lot of those foods are they're made with manufactured ingredients. Not whole foods, whole ingredients. Not nutrition, nutrition, nutrient dense type of ingredients. And so there are toxins and they leak through your intestines and they get in your bloodstream and there's a , there's leakage that happens and it affects your whole body and actually can pass through the blood brain barrier. And just eventually what happens is people start to, if this is happening a lot, you start to experience chronic inflammation. And enough research is out there that we know that chronic inflammation triggers depression. It's almost like an allergic reaction for the body, and it triggers symptoms of anxiety. So the other thing that might be happening though, is that depending on the combination of foods you eat, if you're eating foods that are super sugary or really heavy carbohydrates or high volume of carbohydrates, your blood sugar spike and the body is super intelligent and reacts or pancreas creates insulin to keep your body in balanced in homeostasis, that's the goal of the body. But when we have these big peaks, these high peaks or frequent peaks of blood sugar spikes, it affects the body and the pancreas has to keep producing insulin to bring that down and it just gets overworked and we can start to feel a crash. You kind of feel that fog or those lows and these depression like symptoms. There's definitely real physiological aspects and mechanisms of action that are happening in the body. It's not just a thing that we think of in our head. I can give you a little bit of background.

Phil: 13:21

Yeah. Earlier this week we did two stories that I want to get your take on as well. Sure, one was the new Mexican dietary guidelines.Which I found to be fabulous, and I wish we had those. One of them was to avoid alcohol, and second story that we did was about the non-alcoholic beer movement which is grown by eight times what it was. And then there was an analysis of those people who are drinking non-alcoholic beers. And it turns out that they're exercising more, they're happier, they're listening to more webcasts and podcasts like this. It just seems to turn things around. What's your take on alcohol and mood and is it a depressant? Is it uplifting to people? What's going on?

Amy: 14:17

Well, I mean, there's nothing good about alcohol. It's ethanol and it's toxic. And I think in the more and more we see, I mean , the World Health Organization came out earlier this year and said, in fact, no amount of alcohol is good for you. You are gonna continue to see a huge trend of just this the continued sober curious movement, the continued movement of non-alcoholic and just alcohol free types of liquors. I mean, you can see it by the economics and the financials of what you sort of project this industry. There's a lot out there. They're equating it to the plant-based movement even greater. And I always say I drink what I want, when I want. But as I continue to get more educated and understand the risks and how literally one to two glasses of my wine that I used to enjoy can affect a week and take years off my life. And when you really start to get into the data on why were we told that wine is healthy for us? I mean, there's just , that's a whole other topic.

Phil: 15:34

Well, because the wine industry paid for those studies. That's why.

Amy: 15:37

Well, and you peel back the ending on who they were studying, right. The people . Yeah . That's interesting. But, so yes, I mean when you consume alcohol you initially feel this period of this little lift and your brain is artificially producing dopamine. And as we talked about, your body always wanna be in balance . The brain starts to compensate and excrete other hormones to bring it back in balance. And without getting too scientific, there are as processes that are happening that increase cortisol levels and other other types of hormones and processes that happen that actually make you feel lower. And so it's really only the first 20 minutes you feel good, and then to get back up, you have to keep drinking more , have to take more, and you just have to keep drinking more. Yeah . And so it's amazing what happens when you just put something else in that glass. And I always tell cuz I, I'm a big fan of mocktails and a big fan of, I mean, the alcohol free beer that's on the market. And now some of the wines, I mean, you honestly can't even tell. And once you have something in the glass usually that need and that craving usually passes, it's all about ritual and routine for most people. and most people within a few weeks of just experimenting with going alcohol free , experienced some amazing benefits from skin to sleep. I personally have reduced my alcohol consumption greatly because I h ave just found after educating myself a little bit and paying attention to how I really feel I get it. It triggers my anxiety and o ftentimes I can't sleep. And that rolls into every aspect of my life . And so it's just a beverage , but when you start to educate yourself on the real data behind what we're putting into our bodies and the potential risks it's it's really eyeopening. And I think when my thoughts are when you start to really educate yourself and you increase your awareness, it starts t flip that switch, and then increases your desire to wanna think about making changes. So I often share a lot about the real, the data on alcohol and the science behind it because it's just one of those things in our society that it's just it's expected that alcohol's gonna be in a lot of events and just be a part of our life. And I'm excited to see how things are changing. And I think it also helps that you've got a lot of celebrities out there who are also sharing their alcohol free journey. People that you wouldn't expect that are going alcohol free and people who are, Katy Perry's got a whole brand and, and I think Blake Lively does of 0% or alcohol free liquor. So I don't think it's going away.

Phil: 18:48

No, I don't either. In fact funny thing you're talking about celebrities with alcohol. So Mark Wahlberg actually is a major investor in a tequila brand, but he has now stopped drinking as much of his own tequila that he loves. He did it initially for Lent, and now he's saying that he might go back to drinking in June or July, but probably not as much. So last question. If there's one thing that you would like every listener to do when it comes to making good food choices to help their moods, what would it be?

Amy: 19:28

Oh, man. I think that's a great question. am I limited to one ?

Phil: 19:32

No, you can have two.

Amy: 19:33

I can have two. Yeah . Okay . I think one of the things that I would consider, especially it's about how you feel I think the two that stick with the alcohol thing. So you might be a person, I'm saying you generally as your listener, that maybe as an occasional glass of wine or beer, I would just experiment with limiting and reducing your consumption and just see what happens. I know a lot of people, I coach a lot of people and who wanna have some weight loss or just wanna feel better. And before we do any sort of planning, we look at lifestyle habits and nine times out of 10, even just the reduction of wine or alcohol, they start to feel amazing. They literally feel joy and awe. I mean, beyond just the weight dropping off and sleeping better, they are more engaged with their family, they have more energy. And I've done nothing but help to encourage to just try. Like, take a 10 calorie athletic brewing beer and put that in your Cozi. Just see one night and they start to get hooked on that feeling . I'm also a big fan of "you do you" , but maybe you don't give it up forever, but try to experiment with just a limiting or making a choice one night. And people are amazed. They no idea what the other side looked like. So I think there's space and there's room for people to experiment even if you are a wine or an alcohol drinker. In fact, when I talked to you a little bit about those statistics, about the alcohol free kinda wellness trends, the study that I saw like a Nielsen or some sort of beta I saw in the be beginning of the year, it showed that the people who are buying alcohol free options, those are people who also have beer and wine in their basket. So there's this movement of just experimenting. So that's definitely a message I'd love to send to your listeners. And then I would also share, if you wanna feel better, I would make sure you either overhaullor you're really checking in on that first meal of the day. Some people fast , so maybe it's brunch or lunch, but that first meal of the day, we need to make sure that it's got protein. A lot of people might even think that a bowl of oatmeal is healthy. And even if it is whole loads, you gotta make sure there's protein in there. If you've got protein paired with good carbs, that first meal of the day sets the tone for the rest of the day, that's how you avoid those mid-afternoon cravings and crashes is making sure that first meal. You've got good, solid, like lean protein choices and you've got good carbs. The most important, start your day with some protein. So that's that's definitely a practice that will help you to feel satiated, reduce the cravings, keep your energy more consistent. So that's a tip that I'd love to leave listeners with.

Phil: 22:51

Well, Amy, you've got great insights, great knowledge, and we appreciate you being on Lost in the Supermarket today.

Amy: 22:58

Thank you so much. I appreciate it. And would love to come back some time and have more conversations. I love riffing on these kinds of topics.

Phil: 23:06

Always welcome.