Posted on 11/07/2010 4:30:01 PM PST by Saije
You've heard the claims: Chocolate evokes that loving feeling. Eating fish makes you smarter. Pure carbs calm you down. If you are what you eat, as they say, then it certainly stands to reason that food can influence mood and brain power.
The theory behind these supposed connections seems plausible. Certain neurotransmitters do affect the brain and, consequently, our dispositions in measurable ways. For instance, high levels of serotonin are associated with being calm, happy and relaxed, while low levels are linked to depression and aggression. Dopamine and norepinephrene are reward chemicals released by the brain in response to pleasure.
Particular foods have been shown to boost the production of these neurotransmitters but usually not by enough to make a perceptible difference in the brain. In fact, science has shot down most of the food-mood links accepted as conventional wisdom and perpetuated by self-proclaimed nutrition experts.
Which is a good thing. If you think about it, it's heartening to realize that you can't easily influence your mood by a bagel or banana.
"If food were designed to take mood way up or way down, we'd be in big trouble," says John Fernstrom, a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Still, people have an insatiable craving to believe that eating certain things will boost mental focus, attitude or energy. And believing may just be the best shot at a food-mood connection.
"Our perceptions about food and what it will do for us are very strong and can create a self-fulfilling prophecy, even if no physiological evidence exists," says psychologist Robin Kanarek, who directs the nutrition and behavior laboratory at Tufts University in Medford, Mass.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I have a strong need for a Snickers bar tonight.
I was thinking apple pie and vanilla ice cream ... BB in a minute or two ... I can eat while I freep don’tchaknow!
Is that......ice cream.....on your space bar....?
By about 11:30 a.m., Dad was, I regret to say, a pain in the ass. He was cranky and fussy, making the exploring of this park pretty miserable. Then the dumb sh*t goes and has a Snickers' bar.
Once we got a good hamburger into him, he became human again, the goon.
Yeah, food affects mood. Eat smart, think smart. Eat stupid, be a pain in the ass.
No peeking! ... And now it’s on my laptop screen, too, thanks to you striking my funny bone. ... Yes, vanilla ice cream. But it’s gooood. I’ve some apple pie crust crumbs on the keyboard, too.
When pregnant, I could not eat enough spinach. I don’t even like spinach that much.
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