finding your

food-,

mood
solution
Ml
NOl B t WHAI S t-AI ING YOU, BUT
WHAT YOU'RE EATING

By JackChallem
It's not your imaginationthere
are plenty of people out there with
"pissy" moods.
People are definitely more irritable,
angry, anxious, impulsive and distracted
than they used to be. You see these bad
moods practically anytime you drive
your car. People impatiently msh into
an elevator before you get out. And
others express their annoyance while
waiting in line at the supermarket.
One survey found that mde behavior
is more common now than it was 20
or 30 years ago. Another study reported
that 16 million Americans terrorize
others with outbursts of explosive rage.

What's Going on?

As a sociologist and nutritionist, I blame
two factors: the mounting stresses of
modern life and the deterioration in
eating habits. When we're stressedand
who doesn't fee! pressured by a lack
of timeour eating habits are the first
thing to slide. We delay meals or skip
[hem completely, then end up quenching our hunger at the nearest fast food
restaurant. Ilie trouble is that iunk foods
and snacks turn our blood sugar into a
roller coaster, pulling our mood with it
and shortchanging the neuronutrients
we need for better moods and behavior.

Blood Sugar and

Neuronutrients
If you're skeptical about the food-mood

connection, think about how you feel

after eating.
If your blood sugar climbs too
high after you eat, you get sleepy.
That's because high blood sugar
suppresses orexin, a brain chemical
responsible for alertness. When your
blood sugar is low, you get hungry
and may also feel impatient, irritable
and physically weak. Extreme bloodsugar swings point to poor glucose
tolerance, a form of prediabetes.
Every restaurant waiter knows that
moods often follow blood-sugar
levels, resulting in a good mood when
you've recently eaten and a grumpy
mood when you haven't. How can you
stabilize your blood sugar levelsand
your moods? First, stay away from
sugary sweets, soft drinks, bagels and
muffins. Second, you'll likely do much
better eating lean proteins (such as
fish and chicken, so long as they're not
deep fried) and high-fiher vegetables
(salads, broccoli, cauliflower). You
can use a couple slices of deli turkey
and cheese as a fast mood stabilizer.
You can aiso improve your mood by
taking extra amounts of supplemental
neuronutrients. Your body uses neuronutrients to make neurotransmitters,
the brain chemicals that regulate your
mood. Most neurotransmitters are
made from protein building blocks
called amino acids, along with vitamins
and minerals. {See sidebar on p. 53.)

Anger
Displays of anger range from impatience and irritability to resentment,
argumentativeness, outbursts, road rage,
destruaive behavior and violence. Anger
is a secondary emotion, stemming from
frustration, hurt or pain. You can take
several steps to defuse such feelings.
Learn to recognize when your
anger is building, and then develop
an inner reset switch to turn it down.
It might help (o take several deep
breaths or remove yourself from the
triggering situation. You might also
get your feelings out physically but
safely, such as by hitting a pillow.
In terms of supplements, my first
recommendation is always to take
a high-potency multivitamin or
B-complex supplement. It should
contain at least 10 times {1,000 percent)
the recommended daily amount of
vitamins Bl (thiamin), Ii2 (rihoflavin)
and B3 (niacin), based on research
conducted at the University of Wales.
Research has found that the first signs
of deficiency are irritability and fatigue.
I recommend vitamin C (300mg, twice
daily). I also suggest taking omega-3 fish
oils (L.'jg of DHA, or docosahexaenoic
acid, daily) because DHA can reduce
aggressive and hostile behavior, including aggressive driving, bullying, verbal
abusiveness and fighting. All of these
neuronutrients are involved in either
making neurotransmitters or helping

Listen Up:
A QUICK GUIDE TO
NEUROTRANSMITTERS
Neurotransmitiers are the brain
chemicals that regulate mood.
Serotonin is probably the bestknown, mainly because it is the
target of many prescription drugs.
Low serotonin levels are associated
with depression, anxiety and sleep
disorders. To make serotonin, your
body converts L-tryptophan (found
in chicken, beef, pork and fish)
to serotonin. A natural way to get
L-tryptophan is with supplements
of 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP).
Take 50mg one to three times
daily. Start with one to two times
daily and increase as tolerated,
even to lOOmg doses. 5-HTP may
cause nausea. Work with your
doctor if you take Prozac or related
medications.
Another calming neurotransmitter is GABA (gamma amino butyric
acid), which helps the brain
filter out "background noise."
It improves mental focus while
calming nerves. Boost GABA
levels vi/ith pure GABA supplements (500mg) or L-theanine
(200mg), found in green tea.
If you have difficulty revving up,
try L-tyrosine. This neuronutrient
IS needed to make our stimulating
neurotransmitters, dopamine,
norepinephrine and epinephrine.
L-tyrosine is beneficial if you have
"down" days, are often tired,
have poor concentration and have
trouble getting excited by life's
activities. Taking 500mg L-tyrosine
plus a B-complex supplement
can help. Take L-tyrosine on an
empty stomach as it competes
for absorption with other amino
acids found in your food.

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brain cells communicate with one

another.
Anxiety and Panic
We might use words like tension,
Co nervousness, worry, fear and panic
to describe our feelings of anxiety.
Some people are so jittery and high
strung that they are like a stretched
rubber band about to snap. The
now-antiquated term "nervous
breakdown" referred to a physical
and mental exhaustion after prolonged, intense anxiety.
Often, when a person begins feeling anxious, their anxiety level rap-

idly escalatesa little nervousness

makes us more nervous. Because
the effects of caffeine can mimic the
early symptoms of an anxiety attack,
it's important to wean yourself from
coffee and colas. Bouts of low blood
sugar can also resemble anxiety,
so avoid sugary foods and refined
carbohydrates that quickly boost
and then drop blood-sugar levels.
Again, a high-potency B-complex
supplement and vitamin C can
usually ease anxiety and panic
symptoms. So can magnesium
citrate (300mg, twice daily), which
helps relax muscles.

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In addition, GABA supplements

(200mg, twice daily) and 1, theanine
(Suntheanine, lOOmg, twice daily)
can boost brain levels of CABA,
resulting in greater calm and better
mental focus. Finally consider adding
lactium (200mg, twice daily), a
protein-like molecule extracted from
dairy. Anecdotal reports suggest it
may lessen stress-induced anxiety.
Adult ADHD
Multitasking, one of the demands
of today's work environments,
encourages behavior characteristic
of attention-deficit hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD). It forces us to
do multiple tasks simultaneously,
although studies have found that
doing one task at a time results
in higher quality, faster work.
When we multitask, no single task
gets our complete attention, and
the brain slows down as it toggles
between activities. Unfortunately,
when such behavior is combined with
a diet low in ncuronutrients, it tends
to be reinforced. We often end up
multitasking impulsively, unable to
patiently tackle one activity at a time.
It helps to consciously resist the
impulse to multitask, though this
may be initially diffictill. When you're
engaged on one task, you don't have
to check email or answer the phone.
Also, be mindful of what you're
doing. You know that the driver in
front of you is not paying attention
when he's gabbing on his cell phone;
you're no different. The more you try
to do, the less efficient you become.
Do your best to avoid refined oils,
found in fries and nearly all packaged
foods, fast foods and microwave
meals. Instead, emphasize fish, so
long as it's not deep fried. Wild fish
is usually best, particularly when
it comes to salmon. In addilion,
find ways to manage the stresses in
your life, and find time to relax. Eat
healthful whole foods that supply
abundant neuronutrients and, at
the very least, take a high-potency
multivitamin or B-complex supplement. Try other supplements, as
needed, to mellow your mood.
See the next page for a few
sample recipes featuring the
Food-Mood concept, ibr more
recipes, see Challem's book The
Food-Mood Sohuion: The Nulridon
and Lifestyle Plan to Feel Good Again.

preparing
you for
the best
summer
ever!

Brown Jasmine Rice

1 cup brown jasmine rice
1 cup organic chicken broth (or vegetable broth]
1 cup filtered water
Rinse ricf iiiidtT water, and transfer it lo a 1 or 2 qi. saucepan. Add
broih and water and cover wiih the lid slightly ajar. Bring to a boil on
high heat, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low for about 40 minutes,
Iiini off hfat and let sit 5-10 minutes. I'Uiff rice with fork and serve.

Cauliflower and
Almond Slices
1 head cauliflower, cut into very small florets
V* cup toasted almond slices
1-2 Tbs, melted butter
1 Tbs. coconut butter

Steam ciuiliflower 5 minutes, then transfer

to a large bowl with a tight-fitting lid. Add
butter, coconut butter and almond slices. Cover
howl, and shake to mix ingredients.

Pan-Pried Salmon
1 wild salmon filet, about the size of your hand and - to H-incb thick
pinch dried basil
pinch dried oregano
] tsp. olive oil

Rinse filet under cold water and pat dry with paper towel. Sprinkle
basil and oregano on thefleshy(nonskin) side of the filet. Heat
nonstick fry pan on medium high and, when hot, add the olive oil
When oil is hot, place the salmon filet skin-side up. Cook about 3
minutes. Turn the salmon filel over and cpok for other 3 minutes.n

^k^

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