Food and Mood: Do Foods Increase Happiness? If So, Which Ones?
Thousands of papers have been published on the important topic of what determines people's happiness and psychological health, but what about the potential influence of the different kinds of foods that people eat? The rising prevalence of mental ill health is causing a considerable burden, therefore, inexpensive and effective strategies are required to improve the psychological well-being of our population. And now we have a growing body of literature suggesting that dietary intake may have the potential to influence psychological well-being. Dietary intake of what? Well, given the strong evidence base for the health benefits of fruits and vegetables, researchers started there. Cross-sectional studies from all over the world support this relationship between happiness and fruit and vegetable intake. Those eating fruits and vegetables each day have a higher likelihood of being classified as "very happy," suggesting a strong and positive correlation between fruit and vegetable consumption and happiness, perhaps feelings of optimism, too. The largest such study was done in Great Britain, where a dose-response relationship was found between daily servings of fruits and vegetables and both life satisfaction and happiness, meaning more fruits and veggies meant more happiness. People who got up to seven or eight servings a day reported the highest life satisfaction and happiness. These associations remained significant even after controlling for factors such as income, illness, exercise, smoking, and body weight, suggesting fruit and vegetable consumption wasn't just acting as a marker for other healthy behaviors. But how could eating plants improve happiness on their own? Well, many fruits and veggies contain high levels of vitamin C which is a co-factor in the production of dopamine, the "zest for life" neurotransmitter. And the antioxidants in fruits and veggies reduce inflammation, which may lead to higher levels of eudaemonic (not an O'Reilly Factor Word of the Day) well-being. Aristotle's notion of eudaemonia described the highest of all human goods, the realization of one's true potential, which was the aim of this study. They wanted to know whether eating fruits and vegetables was associated with other markers of well-being beyond happiness and life satisfaction, like greater eudaemonic well-being – a state of flourishing characterized by feelings of engagement, meaning, and purpose in life. So, a sample of about 400 young adults were followed for about two weeks, and indeed, young adults who ate more fruits and veggies reported higher average eudaemonic well-being, more intense feelings of curiosity and greater creativity. And they could follow this on a day by day basis – greater well-being on the days they ate healthier. These findings suggest that fruit and vegetable intake is related to other aspects of human flourishing, beyond just feeling happy. Not so fast, though. Instead of eating good food leading to a good mood, maybe the good mood led to eating good food? Experimentally, if you put people in a good mood, they rate healthy foods, like apples, higher than indulgent foods, like candy bars. Given a choice between M&M's and grapes, individuals in a positive mood were more likely to choose the grapes. The results of these studies lend support to a growing body of research that suggests that positive mood facilitates resistance to temptation. Who needs comfort food when you're already comforted? It's like which came first, the stricken or the egg? Yes, eating eggs can increase our likelihood of chronic disease, but maybe chronic disease also increases our likelihood of eating unhealthy foods. Which came first, the mood or the food? What we need is a study like this, but instead of looking at well-being and diet on the same day, you see if there's a correlation between what you eat today, and how you feel tomorrow. But we didn't have a study like that… until now. They found the same strong relationships between daily positive mood and fruit and vegetable consumption, but lagged analyses showed that fruit and vegetable consumption predicted improvements in positive mood the next day, not vice versa. On days when people ate more fruits and vegetables, they reported feeling calmer, happier, and more energetic than normal, and they also felt more positive the next day. So, eating fruit and vegetables really may promote emotional well-being. Look, single bouts of exercise can elevate one's mood, why not the same thing with healthy food? How many fruits and vegetables? It seems we need to consume approximately 7.2 daily servings of fruit or 8.2 servings of vegetables to notice a meaningful change.
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What a great time to be alive. Everyday we hear about the promises and progress that modern medicine and nutritional research is making – advancements that are leading to salvation from the sicknesses that have complicated peoples’ lives for centuries.
How often do we hear about a new genetic discovery that will replace gone-awry genes by special DNA splicing with perfectly healthy ones, a new medication or wonder drug, a special nutrient or diet, or the genetic modification of food that is processed in advanced ways that will slow aging, minimize our infirmities, obesity, and cure all sorts of disease. It seems like we will soon be able to turn a simple tomato, carrot, or cookie into a complete meal. It’s as if someday we won’t have to eat at all, but just swallow a pill that contains every nutrient we need. There’s only one problem with these rosy predictions – they are mostly false, because all of these lofty promises are in reality nowhere near being actually realized. Thousands “race” for the cure wearing different colored ribbons while pouring billions of dollars into research to find new genes, as if the ones we’ve evolved are insufficient for our needs. We medicate ourselves with toxic concoctions, and overload our body with excess isolated supplements, a small number of which may actually treat the disease, while the rest treat only symptoms or the harmful side effects of the primary drug. We brag about the heath-care system in the United States, but that term is kind of deceiving, because what we really have, is a “disease-care” system. Fortunately, there is hope with a far better, safer, and less expensive way to have good heath and prevent much disease – an approach that has positive side effects, unlike the lists of possible side effects announced along with every “ask your doctor about” drug commercial. Bottom line of this blog is this – it takes great skill to cure a disease, but possibly even greater skill to prevent one. In my role as an associate professor of nutrition the last several years, the nutritional research I have studied and read, and the continuing education I have received from several legitimate researchers and physicians, has led me to believe we are all falling short of using the natural capacity of the body to prevent chronic disease, and in many cases heal itself. The reality of life is that we are all going to die, but there is a lot each person can do to slow our slide down the slippery slope of physiological entropy. Health and nutrition is never an all or none proposition. There are those whose lifestyle would have them die younger but they live long. There are those whose lifestyle would have them live long but who die younger. Why? It’s complicated. But our best bet is to live the lifestyle with the greatest odds of a longer, more healthy, and higher quality life both physically and mentally. The lengthening life span of Americans the past few years is less because we are living more healthy lifestyles, but more because of modern medicines’ ability to keep sick people alive and “moving.” This blog is an effort to help us all avoid “dying at 65 but not being buried until we are 80.” I will discuss the most currently published research about diet, nutrition, exercise, supplements, medications. What is shared will be evidence based not anecdotal. It is one thing to present what legitimate research studies say about a topic, even though not all studies may agree with each other. That's research. But it is something else to rely on grandma's advice, your next door neighbor's assessment, or a TV infomercial about the latest nutrition fad regarding your decision to open your wallet. Essentially I will discuss with each periodic blog post how not to die from some of the ten leading causes of death, and how to discern the difference between nutritional facts, fads, and fiction. I just ask one thing. Knowing that most people far prefer to hear good news about their bad habits, there will be some bad news about what some may feel are good habits. So please don't "shoot" the messenger. Have fun, Dr. Packer |
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