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Wednesday, December 30, 2009
As for back as I can remember, I've always packed my own lunch.
In elementary school, it was a peanut butter sandwich, some crackers, and an orange. When I started working in an office, I upgraded to whole grains and more sophisticated sandwiches.
On the days I didn't pack a lunch, I was amazes by how poorly I ate and how I often craved coffee or sugary snacks to get me through the afternoon. It took me a while, but I finally got it: my homemade lunches gave me a day full of energy and a positive outlook.
Curious to know if my food-mood experience had any science behind it, Elizabeth Somer, R.D., author of Food and Mood (Owl Books, 1999) said that the right foods will energize you and keep you in a happy mood. She further added saying that the wrong foods will send your mood and energy levels spiraling down.
According to Somer, most people have only a general idea of how food affects them - they know, for instance that not getting enough calcium can eventually lead to osteoporosis. But the link can be much more immediate than that. A healthy mix of complex carbohydrates, lean protein, good fats and B vitamins helps you produce the seratonin, endorphins, dopamine and norepenephrine that keep you feeling calm, happy and energized.
There's also a strong connection between eating foods you prepare and pack yourself and feeling good about what you eat, says Brian Wansink, Ph. D., author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think (Bantam, 2007). Even if you prepare something you don't like very much, Wansink says, the act of making and packing lunch will make it more pleasurable.
Don't eat lunch alone hunched over your desk. Wansink suggests getting out of the office: "Eating your lunch away from your desk and with another person increases your enjoyment and helps decrease your level of stress."
That's when I knew, food is much to spend with pleasure that would affect our every day living and our mood.
In elementary school, it was a peanut butter sandwich, some crackers, and an orange. When I started working in an office, I upgraded to whole grains and more sophisticated sandwiches.
On the days I didn't pack a lunch, I was amazes by how poorly I ate and how I often craved coffee or sugary snacks to get me through the afternoon. It took me a while, but I finally got it: my homemade lunches gave me a day full of energy and a positive outlook.
Curious to know if my food-mood experience had any science behind it, Elizabeth Somer, R.D., author of Food and Mood (Owl Books, 1999) said that the right foods will energize you and keep you in a happy mood. She further added saying that the wrong foods will send your mood and energy levels spiraling down.
According to Somer, most people have only a general idea of how food affects them - they know, for instance that not getting enough calcium can eventually lead to osteoporosis. But the link can be much more immediate than that. A healthy mix of complex carbohydrates, lean protein, good fats and B vitamins helps you produce the seratonin, endorphins, dopamine and norepenephrine that keep you feeling calm, happy and energized.
There's also a strong connection between eating foods you prepare and pack yourself and feeling good about what you eat, says Brian Wansink, Ph. D., author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think (Bantam, 2007). Even if you prepare something you don't like very much, Wansink says, the act of making and packing lunch will make it more pleasurable.
Don't eat lunch alone hunched over your desk. Wansink suggests getting out of the office: "Eating your lunch away from your desk and with another person increases your enjoyment and helps decrease your level of stress."
That's when I knew, food is much to spend with pleasure that would affect our every day living and our mood.
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