Food and Wellbeing

The impact of our food choices on the planet has taken a huge interest and rightly so! We want to make positive changes not just today but for our future generations. In other words, looking at sustainable farming and harvesting practices amongst many other aspects of ‘environmentally friendly production’

The food choices you make can also have an impact on how you feel, sleep and move.

Food and Mood

Research has looked into how the food we eat, affects our microbiome. The microbiome is an over-arching term used to describe the trillions of living bacteria that reside in and on our body. Its impact on overall health has been so important that researchers have now called it the other ‘organ’. The beneficial bacteria in our gut (where most of our microbiome resides) are responsible for several bodily functions. Namely, supporting our immune system, helping to maintain our blood sugar levels already in a normal range and helping us absorb nutrients. They can also help calm our emotions since our guts and brains communicate! Yes that is right!

The beneficial gut bacteria help produce short chain fatty acids and produce GABA. GABA is a brain chemical, also referred to as a ‘neurotransmitter’ whose levels when high, help modulate mood and positive feelings.

So what affects the beneficial bacteria and thereafter our moods? The biggest disrupter is a diet full of processed foods that is also high in sugars. But also one that is very low in fibre! Of course the friendly microbes are affected by the modern lifestyles we lead which involves stress, antibiotics, antibacterial cleaning products, and the lack of upbringing outdoors (i.e. the environment you grow up in).

What can you do to help your bacteria? Avoid sugar, as the undesirable bacteria thrive and can grow out of control and therefore create an imbalance, which is the catalyst for many health issues. Instead eat more ‘prebiotics’, which help feed the healthy bacteria. Examples include: onions, garlic, bananas, apples, oats but also a diet generally higher in plant-based foods can help. Consume more legumes or ‘pulses’ as some call it, quinoa, organic tofu, green vegetables, nuts and seeds etc. Cook from scratch so you know exactly what is going in your meals and make sure to read labels, as sugar is present in so many forms.

In short, sugar content on packaging is referred to as total sugars; this includes both naturally occurring and free sugars. It can be difficult to tell the difference between the two so check the ingredients. If glucose, honey, sugar, syrups or fruit juice concentrate appear in the top three ingredients, then it will be high in free sugars and should be avoided (or accounted for elsewhere within your daily intake).

Fruits, some vegetables also have sugars but these are naturally occurring and are preferred to those added to foods, drinks or those present in alcohol.

Sugar not only impacts the microbiome; it can in turn have an impact on our happy brain chemicals. Sugars impact on our moods, as we can feel very energised or ‘hyper’ with the sharp rise in blood sugar levels (insulin levels) it causes, but then a sharp crash in mood and energy. So all together, sugar is a terrible culprit for our moods but also generally for our health.

Food and Sleep

You can of course adopt several pieces of advice or better ‘sleep hygiene’ to support a restful sleep. Be it mindfulness, calm music in the evening, essential oils to help calm the mind in the evening or avoiding caffeinated drinks and products after 3pm or throughout the day (if it really affects you) amongst many other practices that may help.

Lots of factors can also impact on sleep such as; not enough exposure to natural light during the day, shift work, stress, smoking, alcohol, exposure to too much ‘blue light’, all of which affect the production of melatonin, our sleep hormone. So how can food also impact on our precious sleep?

Research shows that eating less fibre, more saturated fats and more sugar throughout the day is directly linked with lighter and less restorative sleep. It can also affect the ability to fall asleep, creating a vicious circle and potentially the start of ‘insomnia’. If you have never experienced lack of sleep or lack of good sleep, you are doing really well. Essentially it can impact on our overall mental wellbeing, lack of concentration, sluggishness as well as moodiness. Consequently it affects those we interact with, so our relationships at work or at home.

Some proteins are naturally rich in an amino acid called Tryptophan, which helps the conversion to serotonin (a feel-good neurotransmitter) and melatonin. Food sources including turkey, chicken, milk and dairy products as well as nuts and seeds are all good choices. It is ideal to combine tryptophan-containing foods with carbohydrates to experience better results. Favour the wholegrain, rye, millet, and quinoa varieties than refined grains such as white pasta or rice.

Some foods are also naturally rich in melatonin such as tart cherries and it is thought that they can help you with better sleep.

Eating about 4 hours before you actually go to bed can help. When we eat, it generally helps to increase the body’s core temperature and can disrupt sleep.

Food and Energy

The food we consume can heavily impact on how we feel and act. Earlier in this blog we talked about sugar affecting our insulin levels and causing a sharp peak. This in turn can give us a rise in energy and mood but then cause the complete opposite, as it doesn’t stay as such for long.

So it is important to consume foods as a source of fuel that help you produce stable energy levels throughout the day and not simply shorter periods of those.

Avoiding again sugar containing products: such as sugar coated cereals, granola loaded with honey or sugar, fizzy drinks, alcohol, sugar in ready-made sauces or even hidden in the breads we buy. Labels are often very misleading and if you need more help, ask at the supermarket or contact a registered and qualified nutritionist or nutritional therapist. Oh and the ‘sugar-free’ versions are not necessarily better for us! Research shows that they often contain ingredients that disrupt our microbiome.

Instead aim to eat at regular hours every day, make sure to have a breakfast even if it isn’t’ really your thing or you are not particularly hungry. You can easily make a smoothie packed with protein. You can easily make a smoothie packed with protein such as Garden of Life All-in-One Shake, fruits, a handful of oats, milk of your choice and there you go. Or have a toast with sugar-free nut butter. Breakfast helps you to break your overnight fast and gets your energy levels right for the day.

Make sure to consume fibre and a source of protein (vegetarian or non-vegetarian) in your meals to help balance those blood sugar levels.

Is Organic Food Necessary?

Whether eating organic is a necessity, has often been a common question raised. It is thought that organic produce contains 20 to 40% more antioxidants. In terms of nutritional value, it is thought that organic produce is also more nutritious as without pesticides, plants naturally increase their production of vitamins and antioxidants to fight off pests. The end result would be a more wholesome and nutritionally dense product.

But not everyone can afford organic food or find it easily. If this is the case for you, then just be conscious of the food choices you make for your wellbeing generally or if you wish to top up your nutrient levels, read through the section below.

Topping up on your Daily Nutrients

Food comes first and lifestyle changes. mykind Organics by Garden of Life is an incredibly nutritious way to help you achieve your needs. Made from real, organic, non-GMO fruits and vegetables without artificial additives and preservatives. Unaltered, with the natural presence of the broad-spectrum plant antioxidants and phytochemicals, allows them to be easily absorbed and utilised by the body!  Even the way the tablets are made, using ‘clean tablet technology’ means that the range stands out from any other, having avoided traditional fillers, binders and coatings.

So if you run out of time to focus on each meal on a daily basis, or simply cannot consume organic produce, the mykind Organics vitamins or the Proteins range can provide great support.