A healthy diet provides multiple benefits, from enhancing your immune system to reducing your risk for heart disease. According to dietary expert and author, Susan Kleiner, R.D., Ph.D., your dietary choices can also improve or exacerbate your moods. Additional lifestyle factors that promote positive moods include healthy sleep and exercise habits, avoiding fad diets and eating at regular intervals. For best results, seek specified guidance from a qualified professional.
The Good Mood Diet
"The Good Mood Diet" asserts that, by eating a healthy balance of "feel great" foods, such as nuts, fatty fish, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and cutting back on "feel bad" foods, such as processed snacks and fried foods, you will experience improved energy, moods and weight loss. The diet works in phases, starting with two weeks in which all "feel bad" foods are eliminated. According to author Kleiner, this phase helps reduce your cravings for less healthy foods. After this phase, particular foods, such as dark chocolate, can be added in modest amounts. Kleiner's book provides meal plans based upon 1,600, 1,800 and 2,200 calories per day, a variety of "feel good" recipes and shopping lists and encourages you to eat "feel good" foods you enjoy. Though the diet's promise of "instant" results may be misleading, the overall premise that eating primarily healthy foods and seeking enjoyment can provide benefits.
Low-Glycemic Diet
The glycemic index is a rating system that measures the impact carbohydrate-containing foods have on your blood sugar levels. In addition to supporting blood sugar balance, a low-glycemic diet may improve appetite control, weight management and your moods. A study published in the International Journal of Obesity in 2003 showed a positive correlation between a low-glycemic breakfast and moods, hunger and fullness between meals. In the study, 26 male participants who were assigned either a low-glycemic breakfast or a high-glycemic breakfast were studied for two days. At the end of the study, the researchers found that the males who ate the low-glycemic breakfast demonstrated improved moods, lower blood sugar and less hunger compared to the males who ate the high-glycemic breakfast.
Low-glycemic carbohydrates, such as whole grains and starchy vegetables, digest more slowly and can help prevent mood swings, particularly when consumed as part of balanced, healthy meals. If you consume a diet rich in refined carbohydrates, such as white flour products, potato chips and sweets, and struggle with low moods or mood swings, a low-glycemic diet may provide multiple benefits. Examples of low-glycemic dishes include oatmeal, sandwiches prepared on whole grain bread, whole wheat pasta and lentil soup.
Mediterranean Diets
Mediterranean diets are based upon the dietary habits of people who live in the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Though the diets between these countries vary somewhat, they abide by similar principles. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, plant-based oils and legumes are staples of Mediterranean diets. The diets also encourage regular intake of fatty fish, such as salmon, albacore tuna and sardines and little intake of saturated fat sources, such as red meat and processed foods.
Fatty fish, walnuts and canola oil provide rich amounts of omega-3 fatty acids---healthy fats that help prevent mood swings and depression, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. If you base your diet on nutritious foods, emphasized by Mediterranean diets, you may also reduce your risk for deficiencies of nutrients, such as B-vitamins and iron, which can also dampen emotional health. Mediterranean diets also emphasize enjoyment of food and sharing your meals with loved ones. Though moderate alcohol intake is encouraged by Mediterranean diets, you may benefit from limiting or avoiding alcohol if you struggle with mood problems, since alcohol is a depressant.
