Food is a big part of life -- fueling bodies, but also playing a central role in social interactions, family life and daily routines. Food marks important milestones to celebrate successes and mourn losses. Dieting might affect your mood both due to chemical changes in your brain, induced by changes in your nutrition, as well as due to negative feelings caused by restriction or negative self-image.
Blood Sugar
Blood glucose refers to the amount of sugar available in your bloodstream for use as energy. Insulin responds to sugar available in the blood, moving it throughout your body as fuel. Too little glucose in your blood, or hypoglycemia, might lead to depression, anxiety, irritability and potentially aggression. Increases in blood sugar might also lead to changes in your mood. Dieting, particularly diets that restrict calories or food groups, affects blood sugar levels and subsequently your mood. Maintain balanced blood glucose levels by eating frequent, small meals.
Serotonin
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter primarily found in your central nervous system and gastrointestinal tract. Serotonin is responsible for managing your mood, sleep and appetite. Nutrition and serotonin are intimately related. Not only is 80 percent of your body’s serotonin located in your gut, but it is also regulates insulin and insulin-like growth factor-1, suppressing insulin release from your pancreas.
Diet and Serotonin
Food choices affect serotonin levels. Low-protein diets, rich in complex carbohydrates, raise serotonin levels, improving mood, according to Medscape Medical News. The act of dieting itself, however, might also affect serotonin levels. The book “Tryptophan, Serotonin, and Melatonin: Basic Aspects and Applications” reports that as few as three weeks on a diet might lower transmission of serotonin in the brain.
Psychology of Dieting
Negative affect refers to your experience and expression of emotions. Some diets promote positive affect, such as low-fat and high-carbohydrate diets, while others prompt negative affect. Your experience of dieting might be both positive and negative. While you might feel positively about achieving your aesthetic goals, you might also develop dangerous cognitions, or thoughts, that place you at risk for eating disorders. Increasing fixation on food and weight loss might promote increased depression and irritability.
References
- News Medical: What is Serotonin?
- “Journal of Social Issues”; Help, Not Harm: Psychological Foundation for a Nondieting Approach Toward Health; Traci McFarlane, et al.; December 2002
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Anorexia Nervosa -- Overview; Paul Ballas, D.O.
- MIT News; Carbs Are Essential for Effective Dieting and Good Mood, Wurtman Says; Elizabeth A. Thomson; February 2004
- "Tryptophan, Serotonin, and Melatonin: Basic Aspects and Applications"; Serotonin, Dieting and Bulimia Nervosa; P.J. Cowan and K.A. Smith; 1999
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Hypoglycemica – Symptom
- National Eating Disorders Association; Know Dieting: Risks and Reasons to Stop; 2005
- Medscape Medical News; Low-Fat Diet Linked to Improved Mood; Pauline Anderson; November 2009
- News Medical: Serotonin Function
