How Nutrition Can Affect Your Mood

Introduction:

Everyone knows that nutritional choices can greatly impact your daily life, but did you know that they can also drastically affect your mood? By picking different foods to ingest, you are setting up your brain and body to feel either more calm and focused or energetic and motivated. Picking the right foods can help shield you from symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Vagus Nerve:

Before we dive in any further, let's get a basic understanding of one of the most well-known neural pathways in the body. The vagus nerve, also known as the tenth cranial nerve (CNX), largely contributes to your brain-body connection. The vagus nerve starts on the medulla oblongata, the bottom-most part of your brain that connects to your spinal cord. It goes down into the heart, lungs, immune system, stomach, and intestines. The vagus nerve is both a sensory and motor nerve. Its sensory function allows it to relay information from the body to the brain. For example, if your immune system feels threatened, the vagus nerve will send a signal to your brain. The motor function allows the brain to send a signal from the brain to the body. It would send a signal to the immune system to start fighting the threat, possibly raising your internal body temperature to make an environment in which the threat cannot survive. The main functions of the vagus nerve are to sense how full or empty your stomach is, how acidic it is, and what nutrients you are ingesting.

Dopamine and Serotonin:

The next thing you must understand is what dopamine and serotonin are and what they do in the body. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is commonly mistaken as the molecule of pleasure. Its actual function is to give you feelings of motivation, pursuit, and reward. Balanced dopamine levels will leave you feeling happy, motivated, alert, and focused. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that plays a role in learning, memory, and happiness. Balanced levels of serotonin will leave you feeling happy, focused, and calm.

Digestive Effects on Mood:

In short, certain foods contain certain nutrients that are precursors to neurotransmitters, and those neurotransmitters are what can control your mood and make you happy. It is important, however to note the digestive role in all of this. You cannot simply stuff dopamine and serotonin into your brain. It must be metabolized in your digestive tract and taken up to the brain via the vagus nerve. Going a little deeper, you can tailor your diet to match what would have a healthy effect on your mood. For example, you can eat more foods that increase serotonin if you are generally a hyperactive person who is looking to be more calm and focused. Alternatively, if you are not a very active person, you may want to consider changing up your diet to include more foods that will give you an increase in dopamine. This will help boost your motivation and alertness.

Gut Sugar Sense

Some interesting experiments have been conducted where subjects have been blindfolded and had their taste buds numbed. They are then fed foods that are either sugary or not sugary. What was discovered was that people still ended up craving more sugary food. This is because when neurons from your vagus nerve sense sugary food in your stomach, they send a signal to the brain through the vagus nerve that you ate something sugary. This is followed by a release of dopamine, which motivates you to eat more sugary food. This is such a big find because if sugar is snuck into a food that you perceive as savory, you will still crave more of that food, which may be unhealthy for you.

Foods That Boost Serotonin and Dopamine:

There is not just one magical superfood that you can eat to always feel happy; there are many nutrients and amino acids that can affect your dopamine and serotonin levels. First of all, let's talk about omega-3 fatty acids, commonly known as "fish oil." Omega-3s are a healthy fat that your body needs to survive. They have also been found to increase precursors to dopamine and regulate serotonin levels. They have even been used as antidepressants in some cases. Foods that are rich in Omega-3s include salmon and other fish, chia seeds, avocados, walnuts, and more. Fish oil and krill oil supplements can also be great tools. Another compound that can boost your mood is an amino acid by the name of tyrosine. Tyrosine is an essential component in the construction of dopamine, meaning that if you ingest tyrosine, your brain will have the ability to create more dopamine. Foods that contain tyrosine include poultry, dairy, eggs, almonds, and more. Overall, the best thing you can do is have a balanced diet. Meaning you should limit ultra-processed foods and eat a variety of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. While there is the option to supplement these nutrients, supplementation can get very complicated and can cause mood swings and crashes. It is best to consult a physician if you are thinking about using supplementation to control your mood.

Conclusion:

We can’t always control our mood, but we can control our eating habits. By making better food choices, we can set ourselves up to feel a certain way. The things we eat impact the chemicals in our brain and how they work in our body.

Sources:

Alayo, Erick. “The Vagus Nerve and Digestion… What’s the Connection?” Www.gastrosb.com, 6 May 2022, www.gastrosb.com/the-vagus-nerve-and-digestion-whats-the-connection. Accessed 10 Aug. 2024.

Cleveland Clinic. “Dopamine.” Cleveland Clinic, 23 Mar. 2022, my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22581-dopamine. Accessed 10 Aug. 2024.

Cleveland Clinic. “Serotonin.” Cleveland Clinic, 18 Mar. 2022, my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22572-serotonin. Accessed 10 Aug. 2024.

“Omega-3 Fatty Acids.” Cleveland Clinic, 17 Nov. 2022, my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/17290-omega-3-fatty-acids. Accessed 10 Aug. 2024.

Huberman, Andrew. “How Foods and Nutrients Control Our Moods | Huberman Lab Podcast #11.” YouTube, 15 Mar. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfURDjegrAw. Accessed 10 Aug. 2024.

Mass General Bringham. “How Food Affects Your Mood | Mass General Brigham.” Www.massgeneralbrigham.org, 8 Mar. 2024, 

Mount Sinai. “Tyrosine Information | Mount Sinai - New York.” Mount Sinai Health System, www.mountsinai.org/health-library/supplement/tyrosine. Accessed 10 Aug. 2024.