THE FOOD/MOOD CONNECTION:
"Choosing foods that your body absorbs slowly keeps blood sugar steady, maintaining your feelings on an even keel," says Elizabeth Somer, RD, author of Food & Mood. Slow-digesting foods include whole-grain cereal with milk, brown rice with salmon or chicken breast, a peanut butter sandwich on whole-wheat bread, or a spinach salad and half a turkey sandwich with milk. You want to eat either quality carbohydrates or carbohydrates mixed with protein, she says.
Foods that absorb quickly, such as sugar, white bread, or anything refined, spike blood sugar high; then cause it to suddenly crash. After a crash, you'll feel crabby and hungry, and end up grabbing chocolate bars or candy -- setting yourself up for yet another blood sugar dive, Somer says.
BOOST YOUR MOOD WITH FEEL-GOOD SEROTONIN:
High-protein diets may help you drop pounds, but they won’t do much to raise your spirits. That's because your body craves serotonin, the feel-good chemical found in foods that boost your mood.
"Carbohydrates are essential for moving tryptophan (the amino acid that makes up serotonin) across the brain," says Susan M. Kleiner, PhD, RD, co-author of The Good Mood Diet. When your blood sugar drops, less carbohydrate is available in the bloodstream; less tryptophan moves across into the brain and your mood can plummet.
In fact, researchers at Arizona State University found that after just two weeks, a very low-carb diet increased fatigue and reduced the desire of overweight adults to exercise.
Serotonin fights holiday weight gain, too. "It tells you when you've had enough by causing satiety (a feeling of fullness) and reducing your appetite," says Judith J. Wurtman, PhD, co-author of The Serotonin Power Diet.
Foods that absorb quickly, such as sugar, white bread, or anything refined, spike blood sugar high; then cause it to suddenly crash. After a crash, you'll feel crabby and hungry, and end up grabbing chocolate bars or candy -- setting yourself up for yet another blood sugar dive, Somer says.
BOOST YOUR MOOD WITH FEEL-GOOD SEROTONIN:
High-protein diets may help you drop pounds, but they won’t do much to raise your spirits. That's because your body craves serotonin, the feel-good chemical found in foods that boost your mood.
"Carbohydrates are essential for moving tryptophan (the amino acid that makes up serotonin) across the brain," says Susan M. Kleiner, PhD, RD, co-author of The Good Mood Diet. When your blood sugar drops, less carbohydrate is available in the bloodstream; less tryptophan moves across into the brain and your mood can plummet.
In fact, researchers at Arizona State University found that after just two weeks, a very low-carb diet increased fatigue and reduced the desire of overweight adults to exercise.
Serotonin fights holiday weight gain, too. "It tells you when you've had enough by causing satiety (a feeling of fullness) and reducing your appetite," says Judith J. Wurtman, PhD, co-author of The Serotonin Power Diet.
HEART - TO - HEART
God is love. So many people have heard this statement so many times until I believe we have lost the intensity of what is being said. The fact that the God of the Universe, the creator Himself chooses to be loving and attentive to us. This Valentine's Day, I pray that you will receive the love He has for you and that the flame of your love for Him will be kindled and burn all the more. Take a moment to think about what God is saying to you while you read the following scriptures. Be blessed!
In His Name,
Michelle
"Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is Good;
His love endures forever." I Chronicles 16:34
"Because he (you and I) have set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he has known my name. And He (you and I) shall call upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and shew him My salvation." Psalms 91:14-16
"Because I love Your commands more than gold, more than pure gold, and because I consider all your precepts right,
I hate every wrong" Psalms 119:127-128
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish,
but have everlasting live." John 3:16
"For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord." Romans 8:38-39
"How precious to me are Your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them. Were I to count them they would outnumber the grains of sand--when I awake, I am still with You." Psalms 139:17-18
When You said, Seek My face; my heart said unto You,
Thy face, Lord will I seek"" Psalms 26:8 KJV
