By deepikachalasani July 19, 2021 - 5:48pm

Although the connection between nutrition and mental health is being researched at large, one thing is certain: Many of us are not always happy. Depression and anxiety, along with other mental illnesses like obsessive-compulsive disorder, are triggers for a variety of triggers. For example, you might suffer from depression for years without knowing it (talk with healer https://www.thehealersrealm.com/heal-with-me), or you might have started off with a positive mental outlook, only to see it dissipate as the days go by. Many experts are beginning to recognize a link between nutrition and mood, and while what is sure is not yet fully established, what is known is enough to make this claim with some degree of confidence.

Naturally, your mood is at the top of your list when it comes to your overall health. When you’re healthy, you’re happy. When you’re depressed, you’re ready for something, anything, all of which adds to your appeal. Whatever comes your way, however, works: A sense of satisfaction and happiness will follow.

However, there might be consequences to your being completely happy. Being happy (or neutral) most of the time will ensure a sense of balance, but one day your body might feel the absence of balance, and you will reach for whatever is familiar. Priming yourself is a way to jump the gun, literally, to make certain that you don't feel deprived. If you're going to hit a wall, you might as well be happy about it.

It is essential to try to keep your emotions regulated, at least a little. It feels much better to reach for something enjoyable, even if it is unhealthy, and you will likely feel better afterward. The effort to keep your emotions regulated can even be better than the alternative: letting them go completely unregulated, where emotions can wreak havoc and where you have no control over them. Maintaining a healthy emotional relationship with your body is essential to your overall well-being. The body you feel comfortable with is your body, and the manner in which you regulate it is the way in which you have control over your emotions. Think of it this way: The fewer adjustments you have to make between eating well and exercising, the better off you are in the long run.

Therefore it’s best for you to try to find alternative, more enjoyable ways to create and enjoy this feeling of balance. Simple choices such as exchanged salads for sandwiches, fresh fruit for cookies, pleasurable cooked experiences instead of boring microwaved ones, and non-starchy vegetables and cooked whole grains instead of French fries. The more effort you put into making these healthy, enjoyable choices, the better off you are in the long run. Eating healthy and rewarding yourself with treats makes all the positive emotional momentum you create, and your commitment to improve your health will pay off in the following days and weeks, as you begin to feel better and more energetic.

Healthy Emotions

Unhealthy emotions often lead to wild and unproductive hyperactivity, stress and anxiety, while also contributing to poor performance. From a biochemical perspective, your emotions are associated with the serotonin level and dopamine levels in your brain, which feel good and make you feel great. However, there is also a deep physiological quality to emotional feelings, enough to toll the body's biological system. For instance, the experience of joy or happiness is processed through your central and peripheral nervous system, stimulating the release of endorphins that directly lower the chance of suffering from depression or poor health. At the same time, the experience of contraction or hardship is processed through the oxytocin in your brain, building your walls and defense mechanisms, to help you survive physical danger. These sensations, and others, may lead to strong and negative emotions, which, if let loose, will create a rollercoaster of emotions, often leaving you feeling deflated and frightened. At the same time, the use of sweets and other non-healthy foods will likely leave you feeling sweeter than you were before, temporarily relieving the negative emotions, but leaving you with the increased appetite and cravings for sweets.

Now, you may wonder, "How do I learn to be happy and content?" You will have to. Today, you have to get real, and stop playing around. You must look at the big picture. If you are playing around, you are unhappy. If you are happier now than you were three months ago, you are making progress. You must balance your emotional life, including your emotions about food, your emotions about exercise, and your emotions about relationships, about creativity and your feelings about how you look. Sometimes, food is the source of your happiness and contentment, sometimes it is the enemy. How are you going to deal with that?

The fact is that it is not the enemy. It is the food that keeps you on that merry-or makes you sick.