Does the type of food you eat affect your mood?

Studies show that they do.  How far it is true and how proven is this theory, I have no answer.  I read an article online stating that the neurotransmitters in our brain is sensitive to food.  It states that if you want to improve your memory and concentration, you should eat eggs.  Caffeine is known to be an anti-depressant.  Carbohydrates help to reduce stress and protein will boost alertness.  How bizarre!

food for thought

Is it true to say that you are what you eat? We are privileged in this modern society to be given a choice to decide what we want to eat and not eat. We are given the choice to decide if we want to be a vegetarian, vegan, pescetarian or simply a meat eater. In the society where I grew up, alternative herbal remedy is regarded as the way to good body and mental health. The very same society also regards eating exotic food as the key to increasing one's energy, well-being and libido. For generations this society swear by the teachings of their ancestors, that all illnesses can be cured simply by balancing our "chi". In recent years, the western civilisations have also subscribed to alternative remedy and cut down on consumption of drugs produced by multi-million dollar pharmaceutical companies.

I believe that the key to a healthy lifestyle is to eat what gives us the necessary nutrients that our body needs. If we hold on to the belief that killing animals is cruel and choose not to eat meat, for example, how would we deal with our children who later in life decides he/she prefers meat to vegetables?

Some people highly regard organic foods and rate them higher on the quality scale. It also comes with a bigger price tag so not everyone can feed a family of five or seven purely organic food.

Obesity amongst children in some nations have also gotten the attention of media and the government and positive steps to revamping school lunch menus and educating parents on what is good and bad food in the hope that it will create an awareness that if you constantly eat bad food, it will lead to a less healthy life on the whole.

So if you are indeed what you eat, where do we start to make things right with our body and health. Do we read an article in a health magazine or read a book and follow the strict eating regime? Do we run to the council and place our name on the wait list for an allotment to grow our own organic vegetables? Do we call up the nearest gym and book an appointment with the personal trainer? There are many "claimed" health schemes that we can adopt, e.g. a 10-step program, atkins diet, etc...

At the end of the day, we end up more confused than before we started. How did it all get so complicated? No wonder they say ignorance is bliss. Our ancestors fed on what was made available to them and lived quite healthy lives. So where and when did it all go wrong? Maybe we should blame the advertising companies and mass food producers who are more interested in profits and nothing else except profits.

So maybe we should go back to cooking our own meals. By doing so we have the liberty to choose what ingredients to use and where it should come from. We can control the amount of salt, sugar or preservatives to use in our cooking. Maybe it is time to do exactly that - cook your own meals!