BBC - How food affects your mood ;) 3/3

Scientists are proving that what's in the foods you eat can effect the chemical composition of your brain. The foods you eat can affect your mood, including your level of alertness and your perception of pain.
What is it about foods that yields this kind of power? It is foods ability to alter the production or release of neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers that carry information from one nerve cell to another. Neurotransmitters are responsible for such important bits of information, like "I'm full" or, "AGG! I'm very anxious about this!"
The Theory
Just how does a food affect neurotransmitters? According to Dr. Richard Wurtman at MIT, who is involved in numerous studies on nutrition and the brain, the nutrients in foods are precursors to neurotransmitters, and depending on the amount of precursors present in the food you eat, the more or less of a certain neurotransmitter is produced. Although this process may seem fairly straightforward, it is complicated by the fact that foods most often are made up of more than one nutrient, and how those different nutrients interact will also impact the production and release of neurotransmitters.
The Practice
Despite the complexity, there are certain established bits of knowledge of how food affects your mood that you can put into practice.

Boost your alertness with protein. Protein foods are broken down into their amino acid building blocks during digestion. One amino acid, called tyrosine, will increase the production of dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine. These neurotransmitters are known for their ability to increase levels of alertness and energy. No one eats pure tyrosine, but eating foods high in protein will give you a slight mental boost. High protein foods include fish, poultry, meat, and eggs. If you can't eat those, try high protein foods that also contain significant amount of carbohydrates, such as legumes, cheese, milk, or tofu.
For relaxation and anti-stress, eat carbohydrates. Eating carbohydrates will trigger the release of insulin into the blood stream. Insulin goes about clearing all the amino acids out of the blood, with the exception of tryptophan. Tryptophan is an amino acid that normally gets crowded out by other amino acids in its attempt to cross the blood brain barrier, but when its competitors are out of the way, it enters the brain en mass. Once in the brain, the tryptophan is converted to serotonin. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that has the effect of reducing pain, decreasing appetite, and producing a sense of calm, and in too large a quantity, inducing sleep. Research has shown that dieters tend to become depressed about two weeks into a diet, about the time their serotonin levels have dropped due to decreased carbohydrate intake. Healthy carbohydrate foods to turn to for anti-stress include whole grain breads and crackers, whole grain pasta, rice, cereal, and fruits. cont'd http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/how-food-affects-mood.html

More Juice?

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Depression/feel-eat/story?id=4387456

http://www.cure-your-depression.com/food-and-depression.html

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=56719

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/12-3-2005-83027.asp

http://www.health24.com/dietnfood/General/15-742,38867.asp

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[Baraquiel62]

that's why Chinese people are smart ass..

[yourboycal]

@Baraquiel62 lol i think there so smart , because there country is so over populated , and the labour with no education is very cheap and no body makes money. I guess they all want out of that trap and study there asses off to become anything but a slave worker lol.

[memoryfoamcomfort1]

I used 5 HTP Combined with Tyrosine, and Whey protein to help get out of my depression. Also needed to detox my liver with L-Methionine and Inositol. Now I am feeling much better, thanks to the wonders of amino acids!

[michealjohnedmondson]

annnnnnnd whyyyy do we stil have pharmaceutical companies that issue "anti-depressants? ALL BULLSHIT

[gigglypuffypuff]

so, they are saying carbs make you relaxed and happy and then they go on to say wheat causes depression..umm..make up your mind people!

[meab12]

@Baraquiel62 sorry. didnt mean to sound arrogant in that last comment

[Baraquiel62]

@meab12 okay.

[meab12]

@Baraquiel62 thats a stupid comment. no nationality or race is born any smarter than any other. its what path you take after you are born that determines your success in life. of course it is a lot easier to become successful in some countries than others

[HairLikeCottonCandy]

It took her that long to realize a correlation between good diet and feeling good? omfg, next week she may figure out the benefits of regular exercise and not smoking.

[reasonz2lie]

I agree with you that they probably did want to get away from all of that and studied harder but i also believe that it's because of exposure to harder lives that they develop a strong feeling of if i can get through that there isn't anything I can go through. Imo 10 years of school and study can't teach what you could learn in 1 year of traveling. 

[Baraquiel62]

@yourboycal Yes I must addmit that it really happen over there.. and also here in Mexico City, but the bad part down here is that theres not jobs at all.. and the ones that are here you must be really smart and competitive to get the jobs so is harder than anything you think but unfurtunatly not all people think right to make sucess and thigs goes wrong.. but yeah I'm totally agree about yout poit about china.. and I've been eating them sort of way even thought I didnt know it..