3.3 Moods and Foods

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3.3 Moods and Foods

• Emotional and Psychological
• Ties to Eating

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Do Now

• In your notes, answer the following questions
• How does your family celebrate your favorite
  holiday?
• What do you do when you are feeling stressed out
  or depressed?
• How is that different from when you were a
  toddler?

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Introduction

• We eat food to nourish our bodies.
• Our bodies require energy, and food provides the
  necessary calories for our bodies to perform
  their basic functions.
• Our bodies also need nutrients from a rich and
  varied source of healthy foods to keep them
  healthy and strong.
• Without food, we would die.

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Learned Behavior

• When we are infants, all we know is that it
  doesnt feel good to be hungry, and if we cry,
  well get fed.
• Babies dont eat until theyre so full they have
  to undo the top button on their footie pajamas.
• Babies dont stop eating before they are full so
  that they can look like the babies in the
  magazines.
• All of the negative ways in which we use food are
  learned behaviors.

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Look at your answers.

• What did you say for questions 2 and 3?
• Do you eat when you feel stressed out or
  depressed?
• When you were little, what did you do?

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What we learn

• Its only as we get older that we understand the
  other ways that food plays into our lives.
• We learn the nutritional value of certain foods.
• We learn that when we are good we get food as a
  reward, like a lollipop after a shot.
• We learn that when we are upset, food can make us
  feel better, like getting a lollipop to stop us
  from crying.
• We learn that certain body shapes are good.

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What we forget

• There are some healthy things that very young
  children know better than grown-ups
• When you are sad, you cry.
• When you are mad, you shout.
• When you are happy, you laugh, play, sing, dance,
  etc.
• When you are bored, you play!
• When you are tired, you sleep.
• When you are hungry, you eat.

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• Food is such an essential part of the human
  experience that we use food for a wide variety of
  uses other than the health of our bodies
• art (like in fancy restaurants and cooking shows)
• cultural and religious identity (keeping kosher,
  eating traditional Indian food, etc.)
• reward for good behavior
• response to negative emotions
• entertainment
• expression of affection (like cooking a nice meal
  for someone to show them you care, or bringing a
  box of chocolates to your valentine)
• Can you think of others?

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Look at your answers.

• What did you say for question number 1?
• What kind of memories and emotions come to mind
  when you think about these foods?

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Food and Celebration

• Food is an integral part of our celebrations.
• It is very closely connected to our cultural
  identities.
• Preparing special meals is a way of showing
  people we care about them.
• This is a very good thing, but it can be hard
  when food and eating habits gets confused with
  being a good or bad person.

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Food as a Value Judgment

• Often, when we eat a normal, healthy diet, we
  take it for granted.
• If we decide to treat ourselves to a decadent
  dessert, we often say we are being bad.
• If we have a bad day, mess up, and accidentally
  eat the entire bag of chips, we feel even worse
  about ourselves.
• When we see people who maintain a very strict
  diet or food regimen, we say they are being
  good.

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• Eating habits can be healthy, unhealthy,
  in-between, or just one slip up on a bad day.
• Are eating habits what make up a persons moral
  character?
• Write down 5 character traits that make someone a
  good person.
• What did you say?
• Did thin or adheres to South Beach Diet make
  the list?

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Food and Negative Emotions

• Sometimes we use food to make us feel better when
  we are stressed out, out of control, angry, sad,
  anxious, tired, or bored.
• Some people limit or cut off their food intake in
  response to these negative emotions.
• Others binge or eat comfort foods.

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Comfort Foods

• Some foods are comfort foods because of the
  happy memories associated with them, like with
  the holiday food. They remind us of being cared
  for.
• Other foods are comfort foods because of the
  physical effect they have. They can actually be
  mood-altering.
• Can you think of any foods that literally change
  your mood?

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Chocolate

• Chocolate is high in saturated fat, which can
  contribute to heart disease in the long run.
• Chocolate is usually high in sugar as well.
• Too much caffeine can cause trouble sleeping,
  headaches and heart palpitations.
• Chocolate cannot write your 10 page paper or make
  your boyfriend apologize.

• Chocolate can increase the levels of serotonin in
  your brain (a chemical that makes you feel
  happy).
• It also has caffeine, which can increase your
  energy level, and even help ward of Alzheimer's
  disease.
• Dark chocolate has powerful antioxidants, which
  prevent aging and certain types of cancer.

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Sugar/Simple Carbs

• Simple carbohydrates, like sweets and baked goods
  can give a brief increase in serotonin.
• Complex carbs, like whole grain bread and fruit
  will give you a longer lasting boost in energy
  and serotonin.

• Simple carbs can be addictive.
• They go quickly through the body and dont give
  you energy for long.
• Carbs that arent used up are stored as fat in
  your body.
• The only downside to complex carbs is that they
  cant fix your relationship with your parents, or
  make you the worlds best parallel parker.

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Good Foods to Help your Moods
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Getting the Root of the Problem

• Although there are foods that can literally get
  you out of a bad mood, food cant address
  stressors in your life that cause bad moods.
• There are many healthy ways to react to emotions
  that have nothing to do with food.
• In groups of 3, brainstorm at least 2 ways to
  deal with each of the emotions on this chart.
• You will have 4 minutes to work on this, and then
  I will compile your answers on the board.

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Healthy Practices

• Here are some things you can do to handle
  negative emotions before they begin
• Celebrate healthy food and enjoy it!
• But dont get caught up in feeling guilty if you
  make an unhealthy eating decision. Nobodys
  perfect.
• Exercise for 30 minutes a day.
• This will release endorphins that make you feel
  better.
• Get plenty of rest.
• You need at least 7 hours of sleep a night.

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• Find a healthy stress-relief practice that works
  for you.
• Yoga, meditation, journaling, and
  artistic/musical expression are good examples.
• Keep in touch.
• Having a network of supportive mentors and
  friends can help you deal with all of your
  emotions and life events.

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Ticket Out

• On your ticket out, please write the following
• one new thing you learned
• one question you have about the lesson
• one healthy practice that you would like to
  develop in your life.