A day's food to help my mood

I’ve changed my diet recently to help my mental health. It’s made a difference so I thought I would share.

BREAKFAST

Try a different breakfast

I realised that food could make a difference to my mood when I tried having a savoury breakfast. Instead of cereal and milk, I decided to eat something on toast, usually an egg with some cheese. And I noticed that instead of feeling low and hungry mid-morning, I felt full, more alert and less low.

Connect food with mood

I started playing around with different breakfasts. It became obvious that eating sugar (natural or added) had a bad effect on my mood, and that eating wholegrains, protein and vegetables kept me fuller and my mood more stable. I had blundered into the basics of keeping your blood sugar level steady. I also found that eating a bit of fat (cheese, nuts, avocado, hummus, oily fish) helped too.

Egg on toast

It's a classic for a reason. I add some cheese to give me my morning dose of calcium. If you want to add a vegetable, you could slice and fry some mushrooms or spring onions.

Ingredients: 1 egg, 30g cheese, 2 slices wholegrain bread

Method:
Cook the egg anyway you like. Put it on the toast and grate over the cheese.

1 box of eggs + 200g block cheese + 1 loaf wholemeal bread = 6 breakfasts

SNACKS

Don’t get hungry

I had been trying not to snack, because I was trying to lose weight. However, it turned out that getting hungry between meals wasn’t a good idea. The mental health charity, Mind, has a really good guide to food and mood. The first tip is to eat regularly to keep your blood sugar level steady. I started carrying unsalted nuts around with me in my bag and making sure I ate some mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Again, it helped me cope with the day better and feel more level. Tesco and Aldi both do cheap unsalted nuts. When I'm really hungry and a handful of nuts won't be enough, I eat unsalted peanut butter  or tahini on toast. 

LUNCH

Eat wholegrain carbohydrates

I have to admit I used to associate eating wholegrains with being excessively health conscious, however reading more about food and mental health, I discovered that eating wholegrain carbohydrates and other foods with a low glycemic index is a really good idea because they release sugar more slowly into your bloodstream. The Royal College of Psychiatrists has more on this in their guide to eating well. For me at lunchtime, this usually means wholegrain toast.

Get enough protein

Some of the advice surprised me. For example, it’s important to eat enough protein because it contains the building blocks of serotonin, the chemical your brain needs to regulate your thoughts and feelings. Protein also helps stabilise your blood sugar level. Of course, you don’t want to eat too much protein either. I think this lunch gets it about right - some protein and lots of vegetables….

Hummus on wholegrain toast with salad

I’ve never been good at eating pulses. I buy them, and then leave them in the cupboard. So, this is a good lunch for me. I’ve used spinach, tomatoes and red pepper, but any salad is good here. 

Ingredients: 1/3 pot hummus, 1 handful spinach, 5 cherry tomatoes, 1/3 red pepper, lemon juice  or vinegar, olive oil, 2 slices wholemeal bread.

Method: Cut up the tomatoes and red pepper, put them on a plate with the spinach, drizzle over lemon juice and olive oil. Spread the hummus (about 1/3 pot) on two slices of wholemeal bread.

1 pot hummus + 1/2 a 200g bag spinach + 250g cherry tomatoes + 1 red pepper + 1 lemon (or vinegar) + olive oil (+ the loaf you used for breakfast) = 3 lunches

How to stop your salad going slimy: Get a plastic container with a lid or a plastic bag with no holes, line it with a clean j-cloth or kitchen towel, put the spinach leaves inside, put the lid on or tie the top of the bag, put it in the fridge and your spinach should keep for a week.

DRINKS

Just drink loads of water

This is so dull. All the advice says keeping hydrated is important for your mood - that means drinking at least two pints of liquid per day. That was more than I was drinking. I just have to walk around with a water bottle and keep refilling it. To be honest, I don’t think it has had a big effect on my mood, but it has helped my digestion which is a good thing.

DINNER

Eat your greens (and oranges, reds, purples and whites)

When you’re feeling like crap, preparing vegetables doesn’t seem worth it, but it is. I always thought the advice about “eating the rainbow” was just for children who only ate peas. Wrong, it’s good advice for me too. If you're struggling, you really need the vitamins and minerals vegetables give you. I buy most of my fruit and veg fresh, but I like to have mixed berries in the freezer so I get enough purple.

Eat oily fish

This is the one piece of advice I already knew – the omega-3 fatty acids found in oily fish (salmon, sardine, anchovy, herring, mackerel) are good for your brain. Mind lists all the  sources of beneficial fats here. I find it easiest to keep salmon in the freezer (Tesco, Aldi and Sainsbury’s all do MSC certified frozen salmon) and tinned sardine and anchovy in the cupboard (Both fish are on the Marine Conservation Society’s ‘fish to eat’ list).

Sardine pasta with tomato and broccoli (serves 1)
Tinned sardine has a lot going for it. It's cheap, sustainable, high in omega-3 and makes a good sauce for pasta. Don't let the smell put you off when you open the tin. Once it's cooked up with garlic, chilli and lemon, it tastes great. 

Ingredients:

50g whole wheat pasta
Half a head of broccoli
A handful of cherry tomatoes
1 dsp olive oil (or another cooking oil)
1 clove garlic
1/2 red chilli or pinch of chilli flakes (optional0
1 tin of sardines
juice of half a lemon

Method
Cook the whole wheat pasta in boiling salted water for one minute less than the minimum cooking time. Mine says 8-10 minutes, so I boil it for 7 minutes.

Meanwhile chop the rest of your ingredients. Cut the garlic and chilli into thin slices. Cut each broccoli floret in half and then chop the stalk thinly. Do whatever you like with the tomatoes.

When the timer goes, add the broccoli to the pasta. Bring back to the boil and simmer for two minutes with the lid off. Use a sharp knife to check the broccoli is soft. Then drain into a sieve.

Get a pan that's big enough to hold the pasta. Add the olive oil and fry the garlic and chilli for a minute. Add the sardines and fry for two or three minutes, chopping them up so they make a sauce.

Then add the pasta, broccoli and tomatoes and stir until everything's combined. Finally, add the lemon juice and a pinch of salt and serve. Don't worry if you're kitchen looks like a bomb site. You can clear it up after you've eaten.

PUDDING

Everyone's different

Mind has a more detailed guide to food and mood. It makes it clear that there are lots of ways that food can affect your mood. So what works for me, may not work for you. For example,  I’m extremely sensitive to sugar –both added and natural – so the best time for me to eat fruit and other sweet things is with my evening meal. But you may find it helps you to eat a banana with breakfast. Good luck, I hope you find this post helpful. 

Orange with cinnamon and yoghurt

I find cinnamon is a good alternative to sugar, a little dusting brings a warm cosiness to bananas, oranges and apples.

Ingredients: 1 orange, pinch of cinnamon, blob of yoghurt

Method: Peel and chop the orange, sprinkle over the cinnamon, add yoghurt and eat.