【饮食健康】Good Mood Foods That Can Fight Holiday Weight Gain Mood, Gain, Holiday, Weight, Fight

leenyao

Many factors contribute to holiday season weight gain, depression, fatigue and irritability. Poor diet, lack of exercise and emotional tensions coupled with traditional treats like gooey deserts and alcohol add calories and deplete energy. Foods influence the brain's neurotransmitters and affect mood. Dietary strategies can help increase holiday joy without adding pounds.

Low-Sodium, High-Potassium Foods
Avoiding salty snacks and eating bananas may have a positive effect on mood. Australian researchers tested four diets that had varying balances of electrolytes on 38 women and 56 men with an average age of 56 years. Electrolytes are minerals, such as sodium, potassium and calcium, that are vital for heart, nerve and cellular functions. Participants switched diets every two weeks, undergoing assessments of mood and blood levels of cortisol, a stress hormone. Study results, published in The British Journal of Nutrition in November 2008, found less depression and tension and more energy was associated with a low-sodium, high-potassium diet. Potassium-rich foods include many that are traditionally part of seasonal fare, such as yams, apple juice, dates, figs, winter squash, romaine lettuce, avocados and oranges. Substituting fiber-filled fruits for refined holiday sweets can help stabilize weight.

Proteins and Amino Acids
High-protein foods metabolize slowly, which makes them less likely to cause fluctuations in blood sugar that result in irritability and hunger. Protein foods such as turkey and chicken breast, lamb, salmon, whole eggs and tofu are also rich sources of tryptophan, an amino acid that, along with vitamins B6, C, folic acid and magnesium, is converted to serotonin in the gut and the brain. Serotonin helps regulate appetite; low serotonin levels are associated with depression, anxiety, irritability, inability to concentrate and carbohydrate cravings. French researchers in an article on dietary tryptophan published in the September 2010 issue of Amino Acids, states that tryptophan availability is known to influence sensitivity to mood disorders. Other holiday foods high in tryptophan are crimini mushrooms, turnip greens, swiss chard, spinach, lima beans, green beans, pumpkin seeds, broccoli and asparagus.

Healthy Fats
Foods that are homemade are healthier. Commercially prepared crackers, cookies, chips, pies, salad dressings and icings frequently contain partially hydrogenated oils that are a source of trans fatty acids. These man-made fats contribute to weight gain by increasing insulin resistance, a factor in Type 2 diabetes, and by raising bad cholesterol while lowering good cholesterol. By contrast, saturated fats in butter and eggs only raise bad cholesterol. Better choices are omega-3 fatty acids found in walnuts, chia seeds, flax seeds, spirulina and cold water fish. These healthy fats increase good cholesterol and lower triglycerides and are vital to brain function. A study of 37 patients who visited a clinic for bipolar disorder showed that those given 1 to 2 g of omega-3 fatty acids per day had significantly lower levels of irritability. The findings were published in the February 2005 issue of Nutrition Journal.