Week 3
HAPPY FOOD
Today’s Take-Time Tuesday is about caring for our body by thinking about what we are putting inside it – what we eat, and our relationship with food.
The gut is sometimes described as ‘the second brain’. This is because our gastrointestinal tract is lined with more than 100 million nerve cells. With our central nervous system controlling digestion, there is therefore, a great deal of communication between our brain and gut. Therefore, when we have irritation in the gut, messages are sent through our central nervous system and on to our brain, which can in turn, trigger mood changes.
Knowing that mood and food are hugely linked, today is all about taking time to really enjoy, appreciate and be considerate about our eating.
“There is no sincerer love than the love of food.”
– George Bernard Shaw
1.
Make an event out of dinner tonight. Plan your meal (balanced and nutritious is best for your mood!), and spend time preparing it (maybe get your happy playlist on whilst you are cooking). Whilst you are eating, avoid having any phones or gadgets around, pay attention to what you are eating, and savour the food you made the effort to prepare.
Dinner time
2.
Here at the Happynesshub, we’ve always loved Rachel Kelly and Alice Mackintosh’s book ‘The Happy Kitchen’. It is filled with delicious recipes, all of which consider what food might be best for your mood! If you are interested in buying it, it can be found here, or for a taster, try out this recipe from the book on Rachel’s blog.
5 minutes
3.
If you would like more information on the foods you can focus on incorporating into your diet to improve your mood, this BBC article is a great guide.
10 minutes