Making your mealtime a community experience by eating with others keeps you happy<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t A few years ago, I woke up one morning and couldn\u2019t get out of bed. I wasn\u2019t hungover, nor did I stay up too late. But, I mean, physically, emotionally, and mentally, I couldn\u2019t rouse the strength, energy, or desire to get out of bed. I racked my brains, trying to find a plausible reason: I\u2019m not sleeping enough. I\u2019m not getting enough sunlight. I need to de-stress. Finally, my doctor told me that it was depression.<\/p> \u00a0<\/p> I\u2019m no stranger to depression; it runs in the family. However, when my doctor gave me anti-depressants, they seemed to stick in my throat. I couldn\u2019t get around the idea of requiring them, but they ended up turning my life around.<\/p> \u00a0<\/p> The doctor also gave me some insane advice along with my prescription. He told me that my diet and exercise would also help improve my mood. I mean, what a quack, right? Surely something as simple as eating well and exercising isn\u2019t the answer to my mental health?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t I soon discovered that, in my case, allopathic medicine and dietary and lifestyle changes made a happy union. Although my depression needed to be treated with allopathic medicine, I actively improved my mental health by eating nutritious meals and exercising. I started seeing improvements by leaps and bounds. Within a year, I kissed my medication goodbye and haven\u2019t seen it since.<\/p> \u00a0<\/p> \u00a0Most importantly, I learned that I wasn\u2019t powerless when it came to my mental health with the right tools and information. I never realized how much power lay within a simple choice.<\/p> \u00a0<\/p> \u00a0Connecting good nutrition and mental health isn\u2019t a giant leap of faith. If the food can make us feel guilty, sluggish, or bloated, other foods can make us feel energetic. Overeating unhealthy food cause disease, other foods promote good health. Food also can bring people together to create a personal sense of well-being and support and is a way of soothing negative emotions. Certain foods can connect past experiences and memories, and our food choices can influence the neurotransmitters in our brains, which impact our mental health.<\/p> \u00a0<\/p> \u00a0Food is so much more than what flavours you\u2019re craving or where you\u2019ll order from on Swiggy. Your food choices can directly interact with your perception of yourself and your world.<\/p> \u00a0<\/p> \u00a0If you need a minute to soak the importance of that statement in, I\u2019ll wait.<\/p> \u00a0<\/p> \u00a0There has been a lot of exciting work emerging on nutrition and depression. A paper titled Evidence of the Importance of Dietary Habits Regarding Depressive Symptoms and Depression, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, states as much. \u201cSeveral studies showed an association between dietary intake with inflammatory potential and risk of depression in different populations,\u201d it stated. It also pointed out that several micronutrient deficiencies contribute to depressive systems, particularly with a high-processed diet. Those who ate a high processed diet \u201chad a significantly lower intake of B12, magnesium, and folic acid in their diet, compared to the group that had the lowest intake of processed foods. As several studies indicate, these micronutrients are linked to moods, though more research is needed.\u00a0<\/p> \u00a0<\/p> Highly processed diets are characterized by foods that have been altered or packaged in any way and are higher in sodium, sugar, or fat content. Highly processed diets are often deficient in many vitamins that you\u2019d find in whole, unprocessed food choices, such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. A practical example will be choosing a bag of chips for a snack versus a whole food (unprocessed food), such as an apple. The components that make up a high processed diet are also pro-inflammatory, meaning the body responds by creating inflammation, which can trigger a host of issues with your health, not least of which impacts your moods.<\/p> \u00a0<\/p>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/epiclivingacademy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/1-1024x433.jpg\")
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