Few things affect our state of mind, aka our mood, as deeply as food. Women being driven by some inexplicable hormonal energy to eat chocolate during PMS is one good example. There’s just something in that chocolate that causes them to feel so great!
Apart from the emotional bonds around food, such as comparing it with a celebration or party, the physiological side affects our mood. We’ve all seen children starting to have tantrums in the cereal aisles or at the checkout stand where all the desserts have been placed for fancy buying. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen such disturbances in the broccoli aisle.
People desire almost intuitively, comfort foods that are high in carbohydrates, which the body quickly converts into sugar in the bloodstream upon eating. Eating processed and concocted foods that contain unnecessary amounts of sugars and artificial ingredients and almost no dietary fiber renders the eater into a blood sugar horror.
Even cooked starches that some consider healthy such as potatoes, rice, and pasta, are transformed into simple sugars instantly in the body. This gives an instant rush of false energy and a short-lived feeling of well being, followed by a nasty setback and what some call ‘self-induced hypoglycemia.’
To feel healthier after the letdown phase, which can make people feel tired, irritable, and incapable of focusing, the body coerces one to eat more of the thing that gave it that happy rush in the first place. Now we see how we get set up for cravings. Ever tried to be in a good mood, feel elated about life, or get lots of work done when you are in the throes of caffeine withdrawal?
Most anti-depressants’ main role on the market is to improve the uptake of that famous ‘feel-good hormone’ serotonin. When this brain chemical is low, people desire carbohydrates and comfort foods to get it.
But if we discover how to sustain the brain accurately, we need not suffer from nutrient or serotonin deficiencies, and consequently, we can evade the addictions that keep us driven to the endless highs and lows. There is a sound and foolproof way to fulfill this.
One of the main reasons a raw vegan diet helps keep constant moods is because there are no toxins, addictive substances, or synthetic ingredients in living foods. Moreover, real foods are loaded with fiber to keep the abdominal tract and colon in tip-top shape and clean.
If the colon is loaded with waste, this excess is recirculated in the bloodstream again and again. How calm and pleasant do you think you can feel with your body’s own waste feeding your brain? Consumption of high fiber and natural sugars also reduces the wild roller coaster blood sugar fluctuations, which are ill-famed for conclusively draining our serotonin supplies.
After a detoxification period, which may sometimes be a bumpy road as our emotions are detoxified as well, the brain grows more accurate and sharper. Better health also makes an enhanced vision on life and restored confidence that other changes are achievable. When we start to look better, perhaps by losing a few pounds or our skin empties up, we start to look a more optimistic mood.
On a raw food diet, our brain grows cleaned and sustained on a cellular level, our feelings sharpen, and we drive to see the sun come out in our life once again. Won’t you join me in eating normally?