Nutrition and Mental Health Part 2: Avoid Foods that Cause Anxiety

Hey, uh, we just wanted to have a chat about food and anxiety. Uh, I remember once I'd flown in, I was speaking at a large meeting and I felt great. It was about 10 AM and I got to the hotel. There was no food available, no, you know, restaurants or whatever. And I went down and bought some Cheetos, a Snickers bar, and a diet something, you know, one of those pretend diet drinks. And went up to my room and, you know, had those, watched telly, and about 30, 45 minutes later, I was absolutely depressed. I found myself standing overlooking the balcony into the foyer of the hotel, you know, contemplating incredibly dark thoughts. And I caught myself and I thought, hey, what happened between when I arrived excited about the weekend and now 45 minutes later? And the only thing that happened was Snickers bars, Orange Cheetos and some diet drink. And that set me on a whole journey of trying to understand a relationship between food and anxiety. Why don't you talk to us about some of the things we found?

What we found that affects John negatively as far as his mental health has been food colorings. Sugar is not his friend, and I have to remind him of that often. And often, sometimes sugar replacements are not so great for him as well. So We just try to limit those or stay away from them and know that if he does have that, it's going to cause a response. And I think it's important to be self-aware. Like, your self-awareness kind of saved you in that moment and taught you something.

It did. It really did. And like, sugar is fuel. It's a, it's a very powerful nutrition. And if I'm going into a situation where, say, I'm going to a fighting class, a boxing class, running, doing some high-intensity cardio. I use sugar to fuel my body because I'm desiring a particular outcome. What I don't want is to sit on my couch, have a bunch of sugar. Butterfingers, phenomenal after they've been in the freezer. Best food ever. It's not that I don't like that stuff, because I do. Like, that's why we all like sugar. That's why 60% of our nation are obese. But if I have that, I know that in 30 to 45 minutes, it's going to have an incredibly adverse effect on my well-being. So if I have it and I'm using it in an exercise situation, I know it's going to have an impact on my well-being in positive. If I'm sitting around doing nothing, I notice that I can start to slip into depression and anxiety and paranoia. And food does have that impact on you. You know, garbage in, garbage out, old computer term. And it's the same with your mental health. Be aware. Notice, as Mel said, be self-aware. If you find yourself slipping after a big family barbecue or a big event or a big meal, what did you eat that caused that? Because food should not make you dip mentally and emotionally. It should actually mellow you out, feeling of satisfaction, and be a positive thing for you. And her idea of walking around the outside of the grocery store. And eat that. That's important.

Yeah, eat whole foods. Yeah, you want to stay with the fresh stuff is, is good. And even if you want to use sugar like a tool, you know, have it be honey or, or something else natural.

With peanut butter on toast in the morning. It's phenomenal. See ya.