For the month of July 2021, our blog posts and social media lives focused on how food affects your mental health and how to improve your mental health through food. Most people have knowledge that food affects their physical health in terms of wellness and weight management, but lack understanding of how it affects their mental health. This month’s blogs and videos really broke down how food affects your mental health, so please take time after reading this to explore, read, and watch our videos on how your mental health is affected by your physical health. In this blog, I will do a quick recap on how to improve your mental health through food.

****You are what you eat.*****

How to Decrease Anxiety and Depression with Food | Anxiety and Depression Therapy in NJ

Below, is a list of the highlights discussed this month to help improve your mood with foods including foods to eat and foods to avoid.

*If you don’t eat healthy, you’re not providing your body with the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients it needs for your physical and mental health.

*A poor diet can lead to deficiencies that cause difficulties with mental health including difficulty focusing, concentrating, increased anxiety, and depressed mood.

*Sugars are the root of many diseases and symptoms related to mental health. 

*There are so many different names for sugar so be mindful and start to read the ingredients of what you eat.  Some names are maltose, sucrose, glucose, aspartame, saccharin, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, fructose, syrup and so much more.

*Green leafy foods can help provide many of the vitamins and nutrients you need to improve your mental and physical health because they are packed with vitamins and minerals.

*Caffeine can cause and increase symptoms of anxiety.  Caffeine can be found in coffee, sodas, energy drinks, and more.  Those three drinks are major culprits because they have both sugar and caffeine.  Yikes!!!

*Processed foods….uh oh!  Processed foods lack natural vitamins, minerals, and nutrients your body needs for healthy functioning.  Many of them are filled with sugar, salt (which is called sodium when you read the nutrition facts), and other ingredients you probably can’t pronounce or read or even heard of!   Be mindful of what you put in your body.  If you don’t know what it is, don’t consume it.

*Grocery Shopping- the grocery store is filled with the good, the bad, and the ugly.  When you go into the grocery store, notice they're all designed pretty similarly.  The healthier foods are on the perimeter of the store.  What that means is that those foods are in the freezer or fridge to keep them cool because most of them are not processed.  Let’s do a visual walk-through of the grocery store perimeter: deli, veggies and fruits, seafood, meats, then dairy, and frozen foods. Processed foods are the middle aisles and there’s a whole lot of them.  Challenge yourself to shop the entire perimeter first before going into the middle aisles.

*Processed foods- lack natural vitamins, nutrients, and minerals that we need for our minds and bodies to function at its best.  It is up to you to take care of your body, eat healthy, exercise, drink water and engage in self-care. 

*Now that you are aware of how your food affects your body, you can start to take control of your life, make better choices, and improve your physical and emotional health.

I hope this series was helpful for you. I encourage you to share our blog and videos with others whom you believe can benefit from this information.

If this is your first time, finding us, please like and follow our page: 4thandGroveCounseling on Facebook and Instagram and visit our blog at 4thandgrovecounseling.com for more videos and articles to help improve your mental health.  

You can catch us on Instagram and Facebook @4thandgrovecounseling

If you are seeking mental health therapy to decrease anxiety, depression, or process trauma or if you are in need of a bariatric psychological evaluation and reside in New Jersey, we can help.

Click here to watch the video, explaining how to improve your mood with food.

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