Improving Your Mental And Physical Health Via Food: Dietary Choices Pack A Punch
Posted by Jessica Kiernan Written by Paige Johnson on 31st Mar 2017
Whenever someone is looking for ways to feel better, both physically and mentally, looking toward food is a key place to start. It can be challenging to change your diet for the better, but making the effort can result in significant rewards. Not only does food impact your weight, but it can impact your energy, mental health, and affect other conditions as well.
Focus on eating a variety of high-quality foods to improve your health.
As the site Family Doctor details, one of the best ways to ensure that you are living a healthy life is to focus on good nutrition and a balanced diet. Making the effort to eat quality foods that include vegetables, fruits, lean proteins and dairy, and whole grains can go a long way toward improving your overall health. A well-balanced diet not only affects your figure, but it can help to alleviate problems with issues such as chronic pain, depression, and even some impact your ability to work on addiction issues.
Changing your diet can be a major challenge, but it can help to start small and set some goals. Many experts recommend keeping a food log to record everything you eat and drink so you can see patterns and look for the best places to start making changes. Not only does a food diary help you recognize your eating patterns, but as Fitday shares, it can help you want to eat better and see your eating in a fresh light.
Sugary treats, high-fat foods, and beverages with caffeine or alcohol may taste great and may seemingly curb some emotional needs as you consume them. However, eliminating these types of foods as much as possible and focusing on quality nutrition can lead to major improvements in how you feel, and these changes do not necessarily take long to appear.
Food choices can make a significant difference in dealing with chronic pain
There is not any type of one-size-fits-all approach to using food to manage chronic pain, as different conditions react differently to different foods. However, there are certain foods that are known for helping chronic pain that is associated with certain conditions such as fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis.
Foods like cauliflower, asparagus, oranges, cherries, cranberries, and soy are helpful for many people working to manage these types of conditions that cause chronic pain. In addition, cutting out foods such as dairy, wheat, chocolate, meat, eggs, nuts, and corn sometimes produce positive results.
Depression and addiction can also be impacted positively and negatively by diet changes
Issues of depression can also be significantly impacted by food choices. Rather than reach for sweets and heavy foods during times of crisis, Healthy Women suggests focusing on balanced, nutritious options. Food choices packed with magnesium, such as sunflower seeds, quinoa, avocados, and almonds, can pack a positive punch and complex carbohydrates like sweet potatoes, beans, and whole grains can be helpful as well.
Focusing on healthy food is also critical when working through something like a drug addiction issue. It is easy to turn to junk food when trying to focus on a bigger issue like drug addiction, but incorporating nutrient-dense foods into one's diet instead can go a long way toward building stamina, strengthening the immune system, and repairing one's body.
There is no doubt that quality nutrition impacts one's body in many ways, but people often overlook how important diet is in combating issues related to one's physical and mental health. While specific strategies will vary by condition, experts agree that focusing on high-quality, nutrient-dense foods can lead to significant gains when handling issues such as drug addiction, depression, and chronic pain.