The foods you eat could be impacting your mind as much as your body.
It’s possible that the foods you’re eating could be making your mental health even worse. Your diet could be directly impacting the way you’re feeling, so it’s important to understand exactly which foods to eat and which to avoid.
1. Caffeine: If you’re overindulging in caffeine through coffee, chocolate, soda, or any other forms of caffeinated foods and drinks, your mental health could start to suffer. Excess caffeine in the diet (roughly 400 milligrams or about 4 cups of coffee) can worsen anxiety as it overstimulates areas in the brain that perceives a threat. In addition, caffeine can shut down areas of the brain that can help regulate anxiety.
2. Alcohol: This one may not come as too much of a surprise, but if your mental health is suffering, alcohol could be making it worse.
3. Artificial sweeteners: Staying away from processed foods with artificial sweeteners could be the key to improving your mood.
4. Fried foods: The negative effects of eating fried foods when it comes to your overall health of your body and mind completely out way any of the potential positives—we can’t think of any positives, honestly. From the impacts on cardiovascular health to weight gain, fried foods are truly one of the worst to be put into your body, not to mention the impact on mental health.
