Welcome to week 6 of How To Beat The Winter Blues!
How did you get on with last week’s techniques? Have you been letting go, this past week? Any questions? Any insights? Please share them via our Facebook group!
This week we’re moving on to food traps – the ‘traditional’ winter ‘comfort food’ that brings with it a potentially high price to pay, if you are prone to the winter blues.
Discover the top five winter blues food traps that could be wrecking your mood – and what you can do about them.
If you’re into eating with the seasons, then you’ll notice that the salads and tomatoes we crave in summer – all cooling and water-based veggies – are replaced with more carbohydrate-rich squashes and root vegetables in winter, along with dark leafy greens.
If you continue with your summer diet in winter (which is what most supermarkets think we want to do), then your body won’t be getting the nutrients it needs, to handle the change of season.
It’s natural, in the colder and darker months, to want to eat the starchy foods that nature is offering us.
In fact, if you don’t, it becomes more likely that you’ll fall into one of the five winter blues food traps – because your body will be trying to compensate for the all-year-round diet that most of us are consuming.
One of the most common reactions when we’re feeling down or cold or tired is to reach for something to eat. Our research showed that up to 75% of people instinctively reach for comfort food, when they’re feel down, stressed or angry.
Yet what we’re eating (or drinking) could be making us feel worse.
Here are five top traps that can seriously impact your mood this winter:
Trap 1: Sugar
Reaching for something sweet when we’re feeling low is so instinctive, you’d almost think it’s hard-wired.
Carbohydrates and refined sugars will give us a short-term boost, but the blood sugar low we get afterwards can lead to mood swings and even tantrums in kids.
What you could do instead?
University researchers have shown that cravings for sweet foods, particularly the late night munchies, are actually cravings for water – we’re not very good at reading the signs.
To balance your blood sugar, a protein-based snack may be more helpful. You could try that first.
Often, if your adrenals are tired and low, sugar is a means to prop them up. Sugar causes a sudden lift and then crash, which makes things worse. Instead, try slower-release sugars, such as fruit or 2-3 dates – chop them up small and chew them slowly, so that you don’t eat too many and you release the sugars more slowly.
Trap 2: Caffeine
It’s in coffee, tea, cola drinks and plenty more besides. Caffeine is a stimulant that can take us into “fight or flight” mode, making us edgy and irritable. And, again, if your adrenals are low, it will prop you up, but at a major cost, once its effects wear off. So if you’re already stressed or angry, it’s the last thing you need.
What you could do instead?
To rehydrate your system and give yourself an instant energy boost, a glass of cool water could make a difference. If you’re feeling tense and irritable, you might prefer chamomile tea.
And, of course, there’s breathing – take 3 deep breaths, breathing in through your nose. Fill your lungs from your stomach upwards and then breathe out through your mouth with a sigh. It works!
Trap 3: Sweeteners & Additives
We think we’re doing the right thing by going for the low-cal, low-fat options, but they have to do something to replace the taste and texture you’d have had from the sugars and fats. Unfortunately this is often in the form of sweeteners and chemical additives.
Yes, the various food agencies have approved their use, but there is growing research evidence that they can impact your mood.
One of the leading artificial sweeteners is now official linked with mood swings and even depression, for regular users. And we’ve known for years that the infamous “e-numbers” can cause behavioural problems in children.
What you could do instead?
Check labels in the supermarket. As a rule of thumb, if there’s an ingredient on the list that you wouldn’t cook with at home, think twice before putting it into your basket.
Consider buying the non-diet versions, but eating less of them. There are times when sugar might be the better option, if you can’t say no.
Trap 4: Alcohol
How many times do we get to the end of a tough day and think, “I could really do with a glass of wine / a beer?”
And there has been research showing that some alcoholic drinks can have health benefits, in moderation.
But alcohol itself is a toxin to the body. And it’s also a depressant that suppresses brain activity and dehydrates your body. So if you want to feel happier, a stiff drink is probably not the best place to start.
What you could do instead?
Drink a glass of water between each alcoholic drink. Perhaps choose drinks that have a lower alcohol level, so you experience its effects more slowly. If you’re going out with friends, volunteering to be the driver is a great way to get a ‘night off’ from alcohol. If you’re embarrassed, you could always blame a ‘mystery medication’ that interacts badly with alcohol, so you don’t have to justify your abstinence.
At parties, you could bring a fruit punch or something else that you enjoy drinking.
And it might be worth taking an honest look in the mirror, to see whether there are underlying issues you might need to address.
Trap 5: Wheat & dairy
Wheat and dairy products are fine, in moderation. But if you have a food intolerance, you might find that the side effects of bloating and heaviness drag your mood down, too. So if you naturally reach for wheat-based or dairy-based comfort foods, it might be worth noticing how you feel afterwards.
What you could do instead?
Check you’re not suffering from low blood sugar (see trap 1 advice). And if you think it might be a boredom thing, how about spending 5 minutes waking up your body with some stretches, a quick dance or a short walk instead?
By the way, my ALL TIME FAVOURITE book about the impact wheat really has on our body, mind and spirit is ‘Wheat Belly’ by William Davis M.D. Reading this book changed my life and set me free from decades of feeling rough, but nothing working to ‘fix’ things.
Beware Judging Yourself!
The idea behind looking at these winter blues food traps isn’t to get you out there, judging yourself and beating yourself up. It’s about raising your awareness.
Sometimes we can try really challenging to feel upbeat and more energised, but if the food we’re consuming is making us feel bad, then we have to work twice as hard.
I suggest you keep a ‘food & mood diary’ (see below), to see whether any of these traps are impacting you, then make informed choices, rather than running on auto-pilot – it could make a huge difference for you.
How do you know if you’re stuck in the food traps?
Keep a “food ‘n’ mood” diary for 2 weeks.
Simply keep a note of EVERYTHING you’re eating and drinking (no cheating!) and every few hours, make a note of your mood next to it. After even a week you should be able to spot clear trends.
That’ll help you figure out what to eat differently, if you want to feel happier.
What have you noticed about how your mood swings after eating and drinking? Is there any advice you’d like to share with others, via the Facebook group?
Hope you have a great week!
Namaste,
