Constant cravings

As winter approaches, many of us reach for the cookie jar marked "comfort". But can your wellbeing be improved by changing your diet?

IT IS a treat, a boost and a source of comfort. It wakes us up, winds us down, makes us feel happy, sad and guilty. Food is not only fuel, but it can also have a powerful psychological effect.

While many of us eat chocolate and cakes to feel better during the long, dark winter months, we may only be causing increased depression, anxiety and lethargy which isn't just caused by piling on the flab. Susan Sainsbury, an illustrator based in Brighton, knew for a long time that food had the ability to make her anxious or depressed. For many years, she avoided tea and coffee because the caffeine made her jittery and she always carried a snack because she noticed that in between meals she often became anxious and irritable. But despite her efforts to change, the mood swings kept coming. "I felt lethargic and sluggish about things and felt something quite fundamental was not right," she says.

The problem, according to a course run by the Food and Mood Project, which Susan attended last year, is low blood sugar levels. Now she manages to control her feelings by avoiding sweet foods such as cakes, chocolate and even bananas. Instead, she snacks on apples and peanuts. They provide a slow release of sugar into her bloodstream, rather than the quick rush of sugary foods and drinks she previously craved.

The Brighton-based project, which was sponsored by the mental health charity MIND, tracked the progress of around 50 women who made changes in their diet to combat mental health problems ranging from premenstrual stress and anxiety to manic depression and panic attacks. Participants attended six-week courses and kept food diaries documenting how their moods changed according to what they ate. The findings, which have recently been published in a workbook, indicate it may be possible to alter your state of mind by cutting back on substances such as caffeine, chocolate and cakes.

"About two thirds of the women were able to make some changes to their diet and all those who tried reported dramatic reductions in panic attacks or anxiety levels and improvements in their depression," explains nutritional therapist Amanda Geary, who runs the project.

She says destructive foods lead the brain on a roller-coaster ride of highs and lows. By satisfying the mind's cravings for sugary food, the body experiences a boost which is followed by a reactive dip in blood sugar level, bringing the mood down. Caffeine stimulates the nervous system which over time, leads to feelings of anxiety and panic, Geary says, while people with a sensitivity to substances such as wheat, cheese and yeast are also likely to suffer mental problems.

Mood swings may not solely be affected by certain foods but also by the lack of appropriate ones. "Nutrients people lack when they have mental health problems include the B vitamins, zinc, magnesium and essential fatty acids," explains Geary. "Low levels of omega 3 essential fatty acids have been found in people with depression, schizophrenia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder." Eating more fruit, vegetables, oily fish and high fibre carbohydrates such as brown rice and pasta helps provide such missing nutrients, as well as incorporating multivitamin and mineral supplements into a diet. But while no one would dispute a balanced diet is important for mental and physical health, do selected food types actually change our brains physiologically or do they affect our moods because we are conditioned to believe that?

Dr Marion Heatherington, senior lecturer in psychology at Dundee University, says it is impossible to separate the psychological and physiological effects of food. "People have beliefs already that certain foods are good, and other foods are bad," she explains. "Fruit and vegetables, water, caffeine and chocolate all have health connotations."

Some scientific studies have pinpointed specific reactions in the body as a result of food. Peter Roger's work at the Norwich-based Institute of Food Research showed the good side of chocolate, by indicating the chemicals in it were responsible for an increase in pleasant feelings and a reduction of tension, while studies in the US have found that folate, a B vitamin found mainly in green leafy vegetables, can help relieve depression.

Another theory suggests carbohydrate can affect the synthesis of a neurochemical (brain neuro-transmitter) called serotonin which helps regulate mood. So, people suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder were found to increase their high carbohydrate intake as their spirits dropped, which scientists believe could be a self-medication of that mood.

Finding the right balance of food is a highly personal, subjective matter, and the results are unlikely to be dramatic. As Susan Sainsbury concludes: "In the short term I think it can control your moods but I wouldn't say it could ward off a major depression" The Food Mood Workbook costs #5.95 including P&P and is available from The Food and Mood Project, PO Box 2737, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 2GN

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