Eat bad to feel good

Words: Shamim de Brún
Artwork: Paul Smith

Your brain loves to food. Eating, drinking and sex are the only things that stimulate all your senses simultaneously.

Like an expensive car, your brain functions best when it gets premium fuel. So eating foods packed with lots of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants will make you feel like you’re Tony Stark. Before, he sacrificed himself for the survival of the MCU and its dreary new era.

But do you know what also boosts your mood? A cheat day. So here are is a balanced list of mood-boosting meals that will make you feel like you’ve just had a spa day.

Ireland is an island, there are plenty of beautiful coastlines where people can walk by the sea, swim and …fish. But, alas, the consumption of fish in Ireland is still low. When I was in school, if you were seen to eat fish, you’d hear about it for weeks. But fish is the number one most recommended mood-boosting food across the board. It’s the omega threes that you just can’t get anywhere else a brain loves them. And while they will not magically haul you out of crippling depression, these little swimmers may give you a bit of relief after a whole day of it. Making it the ultimate feel good food.

Interestingly, for many years, the medical field did not fully acknowledge the legitimate connection between mood and food. Today, however, they call it “nutritional psychiatry”, and they write about it in Harvard. B12 plays a significant role in making us feel good. It’s in a plethora of foods, even vegan ones, despite what the naysayers may decry. But by and far, my favourite way to ingest some bain boosting b12 is with a decked out rare-as-they’ll-give-it-to-me steak. So steak comes with a few downsides that I’ll conveniently ignore here because the act of treating yourself to a steak is bound to boost your mood. As much if not more than the nutrients in it.

We’re all mad for a bit of serotonin. The hormone responsible for contentment is brewed in the gut. 95 per cent of it anyway. What does the gut love, if not fibre? There are some solid, proven serotonin producers, and they’re not mentally off-the-wall foods. They’re the bog-standard vegetables and fruits. Salads have been trying to overcome the rabbit food reputation for years, and they are making strides, but still, we forget that when we’re having a shitty day, a salad will make us feel better. Some even have the same healing powers as flat seven up. Honest to goodness. That is some feel good food.

The wellness diet world loves cutting carbs and calling it healthy. But Carbohydrates are a rich source of energy. Rich and tasty! Our ancient ancestors gathered carbohydrates greedily hoarded them like Besos does the world’s wealth. Researchers believe that carbs gave humanity the calorie bump needed that fueled the evolution of the human brain. Carbs make us brighter and happier—and not just because they’re delicious, but they are another food that makes the gut generate serotonin. While I will argue with no man about the mood-boosting properties of the carb-rich Kimberly elite, I am here to suggest a mood booster that doesn’t bring on a crash after. Sweet potato fries are an excellent way to ride that carby high to a brighter mood. They digest easy, still feel decadent and are available all over town. Smashed.

There are a million ways a healthy lifestyle makes life better. And as bullshit, as it sounds balance is key. sure your diet should include Polly-unsaturated fresh as fuck fat-free bowels of goodness, but it should also include coco-pops with whole ass milk. So get a bit of both and boost the fuck out of that mood.