Prompt Cast
The Science Behind How Certain Foods Can Affect Your Mood
TLDR Certain foods, such as turkey, bananas, sesame seeds, and fish, can directly impact your mood by increasing serotonin levels in the brain and promoting relaxation. Comfort foods, which activate neural pathways of happier times, are different from foods that can actually influence the production of neurotransmitters like serotonin and Gaba, which help with sleep and relaxation.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
Certain foods can make you happier and some foods can make you tend toward depression, and it's not just comfort food, it's science.
02:24
Certain foods can directly affect your mood through physiological action by providing the necessary building blocks for neurotransmitters like serotonin.
04:40
Certain foods high in folate and tryptophan, such as turkey and bananas, can directly increase serotonin levels in the brain, which helps to improve mood and relaxation.
06:51
Gaba, also known as nature's volume, is a substance that helps with sleep and relaxation and is derived from glutamates found in foods like sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pork, and beef.
09:28
Comfort foods, which activate neural pathways of happier times and are often nostalgic, are different from happy foods that can actually influence the production of Gaba and serotonin in the brain.
11:48
Comfort foods are a personal choice and there are commonalities between men and women in terms of what they crave, with women tending to seek sugary things more and men tending to seek things like soup and steak; men also tend to use comfort food as a reward while women may feel guilty about it.
14:20
Eating foods rich in DHA, such as fish, may be linked to increased happiness and decreased prevalence of depression, although the correlation does not prove causation.
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Society & Culture
