RP112 You Are What You Eat

 RP112 You Are What You Eat

Ancient medical traditions often focus on food. After all, what we put into our body must affect how our body feels. But what about our minds? Does what we eat affect how we feel and think? Recent research says yes.

Different foods affect different hormones in our brains. Fruits and vegetables generally increase hormones that make us calm. Foods with a lot of protein, on the other hand, increase hormones that make us alert. But junk food— fatty, salty, sugary food without much nutrition— has a negative effect. It can make us tired and stressed. Different ingredients in junk food have different effects. One very important and unhealthy ingredient in junk food is trans fat.

Trans fats are types of fat often found in junk food. Doctors have been studying the effects of trans fats recently, and the results aren't good. Trans fats seem to be linked to poor memory and depression.

An American study found that people remembered fewer words from a list after eating trans fats than before. Meanwhile, a study in Spain found that eating a lot of trans fats caused people to become depressed.

Doctors don't fully understand why these things happen. Trans fats seem to slow down our normal brain function, making us forgetful. They also appear to lower serotonin, our body's mood-balancing chemical, making us sad, angry, or even violent.

But the bad news about junk food is good news about healthy food. Eating well, it seems, can make us happier. So if you' re feeling blue, don't reach for a bag of potato chips. They may make you feel good for the moment, but bad in the long run.