This holiday season, many of us blew past Canada's recommendation of no more than two alcoholic drinks per week. These recommendations are "like cutting steak with a butter knife," says award-winning journalist Mary Beth Albright. She makes the food and mood connection in her latest book, Eat and Flourish: How Food Supports Emotional Well Being. Conversely, officials in the United States recommend no more than two drinks per day for men and one for women. While science has swayed these recommendations, it is public health advisors who create awareness.
Albright also considers flavor, which is created in the brain. "What we taste on our tongue, is only one piece of the experience of food," she says. Take the Haily Bieber smoothie at Erewhon, named after the model and wife of Jusin Bieber. The contagion effect in psychology dictates that if one buys, eats, or possesses something associated with celebrity or royalty, you obtain their status in a very small way, and that elevates mood.
On the heels of the holidays, Albright says eating to increase your emotional well-being is rooted in science. For example, fiber-rich foods influence your mood. She suggests focusing on what you're putting on your plate instead of what you're keeping off of it.
As far as the new year's resolutions, "If you are focused on better mental health, you're fighting an uphill battle if you are starting with a diet culture mentality," Albright says. Get to know hunger and the signals your body is sending, she urges, and stick to fiber and vegetables rather than processed foods.
Albright launched her new podcast, Eat You'll Feel Better, last fall.