Food to Tame Our Mood

By Tara Gidus Collingwood, MS, RDN, CSSD, ACSM-CPT

PHYSICAL HEALTH FOR WIDOWS

We are heading into the holiday season — or should I say the season of anxiety, stress, and reminders of the loved ones we have lost?

Are you tired? Sad? Tense? Mad? Whether it’s anxiety about an upcoming social event, mood swings from a rollercoaster of a day, or just plain hormonal changes, you can help your mood by eating certain foods and avoiding others.

A lot of us consider ourselves “emotional eaters” — me included! I think most people at some point turn to food as a way to escape, numb, or fill a void emotionally. My food of choice is chocolate. Not a day goes by that I don’t have chocolate at some point. One or two small pieces of dark chocolate is not a problem. It is when those one or two piece turns into a lot more and then the inevitable stomachache and feelings of remorse.

If I could snap my fingers and prevent us all from eating high-sugar, high-fat foods in search of drowning our emotions, I would. Intellectually we know that we will not feel bet…