This article originally appeared on relationshipsurgery.com
Soda
We’ve all been told in our lives that fizzy drinks and sodas are bad for us but we also know, often from experience, that they are highly addictive due to their high sugar content. These drinks give us a proper sugar rush, giving us increased energy levels for a short period of time until it all comes crashing down again, leaving us with less energy than before and a bad mood.
Nutmeg
It sounds fake when you first hear it, but nutmeg actually has psychoactive properties. Having too much nutmeg will actually make you hallucinate. It takes several tablespoons of the spice to get you to that point, so it’s unlikely to happen, but if you’re getting too close to that point with your regular diet, your mood can still be affected!
Rabbit
Rabbit meat is not common in most people’s diets, and there’s a reason for that. It is incredibly lean and lacks the additional fat and other qualities that make meats like beef or duck nutritious. If you consume too much rabbit, it can lead to protein poisoning which will make you very ill and can, in extreme cases where nothing but rabbit is consumed, even kill you. Some people who eat large amounts of rabbit also experience poor mood and hallucinations because of its low nutritional value.
Cheese
Everyone loves their cheese. In fact, they love it so much that it’s not surprising that cheese is actually pretty addictive. Dairy in general contains an amino acid called casein which is helpful for baby cows so they keep coming back for more milk to stay fed and healthy. Cheese is like concentrated milk, in a way so it has many times the amount of casein as milk does. Casein actually attaches to our opioid receptors which is why it’s addictive in the same way as some drugs.
Processed meat cuts
Pre-cut and plastic-packaged meat cuts might look pretty great, but that’s because they have all sorts of additives, colourants, preservatives, and nitrates. All these additions to what might otherwise be a perfectly good piece of meat can drain your mood and make your blood pressure jump all over the place with the added salts. Not the best option for your health or your mood!
Margarine
Fats appear naturally in vegetables in liquid form, normally. This is where we get olive and nut oils. To make them solid as they are in margarine, they must be processed into being trans-fats. Processed saturated fats do not have the benefits that eating nuts and avocados do, and can cause the balance in your blood-sugar to alter, leaving you with odd moods. Bundles of lipids (another word for fats) in your bloodstream can also get stuck, leaving you lethargic.
Canned foods
Keep an eye out for any additives in canned foods. Ideally the only ingredient will be the one it advertises itself to be. BPA is something to be extra wary of though, as it is often added to canned foods. It is an ingredient that is actually linked to chronic mood disorders such as anxiety and depression. No one wants that in their diet!
Coffee
It’s no secret that coffee isn’t good for you. A little on the daily can actually be beneficial to your health, but due to the high caffeine levels, it is an addictive substance that can be awful for your body and moods. Coffee produces cortisol, our stress hormone which can make anxiety run rampant. The crash afterwards can result in extreme lethargy, which is why it’s so important to consume in moderation, if at all.
Fruit juice
Whole fruits can do wonders for your health and mood. The fibre in them fills you up and controls how quickly your blood takes in the energy from the sugar. Fruit juice is all the flavour without any of the fibre, meaning it leads to your blood sugar spiking pretty quickly which will lead to you crashing not too much later. It can even make you ‘hangry’ because you’re lacking in the substance that will leave you full.
Light dressing
Dressings labelled as “light” or “diet” might not have all that added sugar listed but they’re still sweet. That sweetness tends to come from aspartame, which is an artificial sweetener that has links to mental health conditions including anxiety and depression. Less sugar is not worth your mental health! If you can, make your salad dressings at home instead.