Food can have a huge impact on your mood. Here’s how

Natalie Issa
·3 min read
Eliza Anderson
Eliza Anderson

Feeling tired? Stressed? Down? You might blame your lifestyle for your low mood — maybe you’re not getting enough sleep or you need to work out more — but have you considered that it might be connected to what you’re eating?

The food you eat can greatly impact your mood, according to health research.

“Animal and human studies show us that the brain and gut microbiome are intimately connected,” Arpana Gupta, co-director of the Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center at UCLA, told UCLA Health.

Gupta continued, “When most people think about mental health, they only think about the brain, but there is bi-directional communication between the gut and brain. I tell people the gut and the brain are like BFFs. The brain and the gut are in constant communication with each other.”

Here’s everything you need to know about why — and how — the food you eat affects your mood.

What is the connection between food and mind?

According to UCLA Health, there are four main pathways of communication between your brain and your gut:

  • The vagus nerve — The system of nerves that controls your “digestion, heart rate and immune system,” per Cleveland Clinic, relays messages back and forth between your gut and your brain.

  • Gut microbes — The microorganisms in your stomach control “what is circulated in the body and what is excreted from the body.” They play a pivotal role in your immune system, per UCLA Health.

  • Gut microbes also “produce chemicals and metabolites” that travel through your blood to your brain, according to UCLA Health.

  • Endocrine cells — The cells in your gastrointestinal tract “produce hormones, neuropeptides and neurotransmitters,” UCLA Health reported.

If any of these pathways are thrown out of whack by what you eat, it can negatively impact your mood.

How does food affect your brain?

Serotonin is one of the neurotransmitters produced by endocrine cells. It helps you “regulate sleep and appetite, mediate moods, and inhibit pain,” according to Harvard Health.

“Serotonin ... is produced by good bacteria. Up to 95% of serotonin is produced in the gut, so, we have to eat healthy foods to increase the presence of these good bacteria,” Gupta told UCLA Health.

Similarly, healthy foods help you ensure that the right kinds of bacteria take up residence in your “intestinal microbiome,” per Harvard Health.

The right kinds of bacteria can, according to Harvard Health:

  • Protect your intestinal lining.

  • Protect against toxins and bad bacteria.

  • Regulate inflammation.

  • Impact how you absorb nutrients from your food.

  • Activate the “neural pathways that travel directly between the gut and the brain.”

Registered dietitian Shelby Yaceczko told UCLA Health, “We’re starting to recognize more that the nutrients we get from healthy foods and beverages can enable us to think more clearly and feel better.”

Yaceczko continued, “When somebody’s diet is rich with things like antioxidants, phytonutrients and fiber, we know that person is going to get a variety of different vitamins and minerals that support anti-inflammatory properties of the body. Those properties are then going to beneficially alter the neurotransmitters, which in turn affects mood and cognition.”

Foods that can help your gut — and your brain

According to UCLA Health, “Increasing your intake of probiotic and prebiotic foods are important to improving the gut-brain interaction.”

Natalie Gavi, a registered dietitian, recommended the following foods and drinks as sources for probiotics:

  • Kimchi.

  • Yogurt.

  • Tempeh.

  • Miso.

  • Sauerkraut.

  • Kefir.

For prebiotics, Gavi recommended the following:

  • Leeks.

  • Bananas.

  • Onions.

  • Apples.

  • Oats.

  • Garlic.

  • Jerusalem artichokes.

  • Asparagus.