diet and moods

[lavender]

I'm not a vegan, but i'm a vegetarian. I've been a vegetarian for about 7 years now but mostly based my diet around cheese and junk foods. I've been told being a vegetarian means i'm lacking in iron which results in me feeling constantly tired. I was just wondering do you two feel tired alot?, and if not what types of food containing alot of iron do you find really helps?

Thanks.

I eat a lot of leafy greens and legumes, that's high in iron. I never feel tired.
Gosh, my mind went blank of good iron sources... a tablespoon of blackstrap molasses everyday is full of good minerals, down it with a glass of water and juice from half a lemon(the citrus helps you absorb the iron). There's other stuff too, it sort of became routine and now I can't remember it all!

**attempting at doing multiple quotes.. hope it works**

Also, when I was vegetarian, i existed almost exclusively on cheese...it was SO hard to give it up.

cheese wasn't so hard for me, but I did have a thing for pizza. There's this meltable soy cheese called Vegan Gourmet I buy sometimes, it's so good.

i guess the dream of every SA would be to live in the woods away from society and grow your own vegetables

ah.. my dream. well, sort of. away from society, but not from people.

 

[mrb]

oh and you lot i forgot to say wash your vegatables as well or apples or just about anything you can wash , to get rid of the Pesticides they use on them ..... healthy eating and good luck my little spw freinds

 

[philly2bits]

I've noticed I do feel better when I am eating healthier. Candy and cookies produce a temporary "high" in a way, but overall I feel worse when I'm eating more junkfood. When I'm eating better everything else seems to fall in line to a degree. My sleep gets more on track, my overall mood feels better, I feel more motivated to get out and do stuff.

 

[Remus]

I've been told being a vegetarian means i'm lacking in iron which results in me feeling constantly tired.

Eat houmous, chick peas have the highest iron of all veg

it's nice on wholemeal toast

 

[I_jailed_me]

What we put inside stimulates us in different ways, even coffee has its effects on the body and mood! We are like plants we just dont see that.

 

[hoddesdon]

Yes, there is a connection between modern food and cancer.

 

[EscapeArtist]

Good thread... good thread indeed! A topic I have been exploring for the last year in detail
Take for example
1 year ago:
Diet of bread, junk food, crackers, dairy, meats.... = Depressed, suicidal, episodes of mania, crazy anxiety (drop out of school), 0 energy, lots of anger and no attention span

Clean vegan gluten-free diet, fruit + veggie based= stable, default mood is happiness, within a week back in school, focus, 'constant 'flow' of energy, at least 80% reduction in anxiety, a yearning to be CLOSE to people at almost all times throughout the day!

It's just damn hard to stick to.. Even if it is preserving your mental health

Exercise tops the cake

 

[GhoulsNightOut]

Yes definitely. I noticed a difference when I cleaned up my diet. It's still not the healthiest due to money but I try my best to avoid GMOs, wheat, dairy, and anything with soy lecithin. Now I can think a bit more clearly and my mood swings aren't as extreme.

 

[hoddesdon]

Good thread... good thread indeed! A topic I have been exploring for the last year in detail

Exercise tops the cake

Metaphorically speaking, of course.

 

[Mokkat]

Hey guys. I'm studying to be a nutritionist.

Don't get paranoid about E-numbers, they have been here for many years and are under strict control by governments and industrial researchers. If you really don't want too many of them, check up on the potential few bad ones and avoid them - also just buying the ingredients and cooking yourself is a good habit
The biggest problem with E-numbers is actually a general lack of knowledge about them and confusion - the majority of people don't know what the numbers mean, and therefore the general consensus leans toward paranoia and avoidance of them.

About junkfood, choose the best ones. I would not recommend McDonalds or similar - the bread is tasteless **** and the fries probably cooked in saturated-fattyacid palm oil. A nice sandwich, kebab without tons of dressing, etc is better

About iron, I strongly recommend getting your good share of it. Iron deficiency is common, and it will sap your energy and mood. Preferably eat meat or eggs, since the haem-iron in animals is easier absorbed, and also get lots of dark green vegetables, nuts, etc. Other factors in a meal: Vitamin C, citric acids and organic acids help the absorption of iron, but things like dairy products and coffee reduces the absorption alot.
Just wrote a big group-report on a fictional family - we came up with a balanced diet covering the energy- and micronutrients of everyone, but we gave up on covering the iron need of the women as it required a boatload of meat, and instead recommended supplements

 

[Mokkat]

A thing I forgot to mention - a high carbohydrate breakfast, good habit of always eating breakfast, lunch and dinner (with preferably equal amount of energy for each meal), and sticking to fruit, bread, nuts etc for snacks, plays a pretty big role in the feeling of having energy, mental surplus and good mood

 

[kc1980]

I must have eaten so much chocolate this weekend, it's going to 1 kg lol. This did not make me feel good.
So I'll go do some cycling now to somehow limit the damage. I'm planning to also cycle to work regularly, in that way I hope to get back to my normal weight in 2 to three months. I'm now still about 6 kilos overweight, so that's doable (came from 10).

 

[Mokkat]

I must have eaten so much chocolate this weekend, it's going to 1 kg lol. This did not make me feel good.
So I'll go do some cycling now to somehow limit the damage. I'm planning to also cycle to work regularly, in that way I hope to get back to my normal weight in 2 to three months. I'm now still about 6 kilos overweight, so that's doable (came from 10).

I'd probably do the same if I had 1kg of liquorice

 

[Hamelech]

I don't care about diets, our food is the best one ever.

 

[Feathers]

Interesting thread.
Mokkat, about E-numbers: hmm?? Is that the official approach: 'don't worry about them'? hmm!
One wonders who pays for that program and sponsors the university/college/professors etc! I think the official approach here is that it's better to have additives than to risk spoiling food and any diseases from that.. It's still better to get fresh local natural food tho!
Well, I was allergic to artificial food additives as a kid already, so I think it's good to stay away from them! And to get as 'natural' food as one can...

Some E-numbers are okay, most are iffy tho, it's the food industry's way of confusing people so they'd think it's all okay.. Personally, Id' prefer different and better labelling.. (and more warnings to consumers: it's terrible to see in a shop someone really ill who buys a ton of things that you KNOW will be bad for them!!)

Mokkat, thanks for the info about the iron! I knew citric acid/vitamin C are important.. haven't heard about the diary preventing absorbtion of nutritents yet tho, I guess it makes sense as milk is anti-acidic/reduces stomach acid. Is this for all diary products or just some?

hmm, yeah it can be difficult in a family with different nutritional needs - a guy in his 50s or 60s has totally different needs than a young woman etc.
I prefer to stay away from supplements tho, had some troubles with those too, and for my mum, iron supplements weren't effective a lot of the time..
Do you guys study supplements too, what's better etc? (Or just give general recommendations?)

Did you study about magnesium and other minerals too? They often get overlooked by the 'conventional' approach, and many people are said to be deficient in them..

As for breakfast, some people need to stay away from carbs as much as possible, sometimes a protein breakfast like an egg etc can be better! (For overall energy etc!)
Too much carbs (or lack of magnesium) can explain a craving for chocolate too!

 

[Feathers]

Remus, thanks for the tip about chick-peas: I love'em and will research that!

About spinach being a great source of iron, I think some people mentioned it - there's a lot of conflicting info out there - apparently there has been a data entry mistake (or worse) and things are more complex than that?

 

[twiggle]

I eat quite healthily generally - proper home-cooked meals with lots of vegetables. But I also eat a lot of crisps and other junk.

Last week I cut out the junk and did regular exercise and was feeling great!
This week I've slipped and I'm not feeling so great.

I guess the two are related.
But fun junk food does kinda make me happy when I think about how I'm gonna eat it. Its sometimes a shame cutting that out.
But mind over matter I guess hehe.

 

[Mokkat]

Interesting thread.
Mokkat, about E-numbers: hmm?? Is that the official approach: 'don't worry about them'? hmm!
One wonders who pays for that program and sponsors the university/college/professors etc!I think the official approach here is that it's better to have additives than to risk spoiling food and any diseases from that.. It's still better to get fresh local natural food tho!
Well, I was allergic to artificial food additives as a kid already, so I think it's good to stay away from them! And to get as 'natural' food as one can...

Some E-numbers are okay, most are iffy tho, it's the food industry's way of confusing people so they'd think it's all okay.. Personally, Id' prefer different and better labelling.. (and more warnings to consumers: it's terrible to see in a shop someone really ill who buys a ton of things that you KNOW will be bad for them!!)

Mokkat, thanks for the info about the iron! I knew citric acid/vitamin C are important.. haven't heard about the diary preventing absorbtion of nutritents yet tho, I guess it makes sense as milk is anti-acidic/reduces stomach acid. Is this for all diary products or just some?

hmm, yeah it can be difficult in a family with different nutritional needs - a guy in his 50s or 60s has totally different needs than a young woman etc.
I prefer to stay away from supplements tho, had some troubles with those too, and for my mum, iron supplements weren't effective a lot of the time..
Do you guys study supplements too, what's better etc? (Or just give general recommendations?)

Did you study about magnesium and other minerals too? They often get overlooked by the 'conventional' approach, and many people are said to be deficient in them..

As for breakfast, some people need to stay away from carbs as much as possible, sometimes a protein breakfast like an egg etc can be better! (For overall energy etc!)
Too much carbs (or lack of magnesium) can explain a craving for chocolate too!

"dont worry" is my perception of it. The setting of great standards and restrictions for food, that applies to every country, is a very important cornerstone in the free market and unification of the EU - you can bet they are strict with it

There could be more labeling for what to watch out for, but I also think that it is pretty minimalistic and efficient as is - provided that people are told which ones to avoid when they are given info about their intolerance by their doctors.

The whole "natural" food thing is a little obscured by principles I think. "Organic" foods have a much better image and more "health" items on the market (because of demand), while "normal" foods and their faceless corporate sellers tend have a worse image - both types of food are generally equal in nutritional values though.
This is true in the EU at least. In the states I would eat organic, because they have less strict rules and can add a ****load of nasty stuff to their "normal" products to maximize production.




About iron: dairy foods are bad for iron absorption because of calcium, phosphate and some other stuff, so I guess its all dairy products. I think dairy products only hinder plant irons though and supplements are most likely made from plants or fungi. Coffee hinders all iron.
Spinach did classify as a super iron thing, because of a typing error, but its still pretty decent for a vegetable

We haven't learned too much about the other metals and minerals yet, probably because they are easy to get through a regular diet. Magnesium is easy to get with vegetables, wholegrain stuff, nuts, etc