This may sound a little sudden, but…

Have you ever felt like this?

“I don’t know why, but I’m irritated.”

“I just feel kind of down.”

“My mood swings are all over the place.”

I certainly used to experience these things quite often, although they have become much less frequent these days.

After I became ill, I started taking a closer look at what I ate because I desperately wanted to improve my health.

Along the way, I began to notice a connection between my mental state and food.

So today, I’d like to share some of my experiences with foods and eating habits that may make my mood more unstable.

This is entirely based on my personal experience, so I hope you’ll read it as simply, “Oh, I didn’t know that could happen!” rather than as medical advice.

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The Power of Food Is Stronger Than You Might Think

After spending more than 15 years paying close attention to my mind and body, I’ve come to feel that our physical and mental condition is influenced roughly half by our lifestyle habits and half by our mindset.

I see these two things as the two wheels that support our overall well-being.

If either one is out of balance, it can be difficult to maintain a healthy state of both mind and body.

And among these factors, I found that food has a surprisingly powerful influence.

I think we are all affected by what we eat more directly than we realize, at least to some degree.

You often hear stories of people discovering that something they regularly eat or drink may actually have been contributing to symptoms or discomfort they experience on a daily basis.

So, what kinds of foods and eating habits might affect your mental state?

Here are some things I’ve noticed from my own experience.

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We Always Ate THIS Before We Had an Argument!

One day, I was looking through my planner and suddenly realized something.

At the time, I was keeping a record of what I ate each day so that I could better understand the relationship between food and how I felt.

And then I noticed something.

Almost every time my husband and I had an argument, I had eaten a certain food beforehand.

And that food was…

sweet potatoes.

Because I was trying to avoid making my allergies worse, I stayed away from commercially made sweets and snacks.

So natural sweet treats like roasted sweet potatoes and dried sweet potatoes were one of my little pleasures.

But almost every time I ate them, I noticed that my husband and I would have an argument either that day or the following day.

Even after noticing the pattern, I tried eating sweet potatoes several more times.

And sure enough, I found that I seemed to become more irritable.

So these days, I hardly eat them at all.

I suppose I became more easily irritated, got upset over little things, and ended up arguing with my husband.

I also noticed similar feelings of irritability or low mood after eating other foods that are generally considered “natural” and “healthy,” such as dried fruit, sweetened roasted chestnuts, and amazake, a traditional Japanese fermented rice drink.

The same thing seemed to happen with fresh fruit when I ate too much of it.

These days, many varieties of fruit have been selectively bred to become extremely sweet, and I’ve come to wonder whether some of them are really as “natural” as we tend to think.

People often say that fruit is good for you because it contains vitamins.

However, when I think about how sweet some modern varieties have become, as well as other factors such as pesticide exposure, I’ve come to think of fruit more as an occasional treat than simply a source of vitamins.

That said, I have to admit that sweet foods are incredibly tempting.

Haha.

If you really want something sweet, it might be wiser to enjoy it as a dessert after lunch.

One reason is that eating a lot of sugar at night may leave you with less opportunity to use that energy through physical activity, which can place a burden on the body.

Getting some movement afterward, such as walking or doing some simple exercises, may also be helpful.

In my experience, one of the least helpful combinations is a sedentary lifestyle together with regularly eating lots of sweets.

That used to be me…

Even if completely eliminating sweets feels impossible, small changes can make a difference.

For example, reduce the amount you eat, move your sweet treat from nighttime to daytime, or take a short walk afterward.

These kinds of little adjustments may help you feel lighter, both physically and emotionally.

Rather than underestimating the effects that sweets may have on you, why not use a little knowledge and creativity to reduce the burden on your mind and body?

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There Were More! Foods and Drinks That May Affect Your Mood

These are also things I’ve learned through my own experiences and from information I’ve come across in books.

Things such as:

• Caffeine
• Alcohol
• Very cold foods and drinks
• Spicy or otherwise stimulating foods

may also contribute to feelings of irritability or low mood for some people.

When your mental state is already unstable, it may be worth taking a break from these foods and drinks and seeing how you feel.

Coffee, alcohol, chocolate, ice cream, and other highly appealing foods can be particularly difficult to cut back on, so replacing them with alternatives may be one option.

Another thing that may help is eating three proper meals a day to reduce intense cravings.

When your overall diet is lacking balance—for example, when you’re not getting enough carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, or minerals—you may be more likely to crave sweets or stimulating foods.

That’s why I think it’s important to pay attention to nutritional balance in your everyday meals.

And, whenever possible, move your body.

Taking a walk in the sunshine is probably one of the easiest things you can do.

You could also incorporate some simple stretching or exercises that you can do indoors.

And rather than making sweets an everyday habit, try treating them as an occasional indulgence to enjoy once in a while.

For me, these changes made a huge difference.

I found myself feeling irritated and down much less often, and I had more time when I simply felt good.

Honestly, I even feel like my personality became nicer.

Haha.

When I reduced sweets, I felt brighter and more cheerful, and I noticed positive changes in my relationships, too.

At the same time, my body felt lighter.

When my body felt more balanced, my mind seemed to naturally follow, creating a positive cycle.

I didn’t really understand this until I actually tried cutting back on sweets.

Once I experienced how light and comfortable I could feel, I naturally started eating fewer sweets.

After all, knowing in your head that you should stop doing something doesn’t necessarily make it easy to stop.

I think it’s much faster to actually experience how good you feel in your body and let your body remember that feeling.

Maybe our bodies are wiser than our minds sometimes.

Haha.

And One More Thing!

Pumpkin has a naturally sweet taste, but I don’t notice much of an effect on my mental state from eating it.

In our household, we call it “the miracle food.”

Haha.

So if you’re craving something sweet, why not try eating some pumpkin first?

It’s also rich in vitamins and carotenoids, and I personally feel that it’s great for beauty, too. ✨

Thank you so much for reading!

I hope you found at least one little idea here that might be useful for you. 😊