Speaker 1: Well, hello there, healthy Ish listeners, Thanks for tuning into
Speaker 1: this daily podcast from Body and Soul. I am the
Speaker 1: host of Felicity Harley. You may have spotted our guest
Speaker 1: on Master Chef last year. Oh, but she is so
Speaker 1: much more than a talented cook. Melissa Fidel is known
Speaker 1: as the mood boosting nutritionist and joins us in the
Speaker 1: studio to discuss the impact of food on our mood
Speaker 1: and what to eat to push yourself through that three
Speaker 1: pm slump. Listen in to our sister podcast, Extra Healthy Ish,
Speaker 1: where Melissa answers a big question, can you improve your
Speaker 1: mood with food? Search for Extra Healthy Ish wherever you
Speaker 1: get your podcasts. Melissa, thank you for welcoming in the
Speaker 1: studio all the way from Adelaide.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1: I'm very happy to be here. You're such You've got
Speaker 1: great energy. I love it. Thank you so do you
Speaker 1: Does that energy come from food? Absolutely?
Speaker 2: How did you know we're going to get there?
Speaker 3: Talk to us about the impact food has on our mood.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Look, food is the foundation. It is something we consume
Speaker 2: day in day out. It builds up how we think,
Speaker 2: how we feel, how we act, and how we react.
Speaker 2: It plays such a big role. And I think when
Speaker 2: it comes to our mood and our mental health, it's
Speaker 2: often food isn't looked at. You know, we think about
Speaker 2: our external we think about everything else going on in
Speaker 2: our life, but food is really the big foundation there.
Speaker 2: So it plays such a big role.
Speaker 3: You're so right, because often when we're stressed or we're
Speaker 3: feeling down or flat, we think, oh, it's lack of sleep,
Speaker 3: which is it is all these other things, absolutely, but
Speaker 3: often we don't look at that foundation.
Speaker 2: No, that's right. Food And if you look at it,
Speaker 2: food is something you're putting in your body every day.
Speaker 2: It's something that you have some control over because we
Speaker 2: most adults, we choose what we want to eat every day,
Speaker 2: so we do we can control what we're putting in
Speaker 2: action that we're getting out of it.
Speaker 3: So if we are having a bit of a flat day,
Speaker 3: a low mood, and I'm not talking about diagnosed you know, depression, anxiety,
Speaker 3: but if we're just feeling a bit flat, yeah, what
Speaker 3: sort of foods or what's the makeup of what we
Speaker 3: should have on our plate?
Speaker 2: Absolutely? Okay. So my starting point always and I will
Speaker 2: always say to everyone, is start with a balance. Plate,
Speaker 2: And what I mean when I say balance play is
Speaker 2: a portion of protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. Now, what
Speaker 2: that's going to do is actually provide your body with
Speaker 2: the building blocks that it needs to function and stabilize
Speaker 2: your blood sugar levels. So when you're feeling flat, you're
Speaker 2: not really having a good day, it's really important to
Speaker 2: take a step back and make sure you're actually fueling
Speaker 2: your body with the right amount of nutrients that it
Speaker 2: requires to thrive. And a great starting point is your
Speaker 2: macro nutrients because within each of those macros you're also
Speaker 2: getting your beautiful micro nutrients as well, so all of
Speaker 2: those vitamins, mineral and antioxidants, which supports the production of
Speaker 2: serotonin and dopamine, which are your happiness hormones. So start
Speaker 2: with a balance play and then build from there.
Speaker 3: Often when we are a bit flat, we don't start
Speaker 3: with the balance play. We just reach for whatever we
Speaker 3: think is going to make us feel good, which is
Speaker 3: kind of the opposite.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm guilty of that. I'm not going to sit
Speaker 2: here and preten I'm perfect because I love my ice cream.
Speaker 2: You know, when you get home you've had a bad day,
Speaker 2: sometimes you do need to indulge, and I think that's okay.
Speaker 2: I think we shouldn't. I think it's when we get
Speaker 2: in the mindset of that was really bad. I'm really bad,
Speaker 2: I've made things worse. I think if you've had a
Speaker 2: bad day and you go home and you want to
Speaker 2: go get ice cream with your friend or you want
Speaker 2: to eat something that's comfort food, just know that that's okay,
Speaker 2: and don't put yourself in the mindset of, oh, well,
Speaker 2: I've done one bad thing, bad quotation, bad thing. I'm
Speaker 2: going to just keep doing this because what's the point.
Speaker 2: And I think that's the that's the general mindset that
Speaker 2: we get in. We have one quote bad meal, which
Speaker 2: is nothing, not bad, but we get in this mindset
Speaker 2: of thinking, oh well, I might as well just keep
Speaker 2: going on this, and that then creates a bit of
Speaker 2: a domino effect, right because you're having these foods, they're
Speaker 2: probably really rich in sugar, they're probably not the greatest
Speaker 2: to have consistently. And then that then continues that bad mood,
Speaker 2: you know, it continues that low mood. It spikes your
Speaker 2: blood sugar levels, which then leads to a crash. So
Speaker 2: it's just accepting that, Okay, I've had a bad day
Speaker 2: and enjoying enjoying it exactly.
Speaker 1: I'm going to enjoy it.
Speaker 2: I'm going to take a breath, I'm going to have
Speaker 2: the ice cream. I'm going to enjoy it, and then
Speaker 2: I'm going to go to bed and just get on
Speaker 2: with my day tomorrow.
Speaker 3: So talk us through the balance plane, Like, give us
Speaker 3: some examples of some things that can well, let's talk
Speaker 3: maybe focus on the three pm slump.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's a big question.
Speaker 2: That I always get asked. Now, there are a few
Speaker 2: things when it comes to the three pm slump, And
Speaker 2: I think the first thing to understand is that the
Speaker 2: three pm slump it does that's your body naturally winding down, right,
Speaker 2: because you've been up for early hours of the morning,
Speaker 2: your body by three pm, three four pm is starting
Speaker 2: to wind down, so your energy is naturally going to
Speaker 2: slowly decrease. However, when it's just a crash and we're
Speaker 2: not feeling great and we're feeling so sluggish, our brain
Speaker 2: is foggy, we can't function. That is where we have
Speaker 2: to make some lifestyle changes. And of course nutrition is
Speaker 2: the first thing. And I think what we do there
Speaker 2: is we look back at what we had for lunch,
Speaker 2: and if we're having a big carbie lunch, that's you know,
Speaker 2: maybe a big puster and not much protein and not
Speaker 2: much veg. That what that's going to do, It's generally
Speaker 2: going to be a high GI reaction, so that high
Speaker 2: glycemic index on our blood sugar, which over time is
Speaker 2: going to lead to a drop because we know when
Speaker 2: we go up on a roller coaster, we've got.
Speaker 1: To come down.
Speaker 2: So that's kind of what happens. So look back, Okay,
Speaker 2: what have I had for lunch? And if that's the case,
Speaker 2: you've had something really high GI, really carbys spiked your
Speaker 2: blood sugar levels. It's all about finding that consistency. So
Speaker 2: where can I add in some healthy fats? Where can
Speaker 2: I add in some protein to really balance things out
Speaker 2: a little bit. So my favorite three PM slump dish
Speaker 2: is two things. I've got cheer seed puddings because they're
Speaker 2: so rich in amiga three fatty acid's good for your brain,
Speaker 2: and something like a match a latte, which is really good.
Speaker 1: If you haven't heard that before for a three pmpre.
Speaker 2: Yes, well, look it's better than having a coffee at
Speaker 2: that time of the day, because yes, it does contain caffeine. Yes,
Speaker 2: it does contain green tea, but the way it releases
Speaker 2: in your body is a slower reaction, so you're not
Speaker 2: going to get that crash after you have it as
Speaker 2: opposed to having coffee. So they're probably like my two kinda.
Speaker 3: I noticed that you've recommended at this time, which really
Speaker 3: spoke to me, is the protein shake.
Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely so, like I said, looking at where we
Speaker 2: where can we fill those gaps with the fats and
Speaker 2: the pro So my cheer seed pudding was the fats
Speaker 2: in the Amiga threes. A protein shake. It's simple, it's quick,
Speaker 2: it's easy, you can usually have something in your bag
Speaker 2: ready to go, and it's going to give you that
Speaker 2: boosting energy. And if you're someone that likes to exercise
Speaker 2: after work, even better because it's going to help you
Speaker 2: build up that energy, build up your muscles so you're
Speaker 2: feeling good by the end of the day.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I really like this approach because I was even thinking
Speaker 3: yes when I was working on your questions the other day.
Speaker 3: I was having a bit of a low mood day
Speaker 3: and I thought, gosh, it is tomorrow. I'm going to
Speaker 3: wake up and I'm going to have a good nutrition day.
Speaker 3: Because that's going to make me feel better. It's almost
Speaker 3: like just shifting your mindset, isn't it?
Speaker 2: Absolutely? And it's okay. We will have bad days, we
Speaker 2: will have low mood days, and that's okay.
Speaker 1: Sometimes we're just bloody tired.
Speaker 3: Yes exactly.
Speaker 2: Sometimes we haven't slept and we're just not feeling the best.
Speaker 2: But it's looking at you know what, foods are going
Speaker 2: to make me feel really good because if they make
Speaker 2: you feel good internally, they make you feel good externally
Speaker 2: as well. So it's all about bringing in that nutrient.
Speaker 3: So in a nutshell, yeah, you can change your mood
Speaker 3: with food.
Speaker 2: I believe that you absolutely can boost your mood with food,
Speaker 2: for sure.
Speaker 1: I like it. Melissa.
Speaker 3: Thank you for coming on healthy.
Speaker 2: Ish, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3: Well you can boost that three pm slump with food
Speaker 3: and my favorite a protein check. I had to ask
Speaker 3: her about that because I have seen her mention that
Speaker 3: before and I think it's a really great well work
Speaker 3: from home go to when you're in that three pm slump. Anyway,
Speaker 3: I hope you did enjoy this chat with it, Melissa.
Speaker 3: If you did, tell us, rate and review this episode,
Speaker 3: of course, you can subscribe to this podcast jump online,
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Speaker 3: our print edition, which is out in your local Sunday paper,
Speaker 3: and until tomorrow, stay healthish