Nutrition and healthy eating

Free

E-newsletter

Subscribe to Housecall

Our weekly general interest
e-newsletter keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics.

• April 8, 2013 2:08 p.m.

  I love going to the farmer's market and buying straight from the hard working farmers who put in all the hard work. Not only are you getting fresher produce, it keeps 2-3 weeks in the fridge (vs 1 week for store bought produce). I'm now supporting CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) by buying a farmshare from a local farmer. Meg - has the best vegetables - and I make a huge salad from her greens, with all the lovely radishes, tomatoes, herbs, peppers! Add what you like. Add fresh ground pepper, a little olive oil, and fresh lemon and you'll think you went to heaven! Get some eggs from your local farmer! You can have a high proteen breakfast with just one egg, and a slice of bread. I buy yogurt from our local dairy - Gurnsey's in Northville, MI - and their skim milk is outstanding, and is what they use for their big tub of yogurt. I keep it at work with some chopped nuts from Trader Joes, and some frozen fruit and you have a great snack. Can't beat it. Then I buy my meat from the local butcher, or fish at Easter Market in downtown Detroit - and throw it on the grill or in the overn, and you are good to go. A fresh chicken marinated with garlic, fresh ginger, pepper and a little olive oil is great. Steamed fish with some herbs on top is also first class. You will be so happy from all this great food - a big glass of milk before going to bed & 2 L of water taken to work will ensure you are fully hydrated, unloading your heart! Enjoy! Csilla

  - Csilla

• March 20, 2013 9:57 a.m.

  I have completely stopped eating & drinking anything "man made". My mood has improved immensely, I have tons of energy, & as a bonus I've lost 12 lbs so far. When I go to the grocery store, I shop the "outer" perimeter of the store. The middle in the isles is where the bad stuff is. If it comes from a plant, tree or animal I'll eat it. If it's man made, it isn't natural period. I started this change due to seasonal depression. The winter/early spring in the Northeast is soul crushingly grey & dreary. After stopping eating refined sugar & white flour completely & getting vitamin D from romaine lettuce & skim milk, my mood is top shelf...

  - John

• November 19, 2012 12:54 a.m.

  @Lynn. Your future is built by you, one choice at a time. You can choose to feel deprived when eating healthy food or you can choose to feel good about it because you are taking a positive step towards a better future for yourself. The only way to move lettuce into the feel good category of foods is to choose to think differently about what you eat. Your choice. Your future. Good luck.

  - Zann

• October 13, 2012 12:09 p.m.

  I have often felt that food, what, where, how I ate,not only helps to reduce stress and fatigue but can also contribute to more stress. I love to eat and I eat small meals throughout the day. I also meditate for 10-15 minutes each day usually before bed or while soaking in the tub.Now I am no scientist or nutritionist, but in my own opinion as long as you are patient throughout the day and make your meals appealing to the eyes (color), you can reduce typical mood swings.

  - Pamela

• September 28, 2012 10:14 a.m.

  Very inept idea at best and you know what at worse

  - Gorge

• June 22, 2012 7:15 a.m.

  I know this article is true. For me, the most important thing about eating healthy is being prepared. The society we live in caters to our impulses and procrastinations. It's easier to get take out after a stressful day at work than to go home and prepare a fresh, well thought out, well timed meal for the family. So I make myself buy fresh, raw fruit and vegetables, meats, etc and when it get home, I immediately clean the fruit and veggies before putting them in the fridge, that way I'm not tempted to run out the door in the mornings thinking "I'll just grab Wendy's for lunch" because I didn't have time in the morning to wash my fruit for lunch that day or wash the lunch salad leaves. One cool thing is, that when I'm prepared to eat well, my quality of sleep is better and I am actually ready to get up early in the morning before everyone else and prepare a good lunch / and take that night's meat out of freezer (if needed) so it's ready for preparation that evening (vs. thawing the meat when I get home and dinner takes longer... you know what I mean). Another awesome thing is that my mental clarity and concentration is much sharper when I'm prepared and eating well.

  - Debra

• June 14, 2012 10:24 a.m.

  Don't eat and live free!

  - David

• May 12, 2012 3:07 a.m.

  Thanks guys, for sharing such informative data. coconut oil

  - coconut oil

• April 8, 2012 2:43 p.m.

  Moody moods. Compara abla engless. Doom is on the horrizon. Temtation is only an afterthought. Dive right in to the facts that you do know. lesson summary-You can eat what ever you want and it be ok. The truth of the food and mood connection is continually spreading like brain connections from birth to eternity. Constant thoughts and reactions to events in our daily lives. The calming effect after each event is what we do to recoupe and solve another emotion to live to the end.

  - David

• March 11, 2012 8:29 p.m.

  I realize the way I eat may definitely have a factor in the lack of sleep I receive. I am the type of person who isn't consistence with eating on time or proper foods. Sometimes I go for the greasy foods and sometimes the better foods.In the morning I may eat healthier then later not so healthy. With me eating that way is a big burden.Especially at night late night I begin to starve and eat snacks. Which oviously makes me more alert and I lose the sleep.If I become more consistence and precise I could turn it around I believe. I'm all for the meditation aspect.

  - Araysha

• December 20, 2011 10:19 a.m.

  lately I had trouble sleeping. then Downardspiral: loose interest in things, lack of concentration, less healthy food, less excercice. now I am trying to reverse this.

  - Yael

• October 11, 2011 9:49 p.m.

  Food and mood do have an effect on each other. I have noticed when I eat more fruits and vegetables I feel more energetic. I have also noticed that when I add meats like pork or beef I seem to get tired after eating. I think the meat makes it a little more heavy on the stomach which causes the fatigue after a lot of meals. I have substituted my pork and beef with fish and poultry which sort of weighs itself out. I don't feel hungry two hours later and I don't feel heavy and fatigued. I do believe you are what you eat.

  - Terry

• October 10, 2011 7:55 a.m.

  A very interesting article. Stress does have a lot to do with eating. Part of this seems to be the time people have today in a rush-rush society. I do try to have healthy choices. I ususally cook a few times during the week and use these foods for "brown bag lunches" while I am going to school.

  - Natalie

• October 9, 2011 1:19 a.m.

  Food and moon plays a good part of my life because when i'm not in a good moon I tend to let food get the best of me. I will indulge in high sugar foods like cakes and ice cream I will use this as a way to relieve my moon that i'm in. But this is only doing bodily hard to me it's not a good source to use but many of us seem to do it. Especially when we are stress out about something we use food as a comfort zone; but really we are doing more damage then good to ourselfs. what I have learn is to make more healthly choices and what I eat it's more important to eat good to stimulate the brian.

  - Sarah

• August 26, 2011 4:14 a.m.

  very nice idea to be happy, mood enhancer

  - batra

• August 15, 2011 8:42 p.m.

  I had a professor for a 400 level psychology class. He was telling us that the junk food we like to eat, especially during times of sadness, etc. have a chemical factor. He explained that sweet foods loaded with carbohydrates increase seratonin levels in the brain--obviously not in a good way! Is this true?

  - Bethany

• April 14, 2011 8:34 p.m.

  I really like the way you used imagination to create an experience of delightful dining at the beginning and a stressful cramming of food at the end. You are right. Our mind has a lot to do with our stress. Recent research is showing that it is just not the calories, not only what you eat but how and when also matters. In addition to all the physiological factors, our state of mind when we eat also makes a difference. Being mindfully present when we eat allows us to really experience the food at a deeper level, leading to much satisfaction with less amount of food. Ofcourse, this way of eating is also a stress buster. Stress makes us eat more, but when we focus our mind on what we eat, the experience reduces stress. Isn't it great. A lot more of these stress relief tips are available for free at: http://internationalstressreliefacademy.com/ Thank you

  - hyma

• March 13, 2011 12:26 a.m.

  My life has recently changed dramatically ( for the better) thanks to me finally realising that what I put into my body determines so many other things than just how I look. We all know what is good for us, how to lose weight, what we should and shouldn't eat... that bit is the easy part. What 99% of us struggle with is WHY we either do or dont do it?! We dont commit to healthy eating patterns enough because we still associate too much instant pleasure to the chocolate bar, or beer or wine... rather than the pain it will ultimately cause us! My turning point was attending a Tony Robbins seminar where he had us go through 'The Dickens Process' and envisage what we would look/feel like in 5/10/20 years from now if we kept making these poor choices....It was an intense experience, we linked so much immediate pain to these choices and was so horrifically disgusted that it broke the spell that 'oh, only this bit of chocolate wont hurt' or 'I'll work this burger off with a run tomorrow'... Every time a poor food choice or alcoholic drink comes my way the pain of what it will cause me far outweighs the instant gratification most of us still succumb to. Cut the C.R.A.P , caffeine, refined sugar, alcohol and processed foods. Eat foods rich in water, vegies and fruit, study the principals of food combining. It'll change your life. Ive never felt better (once on prescription anti-depressants), looked better or been more successful. I am in control! AND LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF LIFE!!!!

  - Tenar

• January 21, 2011 11:40 a.m.

  Food plays a big part in the mood that i may in. When in a good mood i tend to eat more healthier foods, versus when in a bad mood i dont always make good food choices. Good food choices lead to more healthier, and wise decisions. Having better decision making enables you to have a better attitude towards work, home and just in public. I know that making healthy choices in the food i eat does that for me. In the future i intend to make more healthy choices in the food i eat, and buy. Exercise is another big part in the choices i make. I dont always exercise and eat the right thing, which can also trigger a bad mood in life. Developing a bad eating habit can also increase a large wait gain. When i look at the scale and see that i have gain a pound or two it puts me in a less that great mood, which can taken to work, school or just in the general public. I wish that i can exercise and eat right all the time but life isn't always that easy. I wish that could do all of those things. So my goal of the future is to eat right, exercise more often and work on more ways of reducing stress levels. Stress can lead to early life, maraige problems, problems with your children, and many other things. Those are problems that i dont want in my life. When i do these things i should be able to go out in public with a good attitude and good mood. Moods tend to travel from one person to another, and if you are in a foul stressful mood then the person closest to you can end up in the same foul m

  - Owen

• November 27, 2010 3:55 a.m.

  I sit here typeing with a national geographic beside me with king David in big letters on the cover. What it may be about, I will not know because I am not that interested, but I can tell you what I know about him. He stood up to Goliath and defeated him when everybody doughted and were wondering how the heck. Anyways a miracle took place right. Well not exactly. David used what he knew and what he had and what he wanted and became victorious. If it wasn't for his will as a good human being, he probably wouldn't have even stepped up to challenge the giant. When times get tough, just survive, and do it in an appropriote way with honor and dignity. I can remember times when my parents would take me out shopping and I would have my meal before we took off and we would get to the place we had planned on going and then my parents would decide to go someplace all of a sudden and I could tell that my blood sugar was getting low because I would become irritable and tried my hardest to get to a source of descent enough food while trying to retain my composer and let me tell you that it can become a real struggle to do just that with my father in the driver seat. Take it from a guy who had headaches for over a year straight for every waking moment. It was horrendous. I'm lucky that I didn't have a blood vessel explode in my brain. I try and stay positive no matter what the situation, in every situation, it's my way of letting others know that I am fine and am determined

  - David

• November 19, 2010 10:44 p.m.

  How about this: Coexist or be pissed Breathe deeply together to stand up to the weather Eat a good treat to brave the heat When your food is effecting your mood then you must listen dude to the facts at hand, then you will land in a place where you can follow through with the new you. Now I think that's pretty cooo. How about a vegetable stew or is that eww. Maybe a nice cheese burger or maybe a cup of coffee with sugar. Oh I know a pizza pie to go with your tie. I do not want green eggs and ham. My name is David and I have definitly decided from all of my enduring at the age of 26 to start on my journey to become a Neuro surgeon. And I would like to thank these two gorgeous ladies for their help. As pretty as they are well I just can't help but to mention the lady in my life. She is a beaut! Sigh... I guess that I should read the posting guidelines huh. Later...

  - David

• November 12, 2010 7:42 a.m.

  My intentions are to be intelligent enough to get the job done while feeling good. You are important to all. I cryed the other night for our future. We will succeed no matter what. God Bless!

  - David

• October 23, 2010 11:58 p.m.

  I like to eat cheese and I think that people can actually depend on the stuff. The ultimate question is if we can handle it.

  - Dave

• October 22, 2010 10:59 p.m.

  We all have heart. From time to time I will indulge in a sweet in the morning and it will make me tired so I take a nap. The same goes with a pure fruit and a little tap water smoothie, as in just the opposite, I will feel healthy and alert and really feel like I could just start walking for hours as long as I have a plan to refuel. Anyways when i'm tired and proceed while cancelling out sleep my mood is the result. Mood mood mood. Whoopee, right. Just imagine yourself on a beach somewhere eating fresh cut up fruits and whatever vegetables delight you. Kicking back or having fun with your fiancee. Nice thought? We have to control ourselves for the sake of future generations. Evolution is insanely simple. bye

  - Dave

• October 19, 2010 3:59 p.m.

  It has been along time since I actually posted. All I have to add is that if you beleive in something good so much and work for it so passionately and skillfully, then you should succeed. Right! Opportunity comes to mind. Healthy food is good for the mood. A bad diet will make you want to riot. And once you become your passion, in my case a health article reader, then you will experience change and eventually stronger. I think that we can all agree that our love for food is strong. And that makes sense of course. So wouldn't you want to protect yourself with the nutritious and fibery kind and promote good health which will give you a sense of pride and accomplishment not to mention motivation. Please if you spead even just one sentence from this to another, it just might be that we could become. Now if that isn't positive then I don't know what is. Thank you and God bless!

  - Dave