If you've tried a low-carb diet in the past, you may have experienced some unwanted side effects like headaches and crankiness. But are these symptoms a result of changing your usual patterns and feeling deprived of your favourite foods? Or is there something physiological going on? Let's explore the link between carbohydrate foods and feeling good.
Calming carbs
The calming carb story dates back to the 1970's when scientist Richard Wurtman first described the path: foods high in carbohydrates increase blood glucose and insulin levels, which in turn raise levels of the amino acid tryptophan in the brain, and switch on the synthesis of feel-good serotonin. Your brain needs a constant supply of glucose to function, and when supplies run short it starts to signal a shutdown with headaches and drowsiness.
This carbohydrate mood link is now referred to as the Wurtman Hypothesis and has stood the test of time over the last 30-odd years. In fact, there's an interesting new hypothesis that a carbohydrate-rich diet could be used as part of a therapy to treat postnatal depression, since insulin levels rise gradually during pregnancy as a result of hormonal changes and then drop suddenly after the delivery of a baby. It is thought that this sudden drop in insulin may induce mood disorders by reducing serotonin synthesis.
To help keep a positive mood, it's a great strategy to include nutritious carbs — from wholegrain breads to pasta to rice and other grains — along with fruit and low-fat dairy at every meal. Place particular focus on the importance of carbs at breakfast and as mid-meal snacks.
Start right with oats
Oats are one of those traditional, frosty morning comfort foods. A steaming bowl of porridge with a drizzle of honey or golden syrup is the perfect way to warm up, and it certainly helps get you out of those cosy pj's and slippers and ready to charge out into the cold. Recent studies have confirmed that the types of breakfast people eat can affect the state of their mood in the middle of the day, and oats are rich in nutritious carbohydrates and other essential vitamins and minerals.
Snack right with low GI carbs
Low glycemic index carbohydrate foods like orchard fruits, yoghurts and grainy breads provide a sustained release of glucose into your bloodstream, meaning that they're the best mid-meal snack choice for a steady stream of energy and for keeping your moods on an even keel. Unfortunately, we often crave highly refined, high GI foods like donuts and cake when we're felling a little low or flat in the arvo.
But even though these foods may provide a temporary natural high, this is quickly followed by a drop in energy levels, and at times, a worsening of your previous low mood.
