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