Certain foods and drinks can trigger a bad mood

Our relationships with food are complicated. Sometimes our body feels sluggish after eating a delicious meal that we know is bad for us. Or sometimes you feel a craving and go looking for a specific flavor profile. Some people love sweets, others love savory foods. Food is an important part of our daily life and determines some decisions. But did you know that certain foods and drinks can trigger a bad mood?

Many of our favorite comfort foods and drinks, such as chips, mac and cheese, cookies, sodas and coffee drinks, tend to have side effects without any nutritional value. The quick burst of energy and dopamine they provide is fleeting, leaving you feeling guilty and hungry shortly after.

“Emotional eating is a cyclical process in which a bad mood leads to eating foods that raise blood sugar levels and give us a dose of dopamine, which then drops, while at the same time making us feel guilty,” says the psychologist Lee Chambers. “This combination often leaves us feeling dissatisfied, with feelings of guilt, shame and regret.”

Here are some foods and drinks that might be making you grumpy.

Coffee

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While coffee generally makes us feel good first thing in the morning, too much coffee can make us nervous and irritable. If you are particularly sensitive to caffeine, you may even have trouble sleeping at night. To prevent this, it is helpful to limit your consumption of coffee and caffeine, including teas, sodas, and the like. If you need a pick-me-up during the day and have already had coffee, consider eating something filling with protein. If you're pressed for time, stock up on energy bars and keep them in your car and house.

Fast food

French fries, pizza bites, chips, and other types of comfort food contain large amounts of saturated fats, refined sugars, and more. These can cause dips in energy and leave you feeling tired for long periods of time. Although it is unrealistic to never eat such foods, we should all aim to eat relatively healthy foods throughout the day to keep us energized and reduce the times when we eat these types of meals take, enjoy. Here's why fast food makes us moody.

alcohol

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Drinking a cocktail or a glass of wine is fun until it's not fun anymore. The substance has a depressant effect, slows down parts of the brain and delays our reaction to external events. Because of this, drunk people are uncoordinated and can easily fall. This is also the reason why you should never drive a car. Alcohol also causes a loss of inhibition, which is why there are angry or very emotional drunks who say things they will later regret. But the bad mood often sets in the next morning when you wake up with a debilitating hangover that also paralyzes an otherwise productive day.