Eating well: how food impacts on our mental health

[firemonkey]

We are inviting you to watch a free live stream of our event which will explore nutrition and mental health. What we eat and drink affects how we feel, think and behave. Just like the heart, stomach and liver, the brain is an organ that requires different amounts of complex carbohydrates, essential fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins, minerals and water to remain healthy.

The event will be streamed live on Periscope on Monday 27 March between 6 and 7pm where we will be launching our new policy briefing Food for thought: mental health and nutrition. We all know that eating well helps keep us physically healthy, and we look forward to exploring how it helps maintain a healthy mind too.


https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/events/eating-well

[Jam]

Originally Posted by firemonkey

My problem is I know I should eat healthily but things like low motivation/limited cooking skills/planning and organising difficulties/doing online grocery shopping where the ingredients tend to have short sell by dates - all serve to make knowing and doing far apart.

No offence, but I don't see any of those reasons as an excuse. Eat your fking veg.

[Rocket Spud]

Try making an omelette, they're amateur friendly and you can create many variations.

Salmon is easy to do, goes well with veg. I do a Moroccan cous-cous salad thing which i crafted myself - it wasn't difficult, i just added some olive oil and chopped rocket leaf.

Maybe to kickstart things you could simply replace chocolate/crisps/that-sort-of-thing with fruit.

Carrot sticks and dip is good too.

... Well, that's me outta ideas

[Olly.]

^ But what if you're too lazy for that? ()

[Dougella]

I find frozen veg easiest, you can use it as you need it and it doesn't go off.

I think eating well generally does make me feel better, it makes sense that our bodies will generally function better if we're getting good over all nutrition.

[firemonkey]

Originally Posted by Rocket Spud

Maybe to kickstart things you could simply replace chocolate/crisps/that-sort-of-thing with fruit.

Carrot sticks and dip is good too.

... Well, that's me outta ideas

I don't have much chocolate or crisps . Having said that I don't have much fruit and veg.
A combination of supermarket ready meals and take aways isn't good on that score.

Last shop I bought some stir fry stuff. The only trouble was it made a big amount and all of it had to be used in a couple of days.
This is one of the things I find problematic with cooking from scratch; buying ingredients that will keep over a 10-14 day period. Usually stuff has a very short use by date.

Have ordered some apples,pears and satsumas. Just hope I don't have to gobble them all up in 1-2 days. The last time I bought fresh fruit it went off after a couple of days and had to be chucked.

In order to get a little veg sometimes order from Wiltshire farm foods as their meals usually include a portion of veg.

[Dougella]

You could try tinned fruit, if you make sure it's in juice rather than syrup.

[misska]

Heinz tinned chunky soup is good. I could only eat this after an physical illness and drink cup of fresh orange every day made me feel better

[Mo34]

Originally Posted by firemonkey

I don't have much chocolate or crisps . Having said that I don't have much fruit and veg.
A combination of supermarket ready meals and take aways isn't good on that score.

Last shop I bought some stir fry stuff. The only trouble was it made a big amount and all of it had to be used in a couple of days.
This is one of the things I find problematic with cooking from scratch; buying ingredients that will keep over a 10-14 day period. Usually stuff has a very short use by date.

Have ordered some apples,pears and satsumas. Just hope I don't have to gobble them all up in 1-2 days. The last time I bought fresh fruit it went off after a couple of days and had to be chucked.

In order to get a little veg sometimes order from Wiltshire farm foods as their meals usually include a portion of veg.

Apples and pears keep for ages and ages in the fridge. I often keep a cauliflower in my fridge for a goodly while too, other things like carrots can be kept for ages.
Like Dougella has said though frozen is a good alternative (and often higher in vitamins) - peas, mixed veg, are all quick and simple to make, requiring no effort at all. Lol you can even buy ready chopped frozen onion (tho why ppl would I don't know, lol, as fresh onions keep very well). Frozen fruit/berries can be good too add to stuff too.

[Spectrelight]

Originally Posted by Mo34

Apples and pears keep for ages and ages in the fridge. I often keep a cauliflower in my fridge for a goodly while too, other things like carrots can be kept for ages.
Like Dougella has said though frozen is a good alternative (and often higher in vitamins) - peas, mixed veg, are all quick and simple to make, requiring no effort at all. Lol you can even buy ready chopped frozen onion (tho why ppl would I don't know, lol, as fresh onions keep very well). Frozen fruit/berries can be good too add to stuff too.

I use them because I've yet to figure out how to chop a fresh onion without making myself cry

[Mo34]

^ fair enough.

Do they taste alright?

[Spectrelight]

^ They're fine for using to make curries, chilli etc. That's about all i use onions for.

[irenerheflin]

Thanks for sharing.