Food and Mood Courses
"Food and drink influence our mood - all the time everyday"
We help you to see food and drink not just as sustenance or sources of short term pleasure. With a clearer view of many food mood links you gain opportunities to change eating habits reducing the stress on our minds and bodies. In the longer term eating food that is good for the mood is good for physical health too.
One day of training allows the study of much of this vast subject of food and mood, while short workshops are also popular.
We help you understand why people choose the foods they do and how we can all be choosing foods that allow us to feel mentally and physically healthier.
Food and drink choices are influenced by: nutrition, taste, aromas, social eating, social and less social drinking, the good, bad and ugly added in food factories, freshness, how we cook, who we sit with, when we don't have time to chew, our sensitivities, intolerances, allergies, the need to look right, quick energy/slow energy..
As well as Food and Mood workshops we can also provide training in Nutrition and Mental Health.
One idea we are currently investigating is the advantages of eating ten or more food types in a meal rather than a few large portions of say, meat, potato and a vegetable. Making a lunch up to ten items by seeing what is in the cupboard and fridge can result in some interesting combinations..
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What do we know & believe and which ideas are just myths?
| Vitamins to fight depression | |
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The vitamins in green beans 'go off' when the beans are kept at room temperature? Can you name one of these vitamins in green beans? |
| A mineral for a healthy heart | |
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Fruits other than bananas and plums are usually low in potassium. Which contains more potassium - The 4 bananas or this bowl of cherry-plums? |
| Healthier fats and oils? | |
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Sunflower seeds are high in one type of fatty acid. Is it 'omega-3', 'omega-6', or 'omega-9'? |
| Green (or even pink) fingers | |
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Growing plants is one of the few things proved to improve mood for everyone everywhere. Do you remember the first time you planted a seed and saw it grow? |
| Growing your own | |
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Having a herb garden (maybe in a window box) is good for bees. What is this herb that is especially attractive to bees? |
| Why naturally colourful foods can be so good for us | |
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Tomatoes contain lycopene. What is lycopene and why might men need it more than women? |
| Just curious | |
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Cucumbers grow in many shapes and sizes. What happens to all those cucumbers that do not grow straight? And how do they manage to grow plastic on the cucumbers for supermarkets? |
© 2011 Roger Smith, Stop Paddling
