Mood enhancing Foods

[PassionateChefsDie]

We all know the supposed high we get from Chocolate, what other foods do people believe have a similar or reverse affect(Not diet related) be them spices, herbs or main ingredients?

I believe there's a load of food stuffs that people say change our moods what do people think they are and the moods they instigate! If you know the science why, all the better.

Stef

[Gifted Gourmet]

that ice cream! Oh yes, oh yes!

Scottish ice cream maker Mackie's is launching what it claims is the world’s first mood-enhancing ice cream, according to a report in Scotland on Sunday. The company, based in Aberdeenshire, Scotland has added the essence of an orchid native to Alaska to a low-calorie ice cream, a recipe it claims makes people happy. The flower essence is a legal mood enhancer which creates the feeling of intense pleasure after it has been tasted.

[PassionateChefsDie]

*LOL* Doesn't all Ice cream do this? you've got me started now off to find what it is and the reason why!

Thanks Gifted

Whilst I'm here I am right in saying that chocolate is increasing our serotonin levels?

Does any one know the reason why fattier foods sweeter foods leave us feeling in a better mood?

[Gifted Gourmet]

Okay, okay, let's move beyond the Orchid ice cream orgasms to something more serious:

a very good place to begin understanding this topic ...

brain chemicals are thousands of times stronger than street drugs like heroin. And your body has to have them. If not, it sends out a command that is stronger than anyone's willpower: "Find a druglike food or a drug, or some alcohol, to substitute for our missing brain chemicals. We cannot function without them!" Your depression, tension, irritability, anxiety, and cravings are all symptoms of a brain that is deficient in its essential calming, stimulating, and mood-enhancing chemicals.

[PassionateChefsDie]

Okay, okay, let's move beyond the Orchid ice cream orgasms to something more serious:

a very good place to begin understanding this topic ...

brain chemicals are thousands of times stronger than street drugs like heroin. And your body has to have them. If not, it sends out a command that is stronger than anyone's willpower: "Find a druglike food or a drug, or some alcohol, to substitute for our missing brain chemicals. We cannot function without them!" Your depression, tension, irritability, anxiety, and cravings are all symptoms of a brain that is deficient in its essential calming, stimulating, and mood-enhancing chemicals.

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Really Thanks once again, I'm lost now for a couple of days!

Interested as I'm bit of an Adrelanine Junkie(I love climbing), I've begun to wonder are all our mood enhancers different. Someone once said I relax on stress which is quite true, the middle of a service on a saturday night or climbing when the heats on I just zone out and get on with it(Though sometimes climbing, it doesn't work and fear drives me to the ground)!

Stef

[Chris Amirault]

I can't find anything on Google to bear this out, so I offer only my rock-solid anecdotal evidence and the testimonial of chile-heads worldwide when I say that I get a buzz off of very hot peppers. I can be convinced that it's capiscum, or that it's my happiness in having my mouth afire, or both. Anyone know?

[PassionateChefsDie]

I can't find anything on Google to bear this out, so I offer only my rock-solid anecdotal evidence and the testimonial of chile-heads worldwide when I say that I get a buzz off of very hot peppers. I can be convinced that it's capiscum, or that it's my happiness in having my mouth afire, or both. Anyone know?

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I'm not sure but in scientific studies it's been proved that it stunts growth. So it's definetly doing something!

Does anyone know why things likes hops, chamoille etc have a calming effect on us?

[Fresser]

I am very passionate about oregano. Be it on pizza or in a salad, however it is presented, I go nuts. I liken it to how a cat presents himself after exposure to cat nip. I just start purring. PURR PURR PURR Another idea that I wanted to keep as my little secret (okay I'll reveal it because I love you guys) is the dipping of bread into soda pop. Normally I will start off with some oregano and when that buzz kicks in I will come down on Family Grains multi bread doused in diet Coke.

Edited June 22, 2005 by Fresser (log)

[Pan]

Katz's Pastrami makes me feel joyful to be alive!

[Chris Amirault]

Katz's Pastrami makes me feel joyful to be alive!

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Michael, your regular mentioning of Katz's pastrami blackens my mood temporarily and makes me wish I were you!

[wannabechef]

Do hash brownies count, or am I taking this too literally?

[PassionateChefsDie]

Do hash brownies count, or am I taking this too literally? 

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Nope if it works for you thats fine! Maybe we will see a common link after a while, I'm quite surprised there hasn't been more fatty sweet food stuffs here already.

Think I've got to find this pastrami it's blackening moods and everything through lack off. *LOL* Though might have to wait for a holiday I dont reckon I've got any hope of finding it here in the UK.

Edited to add

What about airmail!

Edited June 22, 2005 by PassionateChefsDie (log)

[shelora]

Homemade chicken broth

A good chile buzz

The combination of the two is exquisite.

[chile_peppa]

Do you remember the episode of the Simpsons where Homer sees pretty colors after eating some chile peppers?

My sons and I were circumnavigating Lake Erie on a spur of the moment trip to Niagara Falls (Canada) after leaving a family reunion near Toledo, OH. It was nearing midnight when we reached Buffalo, NY, and we were getting hungry. So we asked the tollbooth keeper for directions to the Anchor Bar, home of the buffalo wing, because well, how could you pass up a chance like this? After driving through some tough-looking streets, we finally found the place, and we were the night's last customers. My older son, then 16 and in the midst of a really nasty phase of life, decided he was going to be a man and order the hottest available wings. The aroma hit us like a ton of bricks as soon as the kitchen door opened and the server came through with a tray of flaming wings. Our eyes were watering before they reached the table. The kid chomped down, started sweating, and his eyes popped, but he wouldn't admit defeat for anything. He finished off the platter. He was actually weaving by the time we left. And yes, he couldn't see straight -- those pretty colors got in the way.

[Pan]

Chris, it looks like you're overdue for a visit to New York.

Passionate, I'd be surprised if no pastrami were available in the UK. At the same time the largescale immigration of Jews from the Eastern European homes of pastrami to the Americas took place, there was a smaller-scale immigration to the UK and France (in fact, my father's Poilisher father and grandparents came to the UK before deciding to leave for the US). Maybe you should inquire in the United Kingdom & Ireland forum.

[PassionateChefsDie]

Chris, it looks like you're overdue for a visit to New York.

Passionate, I'd be surprised if no pastrami were available in the UK. At the same time the largescale immigration of Jews from the Eastern European homes of pastrami to the Americas took place, there was a smaller-scale immigration to the UK and France (in fact, my father's Poilisher father and grandparents came to the UK before deciding to leave for the US). Maybe you should inquire in the United Kingdom & Ireland forum.

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You do find it, most superstores have a form of it. Have to say I've yet to taste a proper one!

But could be worth finding out about a good source in the UK though at the moment I'm in the back waters of UK so reckon most will be down London way. Took me years to work out is was brined and smoked beef. Didn't really know how to make it till I encountered this forum.

Edited to add

You got me interested found a deli, now got to find it, I may get to taste a proper pastrami.

Edited June 22, 2005 by PassionateChefsDie (log)

[duckduck]

The book Potatoes, Not Prozac does a pretty good job and explaining all that stuff in detail. She gets into blood sugar levels and brain chemicals and how it all works together. I actually use her high protein and complex carb diet to help keep my seratonin levels up and keep me level.

[annanstee]

I absolutely get a buzz off chiles of any kind-

I would love to know the science behind it

[PassionateChefsDie]

All you chilli fans

From McGee

First our bodies are reacting to chillis is a defensive one i.e. pain, watery eyes. runny nose which are defensives to stop us eating such irritants, not encourage it. So as its a constrained risk, like riding a roller coaster, our body is reacting with warning signals which we can ignore. Which means we can savour the shock/burning sensation it's also possible that we're also releasing endorphins in response to our burning tounge.

Hope that helps you all that are curious

Stef

[SuzySushi]

that ice cream! Oh yes, oh yes! 

Scottish ice cream maker Mackie's is launching what it claims is the world’s first mood-enhancing ice cream, according to a report in Scotland on Sunday. The company, based in Aberdeenshire, Scotland has added the essence of an orchid native to Alaska to a low-calorie ice cream, a recipe it claims makes people happy. The flower essence is a legal mood enhancer which creates the feeling of intense pleasure after it has been tasted.

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Are you sure it's not just vanilla?

[Abra]

Peanut butter always makes me feel better; not having peanut butter always makes me feel worse.

Ginger brings me up, as do chiles, and, strange to say, toast.

[raxelita]

I enjoy taking in a ton of wasabi at once, and after a minute the wave of understanding that for that last minute all I was aware of was pure hot pain. Then calm.

Similar with chilis, and yes, your body releases endorphins to distract you from the pain.

Carelessly assembled sandwiches, burritos, and tacos give me welshmertz(sp?)

Ice cream brings comfort and an unexplainable carefree feeling.

[raxelita]

I enjoy taking in a ton of wasabi at once, and after a minute the wave of understanding that for that last minute all I was aware of was pure hot pain. Then calm.

Similar with chilis, and yes, your body releases endorphins to distract you from the pain.

Carelessly assembled sandwiches, burritos, and tacos give me welshmertz(sp?)

Ice cream brings comfort and an unexplainable carefree feeling.

[divalasvegas]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this or not, but I've noticed a couple of things involving reactions to certain foods eaten.

1. There is a phenomenon that I see more so in women, exclusively really, than in men. It's craving something that the body seems to actually need at the moment. I have heard women say on many occasions that they crave spinach, beets, steak which leads me to believe that......................

2. It seems that when I crave these foods, my body is actually telling me something. I was recently diagnosed as being anemic. I always thought people with anemia were skinny, itty bitty little things. But alas, no. So there are times I absolutely have to have spinach, beef, beets, liver. I think it's my body's way of saying "yes indeed you are anemic, you need iron, now take care of it." The same thing happens to me with dairy products. Calcium calling?

3. After a night of, well, "partying," nothing sets me right like a nice plate of protein and grease..... eggs, sausage, grits (with a lovely pool of butter melted in the middle) or homefries, toast with more said butter. Once I've eaten that I just feel "right" again.

[aliwaks]

The smell of fresh basil will lift my spirits enourmously

Fresh pineapple makes me extremely flushed and mildly hyper

Cucumbers are soothing, cucumber soup will lull me into a pleasent stupor

Fresh mint is reviving esp in ice tea

Ice cream sundaes make me happy at first then bloated and depressed actually almost any sugar/milk combo will do that a mixture of lactose intolerance and guilt I suppose