Mood Swings and Food Intolerance
We all experience some form of mood swings and other irregular emotional behavior every now and then. But what if it’s happening consistently? Our ability to process and respond to a wide range of emotional situations in an appropriate manner is a significant function of social life.
How Can Mood Swings Affect Your Life?
Constantly changing mood-states can make it difficult to adjust to everyday life. Sudden, unstable mood swings can result in a variety of personal and professional relationship issues.
Common Causes of Mood Swings
Mood swings can be attributed to anything from hormones, to diet, stress, or even more serious neurotransmitter issues that can disrupt brain connections crucial for maintaining normal mood and behavior.
Symptoms Include:
- Erratic changes in mood, personality or behavior
- Anxiety, irritability or agitation
- Confusion or forgetfulness
- Difficulty with concentration or attention
Food Intolerance, Diet, and Mood Swings
“Food choices that you make every day influence your brain’s ability to grow and heal…The foundation of good mental health is good wholesome food.” says Drew Ramsey, MD, co-author of The Happiness Diet.
But, even if it seems like you’re eating right and making healthy lifestyle decisions, the side-effects of a food intolerance can still impact your mood. This is mainly due to the fact that, when intolerant to a food you consume, improperly digested particles can make their way into the bloodstream, ultimately causing inflammation in the gut, which can then trigger other negative symptoms including mood swings.
Further research even suggests that “emotional regulation” can also be linked to gastrointestinal disorders, causing “emotional dysregulation” or difficulty engaging in goal directed behavior and lack of emotional awareness.
How a Food Intolerance Test Can Help
Eliminating and replacing problem foods from your diet may help fight against severe mood swings. The quickest way to identify your food intolerances is by taking a blood test that measures IgG antibody levels against a variety of different food proteins.
This kind of testing helps to quickly identify which foods are responding negatively with your system and can be much more efficient than food journaling or guess-and-check diets.
All that’s left to do after you get your results is to eliminate the foods you’re intolerant to. That’s it. No follow-ups. No exercise regimens. Zero hassles.
