A bad mood inducing meal?

Chris Forbis · 08-21-2007, 05:48 PM

6 oz bag of baby spinach + 2 oz olive oil and vinegar dressing (Newman's Own)
16 oz organic strawberries
14.75 oz canned, wild-caught, Alaskan salmon
1/4 cup almonds

This meal sent me off the deep end. It put me into an incredibly bad mood. I was tired already (poor night's sleep last night), but it made me super cranky, pessimistic, and even more tired. Later at dinner, I had grassfed beef, broccoli, and almonds and I now feel like a million bucks.

I'm going to try running an elimination process on this combination to see if it is any particular thing. I think the dressing might be the culprit as though olive oil is the chief oil in it, it also has soybean and canola oil.

It seems very odd to me that something that looks so harmless (and healthy) could have such a negative effect...

Derek Simonds · 08-21-2007, 06:06 PM

let us know what you figure out. I have found with mood swings there can be any number of variables that contribute including food, allergies and interaction with other carbon based life forms.

Best of luck especially since that looks like such a great meal.

Steve Liberati · 08-22-2007, 04:48 AM

ah that it strange...unless this meal is completely new to your body which I assume it is not. I eat this same exact meal almost everyday (except make my own dressing of olive oil and ACV in 2:1 ratio) and never experience any problems.

Quite possibly its the combo of the carbs (fruit) and fat (nuts, dressing) that jacked your insulin causing a swing in your mood. But hard to say...try leaving out the strawberries next time and see what happens.

William Hunter · 08-22-2007, 06:28 AM

Strange...and fascinating. I've never really considered this, but I'm going to start paying attention. Dr G (maybe on the CF board) mentioned the effects of different alcohols on the body/brain (some make you happy, others violent) so why would food be any different. However, it looks like a perfectly healthy meal, except for the soybean oil. If I have anything with soy in it, it feels like my tongue grows hair, which does nothing to help my mood

Chris Forbis · 08-23-2007, 02:48 PM

I dropped the dressing today, still made me feel kind of down.

Must be the sugar from the strawberries. I'll try switching it out to carrots, and if that doesn't work then dropping the carrots.

Garrett Smith · 08-26-2007, 09:39 AM

My hunch is the strawberries...I personally don't get along with the "seedy" berries (like strawberries and raspberries).

Chris Forbis · 09-13-2007, 07:18 PM

I went and forgot about this thread.

Carrots for strawberries did the trick.

Any idea what the deal is with "seedy" berries, Dr. G?

Garrett Smith · 09-14-2007, 08:43 AM

The only ideas I have about those berries are:

the seeds (obviously)
mild food allergies
high sugar, low fiber content (compared to carrots)

The only berries I do on any sort of regular basis are wild blueberries. Raspberries and strawberries really give me a runny nose (and too much sugar of any kind gives me a delayed mood-depressing reaction).

Wish I could be more help.

Always remember that food avoidance followed by food re-introduction and close observance of symptoms is the gold standard in food allergy/hypersensitivity testing (it's the cheapest too!).