{"id":22781,"date":"2013-10-31T22:18:35","date_gmt":"2013-11-01T06:18:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=22781"},"modified":"2013-11-01T08:45:14","modified_gmt":"2013-11-01T16:45:14","slug":"positive-nutrition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/positive-nutrition\/","title":{"rendered":"The Effects of Nutrition on Positivity"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The experience of eating is strongly tied to emotional circuits in the brain. In his 2011 doctoral dissertation, Michael Saddoris of Johns Hopkins University found that the brain structures responsible for our sense of taste resemble the connectivity structures in the limbic brain – the neural center of emotion [1]. The emotional association of food is further compounded by the memories summoned by the smell of food, and by the aesthetics of a visually pleasing meal, leading to a strong relationship between food and mood. The processing of flavors in the brain is one of the dimensions of our physiology, responding immediately to nutrients or toxins that it perceives [2].<\/p>\n

In the 20th century, the desire to produce food in abundance resulted in a decline in food quality, and the emergence of food \u201con the go.\u201d The growing stressful demands of the modern lifestyle left little room to sit down and have proper meals, focusing on the experience of eating. We now know that this trend not only harms the quality of nutrition and physical health, but also has psychological implications – the experience of having a meal slowly and mindfully, taking in the colors, shapes, smells, textures, and flavors is an important experience to one\u2019s emotional health and stress resilience. A meal should feed both your body and your soul.<\/p>\n

The practicalities of your daily life may not allow you to allocate very long time to have meals each and every day. Yet, regardless of the amount of time you allocate, maintaining your focus on your meal using all senses is key to your well-being. When you eat, shift your attention to your experience, and on all five senses. You can do this at a white tablecloth restaurant or when having a deli sandwich, as long as your attention is kept on what you eat.<\/p>\n

Think of a meal you ate during the past 24 hours. What flavors, textures, colors, or scents were good about it? Write below and share.<\/p>\n

[1] Saddoris, \u201cComplementary roles for gustatory cortex and basolateral amygdala in the encoding of sensory-specific associative outcome representations,\u201d PhD Dissertation, JHU, 2011.<\/p>\n

[2] Scott and Giza, \u201cIssues of gustatory neural coding: Where we stand today,\u201d Psychology & behavior, Vol. 69, issues 1-2, pp.65-76, April 2000.<\/p>\n

bLife<\/a> is a wellness innovation company developing the first personalized fitness program for the mind. \u00a0Guided by the groundbreaking findings in neuroscience and behavioral psychology, the Company\u2019s mobile technology wellness platform empowers people to build psychological health or “mind fitness” through engaging, brain-based training exercises, aided by coaching and a supportive user community. \u00a0Effectiveness of the bLife program<\/a> is quantified by the improvement of key biological health markers, quality of life, and better overall life performance.\u00a0
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The emotional association of food is further compounded by the memories summoned by the smell of food, and by the aesthetics of a visually pleasing meal, leading to a strong relationship between food and mood. 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