Food and mood: Making the connection
Superfood Quinoa Porridge — doesn’t get much healthier than this!
Julie Daniluk practices what she preaches — healthy whole foods are the key to happiness.
Is a grande coffee and muffin at your favourite drive-through not pressing your happy button like it once did? Julie Daniluk, a Toronto holistic nutritionist and host of the TV show, Healthy Gourmet, says that a caffeine dependence can backfire. “Some people get to the point where they need coffee so they can open their eyes and be able to drive in the morning,” she says. But it also leads to a roller coaster of mood swings. Who needs that?
Daniluk is one of the featured speakers and panelist at the Whole Life Expo in Toronto, Nov. 26 to 28, ready to spread her good food, good mood message. We spoke with her about the most important meal of the day — breakfast, of course! — and how our choices can affect our mood and ability to cope with the stresses of day-to-day.
Here is our edited interview:
Q: What’s your favourite breakfast and why? Daniluk: I eat dinner for breakfast so I can start off with a good blood sugar balance. I work 12 hours a day so I have to feel my best. Protein with a ton of green veggies, I call it Eggs in a Bunny Hole. I put a bunch of vegetables in a pot, sauté with water and a little olive oil, garlic and then I dig a hole in the medley of vegetables and poach two eggs.
Eggs are brain-balancing. Poaching is the best way to preserve the centre liquid where the cholesterol is within the egg. If you use omega-3 eggs, even better for brain health and memory.
Q: Do you ever skip breakfast, honestly? Daniluk: No! If I have to leave the house early, I’ll take a nut or seed bar in my purse, or I will sip on liquid nutrition — shakes — just mix the protein powder with water. When there’s time, I add frozen pineapple and a bit of maple syrup or honey. You’re getting healthy fats, protein and carbohydrates, so balanced nutrition.
Q: As mothers everywhere like to say, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Do you agree? Daniluk: I absolutely agree. It sets your hormonal balance for the rest of the day. The hormones of the body are messengers to the brain, affecting mood.
You should have breakfast within an hour of waking up.
Q: We seem to have embraced the coffee and doughnut or muffin for breakfast as nutritious. Good or bad? Daniluk: Oh, so painful for me. You can have 1,000 calories easily. The average person is eating far too many calories without getting the nutrition. A store-bought or take-out muffin, depending on the size, can be 300 to 600 calories, made with highly refined oil and refined sugar.
Please avoid white refined sugars. They’re stripped of nutrition, so you’re asking your body to process empty calories into energy.
With coffee, you’re asking your adrenal glands to pump out a bunch of adrenaline. That’s where that powerful feeling you get or jolt from coffee. Then with the refined sugar [in the pastry], there’s an immediate rush and temporary state of safety. It raises blood sugar, the pancreas releases insulin to pull down that blood sugar; then you’re left with low blood sugar. So it’s this terrible roller coaster when you’re standing by the water cooler at 10 o’clock, desperate for another coffee.
Q: What’s your method to mood maintenance? Daniluk: I try to eat every three hours to balance my blood sugar. Complex, whole foods hold the natural sugar and let it trickle into your bloodstream for a nice, even keel [to regulate mood]. [Complex, whole foods, such as?] All the veggies, except for peeled potatoes. Cruciferous veggies — cabbage, kale, broccoli, bok choy — they have tons of B-vitamins, carbohydrates and are cleansing, helping to detoxify the liver.
A big part of mood balance is hormones. All the hormones are broken down in the liver, so detoxifying the liver [by eating cruciferous vegetables] will help boost mood.
I will shred a half head of cabbage on the weekend, make a coleslaw and pack for snacking throughout the week.
Q: What are some good bets for a breakfast that will energize and uplift our mood?
Daniluk: Quinoa porridge, the recipe I’ve provided. It literally requires hot water and cooks in three minutes. So instead of taking your tea or coffee in a cup to go, you could take porridge; add some fruit and seeds, or super-food berries or protein powder mix. There’s direct mood enhancement! You’re getting your B vitamins which are a nerve food, so it’s like padding in place, lengthening your fuse before you fry, so you’re able to cope better.
I also like gluten-free granola with nuts and seeds, served with a dairy-free beverage like almond milk. People are finding sensitivity to dairy and gluten, so sometimes it’s more important what you take out of your diet rather than what you put in.
Your gut is your second brain, with a large amount of the neuro-system along your digestive tract. A lot of people are identifying allergies to certain foods, so that’s helping to keep the digestive tract functioning.
Q: What do you say to people who claim they don’t have time to cook and rely on the drive-through or what’s most convenient for breakfast? Daniluk: I’m not asking for much. It only takes five minutes for this porridge — just add it to hot water in a thermos. Less time than toasting a Pop-Tart. By the time you drive into the drive-through, place your order and then wait at the window, that’s going to be more than five minutes.
SUPERFOOD QUINOA PORRIDGE (from The Adrenal Stress Connection by Dr. Karen Jensen, ND, Dr. Marita Schauch, ND with recipes by Julie Daniluk)
Rolled quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is a wonderful, fast-cooking alternative to oatmeal. It’s a nutty, gluten-free seed grain that provides 8 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber in 1 cup, when cooked. Quinoa is also an excellent source of absorbable calcium and magnesium, plus a good source of iron, zinc, vitamin E, and selenium. Your adrenals will thank you for this high-protein, mineral-rich grain, which helps balance blood sugar, supports insulin function and nourishes your nerves. For added protein and flavor boost, top with protein powder and fresh raw seeds.
Ingredients: 1 cup (250 m) filtered water 1/3 cup (80 mL) rolled quinoa 2 scoops (33 grams) Superfoods Daily Power Shake Powder 1/4 tsp (1.5 mL) cinnamon 1/2 cup (125 mL) berries 2 tbsp (30 mL) hemp seeds Optional: milk of choice (cow, goat, rice, almond)
Boil the water in a small saucepan. Add the rolled quinoa and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in the Superfoods™ Power Shake Powder, cinnamon, fruit and seeds until evenly distributed. Top with milk, Makes 1 serving. Calories: 259 calories / Fat: 9.6 grams / Protein: 14 grams / Carbs: 31 grams
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