Everyone gets a little bit angry sometimes, but do you have to? Perhaps you can’t obliterate anger completely, but knowing what causes anger, and how you can control it, can lead to better wellness and an overall sense of wellbeing. Psychologists recommend talking through your anger with a professional, a close friend or a relative, but you can also make dietary changes to maximise on your de-stressing efforts.
Your moods are controlled by the neurotransmitters in the brain led by the chemical, or pleasure ‘drug’, serotonin. Depending on your levels of these substances, you can feel good and energetic or tired and irritable. Doctors recommend that you keep a stable blood sugar level throughout the day, as these substances run on sugar, and function best with low glycemic carbohydrate sources like whole grain bread, beans, whole grain crackers, soy, apples, pears, peaches, and other fruits.
The Ayurvedic tradition also explains that there are three kinds of diet which form your body and your mind. The Sattvic diet plan includes most vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains whereas a Tamasic diet plan includes onions, meat, and garlic and a Rajasic diet plan include coffee, hot peppers, and salt. Hence, a person having sattvic food is normally slimmer and calmer than a person who eats tamasic food, who is normally someone is often intoxicated or sluggish and has a bulky and heavy body structure. A rajastic food lover, on the other hand, is usually aggressive, hot-tempered, and violent by behaviour and is larger in body structure.
So what can you do to control your anger through diet? Don’t skip meals, especially breakfast, but eat healthy and balanced nutritious meals at least three times a day. Have a gap of 5 hours between your meals or snacks, and drink plenty of water. You should aim for 8 glasses a day in order to keep fresh, hydrated and calm. Get your 5-a-day but make sure you eat fruits before any meal and not along with or after a meal to prevent stomach bloating. Finally, avoid too much caffeine and throw some polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats and fatty fish or flaxseed into your diet, as these are full of healthy omega-3 fats. Soon, you’ll be eating your way to emotional wellness.
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