Healthy Practices & Advice Part 4: Influence of Diet On Attitude
The rich taste of ice cream or the crunch of potato chips can be forms of comfort food — the perfect escape from a busy and hectic schedule. As musicians- producing powerful songs, collaborating with other artists, touring, and everything else behind the scenes — keeping up a healthy diet can fall through the cracks. Additionally, the effects of healthy food versus unhealthy food on someone’s body and attitude are easily forgotten. For the fourth and final edition of our Healthy Practices & Advice Series with health expert Dr. Gloriane Giovannelli, we explore the subtle yet powerful influence of diet and eating habits on the active musicians attitude and overall health.
Dr. Giovannelli shares with us effective tools, fulfilling and healthy foods to maintain optimal attitudes. As always, these health tips and advice can be useful to anyone pursuing better eating habits.
Does What You Eat Affect Your Attitude?
Imagine yourself eating your favorite food, the one you crave. Let’s use a burger and fries, backed up with a vanilla milkshake.
Smell the juicy burger, oozing when you bite into it, taste those fries, perfectly crispy on the outside, yet soft and fluffy on the inside. The milkshake? Well, it’s delightfully sweet and satisfying, and it magically balances the salty, savory burger and fries.
See, it’s the perfect combination of fat, sugar, and salt, what the food industry refers to as the “bliss point.” And it’s perfectly engineered to make you feel high while eating it, and then terrible shortly afterwards. This is a food hangover.
This happens not just with burgers, but with all processed and convenience foods.
What happens to your attitude during your food hangover?
Gloriane Names the Symptoms
- Depression
- Irritability
- Reduced energy
- Fatigue
- Lack of motivation
- Lowered self-confidence
- Inactivity
- Poor sleep
- Difficulty concentrating
- Decreased ability to handle stress
- Emotional distress.
Basically, your attitude stinks. I like to call it CPS: Couch Potato Syndrome.
As an artist, the wrong foods, and not enough nutrients can decrease your:
- Motivation
- Performance
- Creativity
Everything you need to have an impactful and lasting career is affected by your food.
Diet and Work Performance
Food is fuel. It is energy. At least it should be.
When we eat processed foods, junk foods, and foods that are loaded with excess sugar and fat, our productivity tanks.
One study showed that, “Employees who rarely eat fruits, vegetables and other low-fat foods at work were 93 percent more likely to have a higher loss in productivity.”
How Food Can Change Your Attitude
If food can bust your mood, it should be able to lift it as well. And it does.
Research has shown that eating fruits and vegetables increases your curiosity and creativity!
Here is a great video on what foods to eat, and what foods to eliminate to rapidly boost your mood and productivity:
Here are some of the best foods to create a healthy attitude and body:
Fresh green juices
Nuts and seeds (i.e., Brazil nuts, walnuts, and chia seeds)
Berries
Non-starchy vegetables
High quality plant-based protein shakes like Sunwarrior Classic
Here is a list of foods to eat when you’re on the go.
Intermittent Fasting and short-term fasts are shown to be great attitude-adjusters as well.
What Does This Really Mean for the Artist?
It means that you can eat to improve your:
- Attitude
- Energy
- Motivation
- Emotional wellbeing
- Mental clarity
- Creativity
- Performance
You have to eat anyway, so why not fuel your body with foods that could just lift your career to the next level?
When you’re deciding whether to go for the unhealthy snack or for a better one, like a salad or trail mix, it’s important to reach for the healthier option. This choice will take your health and attitude further in the long run. With healthy food, you’ll notice a boost in your energy and effectiveness to accomplish every goal you seek to achieve your highest dreams and potential.
