Dear reader,

This week we're going to talk about the relationship between different human emotions and the power, and how food and nutrients affect energy in our mental and emotional state.

What is the relationship between food, nutrition and emotions?

To establish this relationship, we first know the definition of “power” and “nutrition” and their differences.

Recall that the power it is the act of provide the agency of food, eating, ingesting a number of substances that after our digestive system is responsible for process to obtain them nutrients necessary for life.

The power of each individual is influenced by various personal factors, individual and also collective or group. These factors may be special needs, tastes, preferences, beliefs, culture, ethnicity, religion, social norms, purchasing power, economy, fashion, etc

So, each of us decides what to eat and what not to, how to cook it, how to eat, when, and why, developing a pattern of conduct or particular food and staff that determines our diet.

In our society the power is very closely linked to other types of activities, entertainment, social gathering or family holiday...; so that for us, “eat” is also a way or an excuse to share time with the people we care about.

In addition, for the majority of the people “eating is a pleasure, and the cuisine allows us to enjoy very pleasant times for our taste buds and our minds, because the feelings that cause us to eat dishes that we like to translate into emotions related to well-being.

These last two examples we have already introduced in the relation that is established between the power supply and the emotional sphere of the human being.

We all know that feeling of being angry, sad, or stressed and not able to eat because “we closed the stomach”. Or the other of us with discomfort and digestion heavy after a strong argument with a loved one.

These are just some examples, but what is certain is that the relationship power-emotions goes far beyond that.

Nutritionon the other hand, is the set of physical-chemical processes made in our body (thanks to the functions of our digestive system), you are in charge of transforming the food, reducing them to their basic components, nutrients, and use them to nourish cells each one of our tissues, organs and systems, allowing for the reproduction, maintenance, and characteristic functions.

Our body needs nutrients, chemical substances, essential to human life: macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, water) and micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, trace elements), as well as other substances that are useful (fitofactores, enzymes, etc) to maintain ideal conditions health.

Because the emotions are feelings product of our thoughts and mental processes, it is easy to understand that food (and the nutrients are) can be flattering, limiters or balancers of the occurrence of certain emotions.

If mental processes are developed from our neurological system central, and it requires specific nutrients to function properly, the food that ingiramos will provide the nutrients that will keep or not that's normal functioning, and it will trigger a series of responses neurological level cognitive conscious and unconscious that will affect the processes of the mind and, ultimately, to our emotional responses.

The basic emotions of the human being

In the human being have been classified six basic emotions that appear in response to various stimuli.

These emotions have a function or purpose, for a purpose, to produce a learning and a change in us, shaping our behaviors and relationships with ourselves and with others, as social beings that we are.

Very briefly, the basic emotions, with the stimulus to which they must respond, and your ultimate aim, are:

– Fear → actual or potential threat → security

– Sadness → material loss or personal → development

– Rage → lie, betrayal → justice

– Pride → admiration → status or recognition

– Love → safe → membership

– Joy → gift of life, material or intangible (preferably unexpected) → fullness

There is a whole range of emotions arising from the basic emotions, which may occur as a normal response to a stimulus or exaggerated or dysfunctional (false emotions).

All of these emotions, basic and derived, can manifest itself in positive or negative depending on our state's internal energy. So, if our body is in balance, there will be a normal expression of emotional (is this emotion interpreted as positive or negative) that has a specific objective.

Nutrition energy and emotions

Nutrition energy-is the discipline that seeks to help achieve the optimal state of health using the balanced nutrition according to the energetic properties of food from the perspective of the traditional oriental medicine, where they recognize concepts such as the yin and yang, the energy meridians of the organs and the elements of nature.

Thus, each element of nature is related with an organ and an organ, with some emotions or positive states of mind, with emotions or negative states of mind, and with a number of foods that influence with their properties in the corresponding organs.

When there is a nutrient deficiency, you will be affected energetically certain organ (weakened) and express one or more emotions and negative states of mind.

Providing food and proper nutrients, it will increase the energy that nourishes the body weakened, normalizing their activity and by removing or minimizing the negative emotion associated with it.

In the same way, when a body is saturated or stagnant energy (excess energy) will change the diet, providing food and nutrients are adequate (or limiting the consumption of some of them) to release that stored energy and making it flow normally again, balancing the system.

The excess energy in an organ is frequently expressed with emotions and positive states of mind exaggerated.

The emotions and states of mind positive healthy listed when the body is energetically balanced, there is no excess or deficit of energy in the body, but all operate normally in balance and synchronicity.

Relationship of the elements with the organs and the emotions and mental states

Item	Station	Color	BodyViscus	Emotions and positive states of mind	Emotions and negative states of mind
Fire	Summer	Red	CorazónIntestino Thin	Joy, Laughter, Clarity, Clarity, Intuition	Pride, Arrogance, Superficiality, Arrogance, Hyperactivity, Quackery, Cruelty, Lack of Joy
Earth	End of summer	Yellow	EstómagoBazo-Pancreas	Optimism, Good humor, Sympathy, Organizational Ability, Concentration, Consistency, Order, Curiosity, Sense of what is practical	Suspicion, Doubt, Mistrust, Cynicism, Sarcasm, or Dislike or Antiempatía
Metal	Winter	White	PulmónIntestino Thick	Enthusiasm, Joy, Intuition, smooth Operation, Detachment	Sadness, Melancholy, Attachment, Addiction, Possessiveness
Water	End of the inviernoPrincipio spring	Black	RiñónVejiga	Self-esteem, self-Confidence, Vitality, Will, Capacity of adaptation	Fear, Shyness, Insecurity, Phobias, Lack of self-esteem, Laziness, Lack of will
Wood	Spring	Green	HígadoVesícula Bile	Patience, Perseverance, Capacity planning, Dignity, Generosity, Altruism, Tolerance, Courage, Bravery	Anger critical, Irritability, Anger, Envy, Gossip, social Maladjustment

What foods and nutrients can be taken to improve the emotions?

According to the above table, depending on the emotions that we want to work, we will seek to include in our diet those foods and nutrients that support the element with which they are associated, in a balanced way and without excesses.

Element: Fire

– Nutrient: Vitamins

– Food group: Fruits

– Taste: Bitter

– Cereals: Corn

– Vegetables: Vegetables and bitter greens (chicory, watercress, endive...)

– Fruits: Apricots, peaches, lychee

– Legumes: Lentils red

Element: Earth

– Nutrient: Carbohydrates

– Food group: Grains

– Taste: Sweet

– Cereals: Millet

– Vegetables: Pumpkin

– Fruits: sweet Fruits, melon

– Legumes: Chickpeas

Element: Metal

– Nutrient: Protein

– Group of Foods: animal Protein

– Flavor: Spicy

– Cereals: Rice

– Vegetables: Onions, turnips, celery root, radishes, cauliflower, carrots

– Fruits: Pears

– Legumes: Beans, soy and soy products (tofu)

Element: Water

– Nutrient: mineral Salts

– Food group: Legumes, algae and liquids

– Taste: Salty

– Cereals: buckwheat

– Vegetables: Seaweed

– Fruits: Blackberries, strawberries, grapes, blueberries, watermelon

– Legumes: Beans such as pinto, black, kidney beans azuki bean

Element: Wood

– Nutrient: Fat

– Food group: Oils and vegetables

– Flavour: Acidic/bitter

– Cereals: Wheat, rye, oats, barley

– Vegetables: Sprouts, green beans, broccoli, salad

– Fruits: Apple and acidic fruits

– Legumes: Lentils, peas

For example, if we are bereft of joy, hyperactive, but unable to concentrate and lack of mental clarity, we will include in our diet foods and nutrients that stimulate the element of fire, the heart and small intestine.

Will be food-related summer, and bright red or reddish, preferably fruits, as the peach, apricot... and other foods taste sour, such as endive, chicory, and rich in vitamins, which is the nutrient associated with the element fire.

In summary, our emotions and mental states are influenced by various factors, such as our food, and even the season of the year in which we find ourselves.

Of course, sometimes it is necessary to review ways of working, our thoughts and attitudes to life, that will determine our emotions.

Therapies such as the cognitive psychologytechniques of mindfulness and resources such as coaching or emotional intelligence can help us, but we can start to see changes if we balance from within at the biochemical level with an adequate supply of foods and nutrients that give us energy and vitality, healing our body and our mind in a specific way.

I encourage you to do the test, it starts to “nutri-emotion-art“.

See you in the next post.

Happy week!

Sara Gómez Marquina

Specialist in Alternative Therapies, Naturopathy and Nutrition. Physical therapist

Collaborator of Ecolife Food and Club Manager AV Natural Cantabria