When you eat to feel

While 'mood foods' have become a wellness buzzword, their grounding lies in decades of biology, culture & memory

- SUGANDHA MUKHERJEE

NAWEARY weekday evening in Delhi, 27-year-old Sourav Kumar returns home from work and reaches for a bowl of warm khichdi with potato fritters and a spoonful of mango pickle. "I don't know if it's psychology or science," he shrugs, "but this meal always lifts my mood.

On most days, we eat to survive. But often, especially when life gets loud, we eat to feel. "I crave chocolate every time I'm close to my period," says Gayatri Sinha (name changed), 29.

"It's strongly tied to mood states and doesn't abide by hunger or fullness cues. In contrast, nutritional cravings arise gradually and are more body-focused - they often reflect physiological needs, like an iron deficiency prompting red meat cravings," says Dr Vasundara Padma SNC, chief registered dietitian at Apollo Hospitals, Visakhapatnam.

From gut microbes to hormonal shifts, nutritionists across India are seeing food as a powerful tool in emotional regulation. And while 'mood foods' have become a wellness buzzword, their grounding lies not in marketing trends but in decades of biology, culture, and memory.

Your gut, your mood

"Think of your gut as your second brain," says Pooja Udeshi, consultant sports nutritionist at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Mumbai. "When it's healthy, your brain usually feels calmer and more stable too," she adds.

The gut-brain axis, she explains, is a two-way communication system that runs via nerves, hormones, and the chemicals produced by the 100 trillion microbes in your gastrointestinal tract. "Many of these microbes produce neurotransmitters like serotonin... about 90% of it is made in the gut!" Udeshi says, adding: "When your gut is inflamed, imbalanced, or undernourished, it can directly impact mood, leading to anxiety, brain fog, or low energy."