I think I noticed that, holding ‘objective’ (FLOABW) reasons to get sad constant, the less I have eaten recently the more likely I am to get sad. Has anyone experienced the same?
Yeah. I actually hack this somewhat; if I’m distressed, even if I’ve objectively had enough to eat, the ritual of snacking on something little often gives me the wherewithal to at least get myself to a less stressful location.
I have. I read somewhere (don’t feel like digging up the citation right now) that you require sugar (in your blood, which does not necessarily require you to eat sugar) and B vitamins to process tryptophan into serotonin. Also, you need to have tryptophan in your system. And water. Point is, since we get necessary ingredients for our brain chemicals from food, we need food to be happy.
I think I noticed that, holding ‘objective’ (FLOABW) reasons to get sad constant, the less I have eaten recently the more likely I am to get sad. Has anyone experienced the same?
I think your body may object to your notion of what is an ‘objective’ reason to get sad. In fact, I’d say it’d put it right up there near the top of the list!
Well, first of all I’m nowhere near starvation (actually, I’m trying to get back down to my usual weight after a week of binge eating), and second, if my body is trying to tell me to eat more it’s doing it wrong, as I don’t actually feel hungry (unless I’ve been downright fasting for a while, or I’m already below my set point) -- I just blow some totally unrelated reasons to be sad out of proportion and dismiss reasons to be happy impostor syndrome-style, and it hadn’t occurred to me that it might have to do with my diet until recently. (Damn you, Azatoth!) BTW, it also seems to me that caffeine kind-of prevents that, but I’d have to experiment more about that.
I think I noticed that, holding ‘objective’ (FLOABW) reasons to get sad constant, the less I have eaten recently the more likely I am to get sad. Has anyone experienced the same?
It’s “For Lack Of A Better Word”, for those like me who haven’t encountered it before.
Yeah. I actually hack this somewhat; if I’m distressed, even if I’ve objectively had enough to eat, the ritual of snacking on something little often gives me the wherewithal to at least get myself to a less stressful location.
I have. I read somewhere (don’t feel like digging up the citation right now) that you require sugar (in your blood, which does not necessarily require you to eat sugar) and B vitamins to process tryptophan into serotonin. Also, you need to have tryptophan in your system. And water. Point is, since we get necessary ingredients for our brain chemicals from food, we need food to be happy.
I think your body may object to your notion of what is an ‘objective’ reason to get sad. In fact, I’d say it’d put it right up there near the top of the list!
Well, first of all I’m nowhere near starvation (actually, I’m trying to get back down to my usual weight after a week of binge eating), and second, if my body is trying to tell me to eat more it’s doing it wrong, as I don’t actually feel hungry (unless I’ve been downright fasting for a while, or I’m already below my set point) -- I just blow some totally unrelated reasons to be sad out of proportion and dismiss reasons to be happy impostor syndrome-style, and it hadn’t occurred to me that it might have to do with my diet until recently. (Damn you, Azatoth!) BTW, it also seems to me that caffeine kind-of prevents that, but I’d have to experiment more about that.
Yup, that guy gets really confused when it comes to easily accessible high calorie foods and condoms (and only one of those is a good thing!)
You are probably right. Caffeine makes you less hungry in general as well as countering some of the effects of the associated fatigue.
Food is a very well known positive reward.