Food and mood: Modifications of diet based on states of mood

It has been known for years that the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenocortical (HPA) Axis affects mood. Similarly, current research has shown a direct connection between food and changes in the HPA Axis, which would, in turn, affect an individual's mood. Studying reasons for choice of food will uncover if people use food to self-medicate their moods. This study takes an in-depth look at the choice of food and the self-reported mood. Twenty-one participants logged their daily intakes of food and recorded their mood states (happiness, stress, anger, clarity, energy, hunger, and health) daily, for 2 weeks. The trends were analyzed and it was found that the type of food eaten was significantly correlated with these specific mood states. The implications of these findings will allow clinicians and other professionals to understand food preference, state of mood, and the occurrence of self-medication with food.