Food Mood

Do you find unhealthy foods effecting the way you feel, sometimes making you sluggish,
weak, and upset; while healthy foods seem to make you more energetic and improve
mood? Researchers point to basic functional principles underlying the relations between
emotions and biologically based motives(Gardner). We wanted to get the answer to the
following questions: Does the amount of hunger before consumption affect our mood afterward?
Is there a correlation between healthy food and mood? Does our mood depend on our schedule
for the day if the food choice plays a factor into it? In our experiment we were able to find
answers to all of the following question they are not accurate for all individuals since results did
vary. We conducted a social experiment to see if this is true, and if so, why foods have such
dramatic effects on mood. Our experiment did allow us into some insight about how food plays
a vital role in our mood.

Method
Participants
The experimenters were the participants in this study. The three of us conducted the
experiments and monitored ourselves accordingly. We are 18 year old female college students,
all of different races and ethnicity. The participants, previous to the experiment, were to change
nothing about their diets and eat as they normally would. The participants previous diets, were
very standard American diets, consisting of: the occasional fast food, breads, fried foods,
vegetables, sodas, and meat with every meal. Previous to the experiment, none of the

participants thought about the kinds of foods they put in their bodies, or the types of
consequences or negative effects these foods would have on their moods.

Measurements
Table 1

The participants used the following charts to document

their hunger before consuming every time they did so. The
table one has a scale of 1-10 describing how hungry they were
it begins with one being starving to the point where you are
cranky and ten being that prior to eating you were already
stuffed to the point where it was uncomfortable. Also after
eating they used table two to describe how we are feeling an
hour after eating. Table two has a wide range of emotions to
choose from since the results might vary from person to person
depending on the results for table 2. Two different scales
were used so that it will be _easier to see also how we were
before and after eating unhealthy and healthy.

Table 2

Procedures
Each participants was to eat nothing but healthy foods for a whole week. Healthy foods
were defined as foods that were not fried or from fast food restaurants (with the exception of
healthy alternatives). The participants could not drink soda, eat candy, or consume more than

120 grams of carbohydrates each day. Vegetables, fruits (in moderation), baked, and grilled
foods were the only foods allowed to be eaten. The participants kept a journal of what they ate,
why they are, and what their emotions were. The reason behind this was to see if eating healthier
would affect our moods. The participants were to record their thoughts of the day and their
emotions for the day. As the week progresses it becomes easy to track the change in the way the
diet affects the participants.
Example of Chart used by Participants:

Food Eaten

Reason for
eating

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday

Results:
Food Records

Emotions

Food Eaten

Thoughts

Emotion

Monday

spinach turkey wrap

salad
grilled chicken
whole grain rice
asparagus

I was very stressed

out trying to find food
alternatives

aggrivated
stressed
angery
tired

Tuesday

cereal
chicken tenders
carrots
Rotisserie chicken
potatoes
green beans

Still upset easily

hard to stop snacking
out of boredom

angry
aggrivated

Wednesday

squash
zucchini
roast beef
potatoes
bread
salad

Beginning to feel
more energetic
still some patches of
frustration

energetc
more soothed

Thursday

grilled chicken taco

rice
spinach turkey wrap
blackened tuna
broccoli
potatoes

the frustration that I

experienced in the
beginning of the week
has lessened

energetic

Friday

chicken sandwich
steak
green beans
salad

happy, surprisingly
motivated

hapy
motivsted

Saturday

eggs
bacon
turkey sandwich
chips
salsa

happy all day

I dont think about
food as much

Happy
energetic
motiveted

Sunday

eggs
bacon
turkey sandwich
baked chicken
green beans

I feel like this dietary

change is positive
it has easily become
an everyday thing for
me

satsified
happy

Monday

chicken
potatoes
salad
baked pork loin
green beans

this diet is like second

nature

motivated
happy
not stressed at all

Tuesday

eggs
sausage
chicken wrap
turkey
dressing

I feel more relaxed

and more at ease the
past few days

hapy
relaxed
motivated
at ease

Food Eaten

Thoughts

Emotions

Monday

Cereal
Chips
Crackers
Chicken Pasta Soup

Hungry and because I

was just craving it

Content

Tuesday

Egg McMuffin
Nuggets
Shake

I was hungry and I

dont like to reject
food.

Happy

Wednesday

Grilled Chicken

Hungry

Satisfied

Special K Cereal

Thursday

Grilled Chicken Salad

Baked Potato
Granola Bar

Hunger

Satisfied

Friday

Chinese Food

My health was
declining rapidly.

energetic

Saturday

Salad
Quesadilla

Everyone ordered
food at the restaraunt.

Satisfied

Sunday

Pupusa
Half a Torta
Emapanda

Stress

Happy

Monday

Granola Bar
Salad
Celery Smoothie

Hungry.

Energized

Tuesday

Meatball

Cravings

Content

Food Eaten

Thoughts

Emotions

Monday

Egg Sandwich
Salad
Granola Bar
Grilled chicken,
broccoli

Stress from work and

class.

Angry/Upset/Aggitate
d because when I am
stressed I really want

Tuesday

Hungry

Content

Granola,yogurt,
berries
Salad
Soup
Grilled chicken wrap

Wednesday

Egg Sandwich
Chicken wrap
Beef Stew

Stress

Thursday

Granola, yogurt,
berries
Chicken wrap
Grilled chicken
broccoli

Friday

Egg Sandwich
Soup
wasabi peas
Beef stew

Saturday

Granola, milk
Soup
Salad

Sunday

Egg Sandwich
Soup
granola, yogurt,
berries
Beef stew

Monday

Eggs, bread
smoothie
Chicken, broccoli,
sweet potatoes

Tuesday

Smoothie
Chicken. spotatotatoe
fries,

After analyzing the data the conclusion was reached that what you consume does affect
your mood. At the beginning of the experiment all of the participants felt a variety of negative
emotions, including anger and frustration. This was due to the drastic change in everyday life
and diet. The participants found it very difficult to restrain from eating out of boredom and
stress. It was also very stressful to convert from eating fried unhealthy foods to eating healthy
foods. This frustration lasted roughly two days among all participants, after this the participants
began to feel more energetic and lighter. They were less stressed and they were not easily upset
or aggravated in the later days, although in the middle of the week they still experienced some
moments of frustration when trying to find alternatives in snacks and foods.
At the end of the week the want to snack out of boredom and stress was over, and the
participants found it much easier to stick to a healthy diet as they got used to eating these foods
every day. They found themselves happier and more energetic, motivated, and happy at the end
of the experiment. They found that their new diet was like second nature and was easily
adaptable.

Discussion
The experiment demonstrated the popular belief that your mood is influenced by diet. In
a study done by The British Psychology Society they concluded that There is a growing
evidence that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables (FV) is related to greater happiness, life
satisfaction, and positive affect (Conner, Brookie, Richardson and, Polak, 2014, pg. 1).
Individuals that eat healthy foods have a better overall mood than individuals that constantly eat
unhealthy/junk food. This was evident in the descriptions of moods after the food was eaten.
Negative emotions such as anger, fear, and sadness may increase impulsive eating (i.e. fast and

irregular eating directed at any food available), eating to regulate the emotional state and
consumption of junk food, but decrease food pleasantness. By contrast, joy and other positive
emotions increase food pleasantness and consumption of healthy foods (Macht, 2007, pg. 4).
This is shown in the participants behaviors. When the participants were stressed, angry, or
agitated they were more likely to become angry that they have to eat healthy foods. When the
participants were happy, they were content with the fact that they could only eat healthy. Positive
moods trigger a more healthier diet as suggested by the Journal of Consumer Psychology
Fedorikhin and Patrick (2010) also showed that, given a choice between chocolate candies and
grapes, individuals in a positive mood were more likely to eat grapes than those in a neutral
mood (Gardner, Wansink, Kim and, Park, 2014, pg. 1-2).

References
Conner, T. S., Brookie, K. L., Richardson, A. C., & Polak, M. A. (2014, July 30). Result Filters.
Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25080035
Gardner, M. P., Wansink, B., Kim, J., & Park, S. (2014, January 25). Download PDFs. Retrieved
from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1057740814000060
Macht, M. (2007, July 16). Download PDFs. Retrieved from
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666307003236