What food brings your mood up?

[Whitney]

I'm not really convinced that vegetarian is the only way of eating that increases health...if lean meats are used an omnivorous diet is potentially healthier than some vegetarian diets as there are many people who replace the meat with lots of dairy/cheese/eggs.  And going vegan you have to take a supplement because there is some kind of nutrient; forgot which one, that is very hard to get only from plant sources.

I like the flexitarian approach..where you basically try to have mostly veggies but a few meals a week (month, year depending on the person) might have some kind of meat in them.  Usually my breakfast, lunch, and snacks fall somewhere in the ovo-lacto vegetarian range unless I'm eating leftovers from a meal that had meat.  My husband really likes meat so usually there is some in dinner but I've been able to find a few vegetarian meals he will eat (I just don't' tell him which ones they are) actually just found another one tonight Hungarian Mushroom Soup.

Soup recipe:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/hungarian-mushroom-soup/detail.aspx

[Traveler]

I agree with you Whitney. In the reading I did, I didn't see any statistical difference in health between a vegetarian diet and a diet low in meat. I've replaced milk with almond milk, which I find actually tastes better than dairy milk. But I use dairy cheese. And I sometimes eat eggs. Although I'm eating meat now, I'm eating very small portions. The larger amount of food on my plate is rice, salad, potato, or whatever. I like those parts the best anyway. The big thing, in my opinion, is eating foods that are relatively high in nutritional value, and eating very few, if any, junk foods. I go on binges where I'm into chips, for instance. They're mostly empty calories, so I'm wasting them, rather than eating something that will actually provide good fuel for my body.

As for vegetarian meals that look normal, there are actually tons of perfectly normal foods that are vegetarian. Pizza and spaghetti come to mind. Just keep the pepperoni and hamburger out of them.   For winter I love creamy potato soup with cheese and a good, crusty bread. Salad on the side if you want greens. And for snacks I love cut up veggies with ranch dressing, garlic hummus with pita bread, or crackers and cheese.

[Whitney]

I love almond milk...I don't really drink milk in general that much but do prefer almond.  I need to try to find it in smaller containers; maybe I'll give one of the smaller shelf stable ones a try.

I made an almond milk chai tea the other day...yummy.

[corgilover]

anything my mom makes is enough to bring my mood up.

[Tank]

anything my mom makes is enough to bring my mood up.

Is that because you didn't have to cook it yourself? 

[corgilover]

anything my mom makes is enough to bring my mood up.

Is that because you didn't have to cook it yourself? 

No, it's because she's a brilliant cook!

[Tank]

anything my mom makes is enough to bring my mood up.

Is that because you didn't have to cook it yourself? 

No, it's because she's a brilliant cook!

Even better!

[Velma]

While not a food, a cup of tea will always bring up my mood.  In the food category, dark chocolate always does the trick, as will some sharp cheddar on crackers.

[Ali]

I agree with Whitney that going veggie isn't a surefire way to eat healthier.  I am very guilty of the whole "substitute meat for big piles of cheese!" mentality.  I love my cheese.  Eggs too.  My main motivation for going vegetarian wasn't health so much as just that I am really opposed to the sort of factory farming that is so prevalent in this country (US) and I can't really afford to eat all free range/organic meat, plus we eat out a lot (I know, bad for you and bad for your wallet) so just going vegetarian simplified things on that front.  But I still have a lot of work to do on the eating healthy front, as again, I am more than happy to eat tons of cheese and sour cream and butter and eggs instead. 

Sweetdeath - why room temp water?  I love water, but it has to be icy cold.  Does the temp really matter?

[Sweetdeath]

anything my mom makes is enough to bring my mood up.

Is that because you didn't have to cook it yourself? 

No, it's because she's a brilliant cook!

That's what I miss the most about my mom. Her sloppy joes (home made spices), quiche,  cheesecake were amazing ;;

[AnimatedDirt]

My comfort food:

Bowl of hot Malto-Meal, sweetened with brown sugar, add some milk.
A slice of extra sourdough bread perfectly toasted, lightly buttered and with some REAL peanut butter spread over it...dipped into the bowl of cereal.  My mouth just watered.

[Crow]

and I can't really afford to eat all free range/organic meat,

I don't know if its the same in the States but in the UK there are farm shops that provide free range organic meat and they are so much cheaper than supermarkets (the ones in the countryside, city farm shops are stupid prices). The one I go to provides most of the meat to a lot of the Michelin star and celebrity chef restaurants around the area and by far provide the best meat and veg I have ever tasted. Just for comparison I bought a small chicken at the weekend for £8 then went to Waitrose to do the rest of my shopping and the exact same size chicken (also free range and organic) cost £25.

[Ali]

and I can't really afford to eat all free range/organic meat,

I don't know if its the same in the States but in the UK there are farm shops that provide free range organic meat and they are so much cheaper than supermarkets (the ones in the countryside, city farm shops are stupid prices). The one I go to provides most of the meat to a lot of the Michelin star and celebrity chef restaurants around the area and by far provide the best meat and veg I have ever tasted. Just for comparison I bought a small chicken at the weekend for £8 then went to Waitrose to do the rest of my shopping and the exact same size chicken (also free range and organic) cost £25.

When you can get meat at the farmer's markets it is usually pretty reasonable, but those only run during the warm months.  I think that there are some farm co-ops where you can actually go in with people and purchase your own pig or cow or whatever and they will send you the meat, but that presents it's own set of difficulties, like having a big freezer where you can keep .25 of a cow's worth of meat.   

If I had a good cheap reliable source of organic free range meat, I probably would start eating it again.  I do like the taste, I just really really object to factory farming. 

[Whitney]

I've thought about getting a chicken...but then I decided I'd rather pay more for eggs than have to pick up after it. 

[yepimonfire]

I'm not really convinced that vegetarian is the only way of eating that increases health...if lean meats are used an omnivorous diet is potentially healthier than some vegetarian diets as there are many people who replace the meat with lots of dairy/cheese/eggs.  And going vegan you have to take a supplement because there is some kind of nutrient; forgot which one, that is very hard to get only from plant sources.

I like the flexitarian approach..where you basically try to have mostly veggies but a few meals a week (month, year depending on the person) might have some kind of meat in them.  Usually my breakfast, lunch, and snacks fall somewhere in the ovo-lacto vegetarian range unless I'm eating leftovers from a meal that had meat.  My husband really likes meat so usually there is some in dinner but I've been able to find a few vegetarian meals he will eat (I just don't' tell him which ones they are) actually just found another one tonight Hungarian Mushroom Soup.

Soup recipe:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/hungarian-mushroom-soup/detail.aspx

actually, a diet rich in all different types of fats (including saturated fat and animal fats) is far healthier for you, and will DEFINITELY put you in a better mood. low fat diets are linked with depression, low testosterone (in men) and actually damages healthy LDL cholesterol which in turn instead of repairing the arteries (which is what LDL's main function is) clogs them. also, women with higher overall cholesterol have better health AND.....last but not least, dietary cholesterol has no effect on blood level cholesterol. also, a diet low in red meat or abstinent of it all together is a dumb idea. first anemia, then fuarked up creatine levels.

i'm a bodybuilder, i measure ever gram of fat, protein, and carbohydrate i consume ritualistically EVERY SINGLE DAY and have been doing it for quite some time, i have also gathered alot of information on nutrition out of research (good luck asking me for links )

i eat about 100-150g of fat a day. at least 50-70g of it being saturated fat coming from red meats and eggs. i recently had several blood tests done. my cholesterol is normal, my free testosterone is 38ng/dl (39ng/dl being the tip top of the mayo clinics scale of normal), my creatine levels are normal, and my blood sugar levels are normal. my heart works perfectly fine. my immune system is great, i get sick a MAXIMUM of once a year and it usually only lasts about 24hrs.