Tired. Sluggish. Blocked. One doesn’t have to look hard to find research showing the link between poor nutrition and foul mood.

To better understand how clean eating impacts mood, the Calgary Journal brought three Calgary women together with first hand experience. PODCAST: How these Alberta fathers tackled their postpartum depression PODCAST: How religion can help and hurt people struggling with mental health

Debbie Cheeseman recently completed the Canadian Mental Health Association’s “Food and Mood” course. Catherine MacAllister is a peer support worker at CMHA and has facilitated the workshop. Myra Murias is a nutrition expert and instructor with the free course, which is part of the CMHA’s Recovery College.

Myra Murias teaches a “Food and Mood” course at the Canadian Mental Health Associations Recovery College in Calgary. The course teaches participants about foods that help to maintain positive moods and energy throughout the day on Oct.4, 2018. Photo by Hailey Payne.

MacAllister completed the course and now challenges people to eat clean for 21 days.

“I know you can break or form a habit within 21 days, so I challenged myself if I can stick this out … something will kick in.”

Catherine MacAllister, a peer support worker at the CMHA in Calgary, discusses her own struggle with healthy eating and how she uses her experience to help others on Oct.4, 2018. Photo by Hailey Payne

Cheeseman, who manages anxiety and depression through clean eating, says it’s also important to take it “breath by breath but it does get easier and better — it’s really just finding what works for you.”

Debbie Cheeseman talks about her journey with healthy eating and how it has made her happier on Oct.4 2018. Photo by Hailey Payne.

Murias advises people to pay attention to foods that might trigger lower moods, and to remember that “you are the expert on your body, because we know experts can’t even agree.”

In partnership with the Calgary Canadian Mental Health Association, we’re publishing podcasts and news stories about mental health issues in our city. Track these stories using #CalgaryJournalHealth.

Top photo source: Vector image from freepik under creative commons license. 

bwillsie@cjournal.ca, mhermann@cjournal.ca, hpayne@cjournal.ca

Editor: Shaunda Lamont | slamont@cjournal.ca