Happy Food and the Good Mood Diet

I'm an optimist. Is my rather cheerful mood and unrelenting optimism due to my diet? The foods I eat can positively affect my mood according to researchers, which claim certain foods, when eaten right, can improve your mood.

Research studies by Richard Wurtman, MD, and Judith Wurtman, PhD, at MIT have shown that snacking on readily digested carbohydrates, such as those in a bagel or cookie, can raise the brain's level of serotonin. Raising the levels of serotonin is one of the benefits sought after while taking modern antidepressant medications according to medical experts.

Here are a few of the diet related recommendations and the original resources to check out:

From Prevention Magazine and republished in a recent WebMD article, The Good Mood Diet:

• Include protein in each of your three meals. This will raise blood levels of tryptophan, a chemical that eventually turns into serotonin. The best sources of tryptophan are poultry, seafood, and lean meat.
  
  
• Have a small carbohydrate snack about 3 or 4 hours after each meal and about 1 hour before your next one. Make sure that your stomach is empty and that you eat no protein between meals. The carbohydrates should be easily digestible--such as one or two oatmeal cookies, a third of a bagel, a slice of whole wheat bread. This will cause tryptophan in your blood to enter the brain, where it is metabolized into serotonin. Elevated serotonin will improve your mood within 20 to 30 minutes. (Full article here)
  

The Good Mood Diet: Feel Great While You Lose Weight is a book published by author Dr. Susan Kleiner. It is a culmination of 25 years of her work in the field of nutrition, fitness and health. The Good Mood Diet nourishes your brain and your body. The Good Mood Diet is also a philosophy, an approach to life and food. Put together, it will give you more mental and physical energy, enhancing your mood and giving you greater mental focus. You can even feel great while you lose weight. You can visit Dr. Kleiner's blog here.

So what now? Eat, drink and be merry!

Sources of Health Info Online

According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, more than 80% of Americans that have Internet access search for health information online. This means that more people are searching for health information online than are going to see doctors. The leader providing relevant content is WebMD - a giant compared to the competition. But new ventures are aiming for your eyes:

• HealthLine (recently raised $25 million with General Electric and NBC Universal's Peacock Equity Fund as the lead investor)
• Everyday Health (network of sites that started by creating the web presences for popular diet books, such as the South Beach Diet)
• Revolution Health (Founded by AOL founder Steve Case, the site is involved in a marketing push around O, The Oprah Magazine's annual O You event in Miami)
• HealthiNation (health-focused videos for the web and on demand)

Additional Resources

Advertising Age Digital article discussing the online health info trends with respect to ad spending

WebMD - the leading online health info site

Club Industry East Health and Fitness Expo

Last chance...take advantage of FREE Exhibit Hall admission!

Conference: June 6-9
Exhibits: June 7-9, 2007
Disney's Coronado Resort, Orlando, FL

A MUST-ATTEND EVENT...for All Health & Fitness Facility Professionals!

Register to receive FREE Exhibit Hall admission. Join these events and more at Club Industry East 2007:

Evaluate 100+ vendors offering the latest products and services. Register today and receive FREE Exhibit Hall!

Mingle with colleagues and prospects at the Welcome Reception being held outdoors

Win prizes at the Saturday Exhibit Hall Drawings
Club Tours (requires separate registration)
Early Morning Water Aerobics


Start your day off right...Don't Miss Les Mills BODYFLOW™ at the Early Morning Workouts
June 8 & 9th - 7:30 am, Rear of 100 aisle

Restore Balance to Your World
BODYFLOW™ is the Yoga, Tai Chi, Pilates workout that builds flexibility and strength and leaves you feeling centered and calm. Controlled breathing, concentration and a carefully structured series of stretches, moves and poses to music create a holistic workout that brings the body into a state of harmony and balance.

Experience a Zumba workout!
June 9, 10:00am-11:00am
Presented by Zumba Education Specialists and International
Presenters Jani Roberts and Tanya Beardsley

Dare to become Zumbafied!!!
Zumba utilizes the principles of interval and resistance training to maximize caloric output, fat burning and total body toning. This workshop is fun, high energy with plenty of hands on practice, so be prepared to workout and DANCE! This program can be modified for any fitness level. Be one of the first 200 to Zumba with Jani and Tanya and receive a FREE Zumba Original Soundtrack music CD!



2 Keynote Addresses

Thursday, June 7
11:30am-12:30pm
Dot Richardson, M.D., Vice Chair, President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.
Dr. Dorothy "Dot" Richardson is a well-known athlete in the sport of softball. A two-time Olympic Gold medallist in softball (1996 and 2000), she hit the game-winning home run that led to a Gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Games, the year softball debuted at the Olympics. Dr. Richardson is currently Medical Director of the National Training Center in Clermont, Florida, a state of the art facility for athletes of all levels, located on a campus with a fully staffed hospital (South Lake Hospital) and the University of Central Florida.


Friday, June 8
11:30am-12:30pm
Dr. Ian Smith, Medical/Diet Expert and Editor
Dr. Ian Smith is currently the medical/diet expert on VH1's highly-rated "Celebrity Fit Club," host of "Meet the Faith" on BET, a medical contributor to ABC's nationally syndicated, "The View", and a contributing editor to Men's Health magazine. Dr. Smith is also the host of his own nationally syndicated radio show HealthWatch on American Urban Radio Networks.

Detailed show info at: www.clubindustryshow.com/east