Do teenagers understand the power of food ?
A recent article in Therapy Today ( Feb 2014) has highlighted that there may be place for mental health practitioners to investigate health, diet and lifestyle issues with all their clients as a matter of course.
Nicola Terry says ‘ Awareness of their body and minds responses to their dietary lifestyle may, empower clients to develop a better degree of control over their health and emotional wellbeing;
The article describes how clients who are ‘running on empty’, getting by on sugar fixes and caffeine or simply not drinking enough water are creating additional problems and reducing their ability to cope. How easy is it to get over to teenagers that what they eat affects their mood and emotional wellbeing, their ability to cope with school work and stress.If you can do just one thing for them tell them about Blood Sugar Levels. Not eating regularly lowers blood glucose levels which means, tiredness, lack of concentration, irritability, low mood and cravings.Have a good quality breakfast, a snack at break, a proper lunch followed by a snack at 3pm. Then a dinner in the evening. This is Eating regularly- every 2-3 hours , good quality complex carbs( brown rice,pasta or bread)a portion of protein and plenty of vegs with a small amount of fruit plus snacks such as sunflower seeds, almonds, brazil nuts or oatcakes. Ask them to try it for a few days and see how they feel. Restoring blood sugar levels alone has enabled some of my Eating Disorder clients to recover. It is key to levelling mood and making good decisions. In my mind it is key to good physical and mental health generally. Make it the most important thing in your day to change.Try it today!!!
