Mood-boosting foods
By Tavaner Bushman February 15, 2011 2:02PM
Eating to keep the blood sugar steady — and eating the right foods — will help ward off the blues before they settle in. (Rich Hein/Sun-Times)
BARS WITH JUICE
Winter may seem an odd time to open a juice bar, but that hasn’t stopped a few Chicagoans from pressing forth.
Inspired by a weeklong detox in Turkey in 2008, the sisters Murzyn — Colleen and Elizabeth — opened Green Corner in December at 1880 N. Damen.
The organic juice bar offers a customizable juice detox program in addition to a la carte juices.
The standard detox consists of six juices a day and costs $65. A one-day’s supply of juice is made from 21 pounds of vegetables.
For an energy boost, Elizabeth Murzyn recommends the Green Corner juice made with kale, spinach, celery, lemon and cucumber.
For those new to or unsure about juicing, the Winter Cure (carrot, orange, apple and ginger) is a nutritious, delicious introduction.
Peeled, 1571 N. Sheffield, opened in January. Owner Keith Pegues, a vegetarian for 20 years, is an avid smoothie-maker and juicer at home.
As a fashion and landscape photographer, Pegues often is on the road and could get his juice and smoothie fix in places like New York and Los Angeles, but not in his hometown of Chicago.
On the Peeled menu are superfood smoothies packed with ingredients such as spirulina, camu camu, raw cacao, housemade nut milks and organic produce.
One of Pegues’ favorites is the Chocolate Factory, a blend of cocoa, banana, agave, almond butter, almond milk, maca powder, derived from a nutrient-packed root native to Peru, and vitamin E compounds called tocotrienols.
Peeled also offers a customizable detox program.
Green Corner, 1880 N. Damen, (773) 292-4393, greencornerchicago.com Peeled, 1571 N. Sheffield, (312) 266-7335, peeledchicago.com
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Updated: May 17, 2011 5:05AM
Short, cold, gray days are just the thing to bring on the dreaded winter funk.
But hold off on the booze and doughnuts, tempting as they may be. The best way to deal with the cold-weather lows is to stock up on true mood-boosting foods.
Eating to keep the blood sugar steady — and eating the right foods — will help ward off the blues before they settle in, says Joy Bauer, nutritionist for NBC’s “Today” show and best-selling author of Slim and Scrumptious (William Morrow Cookbooks, $24.99).
She recommends eating every four to five hours and limiting refined carbohydrates such as fruit juices and white bread, which cause the blood sugar to peak and then fall back to baseline — the high and then the dreaded low.
Combining high-quality carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables, grains, lentils and beans with protein (eggs, nut butters) at every meal helps blunt the rise in blood sugar, Bauer says.
“It gives you a nice steady blood sugar level that leaves you feeling happy,” she says.
Her ideal meal to fight the winter blues: grilled salmon and a hearty vegetable lentil soup.
When planning his wintertime menu, Big Jones chef and owner Paul Fehribach uses classic cold-weather dishes as his springboard.
“I always think seasonality is the best way to feel good, whether it’s winter or summer,” he says. “It’s funny how nature — and our traditional food ways — seem to give you what you need seasonally.”
Fehribach suggests cooking with root vegetables and other winter produce.
“Potatoes have a lot of vitamin C. Sweet potatoes and squashes, as well as carrots, have tons of vitamin A and beta-carotene. They are really, really good for you when you’re trying to ward off things like colds and flu,” he says.
Veggies aren’t Fehribach’s only trick for winter fare. When he pulls out the spice box, he tends to go for the warming flavors of cinnamon, ginger, curry, cloves, cumin and allspice, to name a few.
Vegan entrees aren’t common among the coastal Louisiana dishes at Fehribach’s restaurant, but this season, a Charleston curry has been one of his most popular entrees, he says, and it’s completely vegan. The dish consists of winter squashes, fingerling potatoes and heirloom carrots in an onion-rich curry broth with apple cider.
“Just the act of eating a warm broth . . . it makes you feel really good,” Fehribach said.
Carol Wallack has a different winter strategy at her Hawaiian fusion restaurant Sola — keep the feeling of summer going all year long.
She channels the warmth and sun of the Islands by preserving summer fruits for winter and using ingredients such as yuzu, a Japanese citrus fruit, which gives salads and dishes a kick.
During the winter, Wallack cheats just a little — big eye tuna is flown in from Hawaii, and pineapple, mango and avocado add color to an otherwise winterized menu of parsnips, carrots, fingerling potatoes and sweet potatoes, all showcasing her unique Asian/Hawaiian touch.
For a drinkable pick-me-up, Kim Love of Austin, Texas, a nutritionist and founder of the Love Cleanse, a food-based cleanse, recommends green smoothies with alkaline winter greens such as kale, Swiss chard and collard greens. These are exceptional sources of minerals, which aide the body in achieving equilibrium.
SIX FOODS TO KEEP AROUND
The next time you feel your mood start to take a dive or you just need an edible pick-me-up, think long-term steady blood sugar, not short-term high.
That doesn’t mean your future is full of celery and deprivation. Try one, or several, of these foods that are not only good for you but for your mood, too.
Dark chocolate
A caveat: Buy only dark chocolate that is at least 70 percent cocoa or cacao, Bauer says.
She suggests dipping frozen or fresh strawberries, a high-quality carbohydrate and source of vitamin C, in melted dark chocolate for a mood-boosting treat.
Chicago nutritionist Karen Raden recommends dark-chocolate covered goji berries for a winter snack.
And remember — everything in moderation. Chocolate overindulgence will cause only regret, which never has a good effect on mood.
Salmon and sardines
The body needs omega-3s to function properly, but is unable to make them. Omega-3s act as an anti-inflammatory, which helps with mood and depression, Raden says.
Fatty fish are one of the few significant sources of vitamin D, Bauer says. Because of the winter’s reduced daylight hours, vitamin D — a vitamin the body produces, but only with the help of sunlight — from other sources is essential.
Walnuts
Potatoes and sweet potatoes
She recommends topping a baked sweet potato with a scoop of low-fat cottage cheese mixed with a touch of cinnamon.
Pumpkin seeds
“Pumpkin seeds are one of the healthiest foods on the planet,” Bauer said, and one of the highest sources of folic acid, which has been linked to energy.
These flat, green seeds are delicious in salads, soups, trail mix and even smoothies. Treat them as you would sunflower seeds (another good source of tryptophan) by sprinkling them on a bowl of granola or snacking on them plain throughout the day.
Lentils and beans
“We all crave comfort foods,” she says, and lentils and beans jazz and energize, but in a nurturing, soothing way.
Tavaner Bushman is a Chicago free-lance writer.
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