Usually our mood reflects the state of our affairs. If things are going great, then the mood is great, but if something doesn’t go well, then the mood is in shambles. Since life doesn’t pamper us very often, we don’t have a good mood day after day. This situation cannot suit a bodybuilder, because mood directly affects motivation, i.e. not the desire to go to the gym and train with the utmost degree of dedication.
How can we be here?
From the very beginning, it is necessary to clarify that medications – mood modifiers – are not suitable here. None of these drugs directly raises mental tone. The effect of improving mood is achieved by suppressing the symptoms of depression. The state of depression is caused by disturbances in the biochemistry of the brain, therefore the mechanism of action of such drugs is based on the correction of already disturbed biochemical processes. If the drug is taken by a healthy person, then his mental state not only will not improve, but may even seriously worsen due to the interference of drugs with the brain.
Drugs, in particular, the new generation of so-called drugs, have a temporary mood-enhancing effect. “disco” drugs: “ecstasy”, ephedrine derivatives and others. The use of these drugs has already taken place and threatens to become a danger in comparison with which steroids will seem like a mere trifle. Any drug sooner or later enslaves the human personality, no matter how strong it is. The examples of Mike Christian and David Deers, who barely managed to escape, once again highlight the depth of the problem.
Meanwhile, from a scientific point of view, a bad mood is just a low level of sugar (glucose) in the blood. Since glucose is a source of energy for the brain, its lack leads to a drop in the energy tone of the psyche: apathy, indifference, and depression appear.
The connection between unfavorable life circumstances and bad mood is made in this way. Any troubles are accompanied by the release of “stress” hormones or, as they are also called, “anxiety hormones”. They sharply reduce blood glucose levels – hence the bad mood.
It must be emphasized that the concentration of sugar, even in conditions of complete external well-being, is never constant. After eating, it steadily decreases due to the body’s natural energy expenditure and reaches a minimum by the end of the fourth hour. Here there is not only a complete drop in general mental tone, a decrease in performance, observation, reaction speed and general muscle coordination, but even a drop in blood pressure. A bodybuilder should not bring himself to such catastrophic states, which is why he is recommended to eat every 3 hours. After each such meal, blood glucose levels return to normal.
The main source of replenishing sugar losses are carbohydrates. If in your diet they make up less than 60% of all daily calories, do not expect a good mood.
Carbohydrates, as you probably know, can be simple or complex. Simple ones are found in milk (lactose), fruits (fructose) and sweets (sucrose). Such carbohydrates release energy almost instantly, which leads to a sharp increase in the concentration of glucose in the blood and an equally sharp jump in tone. Instant “burning” of simple carbohydrates has a significant disadvantage: until the next meal you will have to sit on a starvation ration of energy (your mood can seriously worsen). But the so-called complex carbohydrates are a completely different matter. They seem to slowly “smolder” in your digestive system, feeding the blood with more and more portions of glucose throughout the entire time until the next meal. Complex carbohydrates are found in cereals and cereals: rice, corn, oats, wheat, barley; in legumes: peanuts, peas, beans, beans, soybeans; in tuberous plants: potatoes, sweet potatoes. An important feature of all these products is the presence of fiber. It slows down digestion, thereby supporting the slow “burning” of carbohydrates. Fats have the same effect. This is why they must be included in the diet in the interests of high mental tone. Bodybuilders on a low-fat diet suffer from low mood, apathy and irritability.
An imbalance of carbohydrates in the daily diet and irregular intake are usually the main causes of mood swings. However, in fairness, it should be noted that low mental tone may have other explanations. Among them, the first place is the consumption of low-quality protein products. As a result, the body does not receive a full set of amino acids , and among them there are those that directly affect the functioning of the brain. It is clear that this leads to a deterioration in mood.
Sometimes it happens that a bodybuilder harms himself. For example, he overdoes it with isotonic drinks during training. Excess of electrolyte components sharply worsens mood. By the way, a lack of fluid also leads to the same effect.
Conclusion: Low mental energy is not a fatal factor. As medical research shows, in cases where it is not caused by a specific disease, it is caused by a banal eating disorder. Unbalanced, poor-quality and irregular nutrition automatically causes a disruption in the energy supply to the brain and then a decrease in mood. Normalization of nutrition leads to a stable, without side effects, correction of the situation, in contrast to the extremely harmful effect of medicinal stimulants, which are often dangerous to health.
