I mentioned once before that Matt Metzgar's blog (here) is one of my favourites. I don't agree with everything he says, but I like his style, and there are lots of good research-based comments on nutrition and exercise. Whenever I go there, there are lots of articles I'd basically like to copy and post here (i.e. "steal them").
I hadn't visited for a couple of months. Recently he posted a couple of good articles about carbs: one pointing to a research paper on glycemic load, which (in the abstract) went so far as to say that a high-carb diet with high glycemic load is a fundamental cause of most "modern" diseases. (High glycemic load means things that give you a rapid blood-sugar hit, like sugar, but also like bread and potatoes. As opposed to low glycemic load carbs like beans, lentils, porridge, that funny black bread, and most vegetables other than potatoes.)
The other posting suggested that people eat high-GL carbs as a way of self-medicating their mood -- basically carbs raise serotonin, so hitting the sugar makes people feel better, just like an antidepressant tablet.
So: the million dollar question: what other ways of raising serotonin are known to work?
Answer: get enough sex, get enough sleep, get enough sunshine (go out in it during the day), get your omega three fatty acids (from fish oil or flaxseed oil), and physical exercise (especially dance, Matt says).
Sounds good to me....
