6 Minute English / Food and mood

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I m Sam.

And I m Rob.

When someone feels sad or in a bad mood, they often try to feel better by eating their favourite food I usually go for a peanut butter sandwich myself. Do you have a favourite comfort food, Rob?

Hmm, maybe a cream chocolate eclair Comfort food is a type of emotional eating eating lots of food because we feel sad, not because we re hungry. But unfortunately, most comfort food is high in carbohydrates and sugar and, after a few minutes, it leaves us feeling even worse than before.

Today, scientific research into the relationship between what we eat and how we feel is growing. In this programme, we ll be investigating the connection between our food and our mood. We ll hear how healthy eating makes us feel better, and of course, we ll be learning some new vocabulary as well.

Great! But first I have a question for you, Sam. People who link what we eat with how we feel make a simple argument: the food you eat supplies nutrients and energy to the brain, and the brain controls our emotions. Now, that might sound simplistic, but the brain is a vital link in the connection between food and our mood. So, Sam, my question is: how much of the body s total energy is used up by the brain? Is it:

a) 10 percentb) 20 percent orc) 30 percent?

Hmmm, that's a good question. I ll say it s a) 10 percent.

Right. Well, I ll reveal the answer later in the programme. Emotional eating is often caused by feelings of depression, anxiety or stress. Chef Danny Edwards, who has suffered with depression, works in one of the most stressful places imaginable - a busy restaurant kitchen. BBC World Service programme, The Food Chain, asked Danny about his eating habits at work: