Guy Reams (00:01.282)
This is day 93. The three pillars of mood. Food, sleep, and exercise. In today's world, our mood can often feel like a roller coaster. Up one day, down the next. But through a 365 day personal experiment, I tracked everything from food to sleep to exercise. I discovered something profound. Our mood is not random.
It is directly influenced by three key areas that play a crucial role in our overall health. What we eat, how we move, and how much sleep we get. So what I did is I recorded everything I did, everything I ate and all exercise I did and the sleep hours I had every day for three and 65 days in row. Now wouldn't recommend doing that as a lifetime thing, but I did it for one year and I started to notice some significant patterns
as I also was tracking my mood in a journal I kept. These three pillars, diet, exercise, and sleep, are the foundation of a healthy lifestyle. They impact not just our physical health, but also our mental health, cognitive function, and emotional resilience. On food. Food is the foundation of emotional well-being. It's no secret that a healthy diet is a pillar of good health.
During my year of tracking, I noticed that food had a delayed but significant impact on my mood. Poor food choices, such as processed snacks or sugary treats, would lead to lower feelings of well-being after about three days. On the other hand, consuming servings of raw fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, healthy fats, you know the deal, like the Mediterranean diet, they supported better mental health over the long run. Dehydration had a much faster impact, however.
Within about 8 to 10 hours after not drinking water, I would feel irritable and lethargic. Meanwhile, maintaining good nutrition and adequate hydration positively affected my brain health and cognitive performance. This is supported by recent research. Poor diets are associated with higher depressive symptoms, while a balanced diet rich in essential nutrients can reduce anxiety symptoms and promote good mental health.
Guy Reams (02:22.906)
Key components of a healthy diet like fatty acids, whole grains, those type of things also play an important role in reducing the risk of health conditions like cardiovascular and high blood pressure. So why in the hell do I keep eating bad snacks all the time, you would ask. But anyway, sleep. I think sleep is probably the strongest predictor out of the three of mental health. If there's one thing in my long year experimenting,
confirmed the most. It's that sleep is non-negotiable for good mental health and cognitive function. Too little sleep, whether caused by disrupted circadian rhythm or poor sleep habits, was the strongest predictor of mental health issues for me. After just one or two nights of poor sleep, I noticed high stress levels, increased irritability, and low motivation. This was compounded by poor food choices and less physical activity.
creating a cycle that's very hard to break. Adequate sleep, especially deep sleep, played a vital role in regulating my mood, stabilizing my body temperature even, and reducing the effects of stress hormone. My doctor was tracking cortisol levels and noticed that as I was getting better sleep, the effects of the cortisol hormone dropped significantly. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that young people
get about seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Following these sleep, you know, I just did this. I went to bed at 9 p.m. and I woke up at 5 a.m. every day. Following that recommendation, I improved my energy, reduced my risk of health conditions like heart disease, and it also helped me maintain just a better sleep schedule. Better sleep was always linked to better mental health. Better sleep has always been linked to better health.
emotional stability, and in the case of me, I was running a lot, it improved my running performance. Exercise. Now that we're on the subject, exercise is the long-term mood stabilizer. Exercise is a critical piece of any high performer's routine and complementary role in maintaining good mental health. During my experiment, I found that regular physical activity had the longest lasting impact on my mood.
Guy Reams (04:48.089)
When I stopped exercising, it took about seven to ten days for my emotional state to decline. The slow onset made it harder to pinpoint, but the long run proved its value. Physical activities like running, weightlifting, or even brisk walking around the park played an important role in improving my physical fitness, muscle strength, heart rate, all that stuff. A set-it-entry lifestyle, on the other hand, was linked to feelings of just
lower feelings of well-being. Exercise is also a wellness coach for your mental state. It lowers stress levels, supports gut health, enhances the immune system, all of above. There have been several recent studies, even one by a research team in New Zealand, that confirmed that regular physical activity improves cognitive function, reduces anxiety symptoms, and just generally bolsters health. I think this is just a general conclusion by the research community over
So you can build these pillars of a healthy lifestyle. I think the takeaway from my year-long commitment for me is that food, sleep, and exercise are the pillars of good health and good mental health. They work together as a foundation for an active lifestyle, reducing prevalence of mental disorder, which I have plenty of, and boosting cognitive performance. To achieve better health, I would focus on these areas. Number one, your diet. Prioritize balanced meals with
fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, all the above, and avoid poor choices that lead to lower well-being and bad moods. Sleep. Follow sleep recommendations and aim for enough, seven to nine hours for young people, maybe a little bit less for adults, for older adults. But prioritize a good night's sleep for better sleep quality and mental clarity. Third, exercise. Incorporate physical activity into your daily routine. Physical fitness isn't just about being an athlete.
It's about maintaining good mental health and emotional resilience. These pillars of good health are more than just habits, they're building blocks of a fulfilling life. By making intentional choices to support your physical health and mental well-being, you can take control of your mood and thrive in this fast-paced world. On a note, honestly, I always shoot above the mark. I look for the really hard thing going on in my life. I'm always trying to blame something.
Guy Reams (07:14.475)
And reality is, the reason my moods go up and down is because I'm not eating right, I'm not sleeping well, and I'm not exercising. I don't need to look any further than that. If I can figure those three things out, most things go away.