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Introduction

In the foods that everyone eats, there are many chemicals that can affect brain chemistry. For

example, serotonin is a neurotransmitter in the brain which is produced from tryptophan, an amino acid

found in an assortment of foods (Hopf, 2010). Tryptophan is an amino acid that can help boost serotonin

levels when eaten with healthy carbs. Serotonin is thought to manage moods, improve focus, and increase

emotional stability (Scaccia, 2017). Omega 3 fatty acids are polyunsaturated acids that are in foods The

effects of eating a healthy amount of Omega 3 fatty acids not only help with physical, but mental health

too. Eating healthy can affect mood in a multitude of different ways. Unprocessed carbohydrates and

protein are generally known to help relieve depression and give an elated mood. Foods that have Omega 3

fatty acids, such as seafood, meat, and nut oils, can help with controlling pessimism and impulsivity

(Hopf, 2010). Food with an abundance of vitamins and minerals can usually help reduce stress and causes

happiness (Selhub, 2015). Healthy foods generally put you in a better mood and help you feel better about

yourself.

On the contrary, unhealthy foods can make you feel great at first, but are damaging to your

mental health and can change your physical appearance in a negative way. By not having a good enough

nutrient intake or a stable nutrient intake, it can drastically affect you by causing you stress, giving you

depression, anxiety, and developing diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, tooth decay, etc (SA Health,

2012).

Different drinks that we intake into our bodies can also change our mood. A moderate amount of

caffeine can help with alertness and elation, but more than 500 mg of caffeine can make you irritated.
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Drinking a large amount of water is very good for your health and can make you have an overall more

positive mood. It also reduces fatigue and makes people more calm (Jain, 2014).

This research plan outlines the variables and steps that will be taken to show how and why

different foods change mental health. Research about the chemicals that release in the brain and the

healthy and unhealthy foods will be applied to add dimension to the project. The intention of this project

is to not only raise awareness, but show why these unhealthy and healthy foods change the way the mind

works.
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Question

How does eating nutritious foods high in tryptophan and omega 3 fats and oils affect a person's

mood over a short period of time?

Hypothesis

If eating healthy produces positive moods, and participants eat nutritious foods with high levels

of tryptophan and omega 3 fatty acids for a week or two, then they will experience excellent moods.
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Materials

● Pencil/Pen for writing data

● Online Survey

● Computer

● Paper

● ISEF Forms

Methods
In order to test the hypothesis, an experiment will be conducted measuring the effect different

foods have on an individual's mood. A survey to measure the moods of the participants and what they ate

throughout the day will be put out on Facebook and open to the public. They will have to fill out the

survey over a period of 2 weeks with buffer questions, how they felt, and how well that person stuck to

their diet. There will be a control group and an experimental group. The experimental group will eat a

healthy diet consisting of foods with tryptophan and omega 3 fats and oils and track their mood after

every meal. The control group will eat their regular diets and also track their mood after every meal. The

independent variable will be the diet that is being eaten and the dependent variable will be the mood of

the participants. The controlled variables will be the time period, the amount of food, and the ages of the

participants.

Survey and data

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In order to record the moods of the participants they will be given an online survey. The survey

will consist of tracking what foods they ate at major meals and how they felt based on a linear scale from

one to five. Both groups will be asked to track these variables for a time period of 2 weeks. This survey

will help collect data to compare the control group and experimental group.

The data will be graphed on a line graph recording what moods the participants have throughout

the weeks. The y-axis will record how many people have each kind of mood. The x axis will display the

days of the experiment. There will be 5 bars for each day representing the scale from 1-5. The data for the

healthy group will be in one graph, while the control group will have their own graph.

Participants and Recruitment

The people in this experiment will be of all ages and will be both male and female. They will be

recruited from facebook if they would like to participate. This experiment is completely voluntary and

anyone can drop out at any time. People with severe depression or other major mental and physical health

issues will be advised not to participate. People can chose which diet they would like to eat to decide if

they will be in the control or experimental group. They will not be told what the study is testing so that

the results will not be altered. This will be achieved by putting buffer questions that have nothing to do

with the study, such as how many hours of sleep they got last night.

Privacy and risk

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The participants will have to be committed to the survey and come back to it multiple times over

the 2 weeks. It will not take up much time, but they will have to remember to do it. Sharing what their

diet consists of and their moods might be a discomfort to some people. There is also a possible risk in a

change in diet.The participants will get to benefit from this by learning to keep track of what they eat.

Emails will only be collected to send out reminders and the right survey and, to track responses by the

same person over time, teacher will see email addresses & send messages, will de-identify everything by

assigning a number to each participant so that student researchers never see email addresses; email

addresses will be deleted at the end of data collection. Personal information such as their names, and

phone numbers will not be collected. The survey will be asking for the age range of people and will be

advising people of poor mental and physical health to not do this survey.
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References

Hopf, S. (2010). You Are What You Eat: How Food Affects Your Mood. Retrieved from

http://dujs.dartmouth.edu/2011/02/you-are-what-you-eat-how-food-affects-your-

mood/#.WcBwroxSy00

Jain, N. (2014, April 14). Increased Water Intake Improves Sleep/Wake Cycle and Mood. Retrieved from

https://lifescienceexplore.wordpress.com/2014/04/14/increased-water-intake-improves-

sleepwake-cycle-and-mood

SA Health. (n.d.). The risks of poor nutrition. Retrieved from

http://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/Public+Content/SA+Health+Internet/Healthy+li

ving/Is+your+health+at+risk/The+risks+of+poor+nutrition

Scaccia, A. (2017, May 18). Serotonin: What You Need to Know. Retrieved from

http://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/serotonin#overview1

Selhub, E. (2015, November 16). Nutritional Psychiatry: Your brain on food. Retrieved from

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/nutritional-psychiatry-your-brain-on-food-201511168626