We all know some foods are stimulants and some slow you down. But have you tried using these foods to effect your moods?

Getting Vitamins And Minerals one needs is of first concern Most people can get all vitamins and minerals they need by eating

properly. The B complex is an extremely important group of nutrients

that body must acquire through diet or produce via

intestinal flora to enable it to transform food into energy, maintain a

strong immune system, balance many of body's hormones, and perform

a wide variety of other tasks.

Many things can contribute to vitamin B deficiencies. Eating Junk

foods and bread products high in sugar and white refined flour

processed foods (lack nutrients and may contain many additives also

fills one up and leaves no room for healthy foods. ), conventionally

grown produce (are sprayed with pesticides and stored for such long

lengths of time they lack nutrients by time we buy them.), Using

alcohol (more than two drinks a day can deplete B vitamins.),living a

high stress lifestyle, environmental pollution, inadequate digestion,

malnutrition, illness, and a vegetarian or vegan diet can all

contribute.

Due to fact that a good percentage of U.S. population consumes

vitamin-deficient foods raised in vitamin deficient soils along with a

combination of one or more of aforementioned problems, vitamin B

deficiencies have become commonplace.

Some of problems one experiences with deficiencies are:mild to

severe depression,forgetfulness, vague fear, uneasiness to panic ,mood

swings,loss of ability to concentrate, fatigue, insomnia or sleep

disturbances. The richest food sources of B-1 are brewer’s or nutritional yeast,

brown rice, egg yolks, fish, legumes, liver, nuts, peas, poultry, rice

bran, dulse, kelp, spirulina, wheat germ and whole grains. A high

carbohydrate diet will increase need for thiamin and use of

antibiotics, sulfa drugs, and oral contraceptives may decrease

body's thiamin level.

The foods providing highest levels of B-2 are brewer's or

nutritional yeast, almonds, wheat germ, wild rice, egg yolks, legumes,

liver, fish, and poultry. Niacin is found in brewer’s or nutritional yeast, liver, broccoli,

carrots, cheese, eggs, fish, raw milk, peanuts, potatoes, tomatoes,

dandelion greens, and wheat germ. Most fresh vegetables are good sources for B-5. Brewer's and

nutritional yeast, liver, eggs, mushrooms, avocados, broccoli, whole

I usually try my food experiments on myself before inflicting them on anyone else. When cooking for one person, I have found that lean ground beef in 1/4 cup portions works well for me. For tempeh, I usually cut an 8 ounce package in thirds, or a 12 ounce package into fourths, wrap and freeze. With 12 ounce packages of extra firm tofu, one can slice block lengthwise into fourths, place layers in a plastic freezer container with wax paper separators. This way, a bread knife can be used to separate out one or more layers without thawing whole block. The freezer container is because freezing separates water from tofu, which becomes very obvious on thawing, such as when using entire container's worth.

It is certainly possible to dice tempeh and tofu before freezing, but best if wrapped in pre-measured amounts.

I now describe a recent experiment making lean stew with roughly equal parts of lean ground beef and tofu. To make a pasta dish, omit potato and carrot, and use angel hair pasta, about 0.7 inch or 1.8 cm circle's worth, which requires only 3 to 5 minutes boiling.

I sliced a small potato lengthwise in half, then each half in thirds, then crosswise thinly. I also diced a handful of baby carrots. All this was put into a covered glass dish, and microwaved a minute at a time on high. The results were fork tender, not mushy, at a total of 7 minutes in my oven. The chef can do these vegetables slightly ahead of time, or while doing following.