Food that makes you happy

          In her article “Eating your way to happiness in the Philippines”(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17471626) for the BBC, Kate McGeown writes about a new happiness promoting restaurant in the Philippines. The “Vincent van Gough is Bipolar” restaurant in the Philippines claims that its food can make people happy. The restaurant’s owner, Jetro Rafael, has crazy dishes that combine ingredients (such as turkey and green apple) to create a diet that will may you happy.  Mr. Rafael developed his recipes from his own experience with depression and mood swings.

There is scientific evidence that backs the idea that certain foods (such as dark chocolate, cranberries, or omega-3) can “improve a person’s mood.” Unfortunately there is no evidence that food can have a long term effect in changing or improving a person’s mood. Guests at restaurant say that this does not bother them; the ambiance itself makes them happy to be there.

Food has always had powerful properties. Some people believe that certain flowers, if added to a dish, can bring luck, love, or happiness (this is popular in some of Shakespeare’s plays).  Chocolate is one food that has had an ever more increasing fame as a mood improver. This claim can now be backed by scientific evidence, but maybe each individual responds to food items differently.

Dishes from childhood memories, such as pancakes or French-toast, can put a smile on one person’s face while not conjure up any particular feeling in another person. I believe it is the memories attached to certain dishes or food items that make them a mood improver. Even if someone forgets a certain memory, seeing or eating a dish connected to it might just change that person’s mood.

I personally find Mr. Rafael concept brilliant. Who doesn’t want to go to a restaurant where the food will make you happier?  But more than it just being the food, I think it is the concept and thought behind each dish that helps make a person happier. The ambiance is definitely key too.  The lighting, colours of the walls, company and music affect a person’s mood greatly as well.

None the less, just wanting to make people happier through food is a wonderful idea. Whether there is scientific evidence to back the long-term effect of such a diet does not matter, after all it is the thought that counts. What helps one person may not help another, but trying never hurts. 

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