What’s in my Lunch box ? - Psychiatrist edition

What’s in My Lunch Box (and What It’s Doing to My Brain)

Dearest gentle readers,

On a good day, this is what my bag looks like.

An old honey jar pretending to be an iced coffee aesthetic. A panda lamp judging my life choices. Some flowers trying to romanticize my existence. And somewhere in between all this me, trying to keep my brain functional through OPDs and emotional bandwidth.

Let’s start with the coffee.

It’s iced honey coffee,not because I’m trying to be trendy, but because caffeine is, quite literally, my negotiated truce with focus. It nudges dopamine, sharpens attention, and on most days, helps my ADHD brain show up on time. But it’s a tool, not a personality,too much and suddenly we’re anxious, tachycardic, and questioning life decisions.

Then come the “crash snacks.”

Walnuts and pistachios are for the 11 AM slump or the 4 PM existential spiral. These are not random. Omega-3 fatty acids in walnuts are quietly doing anti-inflammatory work in the brain, supporting mood regulation and even adjunctive treatment in depression.

It’s not dramatic. It’s subtle.

But mental health is often built on these small, repeated subtleties.

Cucumbers: arguably the least exciting part of this box, but metabolically doing the most underrated work.

Fibre feeds your gut microbiome. And your gut? It’s not just sitting there digesting,it’s actively communicating with your brain through the gut-brain axis. Serotonin pathways, inflammation, immunity, even emerging links with conditions like autism spectrum disorders. So,all roads keep pointing back to the gut.

So yes, this is me eating cucumbers and pretending it’s self-care.

(It kind of is.)

Lunch is grounding.

Rice, dosakaya tomato curry, and a boiled egg. Nothing fancy, nothing Instagram-perfect,just functional comfort in a steel dabba.

• Carbs (yes, rice) help tryptophan cross into the brain → serotonin → that subtle emotional steadiness

• Protein (egg) gives you amino acids to build neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin

• Also, quietly: Vitamin D3 matters more than we acknowledge for mood and fatigue

This is not “clean eating.”

This is neurochemistry support disguised as ghar ka khana❤️

And then there’s my steel water bottle.

Refilled twice.

Because hydration is boring until your concentration drops, your fatigue rises, and you think you’re spiraling,when you’re actually just under-hydrated. Brain function is ridiculously sensitive to water.

The Simple Formula I Try to Follow

Not perfectly. Not daily. But intentionally.

• Fibre🥦 → gut → mood stability,better poop and good bacteria

• Good fats/Omega-3 🥜 → anti-inflammatory brain support

• Protein 🍖 → neurotransmitters + satiety

• Carbs 🍚 → grounding, serotonin

• Caffeine ☕️ → strategic focus (not overuse)

• Water💧 → basic, non-negotiable brain function

But let’s not romanticize this too much.

I do not eat like this every day.

Some days it’s just dal and water and surviving.

Some days I skip everything and eat icecream.

And some days,I binge biryani like it’s emotional support. Because sometimes, it is. I’m still unlearning that pattern, still figuring out where nourishment ends and coping begins.

No moral hierarchy. No “good food vs bad food.”

Just awareness.

And trying again the next day.

Just a small act of self care❤️🫶🏻

Warm regards,

Recharla Priyanka 🌸