🍕

ESL · Intermediate

🍔 Food Mood

Discover how food affects your emotions, energy, and focus — and practise English while doing it!

📚 17 Vocabulary Words ✍️ 5 Sentence Patterns ⏳ Past Simple 🔊 -ED Endings 🌟 3 Idioms 🎯 50 Practice Activities

📖

What's in this lesson?

Click any card to jump to a section

🍔

Food Mood Intro

How food changes how you feel

📚

Vocabulary

17 key words with examples

✍️

Sentence Patterns

5 patterns with colour coding

⏳

Past Simple

Finished actions explained simply

🔊

-ED Pronunciation

3 sounds: /t/ /d/ /ɪd/

🌟

Idioms

Break a leg · Piece of cake · Eat like a horse

🧠

Reading

A short paragraph about food & mood

🗣️

Speaking

Discussion questions

🎯

Practice Activities

50 questions — test yourself!

😊

Introduction

🍔 Food Mood

Did you know that what you eat can change how you feel? Food is not just fuel — it is a mood changer!

🍽️

How Food Affects You

Three important areas

😊😢

Mood

Some foods make you happy. Others make you tired or sad. Sugar gives a quick mood boost — but it doesn't last long!

⚡

Energy

Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains give you powerful, long-lasting energy. Junk food gives you a crash!

🧠

Concentration

Certain foods help your brain focus. Fish, nuts, and water are great for concentration and clear thinking.

🍫 Interesting Food Facts

🍫

Chocolate boosts serotonin

Dark chocolate is a powerful mood changer — it helps your brain produce the "happy chemical".

🍌

Bananas reduce stress

Bananas contain vitamin B6, which helps your body manage stressful situations more calmly.

🐟

Fish improves focus

Omega-3 in fish is excellent for concentration and preventing depression.

☕

Coffee sharpens attention

A cup of coffee can help you feel more focused — but too much makes you stressed!

📖

Section 1

📚 Vocabulary

17 important words. Learn the meaning, how to say it, and an example sentence.

📚

Key Words

Hover over each card to explore

Expert

/ˈek.spɜːt/

Someone who knows a lot about a subject.

👉 The nutrition expert gives good advice.

University

/ˌjuː.nɪˈvɜː.sɪ.ti/

A place for higher education and research.

👉 She studies medicine at university.

Powerful

/ˈpaʊ.ə.fəl/

Very strong or very effective.

👉 Healthy food gives powerful energy.

Mood changer

/muːd ˈtʃeɪn.dʒər/

Something that changes how you feel emotionally.

👉 Chocolate is a mood changer.

Ounces

/ˈaʊn.sɪz/

A unit of weight (about 28 grams).

👉 Add 5 ounces of milk to the recipe.

Certain

/ˈsɜː.tən/

Specific; particular; sure about something.

👉 Certain foods improve your focus.

Types

/taɪps/

Kinds or categories of something.

👉 There are many types of healthy food.

Experiment

/ɪkˈsper.ɪ.mənt/

A scientific test to find out something.

👉 Students did a food experiment in class.

Champion

/ˈtʃæm.pi.ən/

A winner; the best in a competition.

👉 The champion eats healthy food every day.

Former

/ˈfɔː.mər/

Previous; from an earlier time.

👉 He is a former athlete who now coaches.

Stressful

/ˈstres.fəl/

Something that causes stress or pressure.

👉 Exams are very stressful for students.

Stressed

/strest/

Feeling nervous, worried, or under pressure.

👉 I feel stressed before important tests.

Depressed

/dɪˈprest/

Feeling very sad and without hope.

👉 Some people feel depressed in winter.

Depression

/dɪˈpreʃ.ən/

A long period of deep sadness (medical condition).

👉 Exercise helps with depression.

Focused

/ˈfəʊ.kəst/

Giving full attention to something.

👉 I feel focused and ready after breakfast.

Concentration

/ˌkɒn.sənˈtreɪ.ʃən/

The ability to focus your mind on something.

👉 Good sleep improves your concentration.

Decision

/dɪˈsɪʒ.ən/

A choice you make after thinking.

👉 Eating healthy is a great decision.

✍️

Section 2

✍️ Sentence Patterns

Learn 5 patterns for building clear, correct English sentences.

💡 Key Words

Subject

= WHO does it

Verb

= the ACTION

Object

= who/what receives

Adjective

= describes a noun

Adverb

= describes how

1

🟡 Subject + Verb

Birds fly.
Babies cry.
Food matters.

2

🟠 Subject + Verb + Noun

She is a doctor.
He became a champion.
Food is medicine.

3

🔴 Subject + Verb + Object

I eat pizza.
She drinks coffee.
He loves chocolate.

4

🟣 Subject + Verb + Adjective

I feel stressed.
The food is healthy.
She looks focused.

5

🟢 Subject + Verb + Adverb

She speaks clearly.
He works hard.
I sleep well.

⏳

Section 3

⏳ Past Simple

We use the Past Simple for actions that are finished.

When do we use it?

Rule

Use Past Simple for a finished action in the past. It does not affect now.

🍕

I ate pizza yesterday.

Finished action — yesterday is over.

🍳

She cooked dinner.

The cooking is finished.

🎬

They watched a movie.

The movie is over.

🧠

He studied hard for the exam.

The studying happened in the past.

Regular vs Irregular Verbs

✅ Regular (add -ed)

cook → cooked
play → played
want → wanted
help → helped

⚠️ Irregular (learn by memory)

eat → ate
drink → drank
feel → felt
sleep → slept

Negative & Questions

Negative

Subject + did not (didn't) + base verb

I didn't eat breakfast today.

Question

Did + Subject + base verb?

Did you eat healthy food yesterday?

🔊

Section 4

🔊 -ED Endings

The -ed ending has 3 different sounds. Let's practise!

The 3 Sounds of -ED

/t/

AFTER voiceless sounds
p, k, f, s, sh, ch

worked
helped
cooked
laughed
finished

/d/

AFTER vowels & voiced sounds
b, g, v, z, m, n, l, r

played
cleaned
loved
called
enjoyed

/ɪd/

AFTER t or d sounds

wanted
needed
started
decided
ended

💡 Quick Trick

Look at the last sound of the base verb:
→ /t/ or /d/ sound → use /ɪd/ (adds a syllable!)
→ voiceless sound → use /t/
→ voiced sound → use /d/

Practice — Which sound?

Verb	Past Form	Sound
cook	cooked	/t/ 🔵
play	played	/d/ 🟢
want	wanted	/ɪd/ 🔴
help	helped	/t/ 🔵
need	needed	/ɪd/ 🔴
enjoy	enjoyed	/d/ 🟢

🌟

Section 5

🌟 Fun Idioms

Idioms are phrases where the meaning is different from the individual words.

🎭

3 Great Idioms

Learn them, use them, remember them!

🦵

Break a leg!

= Good luck!

👉 Break a leg in your exam today!

🍰

Piece of cake

= Very easy

👉 The test was a piece of cake for her.

🐎

Eat like a horse

= Eat a lot

👉 He eats like a horse after the gym!

More Useful Idioms

🍽️

Food for thought — something to think about carefully.
👉 That article gave me food for thought.

🥣

In a nutshell — in a few words / to summarise.
👉 In a nutshell, healthy food = happy mood.

🍋

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade — turn problems into opportunities.
👉 She lost her job but started her own business — lemons to lemonade!

📖

Section 6

🧠 Reading

Read the paragraph carefully. Look for the vocabulary words you learned!

📖 Food, Mood & the Brain

Food is one of the most powerful mood changers in our lives. Experts at university research centres have discovered that certain foods can change how we feel, think, and perform. When we are stressed or feeling depressed, we often make poor food choices — and these choices make the problem worse.

Different types of food affect the brain in different ways. For example, dark chocolate helps the brain produce chemicals that improve your mood. Nuts and fish are great for concentration. Water — even just a few ounces — can help you feel more focused and think more clearly.

A former athlete once said: "Your food choices are your decisions for your future." Many sports champions treat their diet like an experiment — always testing what helps them perform at their best. If you want to beat depression, reduce a stressful lifestyle, and improve your energy, start with what is on your plate.

The good news? Small changes make a big difference. Swap junk food for fruit. Drink more water. Choose whole grains. Your brain — and your mood — will thank you!

📝 Comprehension Questions

1. What do experts say about food and mood?

2. Name two foods that help the brain.

3. What did the former athlete say?

4. What three small changes can improve your mood?

🗣️

Section 7

🗣️ Speaking

Use these questions to practise speaking with a partner or in class!

💬

Discussion Questions

Give full answers — use the vocabulary!

Question 1

🍫 What food makes you happy? Why?

Question 2

😰 Do you feel stressed before exams? What do you eat or drink to feel better?

Question 3

🧠 What helps your concentration? Food, sleep, music?

Question 4

🍫 Is chocolate a mood changer for you? Give an example.

Question 5

⚡ When do you feel the most powerful energy? What did you eat that day?

Question 6

🏆 Do you think champions eat differently? What types of food do they eat?

Question 7

🌧️ Have you ever felt depressed? What helped you feel better?

Question 8

🔬 If you could do a food experiment, what would you test and why?

💡 How to give a good answer

Structure

1. Give your answer directly.
2. Give a reason (because / since / so).
3. Give an example from your life.

Example:
"Chocolate makes me happy because it tastes sweet and I always eat it when I feel stressed. Last week before my exam, I ate a small piece of dark chocolate and I felt more focused and calm."

🎯

Section 8

🎯 Practice Activities

50 questions — vocabulary, grammar, idioms, and more!

🎉