Introducing Mood Dining

At Milaidhoo island Maldives, we’ve made the connection between what you eat and how food effects your body chemistry. Here you can eat not just to suit your mood, but to change it.

So what is mood dining at Milaidhoo Island Maldives and why do we do it?

The reason why is simple: our philosophy is offer our guests meaningful and authentic experiences, so what could be more meaningful than chaning someone’s mood?

We’ve started with five different mood dining menus. The ‘moods’ guests can choose from are: ‘Deep Sleep’; ‘Getting into the Milaidhoo Mood’; ‘Sunrise Awakening’; ‘Curious Adventures’ and ‘Sunset Chill’. Each ‘mood’ consists of a curated menu, offered at a specific location on the island, which has been designed to change a person’s mood. Some of these dining offerings are paired with spa treatments, special baths and meditation to enhance the experience.

The theory behind mood dining is that certain foods can affect body chemistry and can therefore alter a person’s mood, for instance, creating a burst of energy, uplifting emotions or causing drowsiness and the desire to sleep. The location of the meal also helps shape the mood, with options of dining on deserted islands, sandbanks in the middle of the ocean, on a beach or simply on the private deck of the guest’s own villa.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given the high levels of sleep deprivation in the modern world, the most popular mood dining option to date is the ‘Deep Sleep’ mood, which addresses both physical and mental hurdles that prevent a good night’s sleep. It begins with a peaceful spa treatment in the early evening to physically relax the body. This is followed by a light dinner served in the guest’s villa with a menu designed to encourage sleep, using foods that contain naturally occurring substances that can bring on sleep. After the dinner Milaidhoo’s resident yogi leads the guests in a private moonlight meditation session on the deck of their villa to calm and slow the mind. The evening ends with a scented candlelit bath, because the drop in body temperature after a bath triggers the body’s need to sleep.

A complete contrast to the deep sleep mood is the ‘Sunrise Awakening’ mood which includes a breakfast menu featuring dishes that are known to be energy boosting for a good start to the day – as well as a bottle of Salmon Billecart champagne for extra indulgence. The location is either on the private deck of the guest’s villa or on the beach to ensure exposure to the mood-lifting serotonin that the body produces in bright sunlight. This is associated with boosting mood and helping a person feel calm and focused.

The ‘getting into the Milaidhoo mood’ programme features a menu is designed to calm and promote a relaxed mind set; the perfect way to ease into a holiday. Dishes are selected for richness in vitamins, omega 3 and nutrients to help guests switch off from a fast paced life style and settle into a glorious relaxed, island mode. It begins with a 60-minute spa treatment at the resort’s over-water Serenity Spa followed by the meal which can be enjoyed anywhere on the island that takes the guest’s fancy.