How to Choose Foods to Boost Your Mood
A cupcake may briefly lift your spirits, but these dietary changes can keep you happier in the long run.
Up next in Healthy Eating (73 videos)
Get more nutrients into your diet with the crash course in nutrition provided by these videos.
You Will Need
- Walnuts
- Fatty fish
- Foods rich in folic acid
- Chicken and turkey
- Complex carbs
- Sesame seeds
- Wild fish (optional)
Steps
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Step 1
Munch on walnuts
Munch on a handful of walnuts. They're a rich source of vitamin B6, which the body needs to produce serotonin, a brain chemical involved in staving off depression. Sunflower seeds and wheat germ are also good sources of B6.
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Step 2
Fill up on fish
Eat at least two servings of fish per week. The omega-3 fatty acids in seafood increase serotonin levels, and some research indicates that people who eat fish less than once a week have about a 30 percent higher incidence of depression.
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Wild fish has higher concentrations of omega-3s than farmed fish.
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Step 3
Increase your intake of folic acid
Eat foods that contain folic acid, also called folate -- spinach, lentils, asparagus, and peas. Researchers have found a possible link between depression and low levels of this B vitamin.
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Step 4
Have the fowl
Enjoy chicken and turkey; both have tryptophan, an amino acid that is essential to the production of serotonin. Researchers have found that people who are deprived of tryptophan fall into a depression.
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Step 5
Pass the pasta
When you're feeling stressed, eat complex carbohydrates like whole-grain breads and pasta. Carbs enable tryptophan to enter the brain.
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Step 6
Sprinkle sesame seeds on salads
Eat tahini or snack on sesame seeds. They're rich in the amino acid threonine, a deficiency of which has been linked to depression.
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According to research, people who eat a Mediterranean-style diet -- high in fruits, vegetables, and fish -- are less likely to get depressed than those who eat mostly processed and fatty foods.
