Sometimes, when you are feeling down, upset or stressed, you go immediately to eat sweets, a piece of a cake, chocolate… then you start feeling good, relaxed and Zen.
Recently, researches on the relationship between food and mental health have been emerging. Just like some foods can have a negative impact on your skin or your hair… studies have proved that your mood can be impacted by different factors including poor sleep, stress, genetics and nutrition. So, it is important to note that eating certain foods can either make you feel down; either boosts your mood and promotes your well-being.
Generally, it is hard to determinate whether food can fill-up your mood. However, there are certain foods that are known by their ability to promote the overall mental health and maintain certain types of mood disorders.
In fact, to fill-up your mood, you should fix up your daily diet, and focus on eating more fruits, vegetables, fish, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds… they are rich sources of vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, calcium, manganese and minerals…
Nonetheless, you should widely avoid processed food such as candies, fried food, refined cereals… they all make you feel anxious and upset.
Here is a list of healthy foods that might boost your mood and fill up your spirit.
Eat foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids
A research has studied the relationship between mood disorders and the consumption of fish. The study authors have found that people, who consume a lot of fish, are less likely to have depression than the others.
The important element that was extremely missing in their diet was the omega-3 fatty acids. In order to increase your intake of omega-3 fatty acids, you can eat salmon, walnuts, sardines, canola oil, anchovies, chia seeds, purslane…
Consume more whole grains
Whole grains are great sources of vitamins and particularly vitamin B1, vitamin B5, vitamin 6, vitamin B12, fiber and calcium. All these nutrients are important either to turn the glucose into energy (vitamin B1), or to produce neurotransmitter acetylcholine (vitamin B5) which is needed to enhance the memory, or to produce neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin (vitamin B12) to regulate your mood.
Doctors recommend consuming grains in their whole form, like: quinoa, brown rice, wild rice, amaranth…
To be considered as a whole grain product, it must have at least one gram of dietary fiber, for each 5 grams of carbohydrate.
Dark chocolate
Dark chocolate is one of the most perfect foods to boost your mood. Its sugar might promote your mood since it is considered as a fuel for your brain, it is a rich source of antioxydants, iron, phenylethylamine which boosts endorphins, and magnesium to help you relax.
In addition to that, it has been proved scientifically that real dark chocolate is able to increase blood flow to the brain, decrease inflammation and regulate your mood disorders.
It is better to choose dark chocolate, because the milky one contains added sugar and fat.
Bananas
Bananas contain vitamin b6 which helps prevent mood downs by easing the production of dopamine and serotonin.
One large banana can provide nearly 16 grams of sugar and 3.5 grams of fiber which eases the digestion process.
The combination of vitamin B6 and fiber allows the stability of blood sugar rates and good mood control.
All in all, you should opt for foods that fix your overall health and just not your mood, but try some of the ones above to start a positive day full of energy.
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