What foods can improve your mood?

Answer 1

It could! For example, you could be sad for any reason whatsoever and it is recommended NOT to comfort eat. Eating might make you feel bloated or fat and then it could worsen your bad mood.

Answer

Some foods actually can help you lighten your mood. Chocolate, beans (!), fish with Omega 3s, nuts, milk (trytophan, as in turkey), and spinach are good examples of feel good foods.

Fast foods (ie. pasta, burgers, icecream) make you feel better quickly, but you will crash and burn shortly thereafter.

Answer 2

Foods that can improve your mood include:

1. Spinach: Dark, leafy vegetables are among the most nutrient-dense foods you can eat. In fact, folate originates in the leaves of plants. (Its name comes from the Latin word folium, for "leaf.") Folate also promotes healthy red blood cells and a strong immune system, which keep you energized and free of disease. Spinach fights fatigue, and lowers stress and anxiety levels. This leafy green is packed with magnesium. It also contains iodine. As noted above, iodine is critical for the proper functioning of the thyroid gland, which in turn is a mood regulator.
2. Arugula: Arugula is an excellent source of calcium. Two cups of arugula have just 10 calories but contain 6% of your daily need for calcium, plus two other happy nutrients, folate and fiber. And arugula's deep green color indicates the presence of yet another of our top happiness nutrients, magnesium.
3. Peppers: Chile peppers are spicy because they contain a fat-soluble molecule called capsaicin. Your brain is loaded with receptors for capsaicin, and you respond to it by releasing endorphins, natural compounds that have a calming effect.
4. Broccoli: Broccoli is packed with quercetin and kaempferol, which help clean up free radicals and reduce inflammation, which is very important to maintaining a healthy brain. Broccoli is full of folate
5. Asparagus: The enzymes in asparagus are highly effective in breaking down alcohol in your system, preventing a hangover, which in itself can keep you happy. Asparagus is a great source of tryptophan, folate, and thiamine. Asparagus even helps stabilize mood swings.
6. Strawberries: Strawberries are full of vitamins and antioxidants which will enhance your well-being and mood. Strawberries are not only a good source of vitamin C, which helps in the production of endorphins, but they are high in mood-enhancing flavonoids too.
7. Nori: Sea vegetables contain nutrients such as zinc, iodine, and selenium, important in balancing your mood by keeping your thyroid, your body's master mood regular, stable.
8. Tomatoes: Tomatoes are packed with lycopene, a fat-soluble phytochemical that helps protect vital brain fat, and stops the buildup of pro-inflammatory compounds linked to depression. Lycopene is also linked with glowing skin. Because lycopene is in tomato skins, the best way to get it is through cherry tomatoes, whose larger surface area means you'll eat more skin than if you eat a full-size tomato. And because it's fat soluble, you'll absorb lycopene better if you enjoy your tomatoes with a dressing made with ground flax seeds. Tomatoes contain other mood enhancers, such as folate and magnesium, as well as iron and vitamin B6, both needed by your brain to produce important mood-regulating neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine.
9. Brazil nuts: Brazil nuts are an extremely rich source of the mineral selenium: just one Brazil nut a day can provide you with your recommended daily intake.
10. Lentils: A member of the legume family, lentils are an excellent source of folate. A cup of cooked lentils provides 90% of the recommended daily allowance of folate. A healthy bonus: lentils contain protein and fiber, which are filling and help to stabilize blood sugar. One cup of cooked lentils also contains 36.6% of your daily value of iron. Lentils also contain the oligosaccharides, raffinose and stachyose, that feed bifidobacteria in your large intestine. Bifidobacteria produce conjugated linoleic acid, or CLA. This happy fat beats back stress hormones protecting brain cells and erases dangerous inflammation-promoting belly fat.
11. Beets: These root vegetables are an excellent source of the B vitamin folate. Beets are also packed with betaine, which our brain uses to form SAM-e, a natural antidepressant. And another important nutrient found in beets-uridine-is as effective as prescription antidepressants when it's combined with omega-3s.
12. Sweet potatoes: Beta-carotene and vitamin B6 are abundant in sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes also provide potassium, vitamin C, and fiber.
13. Chia seeds: This zero-cholesterol food is a great source of tryptophan, an essential nutrient helps your body produce serotonin.
14. Ground flax seeds: Flax seeds are the best zero-cholesterol source of omega-3 essential fatty acids. Have a tablespoon of ground flax seeds every day, and you'll get 1,597 milligrams of omega-3 fatty acids.
15. Sesame seeds: Sesame seeds are packed with calcium, protein, and zinc. One ounce of sesame seeds provides 8% of your daily calories, but 10% of your protein, 14% of zinc, and a whopping 27% of your daily calcium.
16. Garlic: Garlic boosts your mood by increasing blood flow around your body. The more blood flow, the less energy your heart will have to expend pumping, hence more energy. Garlic is a top source of chromium. Garlic is actually used as a treatment against depression.
17. Oats: Oats may help if you find yourself feeling irritable and cranky. They are rich in soluble fiber, which helps to smooth out blood sugar levels by slowing the absorption of sugar into the blood.
18. Pumpkin seeds: Pumpkin seeds are one of the highest source of folate, along with magnesium and tryptophan. They can also boost your hormone levels, helping regulate your moods.
19. Blue-skinned small potatoes: A potato skin has as many phytochemicals as broccoli, especially if you eat the more colorful varieties. Unusual nutrients found in potatoes, known as kukoamines, can lower blood pressure, which protects your brain. But potatoes are also loaded with folate. The color in blue potatoes comes from anthocyanins. Be sure to eat their skins, too. The potatoes' skins are loaded with iodine.
20. Almonds: Almond's high amino acid count will boost your energy. Almonds increase brain power because they contain phenylalanine. This fiber- and magnesium-packed nut also helps converts carbohydrates, protein, and fat into energy, keeping you alert and awake throughout the day. Almonds also contain iodine.
21. Avocados: Folate, a vitamin that is great at metabolizing proteins and increasing energy levels, is a main nutrient found in avocados. These creamy fruits are also high in vitamin C, antioxidants, and healthy fats, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Avocados are high in monounsaturated fats, which help keep receptors in your brain awake and ready to react to mood-boosting serotonin.
22. Walnuts: Walnuts contain a wealth of trace minerals, macronutrients, and vitamins, including magnesium, copper, iron, manganese, zinc, calcium, omega-3s, vitamin E, folate, and other B vitamins. Walnuts are the perfect good-mood food, offering the combined mood-boosting properties of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B6 and tryptophan. The polyphenols and other antioxidants in walnuts help strengthen neural connections, improving your memory, organizational and math skills as well as your puzzle-solving ability.
23. Dark Chocolate and Cocoa: Chocolate contains many phytochemicals that can help beat the blues, including relaxing magnesium, calming anandamide and pleasure-inducing phenylethylamine, and has just the right amount of sugar and caffeine to keep you vibrant and energized. Not only that, Dark Chocolate can improve blood-flow to the brain, helping to calm anxiety, improve concentration, increase your natural feel-good endorphins, and create the beautiful sensation of bliss and euphoria we love so much. Chocolate raises the level of serotonin in your brain and therefore acts as an antidepressant, promoting an overall sense of well-being. It stimulates the secretion of endorphins, which can help to produce a pleasurable feeling. Chocolate contains pleasure-inducing phenylethylamine, and it contains N-acylethanolamines that are believed to temporarily increase the levels of calming anandamide in your brain, along with enzyme inhibitors that slow its breakdown. This promotes relaxation for a longer period of time. Chocolate also contains a high level of xanthines, specifically theobromine and to a much lesser extent caffeine.
24. Bananas: Bananas are packed with potassium and B vitamins. Bananas are a great source of tryptophan, magnesium, and vitamin B6. Bananas are high in natural sugars, making them a great remedy for low energy levels which can leave you feeling down. On top of this they are packed with mood-lifting nutrients to help put a smile on your face.
25. Maple syrup. Pure maple syrup contains minerals such as manganese, zinc, and calcium.
26. Blackstrap molasses: Blackstrap molasses contains vitamin B6, magnesium, manganese, calcium, copper, selenium, and more iron than a chicken breast.
27. Green tea: Tea has a substance called theanine, which boosts serotonin and dopamine in your system. This reduces stress as well as making you feel happier and more upbeat. Theanine has a tranquilizing effect on your brain, helping you to reduce mental and physical stress, improve cognition skills and lift your spirits (by triggering production of feel-good hormones like serotonin and dopamine).
28. Coffee: Caffeine causes an increase in dopamine, which is how it boosts your confidence, focus, and mood. In addition to its stimulating properties, a cup of coffee has more antioxidants than a glass of Grape Juice or a serving of spinach. And it contains two phytochemicals, norharman and harman, which function like a class of antidepressants called monoamine oxidase inhibitors.