The food you eat not only determines how you look but also affects your thoughts, emotions, and actions. Some foods can even improve your mood.
Many of the foods you eat can hurt your nervous system, causing low moods, fatigue, anxiety, and depression.
So, if you notice that you are always in a bad mood or you feel down, try consuming these foods to improve your mood.
Just keep in mind that if your emotions don’t stabilize, it’s a good idea to see a psychologist. Sometimes our problems are not related to what we eat, but rather to the world around us and the situations we experience.
1. Cocoa or dark chocolate
It has the effect of stimulating happiness due to theobromine. This chemical helps:
- Increase the level of serotonin and dopamine in the body
- Relax the nervous system
- Reduce anxiety and depression.
Cacao also contains tryptophan, a chemical that promotes the secretion of serotonin. Thanks to all its benefits, we recommend eating a small bar of dark chocolate or cocoa every day to improve depression and anxiety.
The only thing to watch out for is to make sure that the chocolate you choose has a high cocoa content, ideally above 65%.
2. Nuts
They provide your body with omega-3 fatty acids that it does not produce on its own.
When your body doesn’t get enough omega-3s, you can often experience depression. Nuts also contain tryptophan.
We recommend eating 5 walnuts a day to maintain a stable mood.
Remember, you can add them to cocktails and desserts or just eat them as a snack.
3. Bananas
It is another mood-boosting food that you should add to your diet or eat at least twice a week.
Their benefits for human emotions are due to their high content of vitamin B6. This vitamin is involved in the process of converting serotonin protein compounds.
Also, thanks to folic acid, vitamin C content, and vegetable fiber, they improve your defense mechanisms.
4. Sesame seeds
This seed is one of the foods that improve your mood because it provides threonine. This is an essential amino acid that the body cannot naturally produce and synthesize for itself.
If you have low threonine levels, you may experience chronic sadness.
To get this nutrient, we recommend adding a teaspoon of sesame seeds to salads or using sesame oil with meals.
5. Salmon and other fish
Another food that improves your mood because it is rich in omega-3 fatty acids is fish, especially salmon, tuna, and sardines.
Omega-3 fatty acids directly affect the efficiency of the movement of some neurotransmitters, and therefore a deficiency can cause depressive states.
- It is recommended to include at least one serving of these types of fish in your weekly diet.
- If possible, eat them about three times a week with vegetables.
6. Foods rich in fiber
Foods that are rich in soluble fiber help to change your mood when your emotions are depressed due to changes in blood sugar. If you have diabetes, fiber can help control your blood sugar.
Remember that high glucose levels affect not only the functioning of internal organs; it will also provide you with a range of negative emotions within minutes.
If you feel this is happening, check your glucose levels to determine if this is the problem.
7. Lean red meat
The last of the foods that can improve your mood is lean meat. It is rich in linoleic acid, a natural fat that helps fight stress and fat accumulation in the body.
This meat also provides iron and omega-3s, which help improve brain health.
To get these benefits, it’s important to cook this meat with the least amount of salt and fat.
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