Your mood depends on your food, food can make you happy or sad. Here are 5 mood enhancing foods

Whether you experience occasional mood swings or suffer from a diagnosed mood disorder, everyone endures fluctuations in emotions throughout their life and perhaps even their day. These fluctuations can be unpredictable and difficult to handle as your emotions and state of mind influence much of your daily events.

Feeling down and depressed can lead to social withdrawal, poor work and academic performance, and negative self-talk. Ultimately, the varying spectrum of depression can have endless negative effects and often leads to low life-satisfaction.

The scientific field is still investigating the underlying physiology of changing moods, but thus far has revealed several critical players that can be manipulated to boost depression, providing moderate relief.

In severe cases, medications altering the composition of neurotransmitters in the brain may be prescribed to alleviate symptoms. In most instances, changes to routine habits such as diet can enhance overall mood. Listed below are 5 such foods that have been indicated to have such an effect.

1. Chocolate

That’s right! Your beloved chocolate. Particularly darker varieties with little added sugar; chocolate is one of the primary sources of tryptophan, an amino acid that is essential to proper nutrition. Tryptophan is also the precursor for serotonin, one of the most abundant transmitters. The activity of serotonin has been highly correlated to mood disturbances.

Therefore, indulging in a small amount of dark chocolate on a regular basis can help correct biological imbalances.

2. Fruits and Vegetables

Consuming a variety of fruits and vegetables every day has numerous health benefits, including mood enhancement. One mechanism through which this occurs is the high concentration of B vitamins and folate.

A clinical study conducted investigating the link between depression and vitamin B12 found that individuals treated with higher doses of B12 demonstrated greater positive reactions (2). Other research supports the role of vitamin B6 in fighting depression as well.

3. Whole grains

Whole grains have been shown to reduce mood swings and depression in general. Omega-3 fatty acids are abundant in whole grains and play an important role in cognition and brain functioning.

4. Coconut

Coconuts are full of healthy fats the brain requires for optimum functioning. These fats have a superior effect to alternative sources because of their structure allowing them to be immediately absorbed and utilized.

They also can stabilize blood sugar and diminish excessive anxiety.

5. Lentils

The fifth mood-boosting food is lentils. Lentils like fruits and vegetables are a top source of folate. Folate is a B vitamin crucial to the production of genetic material and proteins. Increasing intake can lead to multiple positive benefits, primarily heightened mood.

There are endless tangible methods for enhancing depression through nutrition alone. Only five such options are mentioned above in this article, but even incorporating just these into regular meals can produce desired results. The mood is a simplified manifestation of complex biological and psychological processes, so attempting to address immediate fixes may be equally as intricate. However, simple changes can provide powerful and additive benefits, and you can start with the NeuroActiv6 brain supplement.