Ah… Monday – the least favorite day of the week for many wild women. Yet another weekend has flown by, and now we are faced with … go ahead and groan while you say it…. “M…o…n…d…a…y…” You can feel yourself sinking into one of those “Monday moods” like a pit of quicksand. Here’s your lifeline, ladies – mood-boosting foods! In an article on mood-boosting foods (click HERE to read), Leah Zerbe from Rodale Press shares with us a variety of foods that contain all kinds of happy little goodies that change our brain to assist us in having better moods.
Mussels
Mussels are loaded with some of the highest naturally occurring levels of brain-protecting vitamin B12 on the planet. That makes the mollusk an important food source, considering that a significant portion of the U.S. population is B12 deficient. So what's the nutrient's mood-saving trick? Maintaining a healthy level preserves the myelin sheath that insulates your brain cells, helping your brain stay sharp as you grow older. Mussels also contain trace nutrients that are important to balancing your mood, including zinc, iodine, and selenium, things vital to keeping your thyroid, your body's master mood regulator, on track. An added benefit? Mussels are a healthy choice for you and the environment, which isn't always the case when it comes to fish. Just be sure to look for farmed—not wild—mussels raised in the United States.
Swiss Chard
This leafy green is packed with magnesium, a nutrient essential for the biochemical reactions in the brain that boost your energy levels. According to Dr. Ramsey, some of the first studies on magnesium involved its effect on depression. That could come in handy today, since the majority of Americans simply don't get enough magnesium in their diet. Green-thumb tip: Swiss chard is easy to grow in a home garden. If you plant it, harvest just a few outer leaves—not everything all at once—and the plant will continue producing all season long.
Blue Potatoes
Blue potatoes aren't a common supermarket find, but they're popping up as a unique offering at farmer's markets all over the country. The color in blue potatoes is courtesy of anthocyanins, powerful antioxidants that provide neuro-protective benefits such as bolstering short-term memory and reducing mood-killing inflammation.
Be sure to eat their skins, too. The potatoes' skins are loaded with iodine, a diet-derived nutrient essential for life, and one that helps regulate the thyroid, what Dr. Ramsey calls one of our "master mood regulators." And always choose organic potatoes. Nonorganic spuds usually fall victim to multiple toxic chemical sprays that are absorbed into the vegetables' flesh.
Grass-Fed Lamb
Animals raised on grass pastures boast much higher levels of healthy conjugated linoleic acid, or CLA. This happy fat beats back stress hormones protecting brain cells and erases dangerous inflammation-promoting belly fat, Dr. Ramsey explains. Grass-fed lamb is also packed with mood-promoting heme iron, the type that your body most readily absorbs. Iron is vital for a stable mood—its highest concentrations in the brain are located in areas related to mood and memory.
Dark Chocolate
Ever wonder why chocolate makes you feel so good? Sure, it tastes good, but it also provides an instant boost in concentration and mood and even improves blood flow to the brain, helping you feel more vibrant and energized. Skip the sugary milk chocolate blends and go directly for the darkest organic (highest percentage of cocoa) chocolate you can. A recent study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology found that just a few ounces of dark chocolate a day results in better mood. (We love organic, fair trade Theo chocolate.)
Greek Yogurt
This dairy pick is packed with more calcium than you'll find in milk or regular yogurt, and it can make you happy, too. Proper calcium levels give the "Go" command, alerting your body to release feel-good neurotransmitters. "Disturbances in calcium levels can produce anxiety, depression, irritability, impaired memory, and slow thinking," says Dr. Ramsey in The Happiness Diet. Plus, the probiotics help aid in digestion and can even ward off colds. If you find yourself nervous or agitated for an unexplained reason, try reaching for an organic Greek yogurt from cows raised on grass pastures. Pastured dairy is higher in healthy fats, and, like grass-fed lamb, often contain higher levels of CLA, the healthy fat that reduces the effects of stress on the brain.
Asparagus
This vegetable is one of the top plant-based sources of tryptophan, which serves as a basis for the creation of serotonin, one of the brain's primary mood-regulating neurotransmitters. High levels of folate also add to asparagus's happiness-promoting profile; research has shown that up to 50 percent of people with depression suffer from low folate levels. Like tryptophan, it's a necessary factor for creating neurotransmitters. It's also good to add to the menu if you plan on drinking. The enzymes in asparagus are highly effective in breaking down alcohol in your system, preventing a hangover—and that can make anyone happy.
Honey
Eating sugar unleashes harmful free radicals linked to disease—even cancer—inside of your body. Honey—although sweet like sugar—is packed with beneficial compounds such as quercetin and kaempferol that actually help clean up the free radicals and reduce inflammation. "Honey helps reduce inflammation, which is very important to maintaining a healthy brain," Dr. Ramsey explains. "Some depression actually stems from chronic, low-grade inflammation."
Cherry Tomatoes
All tomatoes are a great source of lycopene, a fat-soluble phytonutrient that helps protect vital brain fat, and a nutrient that actually stops the buildup of pro-inflammatory compounds linked to depression. Because lycopene lives in tomato skins, the best way to get it is through cherry tomatoes, whose smaller surface area means you'll eat more skin than if you eat a full-size tomato, explains Dr. Ramsey. To maximize the amount of lycopene your body absorbs, drizzle some olive oil over the tomatoes, and enjoy! Just be sure to always choose organic. Trials at University of California–Davis have found that organic tomatoes have higher lycopene levels.
Pastured Eggs
Dr. Ramsey calls eggs the perfect food. They're loaded with mood-promoting omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, B vitamins, and iodide, and they'll keep you full and energized. The problem is that these days, buying the best egg has become complicated, even for the savviest label sleuth. Egg carton claims promise all sorts of nutrients and living conditions for the laying hens, but many claims aren't even regulated. The best egg for your brain is the kind your great-grandmother probably enjoyed: hens raised on pasture, where they can exercise and eat a diet of grass and bugs, supplemented with organic grains. Look for pastured eggs from local farmers you trust, and rely less on grocery store eggs advertised as "omega-3 enriched" or "free-range," both claims that aren't regulated.
Lemon Macaroons
Sugar is a known mood annihilator, but that doesn't mean you have to completely give up on desserts. The authors of The Happiness Diet devised a citrus-rich macaroon recipe chock-full of brain-healthy coconut, a health food boasting medium-chain fats that fuel better moods. And the lemon provides not just a burst of flavor, but also brain-protecting flavonoids. Give their recipe for Mood-Boosting Lemon Macaroon:
Coconut fat got a bad rap, but that reputation is undeserved. Coconut's medium-chain fats enhance your body's fat-burning capacity and production of ketones, the only other fuel your brain can burn besides glucose. Lemon zest powers these with liminoids aplenty, plus citrus flavonoids that protect the brain.
Ingredients:
3 eggs
3 cups shredded coconut
2 tablespoons lemon zest
Make it: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Vigorously whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Using your hands, mix in the shredded coconut and lemon zest. Mold about a tablespoon of the mixture into small balls and place on a butter-greased baking sheet. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until golden on top.
Makes about 30 cookies, serves 15
So what foods help you have a better mood? Share them in your comments!
Blessings,
Linda
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