Let’s talk about mind foods.
With the new year upon us, it is a great time to take stock of our health and choose lifestyle habits to move us towards our goals.
Food is medicine and affects your mental and physical health. Now more than ever, this quote by Hippocrates is vital to live by: “Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food.”
Here are my top 10 Mood Foods to help transform your mood, which in turn will change your life:
One | Dark Chocolate
The Ultimate Mood Food
Dark Chocolate’s remarkable effects on human mood are no secret. This is due to phenethylamine, which triggers the release of pleasurable endorphins and dopamine (just like when you fall in love).
Dark chocolate also contains polyphenols, which has been linked to positively impacting your mood. The darker the chocolate, the higher the polyphenols. So choose fair trade organic dark chocolate as part of a balanced diet, and if you are prone to getting hangry, choose dark chocolate with added nuts (particularly walnuts and brazil nuts).
Two | Broccoli
Broccoli is rich in chromium, which can increase your body’s serotonin, norepinephrine, and melatonin levels. Because chromium works directly with mood regulators, it is an effective treatment for depression.
Three | Pre + Probiotics
Pre and probiotics boost the levels of good bacteria in your gut. Due to the gut-brain axis, we also know that the gut produces serotonin, dopamine, and GABA, so if you want to feel happy, your gut is a great place to start.
If you find eating pre- and probiotic-rich foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi and kefir hard to handle, you can use supplements too.
Here is an excellent paper confirming the link between gut health and mood.
Four | Avocado
Avocados are rich in B vitamins — particularly vitamin B6 and they are a rich source of folate. B vitamins help your body deal with stress.
The omega-three good fats in avocado are great at keeping your blood sugar levels balanced – helping you feel mentally and physically balanced.
Five | Blueberries
Berries are one of my favourite antioxidant containing foods for they support brain function and help make your brain happy. Studies have shown that the flavonoids in blueberries can improve your mood.
Six | Walnuts
Walnuts have many brain-protective compounds, such as vitamin E, folate, antioxidant polyphenols and good essential fats, proven to boost brain function, cognition and mood.
I say they also look like a brain, so there are no coincidences in nature. Walnuts are also low GI having a brilliant balancing blood sugar effect too.
Seven | Lion’s Mane Mushrooms
Lion’s Mane mushrooms have the remarkable ability to synthesise the peptide “nerve growth factor” NGF, which is necessary for the growth and survival of brain neurones and supports a balanced mood.
Lion’s Mane and other medicinal mushrooms are so effective on the mood that they have been linked to reducing depression and anxiety.
If you find sourcing medicinal mushrooms difficult, you can try our Rejuv Mushroom Complex.
Eight | Green Tea
Research has linked green tea to lower Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and depression rates.
Matcha is a particularly rich source of the amino acid L-Theanine, which can help you relax and maintain a calm, balanced mood and boost focus and cognition.
Nine | Brazil Nuts
Low levels of selenium in your diet have been linked to increasing the risk of depression and mood disorders.
Therefore researchers suggest that selenium-rich foods could be beneficial for primary prevention.
I take three brazil nuts per day as medicine to keep my brain and mood happy, for this will satisfy your optimum daily selenium requirements.
Ten | Dark Leafy Greens
Dark, leafy green vegetables are high in folate and magnesium, linked to reducing anxiety and depression, so to keep your mood up, I strongly advise eating dark leafy greens every day. Even if you are having a treat meal, always have your greens on the side.
Here is an excellent article linking low magnesium and mood disorders.
Eating clean to nourish one’s self is all part of the Seven Pillars of Wellness, and you can download our FREE Good Habits Guide which walks you through 30 days of good habits to transform your life. If we focus on the good, the habits that no longer serve us will simply fall away.
Not sure where or how to start your Wellness Journey?
Take our FREE Wellness Quiz, which will identify your top 3 areas to focus on to level up your life.
Simoné Laubscher is a Nutritionist and Naturopath. Simoné has treated clients for over 20 years and her passion to help others was ignited by her own issues struggling with eating disorders. Simoné treated herself successfully decades ago, after moving to London, and developed her Rejuv 7 Pillars of Wellness to help others also shift into optimum health.
Simoné is currently writing a book on the Gut Brain Axis, is completing more post grad study in this area and specializes in gut health and rebalancing all 11 systems to bring about mind body balance.
Due to her own health issues and observations with her clients, Simoné became increasingly frustrated with the vitamin industry using synthetic ingredients, so as a result 15 years ago started to formulate her own whole food organic supplement line called Rejuv Wellness. Simoné also went on to formulate the whole food supplement line for Welleco, born out of her client Elle Macpherson’s own personal journey for optimum wellness.
