Take a cue from Mother Nature’s Pharmacy
Mother Nature’s Pharmacy provides a veritable cornucopia of foods that can boost your mood, fight depression, and keep your brain functioning optimally. Here are the Top 8 (MySpace reference?).
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids: We’ve talked about these before as nature’s near-perfect blood sugar regulator. But according to Kelly Herring at HealingGourmet.com, “the more omega-3s in your blood, the more serotonin you make and the more responsive you become to its effects. Serotonin influences a variety of psychological functions and it is vital for helping to relay messages from one part of the brain to another.”
Get it: eat wild, sustainable seafood and/or consider supplementing with high quality fish oil - Vitamin D: Not only awesome for your brain, vitamin D brightens your mood.
Get it: expose your body to the sun for 20-30 minutes daily, and/or consider supplementing with vitamin D - B Vitamins: Vitamins B6 and B12 help produce “feel-good” serotonin while lowering homocysteine, an amino acid that increases the risk of depression by up to double in women.
Get it: TK - Selenium: Vital for the thyroid, which affects mood, low levels of selenium are associated with an increased risk of depression.
Get it: in Brazil nuts - Antioxidants: People with depression have low levels of antioxidants in their blood; antioxidants also fight free radicals in the brain.
Get it in: fresh fruits and veggies, plus loads of superfoods like kale and goji - Animal Protein: Tryptophan isn’t just in turkey—it’s an important precursor to serotonin found in beef, poultry, seafood, and eggs.
Get it: If you’re vegetarian, says Herring, “optimize your levels of tryptophan with crimini mushrooms, dark leafy greens, beans, nuts and seeds” - Probiotics: Depression can start in your gut: small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) promotes inflammation and oxidative stress while hindering the absorption of mood-boosting nutrients.
Get it: in yogurt or supplements - No Sugar: So it’s not exactly found IN Mother Nature’s Pharmacy, but it’s worth mentioning that sugar (not just the sweet kind, the kind in white breads, pastas, and basked goods) uses up your mood-enhancing B vitamins and diverts the supply of chromium, a mineral that helps keep blood sugar stable and positively affects the release of feel-good norepinephrine and serotonin.
Get it: don’t.
If you’re feeling blue and need a mood boost, start by exercising consistently, enjoying time in the sun frequently, and following the eight nutritional guidelines listed above—Mother Nature provided it all for you!
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