Foods To Boost Your Happiness

While many of us reach for stody comfort foods when the blues kick in, snacking on moon-boosting foods will help you to keep healthier and happier too. Check out these foods for better moods

 

Avocado

 

If you're feeling sad, anxious or fearful, avocado could help to put you in a better mood. Avocados are a good souce of folate and research suggests that folate deficiency may be behind irrational fears and anxiety. Avocados are also rich in omega-3, which is also good for the mood and brain health.

 

Chocolate

 

Chocolate is a well-known mood booster, but it seems that its happiness-boosting properties are down to more than just the taste. Chocolate is high in mood-boosting chemicals, including relaxing magnesium, calming anandamide and pleasure-inducing phenylethylamine and findings published in the scientific journal Nutritional Neuroscience have suggested that the food can even help to reduce the symptoms of depression

 

Tomatoes 

 

A recent study conducted by Tianjin Medical University found that people who ate tomatoes two to six times a week were 46% less likely to suffer from depresssion than those participants who only ate tomatoes once a week. The researchers believe that the antioxidant called lypocene, which is found in tomatoes, might be the ingredient that helps protect against depression.

 

Coffee 

 

While coffee tends to get a bad press, research shows that for the ladies at least coffee can be a mood booster. Findings published in Archives of Internal Medicine revealed that women who drink 2 or more cups of caffeinated cofee a day are less likely to get depressed. Those who consumed 2 to 3 cups per day had 15% lower risk of developing depression, while for those who drank 4 or more cups a day their risk was reduced by 20%.

 

                                    Banana 

 

Bananas are a good source of tryptophan, which can help to enhance your mood, aid relaxation and boost your confidence. They also rich in magnesium, which can help you to relax and Vitamin B6 which can help you to relieve depression. Banans are also high in carbohydrates which stimulate the production of serotonin, helping you feel happier.

                                  Yoghurt 

 

Yoghurt is a good source of the essential amino acid tryptophan which help to boost the levels of serotonin in the brain. Researchers from Toronto University also found that probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus casei found in some yoghurt can decrease anxiety, helping to put you in a calmer frame of mind