Good Mood Foods

How we nourish our bodies has a profound effect on our mood. Here are my top foods to include… and what to avoid.

IN

• Eat 3 meals a day - only snack if needed.
• Eat sufficient protein to give you an optimum supply of essential amino acids.
• Have some form of protein with every meal and snack.
• Eat whole, unadulterated food, high in soluble fibre (beans, lentils, oats).
• Choose vitamin B foods like nuts, seeds, beans and green leafy vegetables (which also include essential zinc and magnesium), which are good for mental stability.
• Foods containing high amounts of essential omega-3 fats as well as vitamin D are helpful. Include a serving of each these foods every day: fish (like salmon, mackerel, herring, kippers, sardines, tuna), free-range eggs, free-range chicken or turkey.  
• Nuts and seeds (especially flaxseed, pumpkin seeds, almonds) and all beans. 

• All berries, cherries, plums, apples and pears, green vegetables but especially broccoli, asparagus, peas, artichoke, kale, cabbage, watercress, and rocket.

OUT

• Avoid sugar in its many disguises and limit foods containing carbohydrates that break down into sugar fast – bread, rice, pasta, pastries, cakes and cookies.
• Avoid foods high in hydrogenated, processed fats or damaged fats, such as sausages, fried foods and junk food.
• Limit or avoid caffeinated drinks (1 coffee or 2 weak teas a day).
• Limit or avoid alcohol (no more than 3 small glasses of wine, half-pints of beer or measures of spirit a week – and not all on the same night).