NINE FOODS TO BOOST MOOD!

I’ve been thinking a lot about comfort foods lately, and why for instance, all I wanted to eat was chocolate, peanut butter, and plantain chips after doing my taxes this year. What is it about certain foods that boost your mood, and is it just about the taste, or the association to what felt comforting to us as kids? Or is it in the chemical make-up of what we eat? Turns out, there’s good reason we specifically crave what we crave in down times.

 

I recently read about a study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation in 2011, cited by Dr. Weil in conversation on this topic, where they looked at the effect of saturated fat on mood. They took taste and the experience of eating completely out of the equation, and just injected their subjects with solutions, one of saline, and another that contained lauric acid, a saturated fat found in coconuts (one of the healthiest versions of saturated fat). They then showed the participants gloomy pictures and played gloomy music, and compared the brain waves between the two groups. The group given the saturated fat infusions, had less activity in the places of the brain associated with sadness than the other group. Of course, saturated fat can also cause many undesirable health effects, so it makes sense to find the healthiest versions of these ‘comfort’ foods to help boost our mood in times of sadness or depression.

 

Here are nine healthy foods with naturally mood-boosting abilities:

 

1. Coconut meat/ unrefined coconut oil: contains lauric acid (a fatty acid only otherwise found in breast-milk), one of the healthier ways to take in saturated fat.

 

2. Cacao: my favorite! Sometimes referred to as the ‘love drug’ because it contains phenylethylamine, a natural stimulant that comes from mood-boosting amino acids. Cacao also contains magnesium which relaxes you.

 

3. Red grapes contain phenylethylamine. Note: when red grapes are turned into alcohol, i.e. red wine, they become a depressant.

 

4. Salmon: rich in tryptophan, an amino acid that relaxes you and enhances mood, and is one of the best sources of omega 3’s, which are known to boost mood and combat depression.

 

5. Avocado: contains healthy fat, omega 3’s, and folates, all shown to boost mood.

 

6. Nuts: contain healthy fats, as well as the amino acids that boost serotonin (the ‘happy’ chemical).

 

7. Eggs: contain saturated fat, omega 3’s, and tryptophan.

 

8. Bananas: contain magnesium which relaxes you, tryptophan, and B6, which helps relieve depression.

 

9. Tomatoes– contains lypocene (known to be a natural mood-stabilizer), as well as folates, magnesium, tryptophan and B-6.

 

This happily explains my obsession with chocolate peanut butter cups when I was a teenager and worked at TCBY (I ate as many as I chopped up for toppings). I recently found a way to enjoy peanut butter cups using three of the above ingredients: cacao, nuts, and unrefined coconut oil, and I’m sharing it with you here! Adapted from a chocolate peanut butter cheesecake recipe found on createnplate.com.

 

Healthy Peanut Butter Cups

 

 


Ingredients:

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons unrefined coconut oil, melted

1/4 cup cacao powder

2 tablespoons coconut nectar

Creamy, organic peanut butter (unsweetened)

Optional: Sea salt

 

Directions:

Mix together coconut oil, cacao powder, and coconut nectar. Let sit for 5 minutes and stir again to make sure the coconut nectar fully mixes with the oil. Pour enough chocolate to cover the bottom of mini cupcake pans. Set in the freezer for 10 minutes to set up.

 

Remove and spoon a small amount of peanut butter in the middle of the cups. Pour the rest of the chocolate over top of the peanut butter to cover completely. Optional: sprinkle a little sea salt on top. 

 

Place in the freezer for 20-30 minutes.

 

Enjoy! Just remember to eat in moderation due to high caloric density.