Mood Boosting Foods

Quinoa:
Quercetin and Kaempferol: Anti-depressant effects

Maca:
If you find yourself overcome with anxiety, stress, depression or mood swings, maca may help alleviate these symptoms.  This is most likely a function of the dense nutrition within the root combined with it’s hormone balancing properties and unique nutrients called macamides.

Cacao:
Contains the mood improvers: anandamide(known as the bliss molecule), theobromine, tryptophan and serotonin - the same molecules that your brain produces when you’re in love!
Another mood-enhancing compound found in cacao is PEA or phenethylamine, which triggers the release of endorphins and pleasurable opium-like neurochemicals. These often release naturally when we fall in love and during sexual activity.  These chemicals improve libido.
Boosts brain levels of serotonin, the feel good brain chemical.
Contains Magnesium and Chromium which are antidotes for depression.

Honey Lemon Water:
Can give your energy levels a boost and improve your mood: Not a morning person? Well, this mixture can help beat that lethargy and fatigue you often feel every morning. How? Well, honey is an instant energy booster – minus the calories. Water helps clear your mind by providing fresh blood to your brain, and lemon activates your digestive system, getting to work properly and eliminating toxins that are often the reason for lethargy. Moreover the scent of lemon is known to be a natural relaxant and can help uplift your mood.

Bananas:
Overcome depression.
High in B6, a vitamin that increases serotonin and norepinephrine levels.
Produce dopamine quinine, which is a form of dopamine that occurs naturally in the environment. Those unsightly brown spots on the banana actually contain the highest levels!
High levels of tryptophan, which is converted into serotonin -- the happy-mood brain neurotransmitter.
Regulates blood sugar and produces stress-relieving relaxation.

Strawberries:
Folate may help with depression.
Stimulates the release of serotonin, which improves mood and is responsible for a feeling of relaxation and a general sense of well-being.
Specific flavours in strawberries bear a chemical similarity to valproic acid, a prescription mood-stabilising drug.

Tea:
The amino acid L-Theanine is found primarily on green tea leaves, specifically known as Camelia Sinesis. This amino acid adds to the structure of a non-protein hindering neurotransmitter known as Gamma amino butyric acid (GAB), which provides a soothing effect on humans. GAB also influences the creation of alpha waves in a human brain which also have enhance a profound state of calmness and improves mental clearness.  Increases levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine, and GABA, thus improving recall, learning, and positive mood.
Caffeine for improved attention.
It can help alleviate anxiety and increase resilience to stress.

Walnuts:
Walnuts contain a handful of components that contribute to a good mood, including omega-3s, vitamin B6, tryptophan, protein, and folate.
Great source for serotonin boosting Magnesium. Magnesium is believed to stabilize a person's mood by regulating blood sugar levels in the body.

Blueberries:
Anthocyanins in berries linked with reduced inflammation - and while chronic inflammation may push disease risk up, it could also pull you down emotionally.
Folate contributes to the production of serotonin, it may also help ward off depression and improve your mood.

Asparagus:
This vegetable is one of the top plant-based sources of tryptophan, which serves as a basis for the creation of serotonin, one of the brain's primary mood-regulating neurotransmitters.
High levels of folate also add to asparagus's happiness-promoting profile.

Spinach:
Like broccoli, spinach (and most leafy vegetables) contains a hefty dose of folic acid.
Spinach is also a wonderful source of the mineral Magnesium, a natural anxiety combatant.
Plenty of zinc — studies have shown that, the less zinc you have in your body, the more likely you are to be depressed.

Hot sauces:
Hot sauces can battle depression. That's because every time you eat something hot, you release endorphins and endorphins are the natural "happy drug" that your body produces.

Sesame Seeds:
Sesame seeds contain the stress-relieving minerals magnesium and calcium. Sesame also contains the calming vitamins thiamin and tryptophan that help produce serotonin, which reduces pain, assists moods and helps you sleep deeply.

Noni:
Stimulates seratonin and melatonin.

Curcumin:
Depression is linked to reduced levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and a shrinking hippocampus, a brain area with a role in learning and memory.  Curcumin boosts BNDF levels, potentially reversing some of these changes.
Curcumin can boost the brain neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine.

Fish Oil:
Due to the presence of Omega 3 fatty acids, fish oil has been promoted for relieving depression, sadness, anxiety, restlessness, mental fatigue, stress, decreased sexual desire, suicidal tendencies and other nervous disorders.
It is possible that increasing the omega-3 levels makes it easier for serotonin -- a chemical that carries messages from one brain cell to another -- to pass through cell membranes.

Nuts:
Depression is caused due to a lack of serotonin secretion in the brain. Nuts have tryptophan which help release serotonin helping you fight depression.

Tomatoes:
The folic acid in tomatoes may also help with depression by preventing an excess of homocysteine from forming in the body, which can prevent blood and other nutrients from reaching the brain. Excess homocysteine interferes with the production of the feel-good hormones serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, which regulate not only mood, but sleep and appetite as well

Spirulina:
High in L-Tyrosine and Tryptophan.

Along with a reduction in depression and anxiety levels, other benefits associated with tyrosine therapy include an improvement in mental alertness and memory retain-ability.

Tryptophan is one of the strongest home remedies for depression and natural treatments there is. Known as an “emotional stabilizer”, it is widely renowned for its supreme calming effect, along with its ability to control depression and help with normal sleep patterns.

Red Cabbage:
High in L-Glutamine.

Known as “brain fuel”, L-glutamine is one of only a small number of compounds capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier and participating in brain chemistry. But it doesn’t just act as an energy source for the brain, it also helps with treating depression by absorbing toxic ammonia (ammonia, along with other heavy metals, accumulate in the brain and are one of the major causes of depression). A powerful side benefit of glutamine is it also raises your IQ level!

Coffee Espresso Decaf and Caffeinated(lower Mg) :
High in Magnesium.

The most important mineral as as far as natural treatments and home remedies for depression are concerned is magnesium. Multiple studies have repeatedly been able to show that a magnesium deficiency in the body causes mood levels to plummet. And the fact that our soil levels of magnesium have plunged in the last 30 years (and as a result nearly everyone in the world is now severely deficient in this mineral), and at the same time, depression levels in people world-wide have escalated significantly in the last 30 years.

Broccoli and Black Pepper:
Contain Chromium and Vanadium which are two very potent natural remedies for depression because they regulate your blood sugar levels.

Cardamom:
The science behind the antidepressant qualities of cardamom hasn’t been studied yet, but Ayurvedic medicine swears by the tea as a means to fight depression.

Cashews:
Cashews are a tiny package of Iron, Magnesium, Vitamin B6, protein and important amino acids, and even omega 3 fats. All of these nutrients directly ward off mild depression and anxiety naturally.
They have actually been proven to boost your mood better than Prozac, and they don’t have the nasty side effects you get from taking that anti-depressant drug.
They are one of the highest natural sources of tryptophan, the precursor for the production of serotonin, the feel good hormone, in the brain.

Lentils:
Eating more than 240 mcg of folate a day leads to a 78% lower likelihood of developing depression. Find 358 mcg of this B vitamin in one cup of cooked lentils

Chia seeds:
Chia seeds are the most powerful source per ounce of omega 3 fatty acids, which are directly linked to beating depression. They are also great sources of energizing nutrients such as iron, B vitamins, magnesium, calcium and zinc.
They are also an excellent source of tryptophan, an amino acid that promotes good mood, good sleep and a sense of calm.

Buckwheat:
Buckwheat is an excellent source of tryptophan which helps us to release serotonin. Serotonin is that feel good chemical that makes us feel happy and relaxed.
It is also an excellent source of calcium and magnesium which also helps relaxation, tired and achy muscles and cramps.

Oats:
This happy grain is rich in tryptophan, a building block for the feel-good chemical serotonin.

Lilac:
Add 1 teaspoon of finely cut dried bark in 300 ml of water and boil for 5 minutes. Drink 2-3 cups a day.

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One disadvantage of tryptophan is that our bodies do not always absorb it efficiently, even when foods high in tryptophan, such as almonds and peanut butter, are eaten. Supplements of tryptophan are available at doses that can be readily absorbed by the brain. These supplements must be taken together with vitamin C and B-complex vitamins to support the transformation of tryptophan into serotonin.

Foods high in carbohydrates can increase the neurotransmitter, serotonin, in your brain.  You have probably felt its impact - you eat a large meal of pasta and bread and you feel really calm and peaceful and, of course, satiated.  When you increase levels of serotonin, you can induce a feeling of well being and actually calm anxiety.  If serotonin drops, then you can begin to feel irritable and moody, and if you have felt the medicating influence of carbohydrate foods, you may begin to self-medicate to restore that calm feeling.  There can be two problems with that:

1. These foods (carbohydrates) can spike your blood sugar rather quickly, especially when unaccompanied by other foods, because they digest quickly (if processed) and release large amounts of sugar into your bloodstream.  An hour or two later, you can then feel a rather profound blood sugar drop, and that drop can cause you to feel moody and irritable again.  This can also lead to diabetes over time.

2. These foods (carbohydrates) can be caloric, and eating them too frequently or eating too much of them can create a weight gain that will....depress you.