How are you feeling today, are you okay? To be honest, as humans, it's impossible for us to always be in good condition. There are times when we feel sad, angry, disappointed, or various other unpleasant emotions.
What do you do, when you have to face something like that? Everyone has a different way of venting their emotions. One way that many people do to improve their mood is to consume a variety of foods in large portions. Unfortunately, sometimes the type of food chosen to improve mood is food that is not good for the body, especially when we consume it in excess. An example is foods that are high in sugar and fat.
The relationship between food and mood is a complex one. Therefore, it is difficult to really decide whether food can really improve mood or not. Moreover, our mood is influenced by many things, ranging from stress levels, environment, and poor sleep patterns, to nutritional deficiencies themselves. Even so, there are several studies that have succeeded in explaining the relationship between several food ingredients and mood improvements.
Here are some healthy foods that you can use to boost your mood:
- Dark Chocolate
So far, chocolate has been known as one of the foods that can improve mood. However, most packaged chocolate has fairly large sugar content. In milk chocolate itself, the average cocoa content is only about 10%. Meanwhile, the cocoa content in dark chocolate is 35-85% with less sugar content than other types of chocolate.
Chocolate is reported to be high in flavonoids that help support mood regulation. One way is by inhibiting the production of cortisol and other stress hormones, as well as releasing endorphins and serotonin, the body's "happy" hormones.
- Coffee
Good news for those of you who love coffee! Coffee is reported to improve mood due to its phenolic components, such as chlorogenic acid. This applies to both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee consumption. In caffeinated coffee, caffeine also helps release dopamine and norepinephrine which can improve mood.
- Banana
Bananas are one of the easiest fruits to find in Indonesia. Bananas are high in vitamin B6, which helps in the production of dopamine and serotonin, hormones known to be associated with feelings of pleasure. This is because vitamin B6 plays a role in converting the amino acid tryptophan into serotonin. Bananas that are still green in color are also a source of prebiotics that help in “feeding” the good bacteria in the gut. These good gut bacteria are associated with lower mood disorders.
- Fermented Food
Fermented foods such as yogurt contain probiotics that can support the development of good bacteria in the gut and can increase serotonin levels in the body. Serotonin can affect mood, stress response, and desire to eat. Good bacteria in the gut are also associated with lower depression. Psst, do you know besides yogurt, tempeh is also a fermented food?
- Fish
Fish contains omega-3 fatty acids that the body can’t produce independently. Some examples are salmon and tuna which contain EPA and DHA which are associated with lower levels of depression.
If the "comfort food" you have been consuming so far is still not healthy, let's replace it with a healthier type of food! To get more information about nutrition and health, don't forget to check out other Fitie articles, OK!
Sources:
Clayton P. T. (2006). B6-responsive disorders: a model of vitamin dependency. Journal of inherited metabolic disease, 29(2-3), 317–326.
Giles, G. E., Mahoney, C. R., & Kanarek, R. B. (2013). Omega-3 fatty acids influence mood in healthy and depressed individuals. Nutrition reviews, 71(11), 727–741.
Haskell-Ramsay, C. F., Jackson, P. A., Forster, J. S., Dodd, F. L., Bowerbank, S. L., & Kennedy, D. O. (2018). The Acute Effects of Caffeinated Black Coffee on Cognition and Mood in Healthy Young and Older Adults. Nutrients, 10(10), 1386.
O'Mahony, S. M., Clarke, G., Borre, Y. E., Dinan, T. G., & Cryan, J. F. (2015). Serotonin, tryptophan metabolism, and the brain-gut-microbiome axis. Behavioral brain research, 277, 32–48.
Tuenter, E., Foubert, K., & Pieters, L. (2018). Mood Components in Cocoa and Chocolate: The Mood Pyramid. Planta medica, 84(12-13), 839–844.