Derek's Guide to Depression

Foods That Boost Your Moods

Take foods that keep you in good mood

 

FOOD is the basic need for every living organism in the creation. Among human beings, some eat just to live and some live just to eat. People do dieting so that they don’t take more. This gives an impression as if food’s role is only at physical level. Rarely, we plan to take food to get or modulate our behavior or moods. In fact, instead of taking drugs which are proved to cause very dangerous side effects, taking foods which can bring the same effect can give you great taste, pleasure, energy and save you from the side effects of so many drugs.

So, take good food instead of drugs. There are various tasty good foods to bring the effect you want. What foods to take for what effect?

1.Want to relax? Need peace?

Want to calm down your spouse, boss or kids with serotonin foods

A dash of serotonin causes you to feel calm, relaxed and at peace.

To create serotonin eat low sugar carbohydrates such as fruits and vegetables. Bananas are especially powerful serotonin inducers and bring on an immediate calming effect because of the complex B vitamins they have. Try making Serotonin Serenity.

A dash of serotonin causes you to feel calm, relaxed and at peace.

To create serotonin eat low sugar carbohydrates such as fruits and vegetables. Bananas are especially powerful serotonin inducers and bring on an immediate calming effect because of the complex B vitamins they have.

Serotonin is great for reducing Anxiety, nervousness and irritability. Try some light stretching or breathing exercises along with some soothing music to complete the mood.

 

Need To Concentrate?

Try Making Dopamine Delight!

A splash of dopamine causes you to feel energetic, alert, and is perfect for activities that require you to concentrate and perform.

To create dopamine in the brain, eat fish. The omega-3 fatty acids in cold water fish are proven to create dopamine and help keep your emotions in proper balance. Don’t like fish? Try other lean protein like chicken. While lacking the omega-3 power of fish, it’s still a very good source for creating dopamine Complete your mood boosting meal with leafy green vegetables for extra energy and alertness.

Useful sources of building blocks for dopamine:

• Apples
• Beets
• Blue-green algae
• Celery
• Chicken
• Cucumber
• Fish
• Green leafy vegetables
• Honey
• Cheese
• Sweet peppers
• Tofu
• Watermelon
  

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Just Need To Feel Good All Over?

Try Making Dancing Endorphins!

Endorphins are neurotransmitters that you need to feel the thrill and deep satisfaction of living. A nice serving of endorphins gives you an overall warm fuzzy feeling. Think of it as nature’s natural analgesic.

Complex carbs like pasta, breads, and foods with natural glucose, like grapes combined with plenty of water or sports drinks make the perfect mixture for creating endorphins. When you combine a complex carb diet with a routine of aerobic activity such as brisk walking, biking, or swimming your body will experience a warm sensation comparable to a soothing therapeutic massage.

Once the feeling gets started it’s like being on a natural high. I like to think of endorphins as these little happy dolphins swimming, dancing and diving throughout your bloodstream, and having so much fun that you can’t help but want to get up and dance yourself!

CHOCOLATE IS VERY GOOD (not too much eating, always)

Evidence is mounting that some kinds of chocolate are actually good for you. Here’s the latest about the healthy side of your chocolate habit and taste-tested advice on what to try. Merry munching.

A happier heart

Scientists at the Harvard University School of Public Health recently examined 136 studies on coco — the foundation for chocolate — and found it does seem to boost heart health, according to an article in the European journal Nutrition and Metabolism.

“Studies have shown heart benefits from increased blood flow, less platelet stickiness and clotting, and improved bad cholesterol,” says Mary B. Engler, Ph.D., a chocolate researcher and director of the Cardiovascular and Genomics Graduate Program at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing. These benefits are the result of cocoa’s antioxidant chemicals known as flavonoids, which seem to prevent both cell damage and inflammation.

Better blood pressure

If yours is high, chocolate may help. Jeffrey Blumberg, Ph.D., director of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory at Tufts University, recently found that hypertensive people who ate 3.5 ounces of dark chocolate per day for two weeks saw their blood pressure drop significantly, according to an article in the journal Hypertension. Their bad cholesterol dropped, too.

People who ate the same amount of white chocolate? Nothing. (It doesn’t have any cocoa — or flavonoids.) Word to the wise: 3.5 ounces is roughly equal to a big bar of baking chocolate, so the participants had to cut about 400 calories out of their daily diets to make room. But you probably don’t have to go to those lengths. Just a bite may do you good, Blumberg says.

Muscle magic

Chocolate milk may help you recover after a hard workout. In a small study at Indiana University, elite cyclists who drank chocolate milk between workouts scored better on fatigue and endurance tests than those who had some sports drinks. Yoo-hoo!

TLC for your skin

German researchers gave 24 women a half-cup of special extra-flavonoid-enriched cocoa every day. After three months, the women’s skin was moister, smoother, and less scaly and red when exposed to ultraviolet light. The researchers think the flavonoids, which absorb UV light, help protect and increase blood flow to the skin, improving its appearance.

Brain gains

It sounds almost too good to be true, but preliminary research at West Virginia’s Wheeling Jesuit University suggests chocolate may boost your memory, attention span, reaction time, and problem-solving skills by increasing blood flow to the brain. Chocolate companies found comparable gains in similar research on healthy young women and on elderly people.

Good loving (maybe)

Finally, Italian researchers wanted to know whether chocolate truly is an aphrodisiac. In a survey of 143 women published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, those who ate chocolate every day seemed to have more sex drive, better lubrication, and an easier time reaching orgasm. Pass the Godiva, right?

Not so fast. The women who ate chocolate were all younger than the ones who didn’t; it was age and not chocolate that made the difference. Still, if a double-chocolate raspberry truffle puts you in the mood, why let science get in the way?

Acidic /Alkaline foods

Be Neutral – Be balanced

*Because of factors like diet and stress, many people in industrialized nations are too acidic, and so we are afflicted with health problems that run the gamut from minor skin irritations to Depression, chronic fatigue and back pain to arthritis, ulcers, and osteoporosis.

*Take a look at the checklist of symptoms that indicate acidity. Then find out what to eat (and what to avoid) to improve your health!

*First, see the list of symptoms to find out if you may be too acidic.

*Here is a list of alkalinizing foods that will help you to balance your over-acidity:

Alkalizing Foods
Potatoes
Green vegetables, raw or cooked, salad greens, cabbage, etc.
Colored vegetables: carrots, beets (except for tomatoes)
Corn (kernels or cooked as polenta)
Milk (liquid and powdered form), large-curd cottage cheese, cream, butter
Bananas
Almonds, Brazil nuts
Chestnuts
Dried fruits: dates, raisins (except those that are acidic to the taste-apricots, apples, pineapple)
Almond milk
Black olives preserved in oil
Avocado
Cold-pressed oils
Natural sugar

Acidic Foods to Avoid
If you are too acidic, eating these foods could cause more of a problem.
Refined flour products: White bread, pasta
Grains: White rice
Sugary cereals and desserts: Cakes, pies, cookies
Sugars: White and brown sugar
Beans: Soybeans, chickpeas, red beans, garbanzos
Red meat: Beef, mutton, pork, cold cuts
Fatty fish: Salmon, carp, herring, mackerel
Crustaceans: Lobster, shrimp, mussels
Condiments: Capers, pickles, pimentos, mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise
Fats: Hydrogenated margarine, lard
Beverages: Coffee, tea, chocolate milk, sodas, tomato juice, orange juice, grapefruit juice, wine

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Methylation – A New Prescription for Happiness

The happy reaction

S-Adenosylmethionine acts as a methyl group donor.

It is a natural compound that your body makes by itself, SAMe (S-adenosyl-L-methionine) helps you produce feel-good brain chemicals.

We can get more of it from Protein rich foods or as a dietary supplement.

***Boost the Moods***

AVOID DRUGS

BOOST YOUR MOODS WITH FOODS YOU LIKE

There you have it. Serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins, the only chemicals you will ever need for feeling emotionally balanced. They naturally exist within your body. And every move you make, every food you eat, every thought you think can create these neurotransmitters that cause you to feel good. Learning to create them naturally gives you a new power and control over your life. So the next time you need to boost your mood go and eat some healthy food and experience the Magic of Living, Laughing, and Loving Life!

 

About the Author

A molecular, microbiologist /biochemist by profession. Interested in popularization of science.

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