Sometimes your body and brain would feel like they are operating on somewhat two major wavelengths. At times, your body would tell you to have a nap as and when your brain would be doing work. Well, even your tummy would be screaming for some candy bar, and that your brain would know much better.
When it is related to your mood, the food that you select, and even the feeling that you have, go together more than you would have thought. Just think about it. A greasy plate of sugary snacks or fries would somewhat temporarily increase your mood and long-term happiness.
Luckily, many kinds of food can help to improve your mood-boosting advantages. They would even make you feel happier and healthier with each of the bites. That means just before you jump into another value-based meal, you must add such food to your diet or menu to make yourself feel happier.
Why A Balanced Superfood Would Be Needed?
Just before you dive into the specific mood-boosting related foods described in this article, you need to have knowledge regarding the dietary methods. That would help to improve and balance all the moods related to your food.
Helps to Balance Blood Sugar Levels
Keep in mind that when you skip meals or end up consuming erratically or have sugary meals and snacks, that would make your blood sugar levels go out of the whack. Well, that would lead to the imbalance of the hormones, and these would even include the stress hormones, ones that can make you feel cranky and irritable.
Here the low blood sugar and hypoglycemia are often linked to anxiety and depression. When you are consuming complex kinds of carbohydrates, fat, proteins, and fibres along with each of the meals and snacks, that would help your blood sugar to be on the track.
Consuming Goof Amount of Fats
No doubt, fats are necessary for your nervous system. The human brain contains around 60% of fat. Good fat would help in supporting brain function as well as integrity. It can assist in the production of neurotransmitters. Additionally, it would help to lower the inflammation.
Consume Your Amino Acids or Proteins
There are certain amino acids. These are the building blocks of proteins. Such things would be the precursors to the brain neurotransmitters. That can help to balance and make one’s mood better.
Get A Good Amount of Vitamin B
The best part of having vitamin B is that it can help for soothing stress. Plus, it would support your nervous system. Do you know that many of the vitamin B is the co-factors involved in helping brain health? It can even help in the formulation of the neurotransmitters. You can find vitamin B in various vegetables like gluten-free whole grains and dark leafy green vegetables.
What If You Are Not in The Mood for Cooking Mood-Boosting Food Items?
Sometimes you would be down in the dumps. In that case, you will not feel like making the boosting food from the scratch. Of course, your mood or energy will not be there to do such things.
In that case, you must take advantage of the good meal prep and times. Sometimes you would feel like making boosting food items. Then cook a few batches of them and store them in your freezer for future usage.
A pot meal like chili or soup can be a good option. You can make such items in huge batches and even portions, make them place in the freezer. Besides that, you can bake a batch of muffins, create some smoothies, or try some other recipes that you could enjoy eating.
At times you can start mood-boosting cooking operatives. Try to be cooperative either by beginning or joining any kind of cooking cooperative. Well, in this way, you get to make one dish, however, you can end up with many goodies. Also, you can gain social benefits from hanging out with your friends.
When you are buying time-saving equipment or tools, that would help in easing the burden. Using appliances like instant pots and slow cookers would help to shoulder some of the workloads. You would still need to do some major prep. As soon as that is done, then the meals would come together easily.
Delicious Superfoods You Would Need
1) Red Bell Pepper
Are you aware that the red bell peppers have a huge amount of vitamin C compared to orange? They can easily boast of being the most nutritious among the many bell peppers. That is since they have been on the vine for a long time.
These low calorie-filled nutrient-dense veggies have many vitamins. Also, they are filled with nutrients that can help to improve your mood and make you feel very much happy.
2) Green Tea
Do you feel that green tea is great for cold? Well, it is more than that. This is a popular drink that can be a great mood booster. Studies show that green tea has many kinds of antioxidant compounds.
These antioxidants would help to fight cancer and even lower the chances of other major chronic diseases.
3) Walnuts
There is a reason why people like to have walnuts. Not only they are tasty, but they are the best crunch-filled snacks. Do you know that there are few of the plant’s related sources that are filled with omega-3 fatty acids? So, this nutrient is good for both the heart and brain.
4) Okra
Called as ladies’ finger or ochro, this is a great green superfood. Think of this vegetable as a great one that is very less in calories and has a high amount of fibre. Plus, it has some healthy-soluble fibre.
Along with that, then okra is filled with a rich amount of polyphenols. These are the micronutrients that are commonly found in many plant foods. That would help your heart and even assist in fighting against any kind of inflammation.
5) Kefir
Do you like yogurt? Then move aside this food. Kefir is the latest probiotic. This is a great fermented milk drink that is somewhat like yogurt. Also, it provides a huge amount of probiotic health benefits.
You can replenish the good bacteria present in your gut just by drinking the kefir. That would help you support your digestion and improve your immunity.
6) Cereal
Irrespective of whether you like wheat, oats, rice, corn, etc; a bowl of 100% of whole grain can be great. This cereal would provide you with a one or two combo of protein fillings. Also, they have good fibre content that you can have first thing in the morning. That means you will not feel hungry pre-lunch.
7) Flaxseed
Sometimes you would be looking for the easiest method for fixing the daily dosage of plant-related protein? In that case, you can try somehow mixing the flax into the morning breakfast cereal or smoothie. Most people are not aware that flaxseeds are filled with omega-3 fatty acids, lignans, and fibre. Studies show that these are all the necessary nutrients that are needed for improving a healthy heart.
8) Edamame
No doubt, soy-based food items are the best foods you can have on this planet. Well, that is what some of the dieticians feel like. Soybeans are filled with a plant-based protein source. Also, they would be having a few amounts of minerals and vitamins that can help to reduce the risk of having chronic diseases. Also, the fibre would help you to feel satisfied and filled up.
9) Bananas
No doubt, bananas are a great fruit. It has vitamin B6 that can avoid the increase of the cognitive. Also, it can lower the symptoms of PMS and other mood-related symptoms. Additionally, each one of them would provide around 12% of the daily amount of fibre that would be needed for a good amount of digestion.
10) Chocolate
Multiple types of research show that antioxidants that are packed in dark chocolate can reduce serotonin levels. Plus, it can secure you from all kinds of cognitive reduction. When you have one ounce of chocolate each day or somewhere around 150 to 200 calories, it would provide a huge amount of benefits.
11) Almonds
Just like the handful of nuts that you consume, almonds provide the same effect. Plus, it leads to less mess as you go on eating.
12) Nut Butter
You might be on the peanut butter team. Well, there might be some people who are from the team of almond. Here it is no secret that nutritionists commonly recommend one to have nuts.
They are the best energy-boosting proteins and even provide a healthy amount of fats. You can get them from a two tablespoon of nut butter servings and that can fill you up. Plus, you get to stave off the cravings compared to having less nutritious food.
13) Avocado
Just think about it. A perfect avocado toasts. That would be visually pleasing to look at. Also, this is a great fruit to eat. Well, some people would have doubts whether this is a fruit or not.
Frankly, the avocado is packed with a huge amount of heart-filled and healthy unsaturated fats, phytochemicals, and fibre. They can be the biologically active components that are present in the plants. Also, they have the power to fight against diseases.
14) Salmon
Most people consider grilled fillet as good brain food. It has an important compound called DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid). This is commonly found in salmon and helps to maintain the central nervous system. Also, it brings about the best benefits to your metabolism and heart.
15) Cottage Cheese
Never underestimate the taste of the old-fashion cottage cheese. This is a fresh curd-based product that provides tons of tryptophan and protein. Also, it is an important amino acid that helps to improve your mood.
16) Roasted Chickpeas
Here this plant-related protein wins by a huge margin. When you toss in some spices and roast them in the oven, they would be savoury and crunchy craving. Also, they contain nutrients like iron, manganese, and folate.
17) Spinach
One thing you would like about the spinach is that it has nitrate content. That would help to reduce the level of cholesterol and even avoid the risk of getting heart disease. Here nitrate would assist in improving your athletic performance.
18) Sweet Potato Fries
When you think of fries, it means unlimited happiness. But when it is roasted sweet potato, then it gets a shout-out. As it has a huge amount of B6 vitamin content.
19) Raspberries
Sometimes you would like to indulge in your sweet-tooth guilt. For that, you can snack on your favourite berries. Here they would be having eight grams of fibre.
20) Pistachios
Aren’t you not getting enough sleep? Just try munching on the ounce of pistachios as your post-dinner food. It is filled with vitamin B6, protein, and magnesium.
21) Oatmeal
A heart-healthy breakfast would be a bowl of oatmeal. The soluble fibre present in it would make you feel longer and fuller. Plus, it is filled with vitamin B.
22) Matcha
Now the match is a concentrated powder and has a huge amount of caffeine just like coffee. Hence, matcha is a great choice when you are on the lookout for a good afternoon drink.
23) Coffee
Do you women around the world drink coffee regularly? It helps them to get rid of and reduce the chances of getting depression.
24) Asparagus
Sometimes you would be feeling blah and bloated. In that case, you could have asparagus as your dinner. This is a great spear that is good for your gut-prebiotics.
25) Wine
Many people would be surprised to know that wine is a great drink. It is moderate alcohol and helps to elevate one’s mood.It even leads to a longer life.
26) Salsa
Made of chopped-up veggies and herbs, the salsa is the best Mexican food to try.
27) Figs
Filled with magnesium, potassium, iron, and calcium content, figs are a great food item to try. They help in the blood flow and muscle contraction.
28) Eggs
Eggs as most people are aware of filled with a great number of proteins. They even provide a good amount of choline that plays a major part in improving your memory, mood, etc.
29) Watermelon
Sometimes you could get in the middle of an energy slump. All these thanks to dehydration and that can lead to sleepiness. A serving of H20 fruit like watermelon would be great.
30) Oranges
Orange is another liquid-filled food that can easily efficiently rehydrate you. It contains electrolytes that make you healthy.
31) Pulses
Think of the pulses as the edible seeds of the legumes. They can be used to make many things like chips, pasta, etc.
Conclusion
When you have a good amount of food that has various nutrition, then your energy gets boosted. Just try out these foodstuffs and see for yourself.