The best diet for mental health
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At Britt's Superfoods, we believe that food can be used as medicine, and that's especially true when it comes to managing depression and anxiety. While there's no quick fix for these conditions, making sure your diet is full of certain nutritious foods can help boost your overall health and give you the best chance of recovery.
Here are some key things to keep in mind:
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Make sure you're eating plenty of complex carbohydrates found in fruits, vegetables, pulses, and whole grains. These types of carbs are known to boost the production of serotonin, a feel-good chemical that can help improve your mood.
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Consume tryptophan-rich foods like oats, dried dates, sesame seeds, chickpeas, almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, buckwheat, spirulina, and peanuts. Tryptophan is an amino acid that gets converted into serotonin.
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Eat foods that are rich in folate, as there's a proven link between folate (folic acid) deficiency and severe depression. Try adding more lentils, asparagus, and dark leafy greens to your diet. Avoid cooking methods like boiling, as it can destroy some of the folate. Our Kale, reishi and maca juice contains folate so adding this to your diet can help.
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Include antioxidant-rich foods in your diet, as they can help protect your brain from the harmful effects of free radicals.
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Incorporate omega-3 rich foods like oily fish, nuts and seeds. Omega-3 is known to support the activity of feel-good neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine.
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Limit sugar consumption, as it can cause sudden fluctuations in blood sugar levels, which can affect the brain's glucose supply.
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Get regular exercise, especially if you can do it outdoors. It's a great way to get your blood flowing and boost your mood.