Happy Food and the Good Mood Diet

I'm an optimist. Is my rather cheerful mood and unrelenting optimism due to my diet? The foods I eat can positively affect my mood according to researchers, which claim certain foods, when eaten right, can improve your mood.

Research studies by Richard Wurtman, MD, and Judith Wurtman, PhD, at MIT have shown that snacking on readily digested carbohydrates, such as those in a bagel or cookie, can raise the brain's level of serotonin. Raising the levels of serotonin is one of the benefits sought after while taking modern antidepressant medications according to medical experts.

Here are a few of the diet related recommendations and the original resources to check out:

From Prevention Magazine and republished in a recent WebMD article, The Good Mood Diet:

• Include protein in each of your three meals. This will raise blood levels of tryptophan, a chemical that eventually turns into serotonin. The best sources of tryptophan are poultry, seafood, and lean meat.
  
  
• Have a small carbohydrate snack about 3 or 4 hours after each meal and about 1 hour before your next one. Make sure that your stomach is empty and that you eat no protein between meals. The carbohydrates should be easily digestible--such as one or two oatmeal cookies, a third of a bagel, a slice of whole wheat bread. This will cause tryptophan in your blood to enter the brain, where it is metabolized into serotonin. Elevated serotonin will improve your mood within 20 to 30 minutes. (Full article here)
  

The Good Mood Diet: Feel Great While You Lose Weight is a book published by author Dr. Susan Kleiner. It is a culmination of 25 years of her work in the field of nutrition, fitness and health. The Good Mood Diet nourishes your brain and your body. The Good Mood Diet is also a philosophy, an approach to life and food. Put together, it will give you more mental and physical energy, enhancing your mood and giving you greater mental focus. You can even feel great while you lose weight. You can visit Dr. Kleiner's blog here.

So what now? Eat, drink and be merry!