The Happiness Diet: 12 Must-Have Ingredients to Boost Your Mood

The Happiness Diet: 12 Must-Have Ingredients to Boost Your Mood

vitamin b12


Certain bacteria that live in the guts of animals are the only organisms that make B12. As such, these animals accumulate the nutrient in their tissues, and you’ll find high concentrations in cows, goats, and other ruminant animals and in seafood such as fish and shellfish. B12 regulates the expression of genes, meaning it prevents things like cancer from happening.

Most processed foods are fortified with folic acid, which masks B12 deficiency, signs of which are aggression, obsessive-compulsive behavior, sleeplessness, and tingling in the arms and legs. Don’t settle for low levels even if they are “low normal.” Two hundred to 1,100 picograms per milliliter is normal, but levels of under 400 increase your risk of mental health problems like dementia and depression.

Best Sources: Shellfish, fish, liver, beef, eggs



iodine
If ever there was a nutritional case to be made that life originated in the ocean, iodine is evidence of it. Iodine is a nutrient that all animals need for life, and it can be obtained only through diet. Iodine is essential for a healthy thyroid -- the gland that regulates metabolism. An underactive thyroid is associated with low energy, poor memory, depression, ADHD, migraine, weight gain, infertility, breast disease (including cancer), infection, and heart disease.

Best Sources: Seaweed, fish, clams, shrimp, sardines, eggs, grass-fed meat and milk, potato skin


magnesium
Magnesium is a mineral that eases your mind, nerves, and muscles. It’s even been used to treat clinical depression. It protects your brain from the waste product ammonia, relaxes blood vessels, and protects against heart disease and diabetes. Increasing magnesium levels in the brain improves memory and learning, while a deficiency can lead to depression, anxiety, ADHD, insomnia, and fatigue.

BEST SOURCES: Green leaves, whole grains, salmon, beans, sunflower seeds, blackstrap molasses

cholesterol
There are two points we want to hammer home. First, eating cholesterol in your diet has a very small impact on your blood cholesterol levels. Second, avoiding high cholesterol foods, like eggs and salmon, means you’re missing out on some of the richest sources of essential brain nutrients. With so much emphasis on lowering cholesterol, you might be surprised to hear that high levels of cholesterol have been linked to better memory and mood in healthy middle-aged and elderly people. Perhaps even more surprising, though, is to learn that as people get older, higher levels of total cholesterol are associated with a decreased risk of dementia, according to researchers from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

BEST SOURCES: Eggs, salmon, meat, milk, cheese, lard from sustainably raised pigs

vitamin d
There’s a reason why the sun feels so good on our skin -- just like plants, we need it for survival. Sunshine converts cholesterol in our skin into vitamin D, an essential nutrient that controls the expression of some two thousand genes. (Is it any wonder so many cultures have worshipped the sun?) Low levels of vitamin D are linked to a host of mental disorders, including depression, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, and seventeen types of cancer. Vitamin D deficiency is also linked to lowered immunity. Some researchers now believe that one reason we get sick in the winter months is because we get less sun exposure -- and therefore less vitamin D. Many people now believe that this lack of vitamin D is a culprit behind seasonal affective disorder. A low vitamin D level increases both the risk of getting depressed and the severity of depression in the elderly.

Best Sources: Sunlight, fatty fish, butter and lard from pasture-raised animals, mushrooms (must be exposed to the sun)


calcium
Disturbances in calcium levels can produce anxiety, depression, irritability, impaired memory, and slow thinking. When calcium levels are low in your bloodstream, the nutrient is leached from your bones to make up for the inadequacy, which is what leads to osteoporosis. A constant deficiency creates a hormonal imbalance that causes weight gain and women to suffer severe PMS symptoms.

Best Sources: Sardines; milk; yogurt; cheese; kale; cabbage; collard, mustard, and turnip greens; spinach; almonds, pecans, and walnuts



fiber
Diets low in fiber have been linked to depression and increased risk of suicide. One reason is that fiber is an indicator you are eating foods like whole grains and plants that contain the other Essential Elements of Happiness. Another is that fiber reduces overall inflammation. Fiber helps you avoid spikes in blood sugar and insulin, which over time cause a deterioration of the blood-brain barrier that keeps toxins out of the brain, so they can’t disrupt mood regulation, memory, and brain growth. Boosting the fiber in your diet is as easy as following one simple rule: Eat more plants. Don’t rely on processed foods with fancy food claims for this Essential Element.

Best Sources: Green leafy vegetables, cruciferous plants like cauliflower and broccoli, beans, fruit



folate
Folate keeps your neurotransmitter factories humming. The cerebrospinal fluid that bathes your brain has four times more folate than does your blood. Higher concentrations of folate in the blood are linked to a decrease in negative mood states, clinical depression, and fuzzy thinking. Folic acid has been used for decades to treat clinical depression. Folate also improves mood by boosting the production of the long-chain omega-3s DHA and EPA, helping create compounds like defensin-1 that protect the brain from inflammation.

Best Sources: Spinach, kale, black beans, black-eyed peas, lentils



vitamin a
If you’ve heard about vitamin A, it’s likely because someone told you that carrots have a lot of this nutrient and that it’s good for your eyes. Carrots are high in compounds called carotenoids that can be converted into vitamin A, but this process can be very inefficient. The only place vitamin A is found in its usable form is in animal fats. That’s why sailors have long depended on cod liver oil for night vision -- not carrots. The area of the brain that’s responsible for giving birth to new brain cells, the hippocampus, is loaded with receptors for vitamin A. This nutrient plays a powerful role in expression of DNA in neurons. Specifically, it promotes the production of the enzymes that make neurotransmitters like dopamine and their receptors, the key players in the basic biochemistry of mood, memory, and learning.

Best Sources: Liver, egg yolks, shellfish, butter, and whole milk



omega-3s
Omega-3s are a group of essential fatty acids required by every cell in the human body. These special fats came to the attention of scientists in the 1970s when they noticed that populations of Eskimos who ate a high-fat diet had no heart disease. Diets high in omega-3s are known to prevent depression, obesity, cancer, heart disease, and many, many other ailments. Humans use them to form complex thoughts and build hearts that can beat billions of times without stopping. If you want to think fast or run quickly, you want a diet rich in these crucial fats.

Best Sources: Fatty fish like sardines, mackerel and salmon, free-range eggs, and grass-fed meat



vitamin e
Vitamin E is a generic catchall term that describes a family of eight antioxidants known as tocopherols (alpha, beta, gamma, and delta) and tocotrienols (alpha, beta, gamma, and delta) that protect fat. Vitamin E protects the fats in our brain from free radicals, especially the omega-3 fats DHA and EPA, which are concentrated in neurons. Emerging science shows tocotrienols are important neuron protectants, as they block inflammatory signals that kill brain cells. In studies of the elderly, those who eat a variety of tocopherols from food show a significant decrease in both cognitive decline and the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. And patients with clinical depression have significantly lower vitamin E levels. Aside from protecting your neurons, natural forms of vitamin E are also linked to the prevention of cancer and protection from heart disease. Synthetic alpha-tocopherol has been linked to cancer and heart disease, while the complex arrangement of natural forms prevent these diseases.

Best Sources: Almonds, olives, beet greens, turnip greens, collard greens, and Swiss chard

iron
Iron is needed for brain cells to produce energy and is particularly important for proper brain development. Teenagers with low iron levels perform worse on cognitive tests, and infants with iron deficiency have learning and concentration problems later in life. As the center of the protein hemoglobin, iron is our body’s basis for transporting oxygen. All this iron makes your blood red -- just like the red planet Mars. Iron also is the core of important proteins in the body that form the cytochrome system in our liver that rids our body of toxins. Detox diets that promote fasting or juice? Foods high in iron -- like shellfish and beef -- are a better bet.

Best Sources: Shellfish, grass-fed beef, duck, dark chicken meat, and liver