What Food To Eat To Counter Every Bad Mood

Feeling stressed, cranky or PMS? Here are some foods to counter the negative feeling of every mood you're in.

Mood: Stressed

Remedy: Chocolate

Logic: Life's answer to most of our problems and rightly so! Chocolate especially of the dark variety, can help to reduce the stress hormones. The components of chocolate have the power to lower cortisol and catecholamines in the body, which aids in reducing your anxiety.

Mood: Anxious

Remedy: Salmon

Logic: Salmon is one of the richest sources of omega-3 fatty acids, a nutrient that can help calm your anxiety. Regular consumption of omega-3s is said to be able to prevent and treat clinical depression, it can also reduce anger and irritability. Other sources of omega-3 are sardines, mackerel and herring.

Mood: Sluggish/Can't Focus

Remedy: Spinach

Logic: Ideally you should skip the coffee and have some spinach, perhaps in a salad? Spinach has folic acid that can help your body to process and lower homocysteine levels – which is associated with damage to the blood vessels, interrupted blood flow and nutrients to the brain. Other folate-rich foods include leafy greens, potatoes, fortified breads and cereals, beans, peas and mushrooms.


Mood: Cranky

Remedy: An apple with peanut butter


Apple sandwich with peanut butter and granola. Credit: Ready Nutrition

Logic: Generally irritability is a sign that your body is lacking fuel to burn. Eat a combination of carbs and some protein or fat like apple (healthy complex carbs) and peanut butter (healthy fat). Carbs are a great source of energy that quickly burns out so adding some protein/fat helps slow down the digestion process and help your sugar and energy levels to remain stable for a longer period.

Mood: Angry

Remedy: Green tea

Logic: Calm down over a cup of green tea, which contains theanine, a component that helps soothe you to maintain clear concentration. The low levels of caffeine in green tea is gentler on your body too.

Mood: Sad

Remedy: Eat whole grain cereal with low-fat milk

Logic: There's a possibility your body is lacking Vitamin D, which is essential for the production of serotonin, the feel-good hormone. When you're low on Vitamin D, it may affect your body's ability to stabilise mood and reduce feelings of depression. Boost your intake of Vitamin D with low-fat fortified milk, fortified cereal or mushroom.

Mood: PMS

Remedy: Egg salad or sandwich

Logic: Right before your period, it's normal to crave for carbs because it helps boost serotonin levels, which in turn helps improve your mood. Avoid high-sugar, high-fat carbs like chips because it can leave you feeling sluggish/grumpy due to the sudden spike and drop of blood sugar. Go for whole grains like whole wheat bread and add eggs, sunflower seeds or turkey for the perfect carb-typtophan combo.


Source: Women's Day