Nutrition

Food for Improving Mood

In her book The Good Mood Kitchen: Simple Recipes and Nutritional Tips for Emotional Balance, Leslie Korn talks about how nutrition directly impacts mental health. She even states that "optimal nutrition" prevents and treats mental illness. By using the term "optimal nutrition", she acknowledges that individuals need to make sure their diet is nutrient dense and tailored to their own specific needs. The connection is made between self care and nutrition, diet, and digestion, in addition, Korn claims that by paying attention to the aforementioned, one's energy, health, and well-being will be enhanced.

Probiotics for Anxiety and Depression

"Healthy bacteria, known as probiotics, help to lower the stress response by regulating relaxation-related neurotransmitters in the brain." The Good Mood Kitchen: Simple Recipes and Nutritional Tips for Emotional Balance by Leslie Korn

Probiotics can be bought or found in fermented foods. Some examples of fermented foods are:

Pickles (make sure they are the refrigerated salt and water based, and not vinegar based- something like "Bubbie's Pickles" found at most health food stores)
Kombucha
Kimchi
Sauerkraut
Miso
Micro-Algaes
Yogurt and cheese with live cultures

Leslie Korn's Basic Pantry: 13 Essential Foods for Mental Health

Bone broth
Raw almonds
Wild salmon or fatty fish
Raw butter
Coconut (meat and oil)
Sweet potatoes
Avocado
Beets
Cacao (chocolate)
Oats and gluten-free grains
Arugula and other bitter greens
Fresh sauerkraut and other fermented foods
Coffee/tea (green and black)

The above foods support mental health by:

Maintaining healthy blood sugar
Decreasing inflammation
Boosting energy and mood
Enhancing gut health, which supports mental health bacteria and neurotransmitters

Culinary Herbs for Anxiety

Lavender - try adding dried herb to dressings, teas and baked goods. You can also use the dried buds with other herbs on meat, fish or on salads. Lavender helps reduce stress and anxiety and improves sleep and mood

Chamomile Tea - Can be served hot or cold, on its own, or with honey added to it. Chamomile tea helps reduce stress, anxiety, and muscle tension and it also aids sleep.

Culinary Herbs for Low Mood or Depression

Saffron - You can add a small amount to rice, sauces, soups, and meat. This spice reduces stress, improves mood, and helps reduce memory loss. *Do not use in large amounts or everyday. The use of this herb should be avoided by those with bipolar disorder as well as pregnant women.

Nutmeg - Use this spice in baking, vegetable dishes, or just simmer it in some water to diffuse the scent in your home. This spice reduces stress, improves mood, and aids sleep. *Use in moderation (less than 1/2 teaspoon/day)

Peppermint - the smell of peppermint (most easily accessed by drinking peppermint tea) lifts mood, improves focus, and aids memory. Drinking peppermint tea helps digestion, reduces headache pain, and reduces gas and nausea.

Books about Nutrition - Available in the Dover Bay Library

The Good Mood Kitchen: Simple Recipes and Nutritional Tips for Emotional Balance, Leslie Korn.

Eat Right, Feel Right: Simple Recipes and Tips to Improve Mood, Sleep, Attention & Focus, Leslie Korn.

Project You, Aubre Andrus and Karen Bluth

Food for Feeling Healthy, Carol Ballard

The Minimalist Kitchen: 100 Wholesome Recipes, Essential Tools and Efficient Techniques, Melissa Coleman

Yum: Your Ultimate Manual for Good Nutrition, Daina Kalnins

100 Best Health Foods: The Ultimate Super-foods for Healthy Living Including 100 Nutritious Recipes, Parragon Books & Love Food Editors

Oh She Glows Cookbook: Vegan recipes to Glow From the Inside Out, Angela Liddon

Quick and Simply Satisfying Plant Based Recipes: Oh She Glows Everyday, Angela Liddon

World Food for Student Cooks: Healthy, Delicious, Easy to Make Recipes for the Food-Truck-Loving, Noodle-Slurping, Taco-Crunching, Mac and Cheese Lover, Krista McLellan

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