Whenever I am stressed or anxious, I resort to eating to make me feel better. I find myself usually turning to foods high in sugar, like candy or cookies. These foods give me comfort and for some reason make my stress level go down. I decided to research if eating really does make one feel better and take away their stress, like it does with mine!

Certain foods can trigger parts in your brain that make you happy

Like me, many people turn to chocolate or candy to make themselves feel better. Chocolate is known as a joy stimulant. A study in the Journal of Psychopharmacology showed that people who drank a chocolate drink once a day felt more calm and content than the people who did not.

Chris Kilham goes around the world to find plant based medication and says that cocoa boosts serotonin in the brain. “Almost every single antidepressant aims at either enhancing serotonin or keeping it in the brain longer. Chocolate or cocoa does that very well. Women do that prior to and during menstruation, when brain serotonin goes down. Chocolate will help to boost that back up. And a lot of people just plain like the mood that it puts them in,” Kilham says.

Chocolate isn’t the only food that can put you in a better mood. Here are some other foods that do the same thing:

Protein: Protein maintains a persons blood sugar to help have continual energy. And the more energy you have, the better mood you’ll be in. Some foods with high protein include greek yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, milk, steak and chicken.

Calcium: Having low levels of calcium can cause a person to feel depressed. Low levels of calcium affect women more than men, so women should have a lot of it. Calcium is sometimes put together with vitamin D to regulate mood fluctuations. Estrogen helps with calcium production, therefore, having a lot of calcium can relieve depressive symptoms.

Fruits/Vegetables:  Bananas have up to 10 miligrams of dopamine and can instantly uplift your mood. “Dopamine is our primary reward chemical,” says Kilham. “You know that enormous amount of pleasure you get when standing under a hot shower? You feel that because your body is producing dopamine. So anytime you get extra dopamine, that’s going to have a beneficial effect on mind and mood.” Avocados are also good to eat when you are stressed. They have potassium, which lowers ones blood pressure. They also have vitamin B that you need to improve brain health and neurotransmitters. Asparagus also contains a lot of Vitamin B and folic acid. Neurotransmitter impairment can be caused by low folic acid levels. This can lead to anxiety and cause a person to be stressed. Greens like spinach have a lot of magnesium, which help regulate brain-adrenal. This keeps a person calm.

Coffee: Caffeine naturally lifts ones mood. Coffee improves mood and cognitive function overall.

Oysters: There is a study that shows when someone is anxious, there is an imbalance of copper and zinc. This ratio is responsible for the function of normal neurotransmitters. An increase in copper and a decrease in zinc can lead to anxiety. Oysters help balance the correct ratio and stress levels. Additionally, grains and legumes have phytic acid that also balances these two minerals.

Meat: Turkey especially contains tryptophan, which is a precursor to serotonin. Therefore, making you feel calm. Tryptophan in meat has been shown to reduce a person’s anxiety. Fatty meat is also good for a person when they are stressed. Omega-3 fats like salmon or beef decrease anxiety because they stop adrenaline from rising.

On the other hand, there are foods that cause a bad mood

Sugar: Changes in blood sugar level can cause mood swings, energy loss, and can lead to weight loss and diabetes.

Processed foods: Things that are added to processed foods, like trans fats, put unnecessary stress on the body. “Our bodies haven’t adapted to (some) manufactured additives. In some studies, it was shown that trans fats are linked to an increase in irritability and aggression,” says Pick.

So all in all, food does really help out with lowering stress levels. It was nice to know that healthy foods can also put someone in a better mood. Maybe I will try to resort to healthier options when I am stressed now instead of junk food!

http://greatist.com/health/18-surprising-dairy-free-sources-calcium

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ultimate-list-40-high-protein-foods.html