Healthy Foods That Can Improve Your Mood and Relieve Your Depression

The National Institute of Mental Health reported in 2015 that around 20 million Americans live with clinical depression, sometimes called major depression. Maybe you feel down now and then. Maybe the heaviness sits with you most days. If you want a way to lift your mood and quiet your depression at the same time, what you eat is one lever worth pulling. This piece walks through the foods that can help you feel better.

So what counts as clinical depression? At its core it is sadness that will not lift, a chronic state rather than a passing cloud. People living with it describe despair, hopelessness, a sense of being helpless, constant worry, and the draining away of pleasure from things they used to enjoy. Having the blues for an afternoon is not the same thing. That kind of low mood is ordinary, and nearly everyone passes through it. Clinical depression reaches into everything: self-esteem, confidence, the way you relate to people, how you do at school and at work.

There is reason for hope. You can ease the symptoms. A doctor's treatment plan matters, counseling matters, and so does what you put on your plate. Certain foods push a health condition in a better direction while others drag it the wrong way. Some can genuinely cut down how often and how hard depressive episodes hit. Below is a list of foods that tend to help.

Fatty fish. Salmon, halibut, tuna, and king mackerel all carry heavy amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, the compounds linked to steadier moods and a lighter depressive load. Research suggests omega-3s can head off or soften the neurotransmitter imbalances believed to set off depressive episodes. Studies point to a pattern: people who rarely touch fatty fish run a higher risk of depression than those eating fish at least three times a week. You can find omega-3s elsewhere too, in walnuts, canola oil, flaxseeds, assorted nuts, spinach, ham, margarine, and anchovies.

Liver. When did you last sit down to a plate of it? If the answer is a while ago, it may be worth hunting down a recipe. Liver is packed with vitamin B12, which helps regulate mood and keeps the nervous system working well. It can also bring on a calming feeling through the body. A note on chemistry: homocysteine, a protein your body makes more of under stress, can set off or deepen depression when it climbs. A diet high in B12 helps pull those levels back down. Other B12 sources include cooked clams, crab, tofu, fortified cereals, bran, lean red meat, eggs, low-fat or skim milk, and Swiss cheese.

Turkey. Add it to your meals and you may notice your mood climb. The reason sits with serotonin, a hormone that governs mood; when serotonin runs low, depression tends to flare. Serotonin does not act alone, though. It needs an amino acid called tryptophan, which shows up naturally in animal proteins like turkey. More tryptophan means more serotonin to work with. You will also find tryptophan in shrimp, scallops, tofu, spinach, broccoli, turnip greens, mustard greens, collard greens, Swiss chard, kale, low-fat cheese, skim or low-fat milk, lamb, eggs, and lean chicken.

Sugar. Yes, really, though read the fine print. I do not mean the sugar hiding in cakes, doughnuts, and cookies. The natural sugars in fruits and vegetables are the ones that can lift your mood. Sugar beets, for one, taste good cooked in a light cream sauce or pickled in a jar. Molasses works fast, carrying B vitamins, iron, calcium, and phosphorous. Both sugar beets and molasses hold uridine, a nucleotide that supports brain function and has a track record of easing depression symptoms.

Coffee. One cup a day? Two? If none, you might reconsider. Coffee is loaded with caffeine, and caffeine can take the edge off depression. As a natural stimulant it lifts mood, feeds energy to the body, and wakes up the central nervous system. Caffeine does its best work on milder cases. You can get it from dark chocolate, black tea, and cocoa as well. Steer clear of sodas and sugary teas, since they bring mood swings, blood sugar spikes, weight gain, irritability, and anxiety. And keep it under four cups a day, because overloading on caffeine carries its own problems.

Orange juice. A cold glass in the morning does more than taste good. Orange juice supplies vitamin C along with folic acid, and folic acid can both ease current symptoms and guard against future episodes. It backs up brain function and serotonin production, the hormone that keeps mood in check. Plenty of other foods are rich in folic acid: dark leafy greens such as turnip greens, mustard greens, kale, spinach, Swiss chard, and collard greens, plus broccoli, asparagus, citrus fruits like oranges, cranberries, strawberries, and grapefruit, and peas, lentils, okra, avocados, Brussels sprouts, beets, cauliflower, corn, celery, beans, seeds, and squash. A single 8-ounce glass of orange juice, or one cup of cooked spinach, hits your daily folic acid target.

- Dr. R. Y. Langham

References: Cowan, G. (2015). Why your diet can make or break depression recovery. Psych Central. Health Mad. (2007). The benefits of caffeine. National Institute of Mental Health. (2015). What is depression? WebMD. (2015). Depression and diet.