7 Foods That Make You Happier

By Mary Ward

Our mood can affect everything in our daily life. When we’re in a bad mood or depressed, we don’t feel like ourselves and we have a hard time concentrating or just making it through the day. When we’re happy, we feel on top of the world and ready to take on anything. The food we eat can have a great impact on our mood, and if you want to look and feel good then you need to be sure to include some of the foods that will naturally lift your spirits. Here we look at several foods that are sure to raise our spirits and make us feel happier overall.

7 Top Feel-Good Foods

Milk: those foods that are rich in calcium will naturally help to boost our spirits. Those that suffer from depression are told to take a calcium and Vitamin D supplement, and the good news is that 1-2 glasses of milk a day can be a natural mood booster that can help a person to feel happier and more productive.
Spinach: dark leafy greens are good for your health and a home remedy for so many ailments. So it’s really no wonder that spinach, rich in iron, is a definite if you are looking for food to make you feel happier. You can get the nutrients that you need out of this dark leafy green and lift your spirits all at the same time.
Salmon: here we see the recurrence of Omega-3 fatty acids and just how much good they can do for our overall health. This time, we see that regular consumption of salmon, about 2-3 times a week, can help to make us feel happier and of course maintain good health.
Whole Grain Pasta or Bread: we look to foods rich in carbohydrates as a sort of “comfort food”, but in this case they are good for us, too. If you switch out the refined and white pasta and breads with whole grain versions, you will not only be happier but you will also be doing yourself a great favor for your overall health.
Sunflower Seeds: it is recommended that one should add seeds to their diet as a source of protein and fiber, but here we see just what it can do for mood. Sunflower seeds are rich in selenium, and this is one nutrient that is believed to make us instantly feel better and much happier, almost upon consumption.

Tofu: many people turn to tofu as it’s such a healthy meat substitute that offers high levels of protein with a lower fat and cholesterol content. This is a great idea, but it can also be looked to as a great mood lifter for the content that it brings and should be a definite in any “get happy” diet.
Fortified Cereals: ensuring that you get enough folic acid into your diet is a good idea for your overall picture of health. It can also contribute greatly to being a happier person, and so we see that fortified cereals are a must to achieve this.

It’s hard enough in this fast-paced world to maintain good mood and limit stress; it’s even harder if you have your diet working against you. With simple changes like those 7 mentioned here, your diet can be one of your best weapons not only for maintaining a healthy weight, but also for maintaining that all-important positive mood!

Do you have any thoughts on the foods listed above, or do you have your own suggestions for foods that make you feel happier? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Author bio: Mary Ward writes about various healthcare career topics, including how to obtain an online masters in healthcare.

This entry is filed under: Happiness, Health & Fitness - 11 Comments »

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11 Comments

Jeff@MySuperChargedLife
August 17th, 2009 at 9:59 am

I keep telling myself that I need to eat healthier. Feeling happier is just one more reason on the stack that I should do it. One of these days, the stack will get heavy enough to tip me away from my comfort foods! In the meantime, maybe I should start small. A handful of sunflower seeds a day would be a pretty easy way to get going.

Thanks for the great list!

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jonathanfigaro
August 17th, 2009 at 1:59 pm

Developing a health way of living is essential to positive thinking. Since all food have energy with them, it best to put positive energy with your body than negatiive. It ok to eat fast food once in a while, but habitual eating of burger king and mc donlads and terrorize your mind and body!

Great post!

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Hilary
August 17th, 2009 at 2:16 pm

Hi Mary – eating fresh foods made up at home, not buying processed foods. More fruit and vegetables, and a balance. After a few days we’ll all be feeling so much healthier, especially with exercise thrown in ..

I’m not sure those 7 foods would make me happier, Id’ rather stick with my salads, fruit and veg .. and some dairy, some meat, more fish and somedays just veg and lots of fruit – follow the seasons.

Time to change to help ourselves, help the planet ..
Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

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Evan
August 17th, 2009 at 2:38 pm

Some tofu is good, too much can interfere with your thyroid. It took my partner 18 months to get her weight back to normal after eating too much tofu. One to watch – especially if you are a vegan who relies on tofu as the main meat substitute.

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Lauri
August 18th, 2009 at 12:53 am

Thanks for the great list!

I was surprised to see milk at the first place in the list. Calcium and vitamin-D are indeed important, but otherwise, I’d prefer to drink soya milk or just pure water.

Also, I would add fruits and vegetables to the list. One of my favorites mood lifting foods are black berries like blackcurrant. They contain a lot of vitamines that makes you feel good.

One of the best fruits is water melon (I think it’s a fruit?). It alkalizes your body, which makes it very energized.

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farouk
August 18th, 2009 at 1:49 am

maybe that’s why popye eats spinach all the time thanks for the nice post:)

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na
August 18th, 2009 at 8:19 am

thats one of the WORST lists ive seen. only 2 out of 7 is healthy (sunflower seeds & spinach), the rest is very toxic and detrimental to your health. they definitely wont make you happy.

i understand this isnt your fault as we’re constantly being fed the WRONG info. im just surprised people dont know more by now, even if they dont practice it.

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terence yap singapore
August 18th, 2009 at 12:10 pm

An interesting read but I wonder whether everyone reacts the same way to these foods, my friend.

Food for thought, wouldn’t you say?

*smiles*

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Karl Staib - Work Happy Now
August 18th, 2009 at 8:01 pm

I eat all of those foods except milk. I’m a big fan of soy milk so that’s what I eat with my cereal in the morning.

I try to eat a bowl of spinach salad with dinner every night. I find it helps with digestion.

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Ricardo Bueno
August 20th, 2009 at 10:31 pm

I’m sitting here tonight, reading, writing (blogging), writing proposals, listening to music and enjoying huge back of sunflower seeds. Ha! Life is good!

Reply