Mood-Boosting Food #1: Mussels Mussels are loaded with some of the highest naturally occurring levels of vitamin B12 on the planet—a nutrient that most of us are lacking.
Mood-Boosting Food #2: Swiss Chard This leafy green is packed with magnesium—a nutrient essential for the biochemical reactions in the brain that increase your energy levels.
Mood-Boosting Food #3: Blue Potatoes Blue potatoes aren't a common supermarket find, but they're worth looking out for on your next trip to the farmer's market. Blue spuds get their color from anthocyanins, powerful antioxidants that provide neuro-protective benefits like bolstering short-term memory and reducing mood-killing inflammation.
Mood-Boosting Food #4: Grass-Fed Beef Animals raised on grass pastures boast much higher levels of healthy conjugated linoleic acid (or CLA), a "happy" fat that combats stress hormones and blasts belly fat.
Mood-Boosting Food #5: Dark Chocolate Turns out chocolate's delicious taste isn't the only reason it makes you feel so warm and fuzzy. The cocoa treat also gives you an instant boost in mood and concentration, and improves blood flow to your brain, helping you feel more vibrant and energized.
Mood-Boosting Food #6: Asparagus Your mom was on to something when she made you finish those green spears at the dinner table. This vegetable is one of the top plant-based sources of tryptophan, which serves as a basis for the creation of serotonin-one of the brain's primary mood-regulating neurotransmitters.
Mood-Boosting Food #7: Greek Yogurt This dairy pick is packed with more calcium than you'll find in milk or regular yogurt, which is good news for your mood. Calcium gives your body the "Go!" command, alerting your brain to release feel-good neurotransmitters.
Mood-Boosting Food #8: Honey Honey, unlike table sugar, is packed with beneficial compounds like quercetin and kaempferol that reduce inflammation, keeping your brain healthy and warding off depression. Honey also has a less dramatic impact on your blood-sugar levels than regular sugar, so it won't send your body into fat-storage mode the way the white stuff can.