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Your Healthy Family: Certain foods can boost your mood

Posted at 9:06 AM, Dec 27, 2021
and last updated 2022-03-15 12:29:15-04

Health experts say certain foods can boost your mood.

Dr. Susan Albers is a Psychologist with the Cleveland Clinic, and said foods rich in Vitamin D are the foods to prioritize during the winter months, when emotional eating is more common.

"People who have more emotional eating are shown to have lower levels of Vitamin D, which is associated with more anxiety and depression,” she said.

She said some great sources of Vitamin D are shiitake mushrooms, salmon, egg yolks, fortified cereals, milk, and red meat. She said to avoid grabbing the sugary, processed snacks because those can bring your mood down over time. Instead, she recommends reaching for sweet potatoes, beets, walnuts, and spicy roasted chickpeas.

Dr. Albers said what you eat not only impacts your mood, but also your immune system.

"One of the best things you can do to help your immune system and to boost your mood is add foods that are high in Vitamin C. These are foods like citrus fruits, oranges, mangoes, lemons, kiwis. But they are also found in broccoli, bell peppers and strawberries," she said.

Dr. Albers said what you eat also impacts your sleep. If you're feeling overwhelmed about changing up your diet, she recommends swapping out one food each day.