16 Good Mood Foods To Boost Serotonin, Dopamine, And Endorphin Levels Naturally

Last updated on 10 APR 2018

Serotonin, dopamine and endorphin are all organic chemicals that maintain our mood balance and our brain’s pleasure center. When your levels are down, your mood is down. There are ways to naturally raise the levels of these feel-good organic chemicals by adding good mood foods in your diet.

We all go through cases of the blues. Fortunately, Nature provides us with foods that will boost our serotonin levels naturally and help to improve our moods.

Using these foods to increase your serotonin levels naturally will help you to get to a happier place in your day and of course since it is natural, there are no side effects to worry about. Can anyone really ever be in too good a mood?

Why Would Your Feel-Good Chemical Levels Be Low

As we age and our hormone composition starts to change, it affects all of the hormones in our body. We often think about estrogen or testosterone but we do not really consider the relationship that our primary hormones have with our secondary hormones like serotonin, dopamine and endorphin.

Science is currently looking at the relationship of all of these hormones. It would stand to reason though that if one level falls, it will affect the levels of the other hormones as well.  Of course if you have certain health conditions, that too would affect your hormone levels in your body.

Signs That Your Feel-Good Chemicals Are Low

Other than just not feeling well, one of the signs that the levels of your happy hormones are off kilter is a craving for sugary carbs.  Sugary carbs give you that instant gratification that is associated with increased levels of your happy hormones, unfortunately it is also really bad for other parts of your body.

It may very well be why so many of us are addicted to sugary sweets. A balanced hormone system will eliminate those cravings.  Surprisingly enough the foods that help to balance your hormone levels are foods that are also good for other parts of your body as well.  In other words, if the focus is on taking care of your body through nutrition your hormones would rarely be off kilter.

Some very simple changes to your diet can leave you in a much better place both physically and mentally.

Good Mood Foods To Eat

One of the key factors in increasing serotonin and other happy hormones is tryptophan. It is an amino acid that feeds these hormones. The theory behind eating chocolate to improve your mood is actually a great theory. Chocolates release tryptophan that feeds your happy hormones.

When you are trying to balance your hormones, magnesium and the B Vitamins play a key role, specifically the B3 and B6 vitamins specifically. Healthy fats play a role in this mood-boost and resveratrol from dark skinned fruits like grapes, is also an important nutrient.

Use these foods to increase your serotonin levels naturally.

1. Raw pumpkin seeds
2. Spirulina
3. Raw spinach
4. Sesame seeds
5. Bananas
6. Raw dried dates
7. Oats
8. Watercress
9. Sunflower seeds
10. Horseradish
11. Pumpkin leaves
12. Turnip greens
13. Cacao
14. Buckwheat
15. Millet

All of the above are geared toward a vegan diet and they all offer the perfect balance to help enhance your mood through the natural production of serotonin.

Non-vegans may add:

1. Mussels
2. Lobsters
3. Eggs
4. Cottage cheese
5. Turkey

The goal is to balance your hormones by balancing your diet. Eating the right foods in the right amounts will help you to feel better, look better and live life to the fullest.

About Sara Ding

Sara Ding is the founder of Juicing-for-Health.com. She is a certified Wellness Health Coach, Nutritional Consultant and a Detox Specialist. She helps busy men and women identify their health issues at the root cause, in order to eliminate the problems for optimum physical/mental health and wellbeing.

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