Given my opinion that meat, when done right, is brainfood, a recent study entitled "Vegetarian Diets are Associated with Healthy Mood States: a Cross-sectional Study in Seventh Day Adventist Adults" kept me up at night. Maybe I shouldn’t worry too much. This is a small sample of a specialized population: 138 Seventh Day Adventists, just 60 of whom are vegetarian.
A new article from Men's Health lists the happiness grades earned by 100 cities in the US. Here's how they calculated the list, based on statistical data:
"We calculated suicide rates (CDC) and unemployment rates (Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of June 2011). Then we tapped SimplyMap for the percentage of households that use antidepressants as well as the number of people who report feeling the blues all or most of the time."
Click here to find out if your city made the list, and where. Regardless of where you live, watching what you eat is essential to brain health, mood, and happiness. (Notice that shout out to The Happiness Diet?)
Many people are intimidated by the thought of cooking fish. But oven roasting is a simple way to get it right every time. Cod is a wonderful source of complete protein and is especially high in tryptophan. Studies of this amino acid, the basic ingredient for making serotonin, show that it can help some people ditch the blues or with PMS. Instead of a supplement, cod is nature’s top food source. Offer up your recommended side dishes in the comments.
Purple cauliflower is the purple potion that builds a better brain.
Cauliflower contains vitamin B6 and folate, two methylators that are vital to making neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine which regulated mood, memory, sex drive, pleasure and attention. They also reduce homocystiene, high levels of which are associated with both depression and heart disease. It is a brainfood carb as it is very low in sugar, but high in fiber. This purple potion is also packed with vitamin C.
The brain tune-up at the end of your fork
Good mental health-feeling your best, focused, energetic, and balanced-begins with the right food choices. And the stats are in, folks. We are not making the right choices. Today, illness rates are at an all-time high, not only for obesity and diabetes, but also all major brain disorders. Two-thirds of Americans are obese and ninety-seven million have pre-diabetes; both conditions wreak havoc on the brain, increasing the risk of depression and dementia.
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