Happiness in the Raw : 8 Mood Boosting Foods

It’s scientifically proven that happiness seems to be more plentiful in people who eat a plant based diet. Maybe that’s why so many other folks are so grumpy! Is everyone else just jealous? Is that why they keep pestering us about  our weird diets? Yes, our weird diets. Fruits and vegetables. All Natural. Coming from the earth. Weird.

Apparently the raw food diet makes people nervous. Even if it’s just raw till 4.

It’s not normal.

What’s Wrong With Us?

Many of us get really tired of people asking us the same old, tired questions about the raw diet: I know it’s pretty much the same way with vegans too.  By the way people talk you might think that food, in its raw and natural state was some brand new discovery that we still hadn’t completely wrapped our heads around ! Where’s the protein? The iron? The calcium? And what about the B vitamins? Inquiring minds want to know.

Do you think the same inquiring minds are looking on the backs of pre-packaged foods and wondering what the hell propylene glycol is and what it’s doing in our food? Or not? Because I actually look at those things. And I actually do wonder.

Come On, Get Happy!

Bottom line is that health is the foundation for happiness and there are virtually nothing but healthy benefits in eating organic raw vegan food. And it’s not just what is in it that counts but also what’s not. No chemicals, no hormones. No pesticides. None of the stuff with the long, unpronounceable names.

So here’s a few happy foods… They are what they are – and what they are is so much better than Prozac.

Hemp seeds 

Hemp seeds are a must for the raw or vegan diet! As a source of complete vegetable protein, hemp contains all nine essential amino acids as well as vitamin E and minerals like iron, potassium and magnesium in trace amounts. Great for smoothies or ‘sprinkles’;  if it weren’t such a problem, I would go out into my backyard right now, and plant myself a hemp field just to have my own stash of this nutritional blockbuster!

Nuts

Inclusive of walnuts, brazil nuts, almonds, cashews, pecans and so on, there’s nothing like nuts for acquiring fiber, vitamin E and minerals in trace amounts if you are following a raw/ vegan diet. Nuts, in general, are high in magnesium. Magnesium plays a large role in the development of serotonin which is a major contributor to feelings of happiness and is a common element used in homeopathy to balance mood.

Green Leafy Vegetables  

Gotta’ get your greens!  Kale, collards, spinach, arugula, watercress…. It’s a long list but pile them on! Low in calories, what we have here is sheer nutritional density. High in fiber, vitamin C, beta-carotene, iron, calcium, folate and vitamin B6, not to mention … Ta Da! Drum roll, please…Protein! The folic acid in leafy greens has been proven to fight fatigue and depression.

Tomatoes

High in lycopene, a fat soluble phytonutrient that acts as protector for important brain fat. Lycopene attacks inflammation in the brain that is responsible for depression.

Legume Family

Soak and sprout to eat these raw or incorporate the cooked version into a myriad of healthful concoctions! Members of this family, namely lentils and beans – basically anything that grows in a pod – are rich in protein and fiber and the sky is the limit in terms of ways in which these can be consumed on a daily basis. While lentils score high in terms of iron content, beans are teaming with calcium, zinc and vitamin B.

Avocados

One of our favorite, healthy fats. Rich in tryptophan – a proven mood enhancer.

Citrus Fruits

We all know how Vitamin C helps combat a cold but it does double duty as a blues banisher.

And let us not forget:

Raw Cacao Nibs

Certainly these may as well be the happiness molecule. Cacao in its raw state. There’s just nothing out there that has more to offer in terms of … everything! It is one of the most complex foods on earth .The theobromine found in raw cacao is a mild, non-addictive stimulant that many believe can effectively treat depression. Chromium increases the brains serotonin, norepinephrine and melatonin levels that help to regulate moods. Dopamine boosts motivation and pleasure. And it’s the only food that contains anandamide, the neurotransmitter responsible for feelings of bliss. Fact is, this world needs all the bliss it can get and cacao just proves that some of it does grow on trees!

So stock up on all these happiness boosters and you’ll be even better equipped to deal with all those  grumpy naysayers. Just smile, knowingly, and go on your happy way.