Although February is technically spring, it is still very cold and frosty.   The short hours of daylight contribute to many people suffering from SAD – seasonal affective disorder – commonly known as the winter blues.  If the crocuses, snowdrops and longer days haven’t lifted your spirits out of the depressive, dark winter, you need to eat foods that are involved in making the ‘happiness’ hormone Serotonin.

Women are 3 times more prone to low moods as men.  There are many reasons for this, but one valid reason is that women and men are bio-chemically different.  Men produce serotonin twice as fast as women, this allows them to bounce back faster without suffering from prolonged blues.  We also react differently to low serotonin.  Women, with low serotonin, get depressed and anxious.  Men, on the other hand, may get aggressive and perhaps become alcoholic.

Most foods have protein in them.  Protein is made up of chains of many different amino acids.  One type of amino acid is tryptophan.  This gets converted in the body into serotonin, which helps us to feel optimistic, motivated and happy.  By having a diet of no tryptophan, we can’t make serotonin and our spirits drop.  For these wondrous tryptophan and thus happiness rich foods eat plenty of fish, turkey, chicken, cheese, beans, tofu, oats and eggs.  The following meals are great ways of eating tryptophan:

-    Oat porridge with milk and 2 scrambled eggs.
-    Baked potato with cottage cheese and tuna salad
-    Chicken breast, green beans and potatoes au gratin (baked with a cheese white sauce)
-    Whole-wheat spaghetti with bean, tofu or meat sauce
-    Omelette with cheese and vegetables.

Eating really great foods improves your mood and also gives you energy and motivation to make changes in your life.

It is important to note that low serotonin can also be attributable to hormonal imbalance, not enough light, not enough exercise and too much stress.