Hi Friend,
Are you looking for ways to naturally boost your mood and emotional wellbeing? Are you interested in making healthy choices now that will benefit your health in the future?
Nutritional Psychiatry focuses not only on how specific foods help improve our mood and reduce stress, but also how we can use food to impact our cognitive ability and memory as we age.
Simple adjustments can slowly but steadily become habits you can incorporate for the rest of your life in order to create lasting mental fitness. Each week, I’ll share recommendations here using foods you can add to your diet to support your mental health.
I love bringing you the latest in Nutritional Psychiatry each week to boost your overall well-being. My new book Calm Your Mind with Food is a revolutionary full-body approach to relieving anxiety, including anti-anxiety recipes and meal plan guidelines.
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MOOD FOOD of the Week: Cauliflower
Mood: Depression
Food: Cauliflower
Research has shown that cauliflower can help calm the mind because…
It is high in vitamin C, an important nutrient with antioxidant properties that supports healthy brain tissue and dopamine levels for improved mood.
Cauliflower contains sulforaphane, a compound found in cruciferous veggies that helps to reduce inflammation in the brain associated with low mood.
It is also an excellent source of folate, a vitamin that helps to regulate neurotransmitter function whose deficiency has been linked to depression.
How to add this MOOD FOOD to your diet:
Cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower are powerful brain foods that support both a healthy gut and a healthy mind! Some enjoy it raw with dips like hummus, or riced and added to a salad for added fiber and extra crunch.
Cauliflower is also delicious when roasted with a bit of avocado oil and seasonings as a side dish or added to nourishing soups and stews. Its versatility makes it a staple ingredient for foods like cauliflower rice, mashed cauliflower, cauliflower buffalo ‘wings’, cauliflower steaks, or even cauliflower pizza crust!
Did you know that you can also use it to create a healthier version of mac and cheese? This week, as part of my premium subscription, I am excited to share my recipe for Healthy-ish Mac & Cheese!
How to buy cauliflower:
Cauliflower can typically be found wherever you shop for your vegetables in grocery stores or produce markets. You can buy heads of cauliflower in the produce section, or buy it pre-cut into florets in the refrigerated section. The frozen section of grocery stores is where you can typically find riced cauliflower, frozen florets and specialty products like cauliflower pizza crust. For these products I advise always reading the ingredients label and choosing options that have cauliflower as their first ingredient and nothing else except for herbs and spices. Watch for added processed ingredients here.
Wishing you a joyful & calm week,
Dr. Uma Naidoo, MD
NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
CNBC: Check out this article with CNBC, where I share brain-boosting breakfasts and other brain food insights.
Well+Good: On Well + Good, I talk about how eating is a powerful tool that supports one’s physical and mental well-being, and nurtures our relationships with others. Read more here.
Keeping It Real with Jillian Michaels: Check out this podcast where I talk with Jillian Michaels about the worst offending foods and added ingredients that exacerbate anxiety and depression, as well as the most powerful foods and nutrients to optimize focus, contentment, and calm. Plus, top foods to boost libido!
5 Anti-Inflammatory Foods To Eat For A Younger, Healthier Brain: Take a look at this list on mindbodygreen of the top five "anti-aging" foods I recommend to help protect your brain from damage over time.
Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta: I join CNN’s Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta on his podcast to talk about how to build a strong brain and keep it sharp. Listen in here.
This Week’s Recipe: Healthy-ish Mac & Cheese
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