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Vegetarians appear to have a better overall mood when compared to omnivores. This may be due the consequences of eating more plants, such as higher serum carotenoid levels and increased serotonin in the brain. Conversely, part of this effect may be due to decreasing negative factors associated with meat, such as the anxiety producing chemical ractopamine, or the inflammatory arachidonic acid. New evidence suggests that our gut bacteria may actually be able to communicate with our brain to affect our mood. Certain odors appear to significantly affect our mood as well. Orange aromatherapy may decrease anxiety while increasing concentration, and lavender may be more effective than benzodiazepine drugs like valium. It appears however that you’ll have to do more than just sniff some saffron to improve PMS. Apple juice might improve the mood of Alzheimer’s patients (though not their memory). It appears music can be medicinal, but you might want to make it Mozart to maximize your mood.
Image Credit: kieferpix / Thinkstock. This image has been modified.
Topic summary contributed by Andrew
The spice saffron may not only work as well as SSRI antidepressant drugs like Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft without the side effects; they may be able to even treat the adverse sexual side effects that occur in up to 70% of people taking them.
In this “best-of” compilation of his last four year-in-review presentations, Dr. Greger explains what we can do about the #1 cause of death and disability: our diet.
The burgeoning field of positive psychology is based on the understanding that mental health is not just about the absence of disease.
Fennel seeds can work as effectively as drugs like ibuprofen for painful periods, and an eighth of a teaspoon of ginger powder three times a day can cut menstrual bleeding in half.
The most comprehensive controlled trial of diet and mood finds that a plant-based nutrition program in a workplace setting across ten corporate sites significantly improves depression, anxiety, and productivity.
What physiologic effects does classical music have compared to new age music, grunge rock, techno, and heavy metal?
Bariatric weight-loss surgery (like Roux-en-Y gastric bypass) is increasingly performed in children as young as five years old.
Music can beat out anti-anxiety drugs, Mozart can reduce allergic reactions, and how listening to your favorite tunes can significantly affect your testosterone levels.
Neither antioxidant or folic acid supplements seem to help with mood, but the consumption of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables and folate-rich beans and greens may lower the risk for depression.
Why are there such polarizing opinions about the taste of the fresh herb cilantro (also known as coriander leaves)?
The smell of sweet orange essential oil may have anxiety-reducing properties without the potentially addictive, sedating, and adverse effects of Valium-type benzodiazepine drugs.
In a double-blind study, lavender oil worked as well as the valium-like drug lorazepam (Ativan) for relief of persistent anxiety, though there are concerns about estrogenic effects.