Those winter blues setting in?  Are any foods natural mood boosters?  Yes!   Try eating like a Spaniard, an Italian or a Greek.  In a study of more than 11,000 people, those who stuck to a Mediterranean diet scored higher on markers of mental health than their counterparts who ate a more Western diet (1).  How to eat the Mediterranean way?  Pack your diet with fruits, veggies, beans, nuts, and whole grains.  Use olive oil instead of saturated fats like butter.  Eat fish more frequently than red meat, and for all you wine lovers, drinking about 1 cup of red wine daily is also a perk of the Mediterranean diet. 

Though researchers couldn’t pinpoint what exactly about the diet boosted participant’s mental health they suspect omega-3 fats (found in oily fish), B vitamins and folate contributed.

Two other “foods” with some mood boosting promise are the spice turmeric and green tea.  Turmeric contains a polyphenol called curcumin has been linked to a better mood (2).  In one animal study, curcu...