Good Mood Diet Blog

It’s been an awful week, and it’s only Wednesday. Bad news and bad weather are everywhere. We often look to food for comfort during these times. My first suggestion is look to loved ones and friends for comfort, rather than food. But even when we do this, food is frequently served. We get together and share a meal: a very primitive custom that meets our deep needs for kinship and survival.

Food will find it’s way into the comforting process, one way or another. So why not choose the foods that will really act on your brain chemistry to make you feel better and help you better cope with stress in the long run? And even help you sleep better? Here are the Good Mood Comfort Foods.

• Dairy
• Fish
• Whole grains
• Avocadoes
• Olives and olive oil
• Nuts and seeds and nut and seed butters

I have to say that one of my true comfort foods is a peanut and butter jelly sandwich. These days I make it on a very hearty whole wheat seed bread (if you have a Great Harvest Bakery near you, I eat their Dakota Bread), natural peanut butter and unsweetened apple butter. I toast the bread just a bit so it’s warm, and I have a glass of nonfat milk to bring out the flavor and of course, help to wash it down. Now I know that along with all the comforting moments during childhood when I ate that sandwich and it made me feel good because Mom made it for me, it is also packed with mood lifting and stress busting nutrients to last long beyond the moments while I’m eating.

The Tuna Noodle Casserole recipe in The Good Mood Diet book is a great comfort food for yourself and when friends and family get together to support each other. And the Vanilla Bean Custard will make you feel better right away!

So if you're feeling a little blue these days, invite some friends over for a Good Mood Party. We could all use the comfort.

Yours in a Good Mood,
Dr. Susan Kleiner