These foods are linked to 'boosting your mood'

While diet alone can't treat depression or anxiety, growing evidence suggests it can support mood and mental wellbeing as part of a healthy lifestyle.

Nutrients in food are essential to the production of your body's feel-good chemicals, external serotonin and dopamine.

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter and hormone that regulates your mood, helps you sleep and even affects your appetite. Dopamine manages motivation and attention, helps keep us moving and feel pleasure.

The satisfaction you feel when you've ticked off the to-do list is partly due to a dopamine rush. Low dopamine can reduce our focus and interest and is thought to be linked to conditions including ADHD, external and Parkinson's disease, external.

More than 90% of serotonin is produced in the gut, external - but how does what you eat affect your mood?

Studies have found that people with depression and those who sleep poorly often have abnormal gut microbes. Eating to boost your gut bacteria could improve your mood, as well as your diet.

Eating prebiotics and probiotics are a good place to start, but a varied diet with plenty of veg and fibre is key.

Pre and probiotics

Pre and probiotics have been found to decrease anxiety and increase happiness, external.

Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts found in fermented foods and some dairy products, and they're tastier than they sound.

Prebiotics are found in complex carbohydrates that we can't digest. But your good gut bacteria like to eat them – hurrah!

Fruit, veg and wholegrains

Eating prebiotics and probiotics is a good place to start but a varied diet with plenty of veg and fibre is key.

Complex carbs do a lot of work to keep us happy - they release glucose into our bodies to give us a steady stream of energy, external and increase serotonin. They're found in fruit, vegetables, wholemeal bread, brown rice, wholegrain pasta, beans, pulses and oats.

Vitamin B deficiencies, external can result in reduced feel-good chemicals and brain function, plus tiredness. Eggs are packed with B vitamins, as well as healthy fats and protein, that contribute to a healthy brain, external. Recent studies have suggested there could even be reduced risk of depression, external for regular egg eaters.

Whether you like to start your day with scrambled eggs or you prefer them poached for lunch or dinner, they're a quick and easy way to boost your nutritional intake.

If eggs aren't your bag, look to other sources of vitamin B, such as wholegrains, red meat, dairy, beans, bananas, green vegetables and beetroot.

For older people, consuming enough folate (vitamin B9) is also important, as a deficiency caused by factors such as poor diet, ageing or malabsoprtion can increase the chance of feeling depressed, external. Folate is found in green vegetables, citrus fruits, liver, beans and fortified foods.

Oily fish, including salmon, pilchards, sardines, trout and mackerel contain omega-3 which are important for brain function, and serotonin and dopamine.

Seafood is also a source of zinc, which is involved in almost every aspect of brain function, and research found it reduces anger, depression and PMS in women, external. Other sources of zinc include meat, eggs and dairy, as well as beans, nuts and wholegrains.

Sugary foods, white bread, pasta and rice

Tucking into cakes, biscuits, sugary snacks and drinks can give you a lift if you're feeling down – but it's a short-lived fix, external. While eating something you've been craving makes the body release dopamine, these simple carbs, which are also found in white bread and white pasta, release sugar into your blood quickly. That means a swift increase then decrease in feelings of happiness. Hello mid-afternoon slump.

Saturated fat

Foods high in saturated fat, such as butter, palm oil and coconut oil, have been linked to reduced dopamine signalling in the brain., external

1. Eat three, small regular meals, external, with one or two healthy snacks, throughout the day to avoid blood sugar peaks and troughs.

2. Stay hydrated with water, external throughout the day to help you stay alert and chipper.

3. Manage your caffeine intake, external. Anything that provides a quick burst of energy can also take it away, leaving you wearier than before. Caffeine can also affect your sleep and lead to feelings of anxiety. Cut back or switch to decaf.

4. Planning is key to nutritionally balanced meals cooked from scratch. But if you're short of time, keep it simple - beans or eggs on wholemeal toast will do!

5. The NHS recommends getting active to improve your mental wellbeing, external.

Originally published January 2019. Updated March 2026.

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