1. 8 DIET
Happiness comes from within, or so
the saying goes. Many would
suggest we take this phrase in its
literal form, by taking a good, hard
look at the food we eat on a daily
basis. And anyone suffering from the
“blues” this winter (or at any other
time of the year) could be well-
advised to take note: there is such a
thing as a meal that makes you
happy, experts say.
We’re not talking about meals
commonly available in fast-food
chains. According to nutritional
experts, types of “happy” food
would look less like a burger, chips
and a fizzy drink and more like
turkey or wild salmon, dark green
vegetables, and sweet potatoes or
basmati rice for the main course.
For dessert it would be citrus
fruits, raw chocolate, berries,
nuts and seeds.
What makes this meal
“happy” is the collection of
nutrients it packs: tryptophan
(turkey), omega-3 (salmon),
vitamin B12 (turkey and salmon),
folate (green vegetables), niacin
(brown rice), vitamin B6 (nuts),
phenylalanine (nuts and seeds),
magnesium (chocolate) and vitamin
C (citrus fruits).
When combined, they spark
the necessary chain of events that
allow us to release more of the
“happy neurotransmitters”
produced in our bodies, such as
serotonin and dopamine.
The route to plentiful serotonin
namely lies in a tryptophan-rich
diet, but the essential amino
acid can only do its job when
combined with other key nutrients,
says Bernice Cheung Ho-ki,
dietitian at the Chinese University
of Hong Kong’s Centre for
Nutritional Studies.
“The conversion of tryptophan to
serotonin is a two-step process
[which] requires catalysts like
vitamin B6, folate, niacin and B12,”
she says.
The same goes for dopamine,
which requires phenylalanine,
tyrosine, folate, niacin and vitamins
C and B6, she says.
Key components of a “happy
food” diet, according to Alicia
Maetzener, nutritional therapist at
Vitality Centre in Central, are things
like tyrosene-rich almonds (make
you alert), avocado (has healthy fats
and B vitamins), eggs (Maetzener
recommends omega-3 eggs with
vitamins B and D), and fish, in
particular wild salmon.
There have been several studies
on omega-3 and its effects on mood.
“The people who get seasonal
affective disorder tend to be in
North America and [northern]
Europe, but not so much in Japan
[in North Asia] where the diet is
higher in fish,” says Maetzener.
Omega-3 and vitamin B are
specifically used in treating those
with mood disorders, adds Benita
Perch, naturopathic practitioner at
Integrated Medicine Institute in
Central. “I tend to give
depressive patients omega-3 and
B-complex,” she says.
Perch stresses the importance of
good quality fats – like those found
in coconut or avocado oils – in any
diet designed to elevate mood.
“Our cells are made of protein
and the phospholipid bilayer. They
are the gateway to the cell. If that
layer is made up of good quality fat
then they can function better,”
she says. “[A lack of] fatty acids
can be the reason why some people
are depressed.”
Ironically, eating fat can be a
good way of preventing ourselves
from, well, eating fat. Anita Cheung,
founder and director of i-Detox in
Central, stresses the importance of
“good fat”, because it can help
prevent those less used to healthy
eating from veering
away from the “happy
diet” and in the
direction of more
alluring – but far less
nutritious and beneficial –
type of meals.
“The nervous system is
fat-based,” Cheung says.
“Every cell needs fat but the
nerve cells are more fat-
dependent. So the basic diet
should contain a healthy fat
contingent like macadamias
and cashews. And when we
are satisfied with our fat intake
from healthy foods, then we
crave bad fats less.”
Variety ultimately is the
key to happiness, experts say.
“In general there is no magic
formula. There are no single
nutrients that can do it all,”
says Dr Edmund Li, associate
professor with the School of
Biological Sciences at University of
Hong Kong.
“There is a lot of data that
suggests poor eating relates to poor
mental function, so a healthy
balanced diet is sensible. With food
and mood … there is no doubt there
is some link there.”
Common sense does tend to
prevail, then, if we seriously want to
eat our way to happiness.
Perch recommends an anti-
inflammatory wholefood diet. Strike
out white food, fried food, red meat
and sugar, and load up on brown
rice, wholewheat pasta, legumes,
beans, fruits and vegetables. “You
should be eating at least nine
servings of fruit and vegetables every
day,” she says. “It’s a complete
lifestyle change.”
But anyone who is too wary of
the prospect of having to be too
healthy to be happy will at least take
comfort in one of the top happy
foods: chocolate.
“Cacao is packed with
antioxidants,” says Cheung.
“It provides many minerals we
are deficient in, such as magnesium,
which boosts endorphins, the
bliss chemical.”
It is also a good source of
chromium, iron, manganese, zinc,
copper and omega-6 fatty acids.
......................................................
Rachel Oliver
healthpost@scmp.com
NUTRITION
Poor eating relates to
poor mental function.
With food and mood
… there is no doubt
there is some link.”
DR EDMUND LI, FOOD SCIENCE EXPERT
Tryptophan:egg,soya,walnut,leanmeat,
almonds,sesame,pumpkin,buckwheat
VitaminB12:egg,milk,liver,leanmeat,seafood
Phenylalanine:egg,oat,leanmeat,soyabean,blackbean,
peanut,pumpkinseed,almond,sesame,pistachio
Folate:eggyolk,liver,beans,greenleafyveggies,
pumpkinseed,chestnut,flaxseed,gingko
VitaminC:orange,strawberry,guava,grape,tomato,greencapsicum,kiwi
VitaminB6:wheat,liver,blackbean,soyabean,
banana,chestnut,pistachio
Niacin:oat,brownrice,liver,fish,peanut,
pumpkinseed,sesame
Source:CentreforNutritionalStudies,
ChineseUniversityofHongKong
MOOD BOOSTERS
Eat and
be merry