Dr. Uma's Mood Foods

Hi ,

Are you looking for ways to naturally boost your mood and emotional wellbeing? Are you interested in making healthy choices now that will benefit your health in the future?

Nutritional Psychiatry focuses not only on how specific foods help improve our mood and reduce stress, but also how we can use food to impact our cognitive ability and memory as we age.

Simple adjustments can slowly but steadily become habits you can incorporate for the rest of your life in order to create lasting mental fitness. Each week, I’ll share recommendations here using foods you can add to your diet to support your mental health.

I love bringing you the latest in Nutritional Psychiatry each week to boost your overall well-being. My new book, Calm Your Mind with Food is a revolutionary full-body approach to relieving anxiety, including anti-anxiety recipes and meal plan guidelines.

Mood: Anxiety
Food: Parsley

Research has shown that parsley can help calm the mind because…

It is rich in luteolin, a flavonoid, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent that has been linked to reduced anxiety, including that related to PTSD.

Like other leafy greens, parsley is high in folate, which supports healthy neurotransmitter function for improved energy and focus.

Parsley is loaded with Vitamin K, which has been linked to more stabilized blood sugar and reduced anxiety.

How to add this MOOD FOOD to your diet:
Like other herbs and leafy greens, parsley is super versatile! You can chop up fresh parsley and add to a colorful kaleidoscope salad (like the one on page 254 of my book, Calm Your Mind with Food), garnish a soup or stew, fold into a whole grain like quinoa, add a twist to a pesto or add flavor to clean proteins like salmon or a frittata! You can add it to homemade salad dressing, marinade or your favorite sauce. If you like the flavor, a handful of parsley leaves can also be added to your morning green smoothie for added nutrients.

Make It CNBC: Many people don’t realize that there’s a way in which the food we eat impacts our mental wellbeing. The 4 best changes you can make to your diet for a healthy brain can be read here.

Live with Kelly & Mark: I had a blast with Kelly Ripa and Mark Conseulos on Live with Kelly and Mark last week discussing Calm Your Mind With Food! I loved getting to explain the beautiful Kaleidoscope of foods and the many ways that the different phytonutrients and bioactives found in different colored foods help to calm the mind (much more info on this in my book!). Watch here.

The Washington Post: Through my practice as a nutritional psychiatrist, I have found that diet and lifestyle changes can play a drastic role in reducing symptoms of anxiety for anyone dealing with stress. I am thrilled to have recently shared my favorite anxiety reducing foods with The Washington Post! Read here.

Time Magazine: Honored to be featured in Time Magazine as a pioneer of Nutritional Psychiatry and thrilled to see this field continue to grow! Check out this article about how food can improve your mood here.

Glamour Magazine: In a recent interview with Glamour, I share how my parents and childhood experiences motivated my education choices that guided me to where I am today. Read it here.