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The get happy diet

0SCIENTISTS HAVE known for years that serotonin — the so-called ‘happy hormone’ — boosts our moods and general feeling of wellbeing. They know, too, that a lack of serotonin can lead to depression which, according to the World Health Organisation, affects 121 million people worldwide.

Not surprisingly, well-known antidepressants such as Prozac are designed to alter the balance of some of the brain’s chemicals to increase its ability to retain serotonin.

Doctors believe a deficiency of this hormone can cause a range of problems including migraine, eating disorders, irritable bowel syndrome and stress. It has even been linked to obesity and insomnia.

Now, Dr Caroline Longmore, a French paediatrician and natural health expert, has devised a plan everyone can follow to lift their daily levels of serotonin without resorting to pharmaceutical drugs — and get happier and healthier straight away.

In this exclusive extract from The Serotonin Secret, Dr Longmore’s new ‘e-book’ available only as an online download, we explain just what serotonin is, why you may be deficient in it and how to boost levels through diet, exercise and supplements.

What is serotonin?

Serotonin is a chemical produced by the brain, believed to play an important role in regulating mood, anger, and aggression, as well as body temperature, sleep and appetite.

If its concentration in the brain is normal, we feel relaxed, happy and in control. If it drops below optimum levels, we may feel irritated, anxious and depressed.

Our body instantly attempts to counteract the low serotonin concentration in the brain, leading to carbohydrate cravings, which result in a subsequent rise in serotonin levels.

What causes deficiency?

Serotonin is derived from the essential amino acid tryptophan, which the body cannot make itself.

So for many of us, unless we take enough tryptophan through our diets, we may suffer a deficiency.

However, insufficient serotonin synthesis may also be caused by genetic factors, an overworked immune system, or when the brain has been damaged by toxins such as alcohol. It can also be provoked by long-term stress.

What are the symptoms?

The most obvious symptom is a change or lowering of mood, but symptoms also include sleeplessness, problems with concentration and memory, and binge-eating or carbohydrate craving. Longer-term deficiency may result in obesity, chronic exhaustion and fatigue, anxiety and panic attacks, migraine and depression.

What drugs are available?

If you suffer from severe depression, you may be offered a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor such as Prozac. Those with eating disorders can also be helped by SSRIs. _But recent studies have shown mild to moderate depression is better treated with cognitive behavioural therapy or holistically, than through drugs.

The best way is through diet: eat foods rich in the natural amino acid tryptophan and avoid sugar and processed carbohydrates which artificially raise blood-sugar levels, leaving you feeling temporarily better, before even wilder mood swings.

Other vitamins are also required for tryptophan to be successfully converted to serotonin including Vitamins B (3 and 6) and C, as well as magnesium and zinc.

There are several other ways to boost your levels including taking herbs such as St John’s wort, oatstraw, angelica root, burdock, ginseng, dandelion, rhodolia, black cohosh and wild yam.

Another alternative is 5-HTP or ‘hydroxy L-tryptophan’, which is metabolised into serotonin in the body and can be bought in tablets from most health stores, although there is no real scientific data to back up its effectiveness.

The World Health Organisation accepts acupuncture as an effective therapy form for more than 100 conditions including depression. Yoga, tai chi, massage, stretching and walking are all serotonin boosters.

Sunshine gives a good natural lift too, so try to get outside when you can between 11am and 1pm.

Why should I avoid sugar?

Foods that are high in sugar and carbohydrates can lift serotonin levels quickly and effectively - think of the ‘high’ you get after eating a chocolate bar.

But this is not the right way to achieve balance and stability in your serotonin levels in the long run. Instead, a sugar-rich diet will lead to blood-sugar imbalances and increased fat deposits, and may eventually link to metabolic syndrome, with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and even premature death.

Follow the suggested meal plans and recipes in the book, and concentrate on eating more natural tryptophans every day.

Take daily gentle exercise and, if necessary, vitamin supplements. You can snack on plenty of things such as fresh fruit, raw vegetables, raw nuts and seeds, rice cakes or oat cakes spread with tahini paste or nut butter (but not peanut butter). Have two litres of room temperature water (bottled or filtered) every day, with dandelion or herbal teas.

Eat your way to good cheer

Your cut-out-and-keep three-day meal plan (Serves 4)

DAY ONE

Breakfast: Porridge with skimmed milk, topped with fresh fruit and nuts.

Lunch: Butterbean, watercress and herb dip, served with vegetable crudites and bread sticks.

Dinner: Sticky chicken with spinach.

Butterbean, watercress, and herb dip

Ingredients:

250g plain cottage cheese;

400g butterbeans, drained;

1 bunch spring onions;

50g watercress;

60ml mayonnaise;

3tbsp frozen mixed herbs;

salt, pepper.

Crudites (carrot sticks, for example) and breadsticks to serve.

Method:

Put cottage cheese, butterbeans, spring onions, watercress, mayonnaise and herbs in food processor.

Blend until smooth; chill, serve with crudites and breadsticks.

Sticky chicken with spinach

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinned chicken breast fillets;

2 tbsp olive oil;

400ml chicken stock;

4 tbsp finely cut marmalade;

fresh or dried thyme sprigs;

salt, pepper.

Method:

Season chicken with salt and pepper, fry chicken in the oil for 8-10 mins until golden on each side; add stock, marmalade and thyme, simmer for 5 minutes, remove chicken and boil the mixture hard to reduce to a syrup; pour over the chicken; serve with rice and spinach.

DAY TWO

Breakfast: Cottage cheese with fresh fruit.

Lunch: Pea and asparagus soup.

Dinner: Marinated tuna with coriander rice.

Pea and asparagus soup

Ingredients:

500ml chicken or vegetable stock,

8 spring onions,

500g frozen peas,

160g asparagus,

salt, pepper,

2 rashers bacon.

1 slice wholemeal bread to serve.

Method:

Put stock on to heat, add thinly chopped spring onions and frozen peas, bring to boil; rinse asparagus, remove tips, roughly chop the stems and add to saucepan with salt.

Now reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 10-15 mins. Once cooked, blend asparagus and peas into a puree, add pepper. Fry bacon in pan until golden, then set aside. Cut bread in small dices, fry for 2-3 mins on high heat and tip on to kitchen paper to remove any excess oil; add asparagus tips to puree in a saucepan, simmer for 5 mins and serve with bacon and croutons.

Marinated tuna with coriander rice

Ingredients:

• 250g basmati rice,
• four tuna fillets, 125g each,
• 5cm piece of fresh root ginger (grated),
• 1tbsp olive oil,
• 100ml orange juice,
• 300g pak choi, roughly chopped,
• coriander to garnish.

Method:

Cook the rice to taste. Put tuna in a shallow dish; add ginger, oil and orange juice; turn tuna over to coat.

Heat a non-stick pan until really hot; add the four tuna fillets and half of marinade; cook for 1-2 minutes on each side until golden; remove from pan, keep warm.

Add bok choi to frying pan, cook for 1-2 mins; drain cooked rice and stir coriander through; serve tuna on rice with pak choi.

DAY THREE

Breakfast: Smoothie made with berries and bananas (ground almonds/ground oats can be added).

Lunch: Wild rice and turkey salad.

Dinner: Roast spiced cod with mango and lime.

Wild rice and turkey salad and tuna salad

Ingredients:

• 180g wild rice,
• 2 celery stalks (chopped),
• 2 spring onions (chopped),
• 120g small button mushrooms,
• 450g cooked turkey breast, diced,
• 1 pear,
• 6-8 tbsps of vinaigrette.

Method:

Bring 11/2 litres of water to boil, add salt and wild rice, cook until soft; drain and set aside to cool down.

Add the celery and spring onions to the rice when cool, add mushrooms and cooked turkey.

Add dressing; peel pear and cut into small slices to use as decoration on top of salad.

Roast spiced cod with mango and lime

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp turmeric,
• 1 de-seeded chilli,
• 280g basmati rice,
• 4 cod fillets,
• 1 tbsp olive oil,
• 1 mango,
• Fresh chopped coriander,
• salt.

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 180C.

Mix together turmeric, chilli and salt; cut the fillets into slices; cook the rice; put the fish in roasting tin and drizzle with olive oil; coat each piece with some spice mixture and roast for 8-10 mins.

Cut the mango into 2-inch cubes. When fish has been cooking for 5 minutes, add the mango pieces on top and continue cooking until the fish flakes easily; drain the rice and put on plates.

Add fish and mango and garnish with chopped coriander.