Good Mood Foods - Food Containing Tryptophan

Tryptophan is an essential amino acid, one of the building blocks that your body uses in order to make new cells, hormones, chemicals etc. It cannot be made by the body, so has to be taken in through your diet.

The feel-good brain chemical Serotonin and Melatonin, which helps you sleep, both require tryptophan. So in order to boost production of both, hopefully lifting your mood and helping with sleeping problems such as insomnia, it makes sense to eat foods with lots of tryptophan in them.

Good foods to try include:

•Chocolate (yes, really!)
•Oats
•Dairy Products
•Eggs
•Poultry
•Pulses eg chickpeas
•Nuts
•Banana

One of the problems with amino acids is that they compete with each other to be absorbed by the body. So the best way to incorporate tryptophan-rich foods is with a meal containing lots of carbohydrates rather than proteins.