Mood Enhancing Supplements

There are many different mood improving foods that help to greatly better our mood. These are mostly natural mood enhancers and so work great on our body and are attained from natural sources like our daily diet. However, at times, these mood enhancing food fall short of our requirements, as in, there is need for extra quantities of certain ingredients to help in improving the mood considerably. These supplements are also needed for people that are borderline cases of depression. This is where mood enhancing supplements come into the picture. Mood enhancing supplements are nothing but special sources of certain chemicals that help to elevate our mood. So given below are the various supplements that help to elevate our mood and their mechanism of action.

List of Supplements

Omega 3 essential fatty acids: Omega 3 essential fatty acids are highly effective in regulating brain function, so that problems like depression do not occur. For optimum functioning of neurons, there needs to be healthy functioning of membranes and proper membrane fluidity. It is these essential fatty acids that help to deal with different types of mood disorders by ensuring that there is proper functioning of neurons.

5-HTP: A daily dose of 50 mg in the morning generally helps to increase serotonin. 5 HTP is a calming and mood enhancing amino acid.

St. John's Wort: This is the plant Hypercium perforatum. This is also known as Tipton's weed or Klamath weed. It is said to act in a similar manner as an antidepressant. This is one of the most commonly prescribed mood enhancing herbs and is also said to have half as many side effects when compared to antidepressants.

Mood Enhancing Vitamins: Vitamins are some of the best supplements to enhance mood. This is because, they are not only easily available in our regular diet but also are easily absorbed. The various examples of mood enhancing vitamins include:

• Vitamin B1: Vitamin B1, also known as thiamine, helps to improve a person's mood. This is a vitamin that is also essential for proper and smooth nerve function. Thus, including thiamine rich foods can be of great help when dealing with mood disorders.
• Vitamin B3: Vitamin B3 is also known as niacin. This helps to improve the mood and also the overall health of a person.
• Vitamin B6: Besides the many vitamin B6 benefits, this vitamin is also needed for the optimum production of serotonin, the mood enhancing chemical that is produced in the brain.
• Other vitamins: There are many other vitamins that are available as mood enhancing supplements. These include pantothenic acid, folic acid, biotin, and vitamin C. All these help to increase energy levels and so, help to make a person feel lively and better.

These were the various supplements and active ingredients that help in elevating the mood of a person. However, on a closing note, it is advisable to be slightly wary of mood enhancing pills that do not have the ingredients clearly mentioned on the label. If it simply claims that the pills are made from 'natural ingredients', then rest assured, there is more to it than meets the eye. These may simply be placebos that are being sold as part of some marketing ploy or may contain something that you may be allergic to. Hence, in such cases, rather than resorting to supplements, it is best to take to natural measures like eating right and exercising, because believe it or not, exercise helps to boost your mood and improve mood naturally. A sound sleep can also do wonders, as some much-needed rest for our brain aids to get rid of our worries and helps us to get up in a much better mood. So next time you feel depressed, just go for a run or sleep it off and if nothing works, then there's always chocolate!