I've spent thousands of hours reading research on nutrition and neurology to try to determine the best diet for optimal well-being.

>Anthocyanin/Carotenoid containing produce
Anthocyanins are blue, red, and purple pigments in plant foods, while carotenoids are red/orange/yellow. They're *phytonutrients* (plant nutrients) and they're one of the few nutritional components shown to improve mood in a *dose-response* manner. "Dose response" means that the effect is dependent on how much you eat - the higher the intake, the greater the effect. This is different than some other nutrients that you might've heard of that are supposedly good for mood, like vitamin E, b12, or omega 3's. These nutrients do help reduce depression, but unlike carotenoids, the effect does not scale with dosage - once you have enough, more doesn't help. On the other hand, there have been studies showing people eating up to *50 servings of fruit* per day and the effect never stops scaling - they continue to be happier the more they eat.

The best foods with these phytonutrients are:
>yams, carrots, carrot juice, tomatoes, tomato sauce & juice, berries, purple cabbage, black beans, bell peppers, citrus fruit, and dark green leafy vegetables (greens contain lots of yellow/orange carotenoids but you can't see them because the green chlorophyll is overpowering)

There are also other groups of flavenoid phytonutrients that have the same effect, so eating tons of fruits in vegetables in general is good. Apples, for example, still boost mood, even though they don't contain carotenoids.

Some other things:
>Plain Coffee, Tea (with nothing added)
Both coffee and tea have phytonutrients that have a synergistic effect with the caffeine, and have been show in the long-term to increase mood, cognitive performance, and reduce risk of neurogenerative disorders. These are actually the most potent anti-depressants you can consume, research has shown that >continued>