Best Fruits and Vegetables for Mental Stability and Happiness
Fruits and vegetables are packed with all of the aforementioned vitamins and minerals, making them a logical choice when you need a mental boost.
Produce High in B Vitamins
From B1 to B12, the B vitamins contain many nutrients you need to maintain well-being and fight depression. B1 or thiamine is found in beef, legumes (beans, lentils), milk, nuts, oats, oranges, pork, rice, seeds, wheat, whole grain cereals, and yeast, including brewer's yeast. In industrialized countries, foods made with white rice or white flour are often fortified with thiamin (because most of the naturally occurring thiamin is lost during the refinement process).
Foods high in inositol include oranges, grapefruit, cantaloupe, peaches, watermelon, strawberries, and tomatoes.
To get Pantothenic Acid, reach for cauliflower, broccoli, and kale. Foods rich in vitamin B3 include peanuts, wheat bran, and brewer's yeast and you can also find small amounts in mushrooms and asparagus. You can find lots of B5 in peanuts, mushrooms, split peas, soy beans and soy flour, and B6 in kale, spinach, turnip greens, bell peppers, and prunes. Foods rich in B12 vitamins include tofu and tempeh.
Foods high in folic acid include fava, roman, soy and white beans; lima beans, chickpeas, lentils, spinach and cooked asparagus. It is also present in peanuts, sunflower seeds, romaine lettuce, and orange and pineapple juices, according to Cherie Calbom, author of The Juice Lady's Guide to Juicing for Health.
To boost the effectiveness of vitamin C, enjoy it with produce that's also high in beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is found in fruits and vegetables with orange skin, such as carrots and mangos, as well as many leafy greens.
Where to Find Vitamin C
Many fruits and vegetables are high in vitamin C, including citrus fruit, and parsley, which has three times the amount of vitamin C found in oranges. Other great sources of vitamin C include kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, watercress, cauliflower, cabbage, strawberries, papaya, spinach, turnips, mangoes, asparagus, and cantaloupe.
Getting Vitamins E and D
Produce rich in vitamin E includes spinach, watercress, asparagus, carrots, and tomatoes.
To get lots of vitamin D, reach for sunflower seeds, sunflower sprouts, and mushrooms, and be sure to get lots of daily sunlight.
Studies show that not getting enough sun prevents the body from producing vitamin D3, the hormonal form of vitamin D. People who live in temperate latitudes with long, cold, and gray winters, may be more prone to multiple sclerosis because of a lack of vitamin D.
Produce that Supplies Carbs and Carotene
Most fruits and vegetables provide carbohydrates, but you'll find an abundance of them in starchy vegetables like potatoes, corn, and rice.
Carotenes are plant pigments that help prevent free-radical damage to the body and help boost the immune system. Find them in carrots, kale, spinach, chard, beet greens, watercress, mangoes, cantaloupe, apricots, broccoli, and romaine lettuce.
Mineral-Rich Produce
Here's what to juice to consume a wide array of minerals:
Foods rich in magnesium include beet greens and beets, spinach, parsley, dandelion greens, garlic, blackberries, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and celery.
Find iron in parsley, dandelion greens, broccoli, cauliflower, strawberries, asparagus, chard, blackberries, cabbage, beets with greens, carrots, and pineapple.
Foods rich in potassium include parsley, chard, spinach, garlic, carrots, celery, radishes, cauliflower, watercress, asparagus, and cabbage.
You'll find plenty of manganese in spinach, beet greens and beets, carrots, broccoli, cabbage, peaches, tangerines, apples, oranges, and pears.
Foods rich in zinc include ginger root, turnips, parsley, garlic, carrots, grapes, spinach, cabbage, cucumber, and tangerines.
Calcium-rich produce includes kale, parsley, dandelion greens, watercress, beet greens, broccoli, spinach, romaine, string beans, oranges, celery, and carrots.
Find selenium in chard, turnips, garlic, oranges, radishes, grapes, carrots, and cabbage.
Find omega-3 acids in flaxseed and hemp oil.
