Porridge makes you happy

Downhearted women have known for years that eating chocolate can cheer them up.

The downside is that the life caused by the sugar is later followed by an emotional low.

Mental health experts now say that eating certain foods can actually affect the way you think, and even change your whole outlook on life.

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Feelings of depression and even panic attacks can be reduced by a change in diet, and specialists say that porridge and oatcakes are at the top of the tree when it comes to a happy outlook on life.

Researchers found that by changing their food intake, 80 per cent of people interviewed felt better and a quarter said their mood swings, depression or anxiety disappeared.

It may not sound like a feast, but dining on stewed fruit, followed by a banana on an oatcake, could make you ecstatic.

Foods required for good mental health include (inevitably) fruit and veg, along with oily fish like sardines and tuna. But according the mental health charity Mind, there are some unusual new 'health foods' like pumpkin , salmon, and walnuts.

Some foods often considered healthy can be the very foods that are having a disabling influence on how a person feels about life, because everyday foods can change the way that neurotransmitters in the brain affect how people think, feel and behave.

One popular anti-depressant (monoamine oxidase inhibitors) interacts unfavourably with cheese and beans, which results in dangerously high blood pressure.

Out go sugar, caffeine, alcohol, and chocolate, and in come water, stewed fruit and dried apricots, Recommended intake includes wholegrain rye bread, and basmati rice.

But it doesn't sound like it is going to make you feel good, does it