How to eat your way to happiness [news]

There's increasing evidence that eating the right food can elevate your mood. Scientific research suggests that some vegetables, fruits and spices can affect the chemistry of the brain and act as mood enhancers, promoting calmness and a sense of well-being, while vitamin and mineral deficiencies can lead to mood swings, insomnia and depression. "The food that we eat every day has a massive influence on the functioning of the brain," says Tanushree Podder, author of You Are What You Eat. "Diets with low nutrients, exposure to the environmental toxins in our everyday living, stress, working around the clock against the dictates of our body clock, constant intake of stimulants like alcohol, tobacco, caffeine and junk foods to keep us going, all have an enormous effect on our mental functions," says Ms Podder, who quit the corporate sector eight years after completing her MBA.