How we feel (aka our mood) is a huge determinant of how we react and respond to things. Have you ever noticed how something can go wrong in your day, and you can shake it off like it's no big deal and other days, it feels like your life is over? (No? Just me?). You'll notice that the trigger remained exactly the same in both situations. But the main difference between the two situations was likely your mood.

Your mood is always going to fluctuate depending on what kind of mindset you're in and how you're best supporting your needs. I know when I'm not meeting my needs of giving myself the downtime and rest I need, I have a very short fuse, meaning, it doesn't take much for me to lose my cool (hard for me to admit, but true). When working with clients to help them overcome their emotional eating or disordered eating, I often focus on how we can meet their needs and support their mood, knowing that not tending to these two things is usually what sets the stage for turning to food for comfort.

And while we all know the feeling of the little mood boost we experience after a few sips into your preferred alcoholic drink or even a decadent treat, I'm going to show you several ways we can boost our mood naturally that doesn't come with any negative consequences!

5 Ways To Boost Your Mood Naturally

1. Balance your blood sugar

A lot of people think balancing blood sugar is a task that's typically left for diabetics. But in fact, we can all benefit from doing so! I was actually listening to a podcast recently where the guest speaker said if we all balanced our blood sugar, we wouldn't need nutritionists! I mean, there's more to health than just managing our blood sugar but this just drives home how important it is to keep our blood sugar balanced for our overall health, and especially our mood.

When we balance our blood sugar, we are supporting our mood by:

Maintaining stable energy levels
Preventing feeling "hangry" (because we all know how that does a number on our mood!)
Controlling cravings (which, if left unaddressed, can bring some turbulence to our day)
Prevent feelings of sadness or irritability
Stave off feelings of being "spacey"

Much of our mood is regulated by the neurotransmitter, serotonin which is also known as our "pleasure drug". Serotonin is released when we consume sugar or carbohydrates, which is why we feel that surge of pleasure when we sink our teeth into fresh bread or enjoy ice-cream. The only problem is that this surge is temporary and eventually you will be left feeling with the same feeling you started with, or irritable when your blood sugar drops again. The goal here instead, is to maintain stable blood sugar levels throughout the day by enjoying more complex carbohydrates with either fat, fibre or protein to slow the release of glucose (sugar) into the bloodstream.

Some ways you can balance your blood sugar are:

Enjoying complex carbohydrates like sweet potato, squash, beans, lentils and oatmeal
Consuming fat, fibre or protein with carbohydrates (i.e. apple with almond butter, chia seeds in a fruit-based smoothie)
Eat protein with every meal
Manage stress
Exercise (aka move your body!)
Swap refined sugar-containing foods for naturally sweetened foods like raw honey, maple syrup or yacon syrup

2. Take A Probiotic Daily

Speaking of serotonin, it's estimated that over 90% of it is made in the digestive tract. That means, if we want to support our serotonin production, we need to start in the gut by nourishing our microbes! Microbes make up our microbiome which is another term for our gut. Probiotics help to proliferate anti-inflammatory microbes into the gut that help to decrease stress signaling in the body and possibly even support the conversion of tryptophan to serotonin, increasing the overall levels of serotonin in the brain.

Typically anti-depressants are prescribed as the go-to medicine of choice to boost serotonin and while they have their time and place, for someone who may not have as much of a need for them, they may find themselves with low libido and low energy as a result.I'm not suggesting that anti-depressants can be directly replaced with probiotics, but it's something to consider with your natural health care practitioner given that it comes with so many benefits when it comes to supporting a balanced mood and alleviating stress and anxiety.

When it comes to probiotics, I recommend using Genuine Health's advanced gut health probiotic women's DAILY which is what I use on a daily basis. There is also the advanced gut health probiotic women's UTI if you tend to suffer from urinary tract infections.

What I love about the women's DAILY probiotic is that it's formulated to contain 15 balanced strains that help to create a diverse ecosystem of beneficial bacteria in the gut. It's also shelf-stable, meaning it doesn't need to be refrigerated. I find this especially helpful from a compliance standpoint because I can leave them on my counter as a reminder to take them daily. Otherwise, I tend to forget (oops!). On top of that, they are non-GMO, gluten-free and soy-free, making them suitable for almost anyone! You can use their retail locator on their website to find the closest retailer to you.

3. Move your body

We all know those post-workout feels; that surge of energy, those endorphin highs, which is primarily what keeps us coming back to it! I can still remember the days where I used to workout to punish myself for what I ate last night. Now I work out consistently in the morning because it's my natural "happy pill" for the day. I can notice a huge difference in my mood and how I feel overall when I don't make exercise a priority. And remember, here are no qualifications for exercise. It does not mean you have to go on a 10km run or break a sweat. It can be a simple walk with a podcast! But most importantly, find a form of movement that you enjoy so you will feel inspired to continue to turn back to it.

4. Vitamin D

You may already know that the sun is the best, most absorbable form of Vitamin D we can get. But what many people don't realize is that we can actually get Vitamin D from the sun in Canada during the months of November - May. What that means is that a lot of people are walking around deficient in this vital nutrient, which plays a huge role in regulating mood and reducing depression. I don't take many supplements aside from probiotics, but Vitamin D is one that I swear by and notice a huge difference having it daily. To determine the dose you should be taking daily, refer to these recommendations from Health Canada or speak with your natural healthcare practitioner.

5. Sleep

I'm sure you've heard the phrase, "Woah! Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed!". Well, there's a good reason for that! Sleep and mood are very closely connected. Even one night without sleep can lead to feelings of irritability or lack of motivation, making us feel more upset, angry and sad in response to unpleasant events. Just like poor sleep can offset our mood, our mood can dictate the quality of sleep we are having. If you are going to bed feeling stressed, anxious or angry, you'll likely experience difficulties falling asleep. The best thing we can do for our mood and our overall health is to bank more ZzzZzs!

Some of my top recommendations for getting in more high-quality sleep include:

Avoiding technology 1 hour before bed
Wearing an eye mask or investing in black-out blinds
Taking magnesium before bed
Sipping on a calming cup of chamomile tea before bed
Rubbing lavender essential oil on your temples or diffusing it in your room as you prepare for bedtime
Doing a brain dump (journal exercise where you write a full page worth of all of your thoughts without lifting the pen so you can get thoughts out of your head and onto paper)

What have you found to be most helpful in supporting your mood?

This post was created in partnership with Genuine Health, however, all opinions are always my own.