Feeling blue? Mung beans, lobster, turkey, asparagus, sunflower seeds, cottage cheese, pineapple, tofu, spinach and bananas could lift your spirits.

    A diet high in tryptophan - an amino acid converted by the body into the feel-good chemical serotonin - can improve mood and wellbeing, pediatrician and natural health expert Caroline Longmore said.

    The body cannot produce tryptophan so unless we get enough through our diets, we may suffer a deficiency, leading to low serotonin levels which are associated with mood disorders, anxiety, cravings and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

    "Following a diet which contains foods rich in naturally occurring serotonin will improve your mood, leaving you energised and in a state of harmony and wellbeing," Dr Longmore said.

    Mental health experts say while the theory behind tryptophans for improving mood is solid, its use by depressed patients has a chequered history in Australia.

    Gordon Parker, from the Black Dog Institute, said tryptophan supplements were widely used before the 1990s but after a number of patients suffered serious side effects from a contaminated batch, they were temporarily taken off the market.

    Professor Parker said while some patients strongly believed such supplements were beneficial, scientific evidence was lacking.

    "I would say it's something that can be useful for some people but the quality control varies enormously," he said.

    In her ebook The Serotonin Secret, Dr Longmore claims the best way to get optimum tryptophan levels is through a carefully devised eating plan. She rates dozens of foods for their levels of tryptophan.

    Written with Australian-trained medical scientist and naturopath Katrin Hempel, the book has 50 recipes designed to solve serotonin imbalance without drugs. The concept works on the same principle as selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), such as popular antidepressant Prozac.

    Britain's Food and Mood Project recommends eating chicken, sardines, turkey, salmon, fresh tuna, nuts and seeds to boost serotonin levels. But Associate Professor Michael Baigent, clinical adviser to Beyondblue, said there was only low-level evidence to suggest tryptophans have a medical effect.

    National statistics show that in any 12 months, almost 17percent of adult Australians have a mental disorder with anxiety, depression, bipolar and substance misuse the most common.

    感到忧郁吗？绿豆，龙虾，火鸡，芦笋，葵花籽，凝乳，菠萝，豆腐，菠菜，香蕉，可以让你振奋。

    儿科医生和自然健康专家Caroline Longmore 说，富含色氨酸的饮食可以改善情绪。色氨酸是一种氨基酸，可以转化成一种能产生“好情绪”的化学血清素。

    人的身体无法产生色氨酸。除非我们能从饮食中摄取足够的色氨酸，否者我们可能因缺乏色氨酸而导致血清素过低。伴随而来的通常还有情绪不稳，焦虑，烟瘾，以及肠易激综合征（IBS).

    Longmore博士说，摄取富含自然血清素的饮食可以改善你的情绪，使你充满活力，并保持和谐安宁的状态。

    心理专家说，血清素改善情绪的理论是纯粹的，但是在澳大利亚，抑郁症患者对它的使用却有着曲折的历史。

    黑狗研究所的Gordon Parker说，血清素补品在20世纪90年代之前就已经得到广泛使用。但是很多患者因使用过量而产生严重的副作用。因此，血清素补品暂时退出了市场。

    Parker教授说，有些患者非常相信，这种补品是有益处的，但是缺乏科学证据。

    他说，“我要说的是，它可能对有些人有用，但它的质量控制差别很大。”

    Longmore医生在她的电子书《羟色胺的秘密》中，说获取优质色氨酸的最佳方法是通过饮食摄取。她列举了许多含色氨酸的食物。

    参与编辑的还有澳大利亚受训的医学家Katrin Hempel。书中共提到了50中解决血清素失衡的菜谱（不含药剂）。它们同选择性5-羟色胺再摄取抑制剂，如抗忧郁的百忧解的原理是一样。

    英国的食物和情绪工程建议食用鸡肉，沙丁鱼，火鸡，鲑鱼，新鲜鲔鱼，坚果和种子，以提高羟色胺的含量。但Beyondblue的临床顾问副教授Michael Baigent说，很少证据证明色氨酸有医疗效果。

    全国统计表明，在任何12个月内，几乎有17%澳洲成人有精神错乱与焦虑，抑郁，躁狂和药物滥用的症状，其中最常见的是药物滥用。