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nutrient guide

Nutrition

Nutrition & Animal Based Eating

Do you know how much your nutrition shapes your mood? Everything you consume has a powerful impact on brain chemicals that directly affect whether you feel motivated, content, low or lost. A new field of research known as nutritional psychiatry tells us gut health, inflammation, supplements and deficiencies all play a role in how we feel every single day.

The good news? What you choose to eat can make a huge difference - the power is quite literally in your hands (and in your mouth!).

As we head into the darker months of the year, it’s no secret mood levels can plummet for many people. According to the NHS, around 2 million people experience Seasonal Affective Disorder every year in the UK, while around 1 in 5 adults in the UK experience clinical anxiety or depression year-round. And that’s just the official statistics…

Alongside pillars like sunlight, movement sleep and community, your nutrition is a powerful way to support your mood and mental health. In this blog, we’ll explore:

Key brain chemicals that impact mood, and the nutrients that affect them
Nutrient deficiencies and mental health issues
Could an animal-based diet help?
The top 10 nutrients for mood support
Our top 5 supplements for mood & stress management

Please note: this blog is not intended as medical advice. If you are experiencing mental health challenges, please work with a professional healthcare provider.

Neurotransmitters: Your Brain’s Mood-Makers

Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers your brain uses to send signals between nerve cells. When one nerve cell wants to ‘talk’ to another, it releases a burst of these chemicals, which cross a tiny gap and lock onto the next cell, telling it to either speed up or calm down. This back-and-forth signaling controls things like your mood, focus, energy, sleep, and stress levels. You've probably heard of a few:

Serotonin helps you feel calm, content, and inhibits pain.
Dopamine gives you a sense of reward and motivation.
GABA acts like your brain's natural brake pedal, calming overactive nerve signals and encouraging relaxation.
Norepinephrine is your alertness switch. It ramps up focus and energy, and plays a big role in your body's ‘fight or flight’ response to stress.

There are plenty more of these neurotransmitters communicating back and forth all the time, and they’re all influenced by your nutrition. Here’s just a few of the nutrients working hard to support these mood-makers:

Tryptophan: An amino acid that builds serotonin, found in protein-rich foods
Tyrosine: An amino acid that support dopamine production, also found in protein
Choline: Found primarily in liver and egg yolks, it’s the precursor to acetylcholine, which supports memory and muscle control.
Vitamins like B6, B12, and folate, along with minerals like iron, zinc, and magnesium, act as essential co-factors that help enzymes in your body convert nutrients into active neurotransmitters that shape your mood.

Nutrient deficiencies and mental health issues

So we know how much these nutrients support your mood, but what happens when you don’t get enough of them?

Research shows low levels of B9 (folate) and B12 can lead to fatigue, irritability, and low mood, because they’re crucial for synthesizing serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. Deficiencies in iron, zinc and selenium are more common in those diagnosed with depression, and a lack of omega-3 fatty acids is linked to a higher risk of anxiety and mood disorders. Even postpartum depression has links to nutritional deficiencies like zinc.

It’s not just about what you eat however - but about what you absorb, and your gut health. Around 90-95% of the body’s serotonin is made in the gut, and the state of your gut bacteria is central to how well your gut is able to make these calming, mood-balancing chemicals. Good gut bacteria like Coprococcus and Lactobaccilus support your body’s ability to create the chemicals you need to support your mood via the gut-brain axis - a two-way communication system between your digestive system and your brain.

Could an Animal Based Diet Help?

A meta-analysis on meat consumption and mental health found that meat-eaters generally report lower levels of depression and anxiety compared to those who don’t consume meat. Further research also shows those who consume unprocessed meat like grass-fed beef and organs consistently meet their daily requirements for critical brain-health nutrients like zinc, selenium, vitamin B12, and choline much better than those who strictly avoid meat. Within this framework, red meat consumers showed lower odds of depression, PTSD, and bipolar disorder.

There’s even research into the world’s most ‘anti-depressant’ foods, clearly showing that oysters and organ meats are some of the most powerful for supporting mood and mental health. This is just one reason so many researchers are now looking back at ancestral diet patterns, for clues about how to support mental health today.

Top 10 nutrients for mood support

An ancestral diet rich in B vitamins, iron, fermented foods and key amino acids can be a powerful way to support your mental wellbeing. Here’s our top 10:

B12: Helps the body produce serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine for calmness, motivation and stress management.

Best sources: Beef Liver, Celtic Oysters, grass-fed beef, sardines.

Iron: Makes up hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to your brain for clarity, and aids in making mood-boosting neurotransmitters.

Best sources: Beef Spleen, Beef Liver, grass-fed beef, Celtic Oysters

Omega 3s: Reduce brain inflammation, improve brain cell structure, and help regulate key feel-good chemicals

Best Sources: Sardines, salmon, Beef Brain, chia seeds, flax seeds

B9 (folate): Helps the brain produce serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine and breaks down homocysteine, which can reduce blood flow to the brain.

Best sources: Beef liver, dark leafy greens, lentils,

Zinc: Regulates neurotransmitters, protecting brain cells, and reducing inflammation in the central nervous system

Best sources: Celtic Oysters, grass-fed beef, chicken, pumpkin seeds.

Selenium: Reduces oxidative stress, regulates thyroid hormones and protects brain cells

Best sources: Brazil nuts, Celtic Oysters, tuna, beef kidney

Glycine: Calms overactive pathways in the brain, increases serotonin levels, aids sleep by promoting calmness and reduces gut inflammation.

Best sources: Bone broth, collagen, gelatine,

Magnesium: Regulates calming brain chemicals, activates GABA and controls stress hormones to calm the nervous system.

Best sources: Cacao, dark leafy greens, pumpkin seeds

B6: Boosts serotonin and GABA, supports production of dopamine for calmness and motivation.

Best sources: Beef liver, salmon, tuna, chicken.

Hydroxyproline: Encourages brain cell growth, boosts dopamine, reduces gut inflammation to support the gut-brain axis.

Best sources: Collagen, bone broth, chicken skin

Alongside these nutrients, take a look at Josh’s blog on gut healing to support your gut-brain axis.

Our Top 5 Supplements For Mood & Stress Management

Alongside sunlight, community, movement, sleep and a nutrient-dense diet, these are the natural whole-food supplements we use to support our mood:

Beef Liver: Packed with B12, B9, copper and choline, which all work together to help create serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and provides the building blocks for calmness and focus.
Celtic Oysters: Nature’s richest source of zinc, which research shows may be especially helpful in preventing post partum depression. It reduces inflammation in the nervous system and protects brain cells.
Collagen: 3 key amino acids found in collagen (glycine, proline and hydroxyproline) all work to calm the nervous system and activate GABA, and research shows it can improve sleep too.
Bone Broth: Rich in collagen, gelatine and trace minerals - bone broth reduces gut inflammation and supports healing of the gut lining for a better gut-brain relationship. It’s also a great source of calming glycine.
Beef Brain: Supplies concentrated nutrients like phosphatidylserine, choline, and omega-3 fatty acids (DHA) that help regulate neurotransmitters and cellular health in the brain.

As we head into the darker months here in the northern hemisphere, shorter daylight hours means the brain naturally produces less of our calming serotonin, less motivating dopamine, and less vitamin D (also tied to mood), so supporting it with nutrition is more important than ever. When you reach for a snack, supplement or meal, we hope this nutritional knowledge empowers you to give your body what it needs to feel a little brighter this Autumn and Winter.

-The APE Team