By CHANTAL ALBA

As the semester progresses, the more you feel like you’re falling into a pit of stress, homework, and no sleep.

And how do we feel when we’re stressed, have too much homework, and not enough sleep? We feel like crap. I don’t know about you guys, but I have a problem with stress eating, so I looked up natural ways to boost your mood besides exercise and “superfoods” came up.

Turns out, that food plays a crucial role not only in our physical health but our mental health too. So it’s best to keep in mind, that yeah it’s easy to go to the nearest fast food restaurant and indulge on the fatty “goodness,” but going that extra mile to get something healthy will leave your body healthy and you feeling happy.

Here are my three favorites:

1. Yogurt
Research shows that yogurt can increase the levels of serotonin that your body produces. Serotonin is the neurotransmitter that helps boost your mood and fight off bouts of depression. Interesting enough, serotonin is actually found in the gut area and yogurt helps improve gut health by reducing inflammation in the body.

2. Green Tea
Green tea contains a compound called theanine, which is an amino acid that helps relax muscles and reduce stress. The catechin polyphenols in the tea also help monitor inflammation levels in the entire body. My favorite thing about green tea is how it naturally increases your metabolism and your energy in a natural and safe way.

3. Dark Chocolate
If you enjoy dark chocolate, in small doses, it can act as a mood booster and at the same improving your brain’s cognition by increasing the blood flow with flavonols which are found in dark cocoa. This treat also decreases the stress hormone, cortisol, and helps cut down pro-inflammatory markers. Now how much dark chocolate is the right amount to do all of this? 1.4 ounces of dark chocolate 70 percent or higher is the recommended daily amount.