However, when we consider the mineral content of beans, the data are somewhat misleading because beans have a substance that inhibits your absorption of iron called phytic acid. You can improve your absorption of iron in beans by eating your beans with a high vitamin C food such as fresh tomato or orange. Salsa on beans certainly works. Eating your beans with meat will help as well.

There are also easy food preparation techniques to make the iron, magnesium, and zinc  more easily absorbed. Soak the beans overnight to reduce the phytic acid in the food. The amount of time you soak your beans and the soaking temperature both matter. The right technique will improve the iron absorption of your beans and will also help them cook more quickly. Read more about phytic acid in beans to improve your iron absorption.

Related posts:

Soaking beans to increase iron absorption at the Rebuild blog

Soaking grains to reduce phytic acid at the Rebuild blog

Phytic acid in soy: Stick with fermented soy at the Rebuild blog

Soy milk and phytic acid: A mineral-dense food? at Phytic Acid Research

Phytic acid in nuts: How much and is it a problem? at Phytic Acid Research

Oyster is a nutrient-dense food. It is an exceptional source of zinc, iron, and vitamin B-12, all nutrients that fight depression. In fact, it is so high that I consider oyster to be a "depression buster food" as I describe in the book Rebuild from Depression.

But oysters can be a bit scary if you have never had them. How do you prepare them?

Canned oysters I like to use in soups much like clam chowder or in dips like this clam dip. If you buy oysters fresh on the shell, check out Diane's very simple recipe for steamed oysters or her tantalizing fried oyster recipe.

Oysters may be one of my favorite ways to fight depression.

Beef liver may be one of the best foods for depression nature has for us.

(Luckily for folks that don't like it, there are fifty other depression-fighting foods in the book Rebuild from Depression.)

Depression is complex, but folks like me who have had their depression aggravated by diet deficiencies may well find relief eating the right foods. We need good food to be healthy. Our brain needs good food for it to be healthy. We need healthy fats, particularly Omega 3 fatty acids, but some of the foods we shunned in the low-fat diet crazes of the 80s and 90s are foods that have other key nutrients: beef, for instance, is an exceptional source of iron. Most plant-based foods and low-fat foods in general are not. Low iron is associated with postpartum depression.

Beef liver is worth a try if you want a boost.

If you are stumped on how to cook it, check out Mom's recipe for flash-cooked liver. She descibes her process in our own kitchen via a YouTube video.

There are some truly exotic foods on the list. You may even laugh.

However, there are also common foods on the list, available at any grocery store. Here are the top 10:

• Clam
• Oyster
• Flax
• Herring
• Trout
• Brewer's yeast
• sardines
• Crab
• Walnuts
• Salmon

Enjoy these foods for depression!

Beyond the beauty and exceptional flavor of farm-fresh eggs, do they fight depression? Probably so.

In the book Rebuild from Depression, I identify the nutrient deficiencies most commonly associated with depression in the medical literature. I actually did a statistical analysis of foods highest in those nutrients and create a list of depression-fighting foods in the book. Egg yolks from pastured hens make the list. 

I say eggs "probably" fight depression because the most effective food for you depends on what you are most deficient in.

Hens on pasture eat bugs and weeds and produce a higher content of Omega-3 fatty acid in their yolk because of their diet. The commercially available Omega 3 eggs are from hens fed flax or a fish product.

Wherever you get this healthy fat, it is critical for our brain health. Many of us would go crazy without it.