How much effect does a person's diet have on their moods and their ability to cope with stress? It's been proven that certain foods like chocolate can cause a temporary mild "lift" to a person's mood...Is it possible that a continuing struggle with depression or moodiness could possibly be caused or at least worsened by poor diet and fitness? Could these problems also not be controlled...or at least helped by maintaining a proper balance of nutrition?

Can anyone suggest certain foods or herbs (to be taken in a tea) which may be helpful during times of great stress or sadness?

I'm not an expert but I know a couple of things.

5-HTP is a widely available over-the-counter product. It is a metabolic precursor to serotonin. St. John's Wort is also very popular. These products are safe in practice but have not received enough formal testing for users to be certain of their effectiveness.

Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that is a more distant metabolic precursor to serotonin. I don't know whether its effect on mood has been properly tested but my psychiatrist mentioned it as something worth trying. Bananas, brown rice, and turkey (poultry in general?) contain plenty of tryptophan. I imagine it would also be available in pill form.

Too much sleep can be as detrimental to mood as not enough sleep. Force yourself to get up in the morning. Keep busy. Exercise also helps.

Give yourself a little quiet time every day, if you can, to stop thinking and focus on your feelings, pray, or meditate.

Forcing myself to sleep on my back has helped me. It sounds odd but I feel more refreshed in the morning when I do this.

Get into some talk therapy. If not a one-on-one session, then a try some group therapy.

Hi! This is something I can so relate to! Weight and depression do go hand in hand a cause and effect thing. When we try and try to loose the fat, nothing seems to help, we get depressed about it! Millions have been there and can say, yet there is controlling this insane way we live!
Willpower, flies right out the window! Those funky excerise tapes! There are so many of them! Which to pick and how much is it going to set you back to buy the thing!
There are programs galore telling us to do this and take that! You know people are trying to make life easier by simply taking a pill...wait! They have already come up with that!
Okay, so here's something to give a try... eat less! Eat whatever you want, but less of it. Make two meals out of one. Walk around your place of residence (I'm still working on this!) by eatting less, even snacks! Of course yesrs of a bad habilt isn't going to change over night! Relax and do give yourself a break!