Our brains need happy chemicals in order to maintain good overall health. Our brains produce these to let us know or to signal to us that something is good for us or at very least beneficial to our day to day functioning and in many cases essential to our very survival.
The four happy hormones are;
Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin and Endorphins, so what part do these each play?
Dopamine is both a hormone and a neurotransmitter that plays an important part in the functioning of our brain’s reward system. This happy hormone is also associated with pleasurable sensations, our ability to learn, and to make and store memories.
It also plays a vital part in our motor system function and mind body co-ordination.
Serotonin is also a hormone and a neurotransmitter, and like Dopamine plays a role in our learning ability, and memory function. It also helps to regulate your sleep and mood patterns and aids healthy digestive function. Serotonin can really help in creating strong, positive emotions.
Oxytocin plays a major role in our abilities to bond in relationships. Not only does this hormone help promote trust and empathy, it also makes us better problem solvers and boosts our immune systems.
Endorphins often called the ‘feel-good’ hormone are produced in our central nervous system primarily by the pituitary gland. They are essentially released in response to pain. They help us push our bodies beyond our comfort levels and persist when we might otherwise want to give up.
Your brain really needs appropriate levels of all of these hormones to function well. However, Endorphins are the happy hormone I wanted to focus on today.
Endorphin creates the feeling of euphoria. It can also mask physical pain when injured, for example when we are pushing ourselves to win a running race and we run through a muscle pain in order to win, we might not notice the pain until after the race. Physical stress triggers endorphin, eg “Runner’s high” which might only happen when you push to your limit. Although creating pain to enjoy the endorphin is certainly not a good survival strategy. So how else can we create endorphins?
Your body also produces endorphins naturally when you do the following:
- laughter
- crying
- giving or volunteering
- exercise (any form of exercise will do, but exercising in a group is even better)
- creating music or art
- dancing
If you're still in need of that feel-good feeling, here are eight foods that'll encourage your brain's endorphin release:
- Chocolate
- Strawberries
- Animal proteins
- Oranges
- Spicy foods
- Grapes
- Nuts and seeds
- Ginseng
The positive mood shifts that are associated with endorphins are so beneficial, they don’t necessarily require strenuous physical painful activity or running a marathon. According to research by the American Physiological Society it was identified that just knowing that laughter is coming boosts our endorphins and gets the feel-good ball rolling.
So, improved more positive mood, reduction of stress levels and improved function of our immune functioning are all good reasons to seek out this happy little hormone over the holidays.
