Foods That Can Make You Happier
There are various ways to make you feel happier, from exercising, doing activities and hobbies you enjoy, to eating.
Yes, eating certain foods can apparently increase a person's spirits and make you feel happier thanks to the content of serotonin aka the "happy hormone" in it.
Serotonin is what will play an important role in improving mood and making us feel happier.
Here are seven examples of foods that can make us happier.
# Dark chocolate
The first food that can make the heart happy is dark chocolate or dark chocolate.
A review published in the journal PubMed.gov found that dark chocolate can positively affect how people feel because of three components:
-Tryptophan, an amino acid that the brain uses to produce serotonin.
-Theobromine, a weak stimulant that can improve mood.
-Phenylethylalanine, an amino acid to produce an antidepressant called dopamine.
#Banana
Unlike dark chocolate, which can directly affect feelings, bananas are a little different.
Despite having serotonin, bananas are not able to convey the hormone directly to the brain.
However, bananas can play an important role in controlling one's feelings in an indirect way.
To produce serotonin, the body needs vitamin B6, which is present in bananas.
One medium-sized banana already contains about 0.4mg of vitamin B6, which meets about 25 percent of the recommended daily intake of vitamin B6.
#Coconut
Coconut can also be a food that can make you feel happy.
The reason is, coconut contains medium chain triglycerides (TRM), which can help increase energy.
Not only that, in animal studies conducted in 2017 it was found that TRM can help reduce anxiety, although this still requires further research.
#Coffee
Coffee lovers may be happier than anyone else.
This is because a meta-analysis conducted in 2016 by a team of researchers from the Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, Qingdao University School of Medicine, China, found that coffee consumption was associated with a reduced risk of depression.
Meanwhile, another small study concluded that coffee, both caffeinated and decaffeinated, could significantly improve a person's feelings when compared to other placebo drinks.
#Avocado
Avocados can apparently make us happier.
This soft and creamy flesh is rich in nutrients, including choline, which the body uses to regulate the nervous system and mood.
Additionally, a 2020 study found that the healthy fats in avocados may be associated with reduced anxiety in women.
The high vitamin B content in avocados can also be another good reason to eat avocados.
Because, B vitamins can reduce a person's stress level.
#Berry fruit
Eating fruit is not only good for physical health, but also mental health.
This is evidenced by a meta-analysis conducted in 2016.
The study found that fruit and vegetable consumption was associated with improved mental health.
One such fruit is berries, which are rich in antioxidants called flavonoids that can reduce symptoms of depression.
Then another study also found blueberry juice can slow the decline in cognitive abilities that are often associated with aging.
#Fermented food
The last foods that can make us happier are fermented foods, such as kimchi, kefir, kombucha and yogurt.
This is because the fermentation process forms probiotics that are useful for the development of good bacteria in the intestines, which will affect the production of serotonin.
As much as 90 percent of serotonin is produced from colon cells.
So, eating fermented foods can increase the body's production of serotonin.
Reference sources: