Eat Your Way to a Happier Mood: The Best Foods for Happy Hormones

Remember the time when Elizabeth Gilbert, in her famous novel ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ wrote, ‘I am in love. I am having a relationship with my pizza, almost an affair’? What do you think she meant? To feel her emotions, imagine a platter of your favourite cuisine. Don’t you feel happy? Excited? Stress-free? It is because food carries mysterious powers to gush out your happy hormones. Choosing what you eat wisely dictates your physical as well as mental well-being. A cup of cake or a hearty salad bowl? The choice is yours. Want to know more about the foods that promote happy hormones? Keep scrolling!

I bet every one of you must have strolled in a park. Imagine your brain as a garden and your mood as pretty flowers. Like flowers need sunlight and water to bloom, your mood needs hormones to make you happy. Let's consider hormones as the gardeners that reap good moods:

• Dopamine plants seeds of motivation and excitement. 
• Serotonin keeps the brain calm and keeps depression away.
• Oxytocin nurtures love and builds trustworthy bonds.
• Endorphins shield from the pain.

Ensuring practices that boost these gardeners to perform their job, allow for a good mood to flower and keep your garden vibrant. One such habit is choosing the right food. So, let's check the foods that increase happy hormones.

Someone has aptly said that you are what you eat. A build-up of stress and anxiety can negatively impact your lifestyle and lead to poor eating and sleeping habits which in turn influence mood. 

Dr Gautami Nagabhirava, Sr Neuropsychiatrist, Hyderabad says, “There are simple hacks to increase happy hormones secretion such as indulging in a balanced diet rich in tryptophan, which will boost the production of happy hormones’’ Foods rich in tryptophan include chicken egg whites, cheese, salmon and others. Read on for a handy list of foods to boost your happy hormones.

The mention of chocolate instantly evokes the pleasure we all seek. Isn’t it? Chocolate's aroma, texture, and taste all lure a happy mood. According to scientific data, chocolates are rich in magnesium and other stress-reducing compounds. This happy hormone food triggers endorphin release, a natural substance that relieves pain. A tip is to consume dark chocolate (70% cocoa beans) in small amounts for maximum benefits.

Nuts and seeds can be your buddies, during evening cravings. Munch them to get a boost of serotonin. Seeds like pumpkin, sesame, sunflower etc. are decent choices. The benefits of these tiny seeds do not end. They are also packed with loads of protective nutrients. Certain nuts like Brazil and pine nuts provide a good amount of selenium and zinc; essential minerals for brain function. So, next time grab a handful of nuts to keep your mood bright and positive.

Cherry tomatoes are a small but powerful storehouse of health-boosting and protective nutrients like lycopene. Cherry tomato screams “I am food for happy hormone”. Easy to incorporate, you can elevate boring salads or add tanginess to pasta with the cherry tomatoes. Have it in any form and distance yourself miles away from feeling low and unmotivated.

Salmon sails with a wealth of benefits. It increases the Omega-3 production. It is a great source of vitamin B6 and vitamin B12, both of which are important for nerve health. Besides salmon, you can also extract the benefits of omega-3 from flax seeds, walnuts, and fishes like mackerel. Can you think of a culinary experiment that combines the goodness of salmon and walnuts in a mouthwatering delicacy? 

Are you wondering what is fermented happiness? Fermented foods that increase happy hormones include kombucha, kimchi, and kefir. These foods have scored a permanent spot in every health freak’s list. Why? They are gut goodies. So, how do they level up your happiness? This is because good gut bacteria produce 90% serotonin in your body. So, incorporating these fermented foods into your diet can give you a reason to smile.

This sweet fibrous food is full of magical goodness and is a happy hormone food. It is the source of Vitamin B6 that promotes the release of dopamine and serotonin. Plus, you can enjoy a banana without worrying about the immediate sugar spike. The fibre in the fruit slows down sugar absorption in the bloodstream, maintaining a stable sugar level and balanced mood. If you are wise enough to opt for this tropical fruit when it still shows the green peel, you are blessing your gut microbes, which will kick your mood in high spirits.

Vegetables such as spinach are powerhouses of minerals and nutrients. We know spinach is great for anaemia because of its iron content. But, a bowl of creamy spinach soup, also boosts your dopamine levels. Yes, these leafy greens are magnesium-loaded, a natural antidepressant. Another green that you can opt is kale.

There is no single gateway to happiness. Discovering what makes you happy can lead to greater contentment. Understanding the root causes of distress can help you manage it more effectively. while you can't buy happiness, you can choose foods that promote it. So, be smart and choose the happy hormone food.

Hormones that make you feel pleasure and happiness are called happy hormones. These are dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphins.

Foods contain certain nutrients like magnesium and tryptophan that boost the release of happy hormones.

Processed, refined foods, sugary items, and alcohol are some of the foods that should be avoided to optimise happy hormone production.

Yes, supplements can enhance happy hormones. Amino acids aid dopamine production, beverages benefit dopamine and serotonin. Healthy gut bacteria support the production of these hormones, and dietary proteins contribute to serotonin levels. It is important to speak to your doctor about the right nutrition plan to support your needs.

Lifestyle changes like regular exercise, meditation, regular sleep, and stress-busting activities can support a diet focused on boosting happy hormones.