In this article, we discuss the main happiness hormones and how to improve our well being with the knowledge of them.
What are hormones?
The human body works with the help of chemical messengers called hormones. These hormones regulate different functions of our body, such as the heart rate, alertness or breathing rate. They can have different effects, such as making us more alert to face a perceived threat or enhancing our wellness and happiness in case there is a positive trigger such as someone hugging or praising us. Each of the hormones has specific triggers, which are internal or external actions or circumstances which causes the release of these hormones in our body. Our body normally can regulate the production of these hormones, but sometimes as part of prolonged stress or an unhealthy lifestyle or bad diet, they can become imbalanced.
In this article, we focus on those hormones that enhance our feeling of wellness and happiness. We will also cover briefly some of the stress related hormones.
Why learn about happiness hormones?
It is useful for us to learn which hormones make us happy and enhance our well being, as well as which hormones harm our well being. Knowing this, we can make sure we increase the triggers for the happiness related hormones and decrease the triggers for the stress related hormones.
Some of the triggers seem like common sense: for example, we all know that exercise is good for health. However, we may not know how exactly is exercise good for health, or the relation between exercise and our mental well being. This is where knowing about the important happiness and stress hormones can help us.
Major happiness related hormones
The major happiness related hormones are as follows:
Endorphins: This is the most famous happy hormone. Endorphins are released when we exercise our body, such as running, working out in a gym or doing yoga, or even by having a nice shower. They are also triggered when we meditate or when we laugh.
Dopamine: This happiness hormone is linked to the reward functions of our body. This is released when someone praises us, or we accomplish something, or get a reward for our work.
Oxytocin: This happiness hormone is triggered on the sensation of good touch from a loved one. It may be released when we hug someone, or even just shake their hands, or pat someone’s back. That someone can be a friend, lover, colleague, child or even a pet, anyone from whom we do not feel any threat.
Seratonin: This happiness hormone is released when we help others, for example by donating money or help to a charity, or simply by helping a stranger who is in need.
All the above four hormones are related to a feeling of happiness and well being. If we have regular release of these hormones, we would be able to be happier in the short term, and better health in the long term.
Major stress related hormones
There are two well known stress related hormones, which are as follows:
Cortisol: This is the main stress hormone. In the short term, it makes us more alert and ready to face the perceived threat or threats, while inhibiting non essential functions of the body such as reproduction and digestion. However, if we are subjected to a prolonged period of stress (for example, at work), this can have an adverse affect on our health.
Adrenaline: This is the hormone that gives some people a high, triggered by the fight or flight response. For example, this may be released when someone gets into simulated danger such as going on a high roller coaster, or playing a video game, or just watching a suspenseful movie. Again, for short term it may increase the alert level or give someone a high, but in the long term it may be harmful.
How to increase our happiness and well being
The best way to increase our happiness would be to trigger the happiness hormones as often as we can, for example by having regular exercise, helping people, or doing meditation. Even things like getting a good amount of sunlight and exercise daily, having adequate sleep, or having a walk outside, can increase these hormones. Another way is to keep a balanced diet, eat more fruits and colorful veggies and cut down on sugar, so that the hormones may remain in balance.
Another important principle is to make sure we are not exposed to prolonged levels of stress, so that hormones like cortisol do not become imbalanced. Some of the ways for that are to have a clear separation between work and personal life, not take too much tension or stress at work, knowing when to switch off.
Conclusion
In this article, we have discussed some of the main happiness and stress related hormones, and how to use this knowledge to be healthier, happier and stress free. We hope the readers can use this knowledge for their benefit.
Acknowledgements
The author is thankful to Vijay VJ for helpful advice in the preparation of this article.
