Happy Hormones

Happy Friday, everyone!  I’m in a great mood today and I plan to stay that way, so I’ve been reading up on what I can do to release my ‘happy hormones’.  

My melatonin levels must be OK ‘cos I’ve slept really well all week, despite being woken up at ten to six every day by a cranky baby.  

I’m presuming I have good levels of seratonin because of the sunshine, but apparently eating food rich in carbohydrates can also produce these and dopamine is released from foods that are high in protein, so I figure that if I combine them by having an extra large chicken kebab on naan bread for my tea tonight, then those two will be sorted.

Phenylethamine is produced from either the feeling of being in love or by chocolate, so looks like I’ll be tucking into a Galaxy bar at some point today (only joking, if my husband is reading this).  Ghrelin comes from a feeling of satisfaction from food, but not from feeling over full.  Now I can’t guarantee this after my kebab and chocolate, but I’ve never heard of this one so I don’t think it can be that important, really.

It would seem that lots of belly laughs can also release happy hormones, so I’m planning on having plenty more of those in addition to the ones I’ve already shared with people today; I find that on a weekend especially these can often be helped along by the not-so-natural high of alcohol.

That just leaves endorphins that are produced by a different form of exercise, but that will all depend on how many beers I’ve drunk…