What Are Happy Hormones?
- websteffiprasad
- Oct 1, 2021
- 2 min read
Updated: Dec 16, 2021

Hormones and neurotransmitters are involved in processes like heart rate and digestion, and also your mood and feelings. We have a few feel-good hormones in our bodies that are released when we do certain activities. These hormones are responsible to boost our mood and help us to deal with anxiety or reduce stress. Happiness hormones that our body can produce are serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins.
Some factors that can produce these happy hormones are:
Exercising
Taking part in fulfilling activities that bring a smile to your face
Light exposure to sunlight
Eating foods that are high in tryptophan
Playing or spending time with pets
Kissing or hugging a loved one
The four happy hormones are:
Dopamine:
Dopamine is known as the feel-good hormone. It is associated with the brain's reward system. Regular exercise, practicing deep breathing, a healthy sleep routine, and diet can boost the secretion of dopamine. It is associated with pleasurable sensation along with motor system function, learning memory, and many more.
Serotonin:
It helps to regulate your mood and helps you with your sleep, digestion, learning ability, appetite, and memory. The most natural and effective way to boost serotonin is by exercising daily.
"This is a natural antidepressant. It is dependent a lot on your gut and hence, the food you eat. Workout or play an indoor sport every day, eat tryptophan-rich foods like milk, especially at bedtime, have foods rich in omega-3 like ghee, nuts, and lentils and most important, do not go carb-free to ensure healthy levels of serotonin in the body," mentions celeb nutritionist Munmun Ganeriwal.
Oxytocin:
It is known as the "love hormone." It is essential, especially for strong parent-child bonding, and childbirth. Oxytocin can help to promote empathy, trust, and bonding in a relationship. Oxytocin level increases with physical affection or by practicing yoga or spending time with your loved ones.
Research has linked oxytocin release to life satisfaction levels.
Researches showed that Oxytocin causes a wide spectrum of behavioral and physiological effects mediated through receptors within the brain, such as maternal, sexual, and social behaviors.
Endorphins:
Endorphins are known as our body's natural pain reliever that helps in dealing with physical pain, and it release a brief euphoria that covers pain. It is produced when our body responses to stress or discomfort and even when we engage in activities like working out or eating. Endorphins can alleviate signs of anxiety, stress, and depression. You can increase the level of endorphins by laughing more, meditating more, and getting a massage.
These are the four happy hormones. Even selfless acts release these happy hormones and to know about it click https://www.steffiprasad.com/post/selflessness-helps-in-self-discovery
Research into true happiness, carried out by Harvard University over a 75-year period, concluded that the people we surround ourselves with, as well as our acceptance into society, can have a positive effect on our physical and mental health and help us live longer.
Research into what makes a happy life, presented by Robert Waldinger from Harvard University, took over 75 years to complete and looked at the lives of 724 volunteers, as well as their partners and other family members, bringing the total number of people studied to over 2,000. After analyzing the data, a clear correlation was found between strong relationships, good health, and happiness.
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