Happiness Hacks

While your body requires a pretty constant supply of glucose (i.e., blood sugar) in order to function properly, constantly eating refined sugars and slurping down sodas is not the best way to maintain healthy glucose levels. On the contrary, re- searchers at the Salk Institute in California found that high glucose levels resulting from quick, easily digested sugars slowly but surely damage cells everywhere in the body, especially in the brain. In addition to the unneeded extra calories that these sources of refined sugar provide, sugar can also depress your immune system, de- press your mood, and lead to feeling fatigued.

In a recent study, it was shown that people who were deficient in vitamin B12 were twice as likely to suffer from severe depression compared to those without a deficiency. The lack of B12 seemed to cause a buildup of serotonin in the brain that led to the neurons having trouble releasing the serotonin as they normally would. To get more B12 and to naturally boost your happiness, try eating foods rich in B12: eggs, milk, clams, beef, oysters, crab, and tuna. If you’re a vegan or vegetarian or are just not a fan of those foods, you could also take a supplemental B12 vitamin.

Every thought releases brain chemicals. Being focused on negative thoughts effectively saps the brain of its positive forcefulness and slows it down. Negative thoughts can even dim your brain’s ability to function, resulting in depression. On the flip side, focusing on positive, happy, hopeful thoughts produces chemicals that create a sense of well-being. These chemicals help your brain function at peak capacity. There are hundreds of benefits to being positive, among them the fact that being positive— especially around friends and family—will make it easier for others to be positive too. So turn that frown upside down! Give your brain the juice it needs to function at its peak capacity so that you—and your brain—can feel good about life. 

Dark leafy greens like spinach, collard greens, and kale are high in folate, which is important because your body can’t make folate—you must obtain it through foods or supplements. Folate helps decrease negative thoughts and depressive symptoms by increasing dopamine in the brain. And a bonus: these greens will also help keep your brain sharp well into old age! 

Have you ever noticed how good you feel when you hear certain song or a how an old tune can bring back a flood of happy memories? That’s because music is a mood enhancer. Listening to music releases dopamine (our favorite feel-good hormone) into your system and makes you feel happy. In addition, singing a song triggers a tiny organ in your inner ear called the saccule. It’s connected to a part of your brain that registers pleasure, making you feel good no matter how good of a singer you are! 

Green tea has been shown to reduce stress levels. In fact, a study showed that people who drank five or more cups of green tea a day had 20 percent lower levels of stress than those who only drank one cup of green tea. As an added bonus, green tea also helps with weight loss and helps prevent heart disease, high blood pres- sure, certain cancers, and osteoporosis. So drink green tea to be happy and healthy! 

Not only does nagging someone to do something rarely lead to a good outcome (or even work particularly well), nagging also makes the nagger feel angry and mean. You’ll get a mood boost when you quit nagging! Try kinder, more persuasive tools to get some help when you need it . . . or just do the task yourself. Often simply coming out and asking someone (one time!) to do a task is more effective than getting on their case about it. And you’ll feel better about yourself too. 

Studies have shown that unleashing your anger over every inconvenience is not actually helpful. In fact, expressing your anger over minor, fleeting annoyances actually amplifies bad feelings, while not expressing anger often allows it to dissipate. So perhaps try going to bed angry when the situation is not critical—you’ll wake up feeling better and happier. 

The happiest people are not always the people who win; rather, they are the people who don’t give up when they lose. So when things go wrong, be calm and be tough. Keep pushing forward even when it feels like you are alone. Self-pity is not helpful and will not lead to long-term happiness. Believe in yourself, fight for your- self, and stay strong. 

Rushing or feeling rushed is a one-way street to unhappiness, but feeling busy and productive actually leads to happy feelings. It’s true: boredom can be over- whelming and burdensome. Balanced free time is essential, though, so strive to lead a productive life at a comfortable pace. This also means you will have to say no to some things (another happiness hack!).