Keeping Serotonin Levels Up Naturally
Since it's winter, I thought a few suggestions on how to keep that "good mood" hormone vigorous might be helpful, especially for those not living in more sunny regions of the U.S. I located this list on-line under the topic of "raising sertonin levels naturally" and was originally inspired to look this up to send to a friend who's been under lengthy stress, since long-term stress tends to deplete serotonin.
So here it is:
1) Sleep well. Sleep longer if you can or go to bed a tad earlier.
2) Eat regular meals including plenty of leafy green veggies, whole grains, calcium and protein. Slow digesting fibers, like oatmeal, are particularly helpful to restoring serotonin.
3) Try to get 20 to 30 minutes of sunlight a day. This can be a challenge in the northern climates, yet there are sunny, clear days sometimes---try to find a sunny window. Or, to compensate for a lack of sun, take a daily vitamin D supplement, at least 1000 IU. (If you're a woman, vitamin D is essential for keeping your bone strong and ought to be taking it anyway, especially if you're 35 or older.)
4) Exercise--at least light exercise, such as walking, for at least 30 minutes, 4 times a week has shown to improve serotoin over a 60 day period. So try to get in some kind of exercise you enjoy several times a week to help build up those serotonin levels.
5) If you can control yourself, have a daily bite of chocolate, preferrably heart-healthy dark chocolate daily, which is well known for stimulating serotonin. (Keep it in the freezer and limit yourself to one or two small squares a day--max!)
6) Relaxing activities or hobbies improve seratonin. Do that craft or hobby project you 've been putting off!
7) Prayer and meditation also have long been proven to lower stress, blood-pressure and elevate serotonin levels. Or, if not prayer, try keeping a thankfulness journal, where you write down one thing you're thankful daily, a different thing every time and meditating on what you're thankful for.
So here it is:
1) Sleep well. Sleep longer if you can or go to bed a tad earlier.
2) Eat regular meals including plenty of leafy green veggies, whole grains, calcium and protein. Slow digesting fibers, like oatmeal, are particularly helpful to restoring serotonin.
3) Try to get 20 to 30 minutes of sunlight a day. This can be a challenge in the northern climates, yet there are sunny, clear days sometimes---try to find a sunny window. Or, to compensate for a lack of sun, take a daily vitamin D supplement, at least 1000 IU. (If you're a woman, vitamin D is essential for keeping your bone strong and ought to be taking it anyway, especially if you're 35 or older.)
4) Exercise--at least light exercise, such as walking, for at least 30 minutes, 4 times a week has shown to improve serotoin over a 60 day period. So try to get in some kind of exercise you enjoy several times a week to help build up those serotonin levels.
5) If you can control yourself, have a daily bite of chocolate, preferrably heart-healthy dark chocolate daily, which is well known for stimulating serotonin. (Keep it in the freezer and limit yourself to one or two small squares a day--max!)
6) Relaxing activities or hobbies improve seratonin. Do that craft or hobby project you 've been putting off!
7) Prayer and meditation also have long been proven to lower stress, blood-pressure and elevate serotonin levels. Or, if not prayer, try keeping a thankfulness journal, where you write down one thing you're thankful daily, a different thing every time and meditating on what you're thankful for.
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