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Tag Archives: dopamine

Farmers’ Market mood boost!

15 Tuesday Dec 2020

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Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, dopamine, farmer's market, farmers' market, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, journal Neuron, mood boost, produce, vendors

Want an instant mood boost? Head for the nearest farmers’ market! A study in the journal Neuron found just seeing all the displays of colorful fruits and vegetables, fresh-baked goods, and homemade pickles, jams, and cheeses will produce a spike in feel-good dopamine in your body. Add in the chance to chat with vendors and your fellow shoppers, and that’ll provide an instant mood boost, whether you’re buying, or just browsing. Wandering through a farmers’ market packed with fresh foods also encourages healthy eating habits. 

So, if you want an instant mood boost, visit a farmers’ market! If there are no farmer’s markets in your area due to the cold weather try giving your local grocery store’s produce department a stroll.

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Eat edamame to feel less stressed!

03 Tuesday Mar 2020

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Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, dopamine, edamame, feeling calm, grocery store, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, Japanese, lower stress, magnesium, relax, soybeans, sushi, tyrosine

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If you’re feeling down, hit your favorite sushi place or the grocery store and get some edamame. For those who don’t know, edamame is the fancy Japanese name for soybeans in the pod. And research shows they’re ideal for soothing stress. Because edamame beans are loaded with an amino acid called tyrosine, which helps increase the brain’s production of dopamine – the neurotransmitter associated with producing a feeling of calm. In fact, one study found that a single serving of edamame can lower our stress for at least 2 hours! It also has a high magnesium content – which helps relax muscles.

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To reduce stress – listen to music!

17 Monday Feb 2020

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classical music, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, dopamine, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, listen to music, lower blood pressure, music, reduce stress, slow heart rate, stress, stress-reliever, stressed out, stressful

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While classical music has a particularly soothing effect – it slows heart rate, lowers blood pressure and even decreases levels of stress hormones – ANY music that you love will flood your brain with feel-good neurochemicals like dopamine.

And music is particularly beneficial if you’re in the middle of a stressful event. If you don’t have access to music, make your own. A study on stressed-out nursing students found that singing relieved their stress and prevented burnout.

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Don’t skip your morning coffee!

22 Monday Apr 2019

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caffeine, coffee, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, depression, dopamine, drink coffee, grumpy, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, moody, noradrenaline, serotonin, skip coffee

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If skipping your morning coffee makes you feel grumpy, or even depressed, it’s not your imagination. Research from the Harvard School of Public Health found drinking 2 to 4 cups of caffeinated coffee improves mood. It can reduce the risk of depression by 20%, and cuts the risk of suicide in half! The researchers say caffeine acts as a mild antidepressant by boosting production of feel-good neurotransmitters in the brain, including serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline.

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Want increased brainpower?

07 Thursday Mar 2019

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Avocado, avocados, brainpower, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, dopamine, East Carolina University, focus, increased focus, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, memory, memory lapse, memory loss, think, thinking, vitamin K

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Eat more avocado! Research at East Carolina University found avocados contain high levels of vitamin K and pantothenic acid… a nutritional one-two punch that improves communication between neurons, and boosts production of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which boosts focus. After eating just half an avocado a day for a week, your risk of brain fog and memory lapses will be cut in half.

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If you’ve been feeling stressed and anxious…

08 Thursday Nov 2018

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almonds, anxious, brain, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, dopamine, edamame, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, pumpkin seeds, stress

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…you may need a dose of tyrosine. That’s an amino acid that helps increase the brain’s production of dopamine – the neurotransmitter associated with producing a feeling of calm. And eating just a quarter cup of tyrosine-rich foods can soothe your nerves in as little as 30 minutes – and last at least 2 hours. Foods loaded with tyrosine include edamame, pumpkin seeds and almonds.

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To be happier, find a ‘hands-on’ hobby.

16 Tuesday Oct 2018

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be happy, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, dopamine, hands-on, happy, hobbies, hobby, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, serotonin

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Neuroscientist Dr. Kelly Lambert says that baking, gardening, woodworking and other manual activities release the natural antidepressants serotonin and dopamine. This ‘effort-driven’ reward circuit is a holdover from the days when our ancestors had to use their hands to fill their stomachs. And even though it’s a lot easier to buy bread, you can’t buy that awesome feeling of pulling your own homemade loaves out of the oven.

And that’s why a ‘hands-on’ hobby will make you feel awesome.

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Feeling tense?

24 Monday Jul 2017

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antioxidants, belly-fat, blueberries, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, cortisol, de-stress, destress, dopamine, feel-good brain chemical, feeling tense, folate, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, lower blood pressure, peaches, potassium, stress hormone, sunflower seeds, tense

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Here are a few foods proven to help you de‑stress:
Starting with Blueberries. They contain antioxidants so powerful, they counteract the production of cortisol, the stress hormone that increases blood sugar levels. And high levels of cortisol are linked to belly fat.
Another anti-stress food: Peaches. The potassium in peaches helps lower blood pressure.
Finally, when you’re stressed, load up on sunflower seeds. They contain high levels of folate, which helps your body produce the feel-good brain chemical dopamine.

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How many squats do you think you can do?

21 Tuesday Mar 2017

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beat it, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, determination, dopamine, enhance, feel good, feel-good hormones, focus, guess, guesstimate, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, performance, squat, squats, workout

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How many miles do you think you can run? Answering questions like that can enhance your workout. Dr. Jane McGonigal is a performance studies expert – and she says simply making a prediction in your head triggers production of the feel-good chemical dopamine… which can help you work harder without feeling like you’re exerting yourself more. Because the increased dopamine gives you a bigger sense of determination – and distracts your mind from focusing on the effort you’re making. So just before you start your run, guesstimate how long it’ll take to do your first mile. You’ll end up pushing yourself to make that time, or beat it.

You don’t really want to eat those chips…

03 Tuesday Jan 2017

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bored, boredom, boring, chips, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, crave, craving, cravings, dopamine, fatty, food, healthy, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, junk food, snacks, UK, unhealthy

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You’re just bored. That’s the result of research from the University of Central Lancashire in the UK. They conducted two experiments to see how boredom affects people’s food choices.
In one study, people were asked to list their favorite foods, healthy and unhealthy – and then they had to complete a really boring task. Afterward, when asked what they wanted to eat from their lists, they overwhelmingly chose things like chips, sweets and fast food.
In a second experiment, people were offered a variety of healthy and unhealthy snacks while watching either a boring video or a funny one. Those who watched the boring video ate a lot more unhealthy snacks.
The researchers say this shows we crave fatty and sugary foods when we are bored. And they believe boredom is related to low levels of the uplifting brain chemical dopamine. So people crave fatty, sugary foods to activate more dopamine…
So if you want to cut down on your snacking and unhealthy food choices – don’t let yourself get bored!

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