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The Happy Hormone Journal

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Stress is a very common component of our everyday life. Staying happy amidst our busy schedules has become almost impossible. Everybody wants to be happy and we often find ourselves pursuing this emotion in various ways. Did you know that these emotions are the result of chemical reactions in the brain? The human body has 4 natural built-in mood-enhancing chemicals, which help combat stress and relieve pain keeping you happy and positive.

What are happy hormones? Why do they make us happy? How do we get more of these in our system?

The four happy hormones are Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin and Endorphin (DOSE).

DOPAMINE: This is one of the chemical signals that pass information from one neuron to the next. Dopamine is released during pleasurable moments or situations and helps to regulate how pleasure is perceived and experienced. Dopamine is also responsible for our motivation, concentration, pleasure, bliss and euphoria.

How can you boost your Dopamine level:-

  1. Limit your sugar intake: Although sugar is linked with raising dopamine levels, the “high” achieved is only temporary and is linked to a wide array or illnesses.
  2. Limit caffeine intake: Yes, caffeine can also raise dopamine levels but studies show that increased caffeine intake can actually cause an increase in tolerance and can lead to lowered or even diminished dopamine release in the long run.
  3. Connect with others: Human contact such as hugs from your kids, kisses from your spouse, or even simply shaking hands with a friend or colleague is enough to boost dopamine levels.
  4. Meditate: Meditation and mindfulness helps the body relax through deep breathing and calming of the nervous system. This in turn helps with the release of dopamine.
  5. Listen to music: Listening to the music you enjoy helps trigger our pleasure centre thereby releasing dopamine.

OXYTOCIN:

This hormone and neurotransmitter is best known for its role in breastfeeding and childbirth. It’s produced in the hypothalamus and females have been shown to have higher levels than males. Oxytocin has been linked to higher self- esteem, trust, optimism and can help lower stress and blood pressure.

How to boost Oxytocin:-

  1. Cry: Suppressing ones emotions can lead to lower oxytocin levels which can cause stress as well as various physical issues within the body. We often hear that a good cry can help us heal both emotionally and physically. It’s true!
  2. Give: This can be in the form of volunteering or simply making a generous donation. The act of giving and/or bonding with others can help increase oxytocin levels and make us feel good overall.
  3. Physical Touch: Oxytocin helps to trigger the reward system in our brain when we are in healthy and loving relationships. It is also released during orgasms in both men and women.
  4. Encouragement: Whether we are getting it, or giving it, words of encouragement go a long way in the release of oxytocin. Compliment and encourage one another at every chance you get!

SEROTONIN:

Do you feel imbalanced? Do you have depression, anxiety, hot flashes, night sweats, bipolar disorder, migraines, insomnia, PMS, or chronic pain? The cause of all these symptoms is a neurotransmitter imbalance.

Like dopamine, serotonin is also a neurotransmitter. While dopamine is responsible for our excitement and motivation, serotonin is responsible for calming us, suppressing pain, and regulating our mood and sleep cycles. This hormone is found mainly in the gastrointestinal tract, platelets,                    and the nervous system. Serotonin also controls appetite and reduces your sensitivity to pain.

How to boost Serotonin:-

  1. 1. Aroma massage: Regular body massages can help lower the stress hormone cortisol, and help increase both dopamine and serotonin levels in the brain/body.
  2. Positive affirmations: Regularly reciting positive affirmations can help almost re-wire your thinking. Numerous studies show the effects of positive thinking can help with serotonin synthesis while lowering cortisol levels.
  3. Good vitamin B Intake: Vitamin B6 and B12 are directly linked to lowered levels of depression and when taken regularly, can help boost overall feelings of well-being. The richest sources of vitamin B6 include fish, beef liver and other organ meats, potatoes and other starchy vegetables, and fruit (excluding citrus). Vitamin B12 is naturally found in animal products, including fish, meat, poultry, eggs, milk, and milk products.
  4. Gardening: This one may seem strange but studies show that microbes contained in the soil can lead to a rise in serotonin simply through inhalation.

ENDORPHINS:

These are chemical compounds which are produced in the human body and interact with receptors in the brain. They help to reduce pain, increase focus, and improve your overall mood. It also helps boost energy, confidence, and makes all of the daily stressors of life much easier to cope with. Today, we produce endorphins when exercising our anaerobic zones. Anaerobic exercise helps us to cope with chronic pains by activating our body’s natural painkillers. Hence exercise is one of the many ways of boosting Endorphins.

How to boost Endorphin:-

  1. Laughter: Not only does laughter boost serotonin levels but also helps to increase pain tolerance levels.
  2. Healthy eating habits: Increase your consumption of protein, healthy fats, and plant based food while limiting alcohol and caffeine. If you supply the necessary amino acids the body will restore balance and you will have improved health and moods.
  3. 3. Sunshine exposure: Regularly spending time outdoors in the sun can regulate the release of endorphins. The best time is to expose the body to the Sun is from 10am to 1pm.
  4. Aromatherapy: Soothing scents such as those found in essential oils can help with the release of endorphins in the body.

So keep smiling, stay positive and keep these hormones levels at the peak!

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Do you really need a multivitamin?                  

                                                      

Multivitamins

The topmost questions on the mind of all my patients are “I am getting so tired these days, doctor do you think that I should take a multivitamin?” and “I am taking these multivitamins which I got from the US, do you think it’s good enough for me to have?”

These are just 2 such questions but trust me, I get loads of such questions on Multivitamins. Based on these questions, I decided I should talk about it in my blog and present the facts on the matter.

Let us first understand

What is multivitamin?

If I just try to understand the word in literal terms, a multivitamin is a supplement that contains more than one vitamin. But is it just vitamins? Certainly not. Multivitamin is a supplement that contains many vitamins and essential minerals which helps you fight against different nutritional deficiencies and their symptoms.

Who actually needs a multivitamin?

  1. You need a multivitamin if you are not able to get adequate nutrition from your diet.
  2. You need a multivitamin if you are severely deficient in different nutrients as detected in your blood reports
  3. You need a multivitamin if you are looking for micronutrients for specific symptoms.

Apart from this, there are other population groups as well which might need a multivitamin in addition to a variety of foods in their diet.

  1. Pregnant women
  • During pregnancy, consumption of multivitamins reduces the risk of birth defects in the foetus.
  • There are different kinds of research which are done taking multivitamins into consideration but since multivitamins consist of various vitamins and minerals, we don’t exactly know which nutrient is giving the maximum benefits.
  • Folic acid perhaps is the most important micronutrient but doctors anyways give it in a completely separate form so talk to your healthcare professional before starting on any multivitamin.
  1. Senior citizens
  • People over the age of 65 are generally low on B- vitamins, vitamin D, iron and magnesium.
  • Supplementing senior citizens with a multivitamin can definitely help in reducing their nutritional deficiencies to a great extent.
  1. People who are on different food restrictions
  • People who are on a gluten-free diet are usually low on calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, folate, vitamin B12 and vitamin D.
  • Vegan people are usually low in calcium, iron, zinc and vitamin B12.
  • People who are on low carb diet are usually low in calcium, copper, magnesium, potassium and vitamin E

Multivitamin in these cases will help in overcoming these nutritional deficiencies.

  1. People who have undergone bariatric surgery
  • During bariatric surgery, size of the stomach is reduced which reduces nutrient absorption which can further lead to nutritional deficiencies.
  • Even after taking a multivitamin, nutrient absorption is not very high but this will be much better than not taking a supplement and remain extremely nutritionally deficient

The above is related specifically for people with some health issues. Let us now look at the general population! Does the general population need a multivitamin and what can be the possible benefits?

  1. Multivitamins can help in increasing the quality of life
  2. Multivitamins can help in reducing mood swings
  3. Multivitamins can help in reducing complications related to eyes

These are some points which researches have come up with however nothing is claimed so far.

Normally what I have seen is that when people are taking multivitamin they are okay to substitute it for a balanced diet but a multivitamin is a SUPPLEMENT and not a SUBSTITUTE.

Let’s understand about how to select a multivitamin for you.

Your healthcare professional can suggest you one but, you should always know how to pick up one for yourself!

Consider the following points when you buy a multivitamin

  1. Choose a multivitamin that contains close to your recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of vitamins and minerals. Sometimes a particular multivitamin crosses much more than your RDA per day.

For example:

  • Excess of potassium at one go on an empty stomach can lead to elevated potassium levels in the body which can affect your heart rhythm that is why your potassium in a multivitamin should always be limited to 99 mg.
  • Magnesium in your multivitamin should be limited to 350 mg because higher doses of magnesium in the body can lead to diarrhoea and other stomach issues.
  • Excess of calcium in your multivitamin might increase the risk of kidney stones, and too much total calcium can result in hypercalcemia in the body.

B. If a multivitamin supplement is only having vitamins and minerals then its fine to pick it up but usually this doesn’t happen. A single multivitamin is full of special ingredients which can put a body into negative balance hence avoid taking multivitamins which has too many extra ingredients.

C. I have seen my patients doing this a lot that they get confused between the pill and serving.

For example: A multivitamin pack might mention that it contains 300 mg of vitamin C per serving. When it is said so, please understand that a serving does not necessarily mean that 1 pill equals 1 serving. Serving completely depends upon how the company is depicting it. It could mean a whole pack is 300 mg.

D. I have seen this quite often that many people are usually only deficient in one or 2 nutrients in such cases taking a multivitamin is not a very good option. Pick up those nutritional supplements only which are on the lower side.

Hence, it is always good to take Vitamins after you speak to your doctor. Do not indulge in self- medication.

You might need a multivitamin but, it is not necessary that everyone might need it.

 

 

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WHOLEHEARTEDLY HEART HEALTHY

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Death rates due to heart diseases continue to rise in India, claiming 1.7 million lives in 2016, as per the Global Burden of Disease report released exactly a year ago in September 2017. Recently, a national daily in India published a report stating that deaths in India due to heart disease have risen by 36% over the past 26 years. GOQii India fit report released early this year finds that there has been a rise in the number of lifestyle diseases among Indians. Of these, an increased number of people have high cholesterol with data showing an increase from 9.4% in 2016 to 10.1% in 2017.

Given the above statistics, Heart health is something that needs immediate attention. Today is World Heart Day and let us all be responsible and consciously make simple changes to our life to improve our heart health. In this blog, we have jotted down few simple lifestyle tweaks that you can implement in your life if you already have not done so.

  1. Love your couch a little lesser:

After a hectic workday at your desk, we love to get cosy on the couch, even though it isn’t the best thing to do. Did you know that people working desk jobs are more prone to contracting a heart disease than the others? You might begin to see the connection here. Yes, being physically active has a big impact on achieving a healthy heart. Start slow, even a short walk after every meal will help you in many ways. Along with improved blood circulation, factors like obesity and blood pressure can also be controlled by giving your body the exertion it craves.

    2. Toss the butt for good:

Kicking the butt is always tougher than picking up smoking. Smokers who try to quit, regress many times before leaving it completely and this is totally natural. But the determination to come back on a healthy track is what really matters. If you think you can’t do it alone, try counselling or other methods like nicotine patches, nicotine gum etc.  Forget heart health, if you want to be healthy in general, the time has come to say goodbye to your cigarettes.

    3. Stop stressing out:

We totally understand why you think it is impossible, considering our busy schedules and the endless deadlines which are caught in a loop. The problem is that high amounts of stress cause strain on the heart due to the release of adrenaline, making the heart beat faster and also narrowing your arteries. It also harms your heart indirectly by contributing to factors like blood pressure, cholesterol and obesity. To keep your stress levels in check, choose a program such as yoga, meditation etc. that’s convenient and suitable for you and stop stress from overpowering you.

      4. Keep the weight under control:

Overweight and underweight conditions like obesity or anorexia attract heart diseases easily. So calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI) to check for the category you fall in and if you do not fall under the normal category, you need to gain or reduce some weight. More than being healthy, a change like this will boost your self-confidence and help you feel more comfortable in your own skin.

      5. Eat Healthy To Stay Healthy:

This is one of the most important steps towards achieving a healthy heart. At the end of the day, it is what we eat that constitutes the state of our body. Most importantly, stay clear of saturated fats and oil as this increases the level of bad cholesterol in the blood, which is extremely bad for your heart. Foods like red meat and processed food with high sugar and corn syrup content are all to be frowned upon, to achieve a healthy heart. Eat a lot of fruits, vegetables and lean protein foods like skinless chicken and fish (not fried). This not only helps in maintaining a healthy heart but also increases your quality of life.

  1. Alcohol Consumption:

In the book “The Heart Truth” by Dr Aashish Contractor, it is stated that alcohol may be beneficial in raising good cholesterol (HDL) as well as other anti-oxidant properties when consumed moderately. If you are someone who hasn’t consumed alcohol before, please don’t start now thinking it’s good for your heart! But if you are someone who enjoys a drink or two, then do so in moderation. Dr Aashish personally defines moderate as one or two drinks, three days per week and the optimum amount of liquor to be 45ml a drink. It is important to remember that excessive consumption can cause harm and damage your heart and other organs. So drink responsibly folks!

  1. Stay positive, Stay Motivated:

Pessimism lurks in each and every one of us. Sometimes, we decide to give up not realising how close we have come to our goals. When maintaining a healthy heart or being healthy in general, it is very important to know what you want and be clear about it. Self-doubting is natural but steering through that phase keeping a positive mind towards it is difficult. Don’t be another brick in the wall, be the one to achieve and prove it is possible. GOQii wishes the best for all of you on this World Heart Day!

 

 

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5 signs you’re not getting enough Protein

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The food market is constantly advertising about adding protein to all edibles, and this might mislead you into thinking that you are consuming an abundance of this key micronutrient in your diet. This might not be the actual scenario and a lack of protein may be ruining your health and your effort in the gym.

While protein requirement varies for every individual depending upon body weight and activity levels, there is no doubt that an adequate amount of protein keeps the body lean and preserves muscles strength as we age. If you are unsure about the amount of protein you are getting and wondering if it’s enough to fuel your fitness goals, here are a few ways to know.

  1. Your hair starts Thinning

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Hair thinning is a major concern these days and it haunts both genders equally.

But why? And how is protein linked to it? So, here is the answer. If you don’t nourish your body with adequate protein, then it looks for “non-essential” body parts like hair to pull protein from. The body needs nutrients for the basic functioning. Once your hair is deprived of the nutrient it needs, it starts thinning and even falling out. Next time when you observe hair fall or thinning, consume a high protein diet.

      2.Constant Injuries

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Injuries, as we all know, are barriers we have to overcome amidst our fitness journey.  But why do people get injured so frequently? Let’s solve the query. Apart from muscle loss, a lack of protein in diet precipitates several perils such as loss of bone mass and osteoporosis. The body tends to face difficulty in absorbing calcium which most likely will make you prone to injuries. This is the reason why we lack stamina during high-intensity workouts. So, if you are constantly injured, you may need to increase your protein intake. Some rich sources of protein are Seafood, white meat, eggs and green vegetables. Hog on them to keep the doctor away.

       3. Workout Doesn’t Entail Results

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It takes a lot of dedication and effort to wake up each morning and workout. Still, the scale in the weighing machine is not changing? So, here’s the answer to “But why?” Protein is crucial for building new muscle mass and also important in sustainable energy and motivation. It adds up the strength to recover the muscles post workout. A low protein diet may make you suffer muscle atrophy which is a condition when your body starts cannibalizing the tissue for fuel. If you don’t serve your muscle composition with adequate protein, no matter how much you work out, the results will always be below your expectation. Therefore, always consume a protein-rich pre/post workout meal for faster and better results.

       4. Unexpected Anxiety and Food Cravings

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Do you often lash out at your co-worker or others around you? This is not always stressing. Let’s dig deeper. Serotonin is a hormone that regulates calmness, and protein plays a vital role in helping the brain synthesize serotonin. Also, if you don’t consume enough protein, your body causes spikes and crashes of insulin, resulting in a craving for carb-rich snacks. Your body’s demand for biscuits and other oily snacks is not because of taste but because of lack of protein. Serotonin also helps in regulating the spike of insulin in your blood, so a lack of serotonin will result in imbalanced amounts of insulin in the blood. So, if you are unable to tame your temper or are craving for greasy and unhealthy snacks, it could be a sign of protein deficiency. When you feel anxious next time, you know what you need.

 

 

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