In an earlier blog you could read more about the happiness hormones dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin. In this article I would like to tell you more specifically about the hormone dopamine. A number of things have an influence on the production of this happiness hormone and I would like to tell you how that works! You can read about dopamine here.
Dopamine & nutrition
The substances “phenylalanine” and “tyrosine” are needed to produce dopamine. In any case, food already produces a dopamine production, but you can also choose certain foods that are naturally rich in these substances to boost your dopamine production. These are almonds, avocados, bananas, chocolate, dairy, legumes, seeds, nuts, lean red meat, chicken, turkey, seafood and tofu.
In addition, it is useful to eat antioxidants. These can prevent certain substances from damaging the dopamine-producing cells. It is about these three antioxidants:
- Beta-carotene and carotenoids: leafy vegetables, orange fruit and vegetables, asparagus, broccoli, beetroot
- Vitamin C: peppers, oranges, strawberries, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts
- Vitamin E: nuts, sunflower seeds, leafy vegetables, broccoli, carrots
Furthermore, vitamins and minerals such as folic acid, iron, magnesium, vitamins B3 and B6 are involved in the production of dopamine. Make sure you get enough of these vitamins and minerals by eating vegetables, fruit and red meat, possibly supplemented with nutritional supplements.
Finally, it is good to avoid foods that can reduce brain function. This includes processed foods, white flour, cholesterol, caffeine, saturated fats and sugars.
Dopamine & exercise
Activate your NiceDay step count and make sure you have enough exercise! You can do this by walking, cycling or practicing a different sport every day for 30 to 60 minutes (or at least 8,000 steps). Exercise increases the calcium in your blood, which stimulates dopamine production and uptake of dopamine in your brain. In addition to sporting, sexual activity also stimulates dopamine production in your body. By having sex, your dopamine supply is quickly replenished and the threshold is lower to do it again!
Dopamine & sleep
Your brain uses little dopamine when you sleep, so with enough sleep you have more dopamine for the next day. Sleep at least eight hours a night. Here you can find tips for a good night’s sleep.
Dopamine & relaxation
To get your hormones in balance it is important to relax. By releasing hormones, you experience a rushed feeling during stress. This feeling can be useful if you have a deadline and need to complete tasks, but it is less useful if you feel this continuously. For this reason, try to balance your hormones by consciously dealing with your thoughts. You can read more tips to relax in this article.
When did you last take a day off? Or have a bath for an hour? Read a book in the middle of the day? In your busy life it hardly ever happens. And that is a shame, because you actually charge your battery by concentrating your thoughts on something completely different then work. What you need is a good hobby. The best, to be able to switch off completely on a regular basis. You can switch off optimally by meditating; 5 minutes a day already do wonders (says Harvard).
Here you will find more tips about increasing your happiness!
Do you want to increase your happiness? Then make sure you supplement your dopamine supply! Eat, exercise, sex, sleep, relax, read and have a nice day! 🙂
“Do more or what makes you happy”
NiceDay actions:
Try to write down your thoughts and feelings in your “Feeling Registration” so that you gain insight into what is going on inside of you.
Many patients wonder how treatment will be like in mental health care. Can you expect improvement in a straight line up from the start of the treatment?
Waves
Improvement usually goes more in a wave movement (ten Broeke, 2004). Seen over the entire treatment, the goal is of course to reduce your symptoms and make you feel better. But often changes occur with ups and downs; sometimes you may feel that you are taking two steps forward and one step back. This may have to do with awareness and confrontation with what you previously avoided.
Awareness of your complaints and your behavior
You are going through several phases during treatment. The first phase starts with an intake interview, after which you may already feel a little better because you were able to tell your story and because your concerns were heard (ten Broeke, 2004). Also, you may have received confidence and hope that you can change your complaints.
This is followed by a phase that promotes awareness; you get information about your complaints, you register how often you suffer from your complaints (and you may notice that you are gloomy or anxious much more often than you thought and you may find this unsettling). That can be confronting and make you feel less good. You are more aware of what is not going well, but you still have few tools to get moving and change something (ten Broeke, 2004). This, of course, is not a nice feeling.
Yet becoming aware of what is going on is a sign that you have begun to confront your complaints so that you can do something about them.
Addressing complaints during treatment
When you are more aware of what is going wrong at the moment and how your behavior may sustain your symptoms, you can try to do things differently or changes your think about situations, your professional will be there to help you along the way.
You get tips and tricks to work with, for example by confronting fearful situations that you have avoided before, you become more active again while you previously had the tendency to withdraw. You can also learn to challenge your negative thoughts and become more realistic to start feeling better. And that too can go in waves, with trial and error.
Your development during a treatment is therefore on average not a straight, rising line, but rather a wavy movement. Being aware of this and knowing that this is “normal” can help you to put things into perspective when things go less well. Have faith that you are on the right track and that you will get there. Keep going!
The annual Ramadan – the month of fasting for Muslims – started on 22 March. Until Thursday, April 20, Muslims are not allowed to eat, drink, smoke or have sex between sunrise and sunset. The end of Ramadan is celebrated with Eid al Fitr.
Ramadan
Ramadan is an important month in Islam. During the month of fasting, Muslims do not eat and drink, have no sexual contact, and do not smoke between sunrise and sunset. The goal is to explore your inner world. Specifically to focus on prayers, to read the Qur’an, to think and be aware of the hungry or poor people, to help them and to appreciate the value of food and material goods. This holy month is all about for fraternisation, self-discipline and tolerance.
What happens in your body when you are fasting?
When you are fasting the process of autophagy starts. This means that you replace old cells and old tissue in your body. You get a healthier body in return. In addition, your body will look for other energy sources. Your body is often used to using carbohydrates as an energy source. Due to fasting, this is no longer possible and initially it switches to glycogen, which is the natural sugar in your body. After that the body will start breaking down small amounts of protein to get the energy. It may take a while before your body is used to getting resources from elsewhere. That is why you have to be patient! After about two weeks you will feel that you are getting more energy again.
Exceptions
The vast majority of Muslims is fasting during Ramadan. Islam, however, indicates that not everyone has to do fasting. The following groups are not required to fast: children until they are adolescents, women who are menstruating, pregnant or breastfeeding women, the elderly, (chronically) ill people, travellers and people who have to do heavy physical work.
It is common for people who cannot fast due to illness or other circumstances to fulfil their spiritual / religious duties in a different way. For example, they can make up for the fast another time or give a gift to the poor.
Your health comes first
Yet many Muslims who are (chronically) ill want to fast during this holy month. If there is a possibility that your disease gets worse by fasting or by not taking medication, it is not desirable for a Muslim to fast. For this reason it is important to discuss this with your practitioner, doctor or religious supporter. In this conversation an expert can advise what is best for you.
Not fasting during Ramadan does not make you a “bad Muslim.” However, not adhering to the rules of Ramadan and showing that is still a taboo. You have to have a backbone to withstand the social pressure. If you are (chronically) ill but still want to fast, it is advisable to consult with your practitioner or religious supporter. Your health comes first, don’t forget that!
While you are reading this, you are probably demonstrating very unhealthy behaviour. On average we are sitting 9 hours a day and that is risky for our health. Sitting too much is even fatal because there’s a direct relationship between time spent sitting and your risk of early mortality of any cause. And you can’t compensate it with half an hour of exercise.
New research
Cycling, walking, gardening or cooking for half an hour is still the norm for exercise. But to compensate for the damage of sitting 8 hours a day, you have to exercise for at least an hour a day. That is what the latest research shows us.
And it also shows us that watching television is much more harmful than sitting in the office. Watching three hours of TV is just as damaging as working 8 hours in the office. We spend an average of 9 hours sitting a day in the Netherlands. In addition, young people spend a bit more time sitting on their butts, on average 10 hours a day.
Why is sitting so bad for you?
People who sit a lot are more prone to get diabetes, heart disease, depression, back pain, breast cancer or prostate cancer. In addition, there are 35 other chronic diseases that often occur to people who sit a lot.
Furthermore, sitting too long can also reduce your focus. When you are sitting, you are not actively working your musculoskeletal system or your cardiopulmonary system, which all affect how well the brain functions. Sitting too much can also affect your memory. Its negative impact on blood flow to the head is actually linked to the deterioration of the part of the brain that helps us retain both old memories and new information.
How do you get these diseases?
To answer this, we need to look at what happens in the body when you sit too much. Physiological studies look at how your food is digested, what happens to your muscles and whether things change in your brain and in your hormone system when you are sitting. Unfortunately, not much is known about it yet. After all, you cannot let people sit in a chair for years to do research. However, people can be examined for a short time. These brief investigations show that changes take place in your body when you are not sitting.
Researchers have recently find out that light physical activity such as cooking or even standing is good for the metabolism. When you are sitting, your metabolism slows down. If it becomes too slow, less sugar and fat is absorbed from the blood. This can lead to diseases as obesity and diabetes.
Conclusion
Sitting is unhealthy. So keep in mind that you should actually move throughout the day. If you have an office job, you can read this article to learn more about exercises you can do from behind your desk to keep your body healthy.
Spring is coming! The flowers are blooming, the temperature is rising and there are more people on the streets. During spring we are also more active! We walk and cycle more. And for good reasons, because exercise (outside) is good and healthy for us in so many ways! There are a lot of scientific studies done to prove the positive effects of exercise, especially walking. I will gladly lead you through all these studies!
Creativity
Walking increases creativity! Four experiments showed that walking increases the amount of creative thoughts during the walk and shortly after! It enlarges divergent thinking, meaning out-of-the-box thinking and the quality of analogies. So go for a walk and bring on all the great ideas!
Positive effects on the body
Walking has positive effects on the body and immune system. Walking at least 30 minutes per day decreases the risk of heart- and vascular diseases by 19%. This also reduces the chance of a stroke with 30%. Walking gives your immune system a boost and lowers the risk of developing the flu, a cold and other upper respiratory tract infections. In a group of 1000 adults who walked at least 20 minutes per day, the sick leave was 43% less. These people were also sick for a shorter duration than the people who exercised less than once per week.
Walking protects the joints and can therefore lessen arthritis induced pain. Especially the hips and knees are protected. The joints are lubricated and the muscles that support the joints grow stronger. Besides this, walking also promotes a healthy weight. Walking an hour a day cuts the effects of the so called “obese-genes” in half. This means that when you have the genetic predisposition to become obese, you can reduce this influence by walking. Also, a 15 minute walk after each meal can help lower the blood sugar levels. It lowers the cravings for something sweet and after walking the intake of sweet snacks is lowered.
Positive effects on the brain and your mood
Walking gives more energy! A study showed that walking gives more energy than a low dose of caffeine (50 mg) in a group of young sleep deprived women. Walking can also boost your mood! This counts for every form of exercise. How it works exactly remains unclear, but it probably has something to do with various neurotransmitters in our brain. So do you feel sad? Go out for a walk!
General wellbeing
Walking increases your general wellbeing. It can make tough situations from daily life or physical symptoms more bearable. This means that walking can also generalise to other areas that are not mentioned in this article.
Conclusion?
Go for a walk! To summarise all of these studies, it appears that a minimum of 30 minutes walking per day is the minimum amount of exercise. So put on your sunglasses, ask a friend, partner, grandparent, neighbour or colleague to go with you! Or go by yourself! You’ll feel better either way! 🙂
Anywhere is within walking distance if you have the time
NiceDay App
Plan a walk in your daily planner! Before you go for your walk, write down how you feel and what you think. Evaluate this again after walking. What do you notice?
Love, often treated as an enigma, can be defined as a strong feeling of affection one experiences towards another person. Love is held in high regard by many people; it features heavily in all forms of media. Try to listen to a song on the radio or watch a film in the cinema without love playing a part – it won’t be an easy task. Love is all around us – especially around Valentines’ Day, when you can’t walk past a shop without a giant teddy bear declaring its affection on an enormous red love heart through the window. With love in the air, what is the effect of love? What’s love got to do with your wellbeing?
1. Less stress
In a study at the University of Chicago, researchers found that marriage and committed relationships have the ability to lower the production of cortisol, the stress hormone. Also, strong relationships lead to heightened levels of positive chemicals in the brain, such as dopamine. These are linked directly to four “neural pathways” that correspond to the most important ingredients for “healthy and satisfying relationships: calmness, acceptance, emotional resonance and energy.”
2. Longer life
Friendships and partnerships can help to prolong your lifespan. Research shows that “spending time with those you love has an extremely positive effect on health and can cut the risk of an early death to in half.”
3. Better sleep
Loving relationships lead to less stress, which consequently means you’re more likely to have a satisfying slumber. Tensions are eased when you feel supported, and evidence suggests happily married women are 10 per cent more likely to have a restful night’s sleep.
4. Lower risk of depression
A 2013 study at the University of Michigan, which examined the effect of social relationships on depression, found that clinical depression was notably reduced in people with strong, meaningful relationships. The study concluded, “one in seven adults who have social relationships in the bottom decile of relationship quality will develop major depression years later. Whereas, just one in fifteen of those with the highest quality of social relationships will develop depression.”
5. Intellectual health
Interacting with others helps keep you alert and sharp, which is especially important as we age. Friends, family and partners provide intellectual stimulation through conversations and activities. Whether it’s discussing philosophy or dragging you out of bed to make it to class on time, your friends are good for the brain.
6. Healthier heart and body
Friends and family can help you monitor your health. And these relationships may also have an effect on your heart’s performance! A study at the University of Chicago discovered that loneliness is a risk factor for elevated blood pressure, which increases your risk for heart disease. Loving relationships can also help boost your immune system and lower your risk of dementia.
7. Better spiritual health
Strong relationships can help you become the best version of yourself! The people you surround yourself with assist your growth in a personal and spiritual way. Being loved and giving love allows you to discover more about yourself. It provides you with the positive reinforcement you need to really shine.
Do you want to start working out or do you want to get back in shape again? But you do not know where to start? This article gives you the answer: start training your core! You might have heard from the term ‘core’, but what does it mean exactly? Your core is the center of your body which exist of your back, abdomen and pelvis. In this article, you can read more about the benefits of training your core and which exercises are suited to achieve a well trained core!
Why should I start training my core?
The core is the center of your body and without this core you would not be able to get anywhere. The muscles of the core help you to perform everyday tasks such as lifting groceries or lifting a child. In fact, it is involved in every move you can think of.
In the gym, you also use your core for running, boxing and weight training. If your core muscles are well trained, you will be able to control your muscles and you are able to maintain your balance as well. When the muscles of your core are well trained, the chances of getting injuries will reduce and it can also reduce existing problems or injuries drastically. For these reasons it is important to train the muscles of the core well.
How do I achieve this?
You should realize that it takes time to achieve well developed core muscles, so it is important to take small steps. Your core exist of 29 muscles, it will therefore take some time to get there. It is important that you work on a better balance and on your strength. Try doing a bicep exercise while standing on one leg. Is this a challenge for you? No problem! Take your time to master the core exercises. Below you can read more exercises that help you develop a solid and well-trained core.
Core exercises
With the right exercises you can train your entire core in a good way and you also deal with and / or prevent existing back complaints. Read more about the right exercises below.
Planking
In this exercise you train your entire body with the focus on the abdominal muscles (both straight and oblique abdominal muscles) and the lower back muscles. Very easy to perform in the gym or at home!
The Superman
A simple exercise that is good for many muscle groups. In particular, you will feel the small and large buttocks and hamstring while performing this exercise. Just lie down on the floor, exhale and extend your right arm and your left leg. Then go back to the starting position. Now it is time to exhale again and stretch the other leg and arm out.
Squats
The leg exercise that consists of countless variations. With this exercise you train a large part of your body, and you also work on your coordination, balance, flexibility and posture! During the squat you use multiple muscle groups in one movement. You train your leg muscles (hamstring, gluteal muscles, calves and quadriceps), your back muscles and abdominal muscles. Make sure that your knees do not pass your toes during squatting and your upper body is still upright.
NiceDay: Do you want to train or do you want to improve your core muscles? Then plan an activity in NiceDay and write down in your diary how it was for you to train your core. What went well and what could have gone better?
You can get really insecure from a blemished skin. You might even notice that you feel less happy when your skin is blemished. There are so many cosmetic products for a glowing and pure skin, but it’s even better to nourish your skin from the inside. Therefore we provide some tips on how to take care of your skin.
Nutrition do’s and don’ts
Several researches confirm that there is a relation between dairy products and acne: the more milk you consume, the more you suffer from acne. Another research shows that people eating high amounts of saturated fats and/or simple carbs suffer from acne more often. This are products high in sugar and oily products like cheese and crisps. But there is also good news: science never found a relationship between chocolate and acne. And you can continue eating spicy foods without any harm as well :-).
Vitamins and acne
As to vitamin deficiencies and acne there hasn’t been done that much research yet. But it seems like a vitamin A deficiency and vitamin E deficiency is related to (the amount of) acne. However it’s important to get all vitamins and minerals in, because it’s good for you immune system which prevents infections.
Omega fatty acids
Omega 3 fatty acids and omega 6 fatty acids can help when you suffer from inflammations (fiery and painful pimples). This is because the omega fatty acids can inhibit the inflammatory process. You can get them from fatty fish, walnuts, plant based oils and green leafy vegetables.
Water
The skin exists for a big part of water. Water is needed to get metabolic wastes out of your body. A dry skin can cause irritations, redness and inflammations. You lose dead skin cells more easily when you drink enough water which prevents clogging.
Sleep and stress
Insomnia can cause stress. Research shows that stress has a strong relation with acne. This is because your body produces hormones during stress which can lead to a blemished skin. But acne can cause stress as well. It has a serious impact on quality of life, self esteem, body image and social relationships. So try to get enough sleep and avoid stress as much as possible. If that’s not possible, try some mindfulness so now and then.
The sun and heat
Sunlight can reduce acne, mostly on places like the chest and back. But don’t let your skin burn in the sun, because this will only make the acne worse and can cause skin cancer. Use sun protection and don’t be in the sun for longer than an hour. Foggy heat can make blemishes worse because it clogs sebaceous glands. If so, make sure to wash your skin more often with handwarm water.
Backaches are a common problem that affect around 75% of the adult population. That is not that strange, because our backs carry us around and most of us don’t take good care of it. Dropping temperatures are luring us insight to the couch. Practitioners and physiotherapists don’t find it surprising anymore that they see an increase in back problems during this time of the year. That’s why we are gonna walk you through some steps and tips that can help you to get rid of those backaches.
Step 1: Find the cause
There are often multiple causes that aren’t that easy to find and contribute to your backaches. The most common ones are: overload, tension, bad posture (both sitting and standing) and lack of movement. Especially a physiotherapist can help you find the cause.
Step 2: Take action
People have the tendency to stop moving when experiencing backaches. Inform your practitioner or a physiotherapist to see what kind of movement you CAN do. There are many different back- and abdominal exercises that relieve your back.
Step 3: Write down goals
Writing down goals can help you to specify what you want to work on. Make sure these goals are achievable so you don’t overload yourself. Think of something that you want to be able to do again but you stopped doing because of the backaches. For example, start with a ten minute walk or cycle and build this up.
Step 4: Identify your body posture
Most people don’t pay a lot of attention to this although it is all too common. Standing up, sitting down or lifting things is often done in the wrong posture. This can lead to injuries and an overloaded back.
Step 5: Get plenty of sleep
Sleeping is essential for the relief of tension in the muscles and recovery. Especially your back needs rest to recover.
It is also important to take into account a few things that can help to relieve your back. These simple and practical tips can help you:
- Make a straight back when you lift, also use your core muscles to support your back when lifting things.
- Never turn your back when lifting things
- Train your core with abdominal- and back exercises
- Avoid high heels, these shoes don’t support your body weight and are often very unstable
- Get yourself a good office chair for work that is adjustable and gives you good back support
- Do you have a mattress that takes your spinal cord into account? If you experience backaches, then is this something that can help you a lot.
- When carrying things, hold the things close to the body to relieve the strain on your back
In the fitness world everybody seems to eat chicken, egg whites and protein shakes. But did you know that getting enough protein in is important for everybody? Your body is not able to produce some of the nutrients in protein, so it’s important to get them from our nutrition. Let’s dive into it!
Dietproof
Upping your protein intake is very efficient when you want to lose weight. Proteins are satisfying and do not contain that much calories. Next to that, directly after your meal your body converts some of the energy (calories) into warmth (thermogenic effect), instead of in fats. However, this doesn’t mean you will lose weight by eating a lot of proteins, it will only help you to eat less during the rest of the day.
Nutrients
It’s also good for you if you don’t want to lose weight. All cells in the body contain protein. An adult person consists of approximately twelve kilograms of protein in total. The body uses protein by breaking off cells and rebuilding them again. You also lose protein through your hair, nails, skin flakes, sweat and urine. It’s important to replenish your protein level again! Also, protein is needed for muscle retention and muscle gain to make you feel fit and strong.
Other functions
Furthermore, protein regulates processes in the body. Enzymes for example, are proteins. Just like antibodies and most hormones. Protein also transports substances, like oxygen from the lungs to the tissues. And lastly, we also need proteins for the transmission of stimuli from the brain- and nerve cells. All in all, protein is very important!
Dietary advice
A regular active person needs 0,8 grams of protein per kilo of bodyweight. The absorption of animal based protein is better than plant based protein, this is why vegans and vegetarians need to take 15 grams extra.
Because athletes use their muscles more often, they also need to eat extra protein. For endurance training this means 1,2-1,4 grams of protein per kilo of bodyweight and for strength training it is 1,7-1,8 grams of protein per kilo of bodyweight.
Animal based proteins vs plant based proteins
Animal based proteins are better for protein absorption, since they have the complete set of nutrients and plant based proteins don’t. However, too many meat and dairy products can cause an higher intake of, for instance, saturated fats (the unhealthy ones). So, a combination of animal based proteins and plant based proteins is the best. Animal based sources of protein are chicken, diary and cottage cheese. Plantbased sources are soy products, cereals, legumes and nuts.
Do you get enough protein in?
