Boost The Levels Of Happy Hormones With A Healthy Gut: Here’s How

Nutritionist Nmami Agarwal highlights the importance of “serotonin”, which is believed to act as a mood enhancer, and suggests the few food items that may help

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every aspect of our lives. It has also had drastic negative effects on the mental health of people, which have, in turn, disrupted normal sleep patterns, led to mood swings, and even snowballed into depression or other cognitive changes. Nutritionist Nmami Agarwal shared a few tips to improve mental health in times of such a crisis in her latest Instagram post. She highlighted the importance of “serotonin”, the chemical messenger believed to act as a mood enhancer. She also suggested a few food items that may help increase serotonin levels.

Tips to boost levels of happy hormones

“Tips to boost happy hormone, serotonin. Apart from our surroundings, environment, physical activity, and sleep pattern, diet plays an important role in the production of serotonin — a feel-good hormone,” Agarwal wrote in the caption.

In the video, the nutritionist says that serotonin is a feel-good hormone and 90 per cent of it can be found in yogurt. “Make sure that you have good gut bacteria. Another factor that influences serotonin production is tryptophan. The gut can turn tryptophan into serotonin. Tryptophan is an amino acid you must get through diet,” she added, and also suggested the inclusion of food items such as sunflower seeds, soybean, eggs, chickpea, and quinoa in our regular diet. These food items, Agarwal says, enhance serotonin.

A few days ago, Agarwal had shared tips on controlling anxiety. She said that the gut and brain were strongly connected, and altering the kind of bacteria in the gut adds to the improvement in the functioning of the brain. She also shared a list of food items to reduce anxiety, which includes nuts, seeds, fish, yogurt, idli, dosa, and whole grains.

She also shared her insights on staying mentally fit amid the second wave of COVID-19. Exercising regularly and staying connected with our close ones through phone or other mediums were her first two crucial tips. Good sleep and limited consumption of news also contributed to maintaining good mental health, she had said.

The second wave of COVID-19 has been a hugely challenging time for people. So, it’s important to take care of your mental health’s well-being along with physical health. So, set some goals for yourself and try to stay positive.