When you’re feeling down, it can be tempting to turn to food to lift your spirits. However, the sugary, high-calorie treats that many people resort to have negative consequences of their own.Recently, research on the relationship between nutrition and mental health has been emerging. Yet, it’s important to note that mood can be influenced by many factors, such as stress, environment, poor sleep, genetics, mood disorders, and nutritional deficiencies.Therefore, it’s difficult to accurately determine whether food can raise your spirits. Nonetheless, certain foods have been shown to improve overa<warningtag>ll brain health and certain types of mood disorders.</warningtag>

Using food to put yourself in a happy mood

<ul><li>Omega-3 fatty acids are a group of essential fats that you must obtain through your diet because your body can’t produce them on its own.</li><li>Fatty fish like salmon and albacore tuna are rich in two types of omega-3s — docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) — that are linked to lower levels of depression.</li><li>Although there’s no standard dose, most experts agree that most adults should get at least 250–500 mg of combined EPA and DHA per day.</li></ul>

Fatty fish

<ul><li>Chocolate is rich in many mood-boosting compounds. Its sugar may improve mood since it’s a quick source of fuel for your brain.</li><li>It may release a cascade of feel-good compounds, such as caffeine, theobromine, and N-acylethanolamine — a substance chemically similar to cannabinoids that have been linked to improved mood.</li><li>It’s high in health-promoting flavonoids, which have been shown to increase blood flow to your brain, reduce inflammation, and boost brain health, all of which may support mood regulation </li><li>Chocolate has a high hedonic rating, meaning that its pleasurable taste, texture, and smell may<warningtag> also promote a good mood.</warningtag></li><li><warningtag>Because milk chocolate contains added ingredients like sugar and fat, it’s best to opt for dark chocolate — which is higher in flavonoids and lower in added sugar. </warningtag></li></ul>

Dark chocolate

<ul><li>Since up to 90% of your body’s serotonin is produced in your gut, a healthy gut may correspond to a good mood. </li><li>Fermented foods, which include kimchi, yogurt, kefir, kombucha, and sauerkraut, may improve gut health and mood.</li><li>The fermentation process allows live bacteria to thrive in foods that are then able to convert sugars into alcohol and acids.</li><li>During this process, probiotics are created. These live microorganisms support the growth of healthy bacteria in your gut and may increase serotonin levels.</li><li>It’s important to note that not all fermented foods are significant sources of probiotics, s<warningtag>uch as in the case of beer, some bread, and wine, due to cooking and filtering.</warningtag></li></ul>

Fermented foods

Bananas are a great source of natural sugar, vitamin B6, and prebiotic fiber, which work together to keep your blood sugar levels and mood stable.

Bananas

Oats are a whole grain that can keep you in good spirits all morning. You can enjoy them in many forms, such as overnight oats, oatmeal, muesli, and granola.Oats provide the fiber that can stabilize your blood sugar levels and boost your mood. They’re also high in iron, which may improve mood symptoms in those with iron deficiency anemia.

Oats

Although the mechanism isn’t clear, a diet rich in antioxidants may help manage inflammation associated with depression and other mood disorders.Berries pack a wide range of antioxidants and phenolic compounds, which play a key role in combatting oxidative stress — an imbalance of harmful compounds in your body.

Berries

Nuts and seeds are high in plant-based proteins, healthy fats, and fiber.Certain nuts and seeds are high in tryptophan, zinc, and selenium, which may support brain function and lower your risk of depression.

Nuts and seeds

Coffee is the world’s most popular drink, and it may make the world a bit happier, too.
The caffeine in coffee prevents a naturally occurring compound called adenosine from attaching to brain receptors that promote tiredness, therefore increasing alertness and attention.
Moreover, it increases the release of mood-boosting neurotransmitters, such as dopamine and norepinephrine.

Coffee can put you in a happy mood

<ul><li>In addition to being high in fiber and plant-based protein, beans and lentils are full of feel-good nutrients.</li><li>They’re an excellent source of B vitamins, which help improve mood by increasing levels of neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), all of which are important for regulating mood.</li><li>Furthermore, B vitamins play a key role in nerve signaling, which allows proper communication between nerve cells. Low levels of these vitamins, especially B12 and folate, have been linked to mood disorders, such as depression.</li></ul>

Beans and lentils

Small things  you can do every day to quickly put yourself in a mood. 

food

Food

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

mentalhealth

Mental Health

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

Mood Boosters: Put Yourself in a Happy Mood 

Here are 9 healthy foods that may put you in a happy mood.

It may be tempting to turn to unhealthy items like cookies or ice cream when you're feeling down, but these high calorie foods are unlikely to improve your spirits. Here are 9 healthy foods that can really boost your mood.

Happy Mood Food: Foods That Can Really Boost Your Spirits

<ul><li>When you’re in a bad mood, it can feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. Everything seems ten times harder and nothing seems to go your way. It’s hard to enjoy the simple things in life when you’re feeling down in the dumps.</li><li>Your bad mood can also affect those around you. If you’re constantly complaining and snapping at people, it’s only natural that they would start to distance themselves from you.</li><li>But it’s not just our social life that suffers when we’re in a bad mood. Our physical health does as well. When we’re stressed or unhappy, our body goes into fight-or-flight mode.</li></ul>

How Does Our Mood Affect Our Life?

<ul><li>Watch a funny movie or TV show.</li><li>Play with a pet. There's something about the unconditional love of an animal that can cheer you.</li><li>Make yourself a feel-good playlist of your favorite upbeat songs and listen to it whenever you need a pick-me-up. Or listen to a Podcast. </li><li>Read a good book.</li><li>Meditate. A simple 10-minute session may be enough to reset your mind quickly.</li><li>Taking deep breaths is a simple yet effective way to instantly relax and improve your mood. </li><li>Making a gratitude list of the things and people who make your life happy can relieve you of negative thoughts.</li><li>Drink herbal tea. Chamomile an<warningtag>d lavender tea are especially good for relaxation.</warningtag></li><li><warningtag>Fix yourself a pretty meal.</warningtag></li><li><warningtag>Make sure you are getting at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night.</warningtag></li></ul>

Get Yourself in a Happy Mood: Indoors Activities

<ul><li>Hang out with friends. Surrounding yourself with positive people is a great way to improve your mood. </li><li>Take a walk around the block or sit in the park and people-watch. </li><li>Exercise. Endorphins are released when you exercise which can lead to an improved mood.</li><li>Connect with nature. There's something about nature that has a calming effect on the soul.</li><li>Volunteer.  Giving back to the community can make you feel good and improve your mood.</li><li>Go to a coffee shop. Grab some coffee, tea, or hot cocoa, take a seat, and people-watch. Many coffee shops often play some cool music and have comfy chairs to relax<warningtag> in.</warningtag></li><li><warningtag>If you have access to a beach, take advantage of it! The sound of the waves, seagulls, and the smell of salt water will be invigorating.</warningtag></li></ul>

Get Yourself in a Happy Mood: Outdoors Activities

<ul><li>Spending time with loved ones is a great way to lift your spirits. If you can't be with them in person, give them a call or video chat.</li><li>Plan a vacation. Sometimes all you need is a change of scenery. If you can't take a vacation right away, start planning one for the future.</li><li>Go on a picnic. Whether you go to a nearby park or your own backyard, pack a picnic basket full of your favorite snacks and enjoy the outdoors.</li><li>Look at old photos. Life can get hectic and stressful. Sometimes it's nice to take a walk down memory lane and look at old photos</li><li>Have a water balloon fight. No water gun – no problem. <warningtag>Take some leftover balloons and have a balloon fight instead. </warningtag></li><li><warningtag>Go for a ride. Something as simple as getting in your car and going for a ride can help improve your mood. </warningtag></li></ul>

Get Yourself in a Happy Mood: Family Activities

Get yourself in a happy mood: Simple and quick ways to cheer yourself up

In this post, we have listed a few tips to help you get into a good mood when your feeling down. Read on...

Quick Ways to Get Yourself in a Happy Mood

Activities to Get Yourself in a Happy Mood

As a species we have an in-built ‘negativity bias': a propensity to remember, cling to, and learn from negative experiences more readily than positive ones, according to neurology research.
It made sense that our earliest ancestors should be risk averse, but nowadays that bias is completely out of step with modern life. When a bad experience is highly unlikely to be life-threatening, a propensity to constantly rake up bad memories, see ourselves through a negative prism or belittle ourselves in a way we would never dream of doing to a friend can cause us to become unnecessarily fearful and depressed.

Negative bias

Affirmations challenge our negative self-talk and negative self-image. Positive thoughts have also been shown to help us respond better to stressful situations by regulating the stress hormone cortisol. Basically, the more positive our outlook, the less likely our brains are to go into fight-or-flight mode when we encounter a stressful situation. Which means we have to talk ourselves up.But it’s not as easy as looking in the mirror and chanting a mantra; if you don’t really believe what you’re saying, the whole process can do more harm than good. Affirmations need to be realistic, otherwise, y<warningtag>our brain rushes in to try and disprove them.</warningtag>

Positive affirmations

This is likely because our thoughts change our brain structure – the more positive thoughts we have, the more positive neural pathways we build in the brain, making it easier to think positively in the future.So build a practice whereby every time you have a good experience – no matter how small (i.e. sending the email you’ve been putting off) – you take 12 to 15 seconds to stop and appreciate the good feelings it prompts. This is how long it takes for the experience to be stored in our long-term memory. Even without saying anything, this allows us to build more positive neural pathways in the <warningtag>brain.</warningtag>

Changing brain structure

<ul><li>I can only go forwards, I can never go back</li><li>I can learn from this and it’ll be easier next time</li><li>I recognize that I feel down, and know that this will pass</li><li>Today is the first day of the rest of my life and I will take notice of the many positive things this day has to offer</li><li>I have a lot to be proud of.</li></ul>

Five affirmations to try for a happy mood

Can positive affirmations/mantras really put us in a happy mood?

Everyday is a new day for our bodies and minds, check in with yourself daily using Moody Month and find the motivation to give your body what it needs.

How to talk yourself into a good mood

How to talk yourself into a happy mood

“Happiness depends upon ourselves.”

“To be kind to all, to like many and love a few, to be needed and wanted by those we love, is certainly the nearest we can come to happiness.”

Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.

“If you want happiness for an hour—take a nap. If you want happiness for a day—go fishing. If you want happiness for a year—inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime—help someone else.”

“Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.”

“It’s been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.”

“Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give.”

“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”

“I’d far rather be happy than right any day.”

“Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory.”

“The first recipe for happiness is: avoid too lengthy meditation on the past.”

Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”

"If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes."

"Tension is who you think you should be, relaxation is who you are."

"Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better to take things as they come along with patience and equanimity."

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us."

"Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get."

“The happiness of life is made up of the little charities of a kiss or smile, a kind look, a heartfelt compliment."

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

“There's nothing like deep breaths after laughing that hard. Nothing in the world like a sore stomach for the right reasons.”

“Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.”

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”

“Happiness is a warm puppy.”

“Happiness is holding someone in your arms and knowing you hold the whole world.”

“Happiness is not the absence of problems, it's the ability to deal with them.”

. “The greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.”

“Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything - anger, anxiety, or possessions - we cannot be free.”

“The power of finding beauty in the humblest things makes home happy and life lovely.”

“Happiness is a risk. If you’re not a little scared, then you’re not doing it right.”

“There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power or our will. ”

“Just because you are happy it does not mean that the day is perfect but that you have looked beyond its imperfections”

You must be the best judge of your own happiness.”

“My happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my expectations.”

“You can't buy happiness”

“Got no checkbooks, got no banks. Still I'd like to express my thanks—I've got the sun in the mornin' and the moon at night.”

“A flower blossoms for its own joy.”

We could all use a little more happiness in our life. Here is a selection of quotes to put you in a happy mood.

Here are 100 inspiring quotes about happiness. These happiness quotes are perfect sayings for a toast or speech, or just looking for joy in your own life.

Inspiring Quotes For A Happy Mood

When trying to pick the best among many options, how many samples should you try before you commit? This is known as the optimal stopping problem. Mathematicians tell us that, to maximize the chances of the best outcome, we ought to ditch the first 37% of any options. In psychology, people tend to either "explore" or "exploit" more.But, sadly for us, relationships are a bit messier than probability would have it.

The 37 Percent Rule: Key Takeaways

The primary puzzle is asking how long do you spend sampling options to give the optimum chances of a successful final decision? How many frogs must you kiss to secure your chances of getting a prince?Mathematicians have given us an answer: 37%. The basic idea is that, if you need to make a decision from 100 different options, you should sample and discard (or hold off on) the first 37. The 37% rule is a calibration period during which you identify what works and what does not. From the rejected 37%, we choose the best and keep that information in our heads moving forward.

The Mathematical Question And The Solution

Mathematics offers us the best answer to the “optimal stopping problem.” But there’s just one big issue with it: Humans are not rational probability-crunching machines. In fact, the opposite is usually true. We’re beautifully, infuriatingly, creatively, and messily chaotic.In psychology and economics, there is what’s known as a “explore/exploit” tradeoff. This asks whether you should go with a guaranteed “win” (the exploit) or risk going somewhere else for an unknown outcome (explore). The degree to which someone will explore or exploit will depend on our curiosity and risk appetite.

Exploit or Explore

The world of interpersonal relations is hard to put a number on. Probabilities and game theory do funny things when you input the wobbly, fuzzy variables at play in human behaviour.But the biggest problem with the 37% rule, or the idea of “exploring,” when applied to dating is that one date(or even 10) is never enough.   When it comes to buying things or making life decisions, the 37% rule is a mathematically safe starting point. There’s a lot of wisdom to be had in sampling the field before settling down.

The Complexity Of Relationships

The optimal sample rate while deciding on something.

The 37% rule states that when making any major decision in life, reject the first 37% in a list and choose the next best that comes along.

productivity

Productivity

problemsolving

Problem Solving

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

Mathematicians suggest the "37% rule" for your life's biggest decisions

In any industry, your business regularly needs to improve if you want it to succeed.
When change is required at your organisation, acting on a plan without evaluating the progress can be harmful to a business. The Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle (PDCA) can be beneficial to facilitate change.

Success depends on improvement

PDCA is a continual cycle of improvement of people, products, services, and business processes. It consists of four steps. <ol><li>Plan</li><li>Do</li><li>Check</li><li>Act</li></ol>Each step sets you up for success in the next stage.

PDCA

Ask the following questions:<ul><li>What problem do you need to solve?</li><li>What resources will you need to fix the issue?</li><li>What resources do you already possess?</li><li>How can you best solve the problem with your available resources?</li><li>What does success look like?</li></ul>

Plan

With your plan sorted out, it's time to focus on executing your ideas. Of course, issues will arise even if you have a solid plan, so be willing to adjust as you go. Effective communication with your team members will limit the number of problems as everyone will have a clear idea of their responsibilities.

<ul><li>How did your plan work in the controlled environment?</li><li>Did you achieve your goals?</li><li>Identify the flaws in the process and correct them. </li></ul>

Check

If you met your goals during the Check phase, you could apply your initial plan. This becomes the best practice for this part of your organisation. It becomes the starting point for your next change implementation.

<ul><li>Ensure that upper management agrees with the changes.</li><li>Never stop improving. ThePDCA is a repeat cycle, making improvements with each revolution.</li><li>Once you've implemented a policy change, do so for the entire organisation.</li></ul>

PDCA best practices

The Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle helps your business plan and innovate — learn how to implement the process at your own business. 

business

Business

What Is PDCA? Understanding the Plan-Do-Check-Act Method

Injecting Botox or botulinum toxin is the most common cosmetic procedure when looking at aesthetic interventions.
Botox is not just used to treat wrinkles but also spasticity, eye twitch, neck contracture, migraines, an overactive bladder and severe underarm sweating.

Botox are used for many conditions

Botox (botulinum toxin) is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Infection with Clostridium botulinum causes a disabling paralytic illness named botulism. Botulism first paralyzes the face, mouth, and throat muscles before spreading to other parts of the body. When breathing is affected, the person can die. Clostridium botulinum comes in eight serotypes -A, B, C1, C2, D, E, F, and G. Only A and B are used in clinical preparations.

Botox comes from a bacterium

When botulinum toxin is injected into the muscle, it spreads to the nerve terminal and prevents a neurotransmitter from releasing, stopping muscle activity. This site-specific paralysis smoothes wrinkles and stops spasms. Botulinum toxin also prevents the release of pain and inflammatory mediators - an effective way to treat migraines. But the effects of botulinum toxin wear off. The nerves take about 120 days before it regenerates, explaining why people sometimes get serial treatments.

How botox works

Belgian scientist Emile Pierre van Ermengem discovered Clostridium botulinum after a botulism outbreak in Belgium. In the 1920s, scientists tried to isolate botulinum toxin, but it took another 20 years before it was isolated in crystalline.In the 1970s, scientists tested a treatment for strabismus (crossed eyes) on monkeys and noticed reduced wrinkles in the skin between the eyebrows and above the nose. After the toxin proved successful, Allergan licensed the treatment and branded it Botox.

The origins of botox

Botox is a wrinkle treatment derived from the bacteria Clostridium botulinum. Learn how this versatile agent came to be as well as its other uses.

history

History

fashion

Fashion & Beauty

health

Health

The Remarkable Story of Botox

People crave progress. But that desire can distort what we work on. Some pursuits are more easily measured than others. This leads to tractability bias - the tendency to focus on goals with more noticeable progress.
Vital pursuits with greater potential often have less tangible progress.

Understanding tractability bias

With real work, frustrations and fatigue get bigger with each failure. If we don&#39;t show signs of success, we may abandon a project altogether. It&#39;s much easier to work on routine tasks that deliver immediate rewards.
But the more manageable routine tasks that we can tick off don&#39;t steer us to the real work that helps us advance in our career.

Routine tasks vs Real work

Tractable tasks are easier. Most people will reach for the easier tasks, increasing competition for that work.
But people often shrink back from complicated work. If you can slog through the difficulties, it becomes more valuable because the competition is reduced. However, not all important work is intractable. We have to pay attention to where intractability and importance meet.

Tractability is inversely related to opportunity

There are efforts we can make in our productivity that can keep us from easy satisfaction.
<ul>
<li>Elevate the status of your sincere attempts. Measure your day by the deep work you took on.</li>
<li>Narrow what counts as the &quot;real&quot; work. Only keep track of your deep work, and not by email, calls and other simple activities.</li>
<li>Stop tracking. If counting the number of books you read keeps you from reading longer important works - stop counting.</li>
</ul>

Making real work more tractable

Humans crave progress. This helps us feel productive, but it distorts our attention away from thorny problems onto easier to-do lists.

timemanagement

Time Management

Beware Tractability Bias | Scott H Young

Any customer-service oriented company knows that managing wait times are crucial for their customer satisfaction and bottom-line. Whether on the phone, at the checkout counter, or in a restaurant, long wait times lead to a subpar customer experience and a drop in sales.
Customers' patience can be psychologically manipulated by selective colour choices (like blue), temperature, or the visuals that surround them during their wait times.

The Inevitable Wait Time

New studies reveal that customer’s patience levels increase when they are provided with a feeling of nostalgia, alleviating the negative effects of waiting long.
The experiment shows that being in a state of nostalgia relaxes us and puts us in a positive mood, as we remember a unique or favourite experience of the past, which we are unlikely to experience again. Example: A long waiting line at the checkout counter can benefit from 70s music playing in the background.

Nostalgia As A Waiting Tool

communication

Communication

Feelings of Nostalgia Can Make Us More Patient

The creative process is the act of making new connections between old ideas or recognizing relationships between concepts.While being creative isn't easy, nearly all great ideas follow a similar 5 step creative process.

Creativity

<ol><li>Gather new material directly related to your task as well as learning general material by becoming fascinated with a wide range of concepts.</li><li>Thoroughly work over the materials in your mind.  Examine what you have learned by looking at the facts from different angles and experimenting with fitting various ideas together.</li><li>Step away from the problem. Next, you put the problem completely out of your mind and go do something else that excites you and energizes you.</li><li>Let your idea return to you. After you have stopped thinking about it, your idea will come back to you with a flash of insight and renewed energy.</li><li>Shape and develop your idea based on feedback. For any idea to succeed, you must release it out into the world, submit it to criticism, and adapt it as needed.</li></ol>

The 5 Step Creative Process

Some people are primed to be more creative than others.However, nearly every person is born with some level of creative skill and the majority of our creative thinking abilities are trainable.

Creativity is learned

<ol><li>Give yourself permission to create junk.</li><li>Create on a schedule. Genius arrives when you show up enough times to get the average ideas out of the way.</li><li>Finish something. Anything. Stop researching, planning, and preparing to do the work and just do the work.</li><li>Stop judging your own work. Laugh off your mistakes and continue to produce the thing you love.</li><li>Hold yourself accountable. Share your work publicly. It will hold you accountable for creating your best work. </li></ol>

How to Be Creative

Finding your creative genius is easy: <ul><li>do the work, </li><li>finish something, </li><li>get feedback, </li><li>find ways to improve, </li><li>show up again tomorrow. </li><li>Repeat for ten years. Or twenty. Or thirty.</li></ul>Inspiration only reveals itself after perspiration.

How to Find Your Creative Genius

This page pulls together my most essential information about creativity. I'll share how creativity works, how to find your hidden creative genius, and how to create meaningful work by learning how to make creative thinking a habit. I've tried to present the basics of everything you need to know to start mastering creativity, even if you don't have much time.

Happy Mood Food: Foods That Can Really Boost Your Spirits

Quick Ways to Get Yourself in a Happy Mood

How to talk yourself into a good mood

Inspiring Quotes For A Happy Mood

Mathematicians suggest the "37% rule" for your life's biggest decisions

Oscar T.