FOOD has a direct effect on the levels of certain brain chemical. For example, eating regular portions of tryptophan – containing proteins such as lean meat, cheese and eggs-can improve your mood. It’s because tryptophan is converted by the body into serotonin – the brain chemical that triggers the feel good effect.
The absorption of tryptophan is helped by eating carbohydrates. That’s why people crave cakes and goodies when they’re feeling down. But simple carbohydrate like cakes can give you an energy dip a few hours after you’ve scoffed then- and that makes you feel worse than before you ate it. The solution? Go for complex carbohydrates such as oats and whole grain which release energy slowly, but still help the absorption of tryptophan.
Avoid sugar: We crave different foods when the weather gets cooler. You want comfort food, but doughnuts and cakes are not the answer. Some scientists believe that sugar and other simple starches actually bring on depression, by lowering levels of serotonin. A recent study found that countries that ate the most sugar also had the highest rate of depression. Other studies have shown that depression improves when people eat less sugar.
Drink water: When the weather is cold, we drink less which can result in dehydration- one of the worst culprits when it comes to making you feel low. According to mental- health charity, MIND, drinking water came top as the best self- help strategy to boost your mood. This is because dehydration is a form of stress. It causes similar changes to the body as when you’re stressed by other means- resulting in depression.
The brain is 85 percent water. It’s the movement of this water through the nerve cells that generates electrical activity. A shortage mild dehydration triggers an increase in histamine, which can block the message – carrying neurotransmitters in the brain- making you feel miserable. So if you’re feeling low, try drinking three glasses of water. It will combat the signs of dehydration and you should feel happier just 10 minutes later. Over the course of an average day, you should drink at least eight glasses of water.
Boost your Vitamin D: Another reason to get outside, is to boost your levels of Vitamin D. Vitamin D is vital for healthy bones and skin, and also increases happiness by raising levels of the feel good chemical, serotonin, and this nutrient is made in your body when your skin is exposed to sunlight. Boost your intake further by using margarine every morning.
Other good dietary sources include breakfast cereal, oily fish and eggs.
Walk back to happiness: Exercise makes you feel happier, but pounding the streets in bad weather can be a struggle. Even a brisk walk will cheer you up though. Activity has the same effect on the brain as antidepressants. It stimulates neurotransrnitters (which carry messages around the brain) to produce serotinin – the endorphin which makes us feel good. In fact, walking has been found to be more effective than drugs in treating mild to moderate depression. Also, exercise, unlike antidepressants, works immediately and has no negative side effects, just 10 minutes of brisk walking will boost your mood. 20 minutes will cheer you up a treat and 30 minutes will put in an even better mood. After that, the effect of exercise on the mood remains the same.
You need help to make your relationship last
EVEN the happiest couples sometimes drift apart and to help your relationship stay the course, experts believe you really have to work with the tools you have. You know he’s the one, and he’s crazy about you. You’re in love – for now. But what about a few years down the line? By then you’re fed up with the way he leaves his dirty socks on the floor. He hates the way you always hog the bathroom. Is it time to break up?
Psychologist Susan Jeffers says that this sounds familiar, you need lessons in love. In her book: Feel the Fear Guide to Lasting Love, she explains that falling in love can be easy but couples need to learn how to keep their love alive. She says: “I believe that when many of us enter a relationship, we don’t really know how to love. It’s when the original feeling of bliss is over that the learning begins. Too many of us don’t understand what love really means. We say we love people in our lives, yet often we don’t act very lovingly.” She says that acting lovingly is the key; so how do you do this? Get rid of those negative vibes: If you think and act unlovingly, your partner will pick up on negative energy and it will lead to conflict. But she also advises us to look beyond our immediate relationship. “If your friends are always moaning, it’s time to find new ones. The complainers in life are not working on becoming more loving people.
Work out your own issues: When you’re trying to patch things up after an argument, the hardest thing is often admitting your own faults. But this doesn’t mean you have to blame yourself for everything that’s gone wrong either. See it as a chance to become self-aware. It’s hard to be loving toward someone else if, for example, you have body hangups and don’t really love yourself.
Don’t use your feelings to punish your mate: The same feelings come up in a good relationship as in a bad one. But Jeffers points out: “The difference is, in .a good relationship we use the feelings as tools of self-discovery in a bad one, we use the feelings to punish our mate.” The next time your other half does something that annoys you, don’t automatically go on the attack. Think about how you can change your reaction to what’s happened. If he wants a night out without you and, you’re angry about it, ask yourself why.
Is your life so limited that you can’t cope without him for a few hours? If your answer is yes, it’s not a reason to be cross with him. It’s something only you can change. And if you give him time with his friends, he should be happy for you to take time out with yours.
Become what you want your mate to be: We can’t ask another person to be something that we can’t or won’t be ourselves. So make a list of all the qualities you want your man to have, and start trying to develop them yourself. If you want him to appreciate you more, then remember to thank him for the little things he does for you. You’ll soon start to get back what you give.
Remember it only takes one: Insisting that both of you have to work on the relationship is often a cop-out, says Jeffers. “It can be so much easier to blame our mate and stay miserable than take responsibility for looking inside and pushing through the fears of changing ourselves.” If you stay positive, work out your own issues and avoid blaming the other person for everything, your partner will pick up on it and become more loving towards you.
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