Dr Oz: Great Tips To Boost Your Mood
Once you’ve taken the quiz to help determine just how happy you are, Dr Oz brought in Dr Mike Dow to share the next part of the Jumpstart to Happiness plan. According to Dr Dow, the first thing you need to do to boost your mood and your overall happiness is to do at least one thing for yourself a week. You can take part in a little retail therapy, take a yoga class, or see a movie with a friend.
According to Dr Dow, that’s the behavioral part of cognitive behavioral therapy. Doing something pleasurable, especially when you’re stuck in those negative thoughts, can increase serotonin, the happy chemical.
Dr Oz: B6 Snack Mix For A Mood & Energy Boost
Looking for some easy to follow hacks to boost your mood and increase you overall happiness? You’re luck! Even just one of these can make a big difference for you. (s58y / Flickr)
You can also boost your mood with food, but only the right kinds of food. Dr Dow suggested his “B6 mix” which is loaded with vitamin B6 which helps drive up levels of serotonin. To make your own B6 mix, combine dried pineapple, cashews, pistachios, sunflower seeds, and hazelnuts. Store the mix in a small plastic bag and keep it with you wherever you go so you always have the energy and mood boost when you need it. Plus, it can prevent you from making an unhealthy food choice.
Dr Oz: Kefir Benefits For Mood & Anxiety
Dr Dow also recommended you start drinking kefir in the afternoon when you start to feel that afternoon slump. Soda can decrease and depress your mood and the artificial sweeteners in diet soda kill good gut bacteria. So kefir is a great swap for those unhealthy beverages. Kefir is loaded with probiotics to increase good gut bacteria, which means more serotonin as well as more citicoline in the brain. When your nervous system gets “too charged” citicoline helps “bring it back down” which means you can better cope with stress.
Kefir can also help your body and brain make Gamma-Amino Butyric acid (GABA). GABA is the chemical and that prescription anti-anxiety medications provide. Probiotics do it in a way that won’t put you at risk for dependence or addiction.
Dr Oz: Detox Friends’ List & Add A Friend
Dr Zelana Montminy, author of “21 Days to Resilience” also suggested you detox your friends list. However, Dr Zelana made a point to say that it’s not enough to just delete people out of your life. You also have to add a friend or add people who are valuable, meaningful, and supportive. You don’t want to be left isolated or lonely so add in people who give value to your life. But it’s important to make a standing appointment with them, whether it’s a yoga class every Friday or drinks every Saturday, that way it becomes habitual.
Dr Oz: Use A Gratitude Bowl
Dr Zelana also suggested you make a gratitude bowl. While gratitude journals are great, they’re hard to keep up with. She suggested you create a gratitude bowl instead. Take a glass bowl and put it somewhere in your home that you frequent often. Then sit a couple notepads and a pen next to the bowl. Every day when you see the bowl, write something down that you’re grateful for in that moment, no matter what it is.
Anytime you’re having a hard time, read one of those pieces of paper. Everyone in the house can participate and use the bowl.
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