Your mind translates how you feel into chemicals or hormones that send signals to other parts of your body. The process is quite complicated but to put it down in simple terms, everything boils down to chemicals. The release of certain chemicals triggers the release of other chemicals which go about to their target organs and produce certain hormones which have specific functions. It is all like perfectly connected circuits with predetermined pathways depending on the desired outcome. Hormones are like chemical messengers that when attached to a cell, they trigger it to perform some functions and undergo some changes that bring about the desired effects. For that reasons, imbalances in the body hormones will offset the balance of our bodily functions, too little or too much of a hormone will trigger a cascade of undesirable effects that could lead to a disease such as depression, chronic fatigue, memory problems as well as other clinical conditions.
Known as the happiness hormone, this neurotransmitter has the ability to affect your mood. It is called the natural mood stabilizer. Serotonin functions go way beyond mood stabilizing only. It interferes with regulating your sleep cycle, improving your motor skills, increasing your natural wound healing rate and enhancing your digestion, thereby regulating your appetite. As you can see, having regulated levels of serotonin can affect your life quality by a large percentage. People diagnosed with chronic depression have abnormally low levels of serotonin and their treatment involves giving them serotonin tablets. Meditation and being mindful bathes the brain with other relaxation chemicals that induce the brain to produce serotonin, bringing about its happiness and mood-lifting benefits as well as regulating your sleep and appetite.
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It is known as the stress hormone. It is produced during pain or stress along with adrenaline. These two hormones can wear out your body, blocking the production of positive and good hormones. The stress hormone is part of our evolution and protective mechanism as it prepares our body for fight or flight. However, nowadays most stressful situations can’t be solved by fight or flight so the hormone remains being produced, causing high blood pressure, depression, insomnia, anxiety and other problems which alter our overall well-being. Meditation can relieve our stress and anxiety, therefore, preventing the production of cortisol and bringing about calming and relaxing effects on your body and mind.
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It is known as the longevity molecule. It is considered the marker for our true physiological age. Its levels peak during our youth and as we age, the level of DHEA in our body decreases and this is associated with mortality. Meaning, the less DHEA you have, the closer you are to death, biologically speaking. Regular DHEA levels ensure you maintain your youth, level of energy and provides strength for your bones and muscles while decreased levels reverse those effects. Studies, however, have shown that people who meditated maintained a normal level of DHEA production even as they aged.
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It is known as the calmness hormone, is an important inhibiting neurotransmitter in our brain. People with addiction, whether drugs, alcohol, food, caffeine, all lack GABA and therefore suffer from anti-calm symptoms, such as anxiety, stress etc. The deficiency of GABA Is also associated with chronic pain and muscle fatigue. GABA tablets can be given if you suffer from prolonged anxiety, insomnia, ADHD or chronic pain. However, too much GABA causes excessive relaxation to the point of increased sleepiness. Researchers showed that mindful exercises increases GABA more than physical exercises and is currently being used as a treatment option for dealing with addiction.
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They are regarded as the natural “Feeling High” chemicals in our body produced during physical exercise and also meditation. Having endorphins circulating the blood provides the body and mind with an overall state of bliss and happiness. Endorphins circulating the body can be a very rewarding feeling, mostly why some people can get addicted to exercise. They are also produced during pain as they are the natural pain relievers of our body, therefore, if you suffer from chronic pain or even emotional pain, exercising can cause your body to produce endorphins that will provide you with relief and relaxation.
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This is the main hormone produced by the thyroid gland and it is actually the inactive form that needs to be activated by the liver in order to be able to bring about its effects. It is responsible for digestive functions, maintenance of bones as well as brain functions but the most important function of all is controlling your metabolic rate. Having an excess or a deficiency of this hormone can result in the alternation of your metabolism which will reflect as many physical symptoms such as weight and appetite changes, depression and heat flashes. If your iodine intake is low or you are having some medication that lowers your thyroid hormone levels, you may experience fatigue, memory problems, stiff muscles, depression, weight gain, paired by decreased appetite as well as depression and infertility, intolerance to cold temperatures, low heart rate. If you notice you are always tired. Consider testing your thyroxin levels and if you are deficient increase your iodine intake and seek medical assistance.
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Melatonin is a natural chemical that is produced in our body but it is also found in certain foods such as meat and vegetables as well as dietary supplements. We all have a natural biological clock that regulates our sleep and waking cycle. Melatonin is produced based on this biological clock. Melatonin helps you to sleep; hence it is high at night and its level drops during the day when there is light. Melatonin is also associated with looks of youth and looking fresh, that is why sleep is termed as beauty sleep. Light affects how much melatonin is produced, that is why staring at the bright lights of your phone before bed is not good for your melatonin levels and your beauty sleep. Whenever there is a drop in melatonin levels or any disturbances in the biological clock as-as shortening of days in winter, melatonin release gets disturbed which causes depression and the feeling of jet lag. That is why balanced melatonin levels is important for preventing jet lag and curing winter depression as well as looking youthful.
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This is an important brain neurotransmitter which is also found in peripheral nerves. Glutamate is in charge of exciting neural cells into developing an action potential and firing about their impulse to transmit an electrical message, therefore, we must have sufficient glutamate levels in our body. Low glutamate levels have been associated with depression as well as other diseases of the brain. However, excess glutamate can cause toxicity and nerve damage by overexciting the neurons as they become extra sensitive to it. This prolonged excitation eventually kills the nerve cells, cutting down the pathway to important neural signaling tracts. Having a healthy diet, rich in proteins will ensure you have enough glutamate levels as it is an amino acid.
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This brain hormone is one of the main brain chemical that affects our lifestyle. It also affects many of our actions and our motives as it is the main driving force in terms of motivation, reward enforced behavior and even the mechanism of addiction. Anything that provides us with Dopamine, which is a happiness hormone gives gets registered as a desirable action that gets repeated, therefore, drugs that increase our dopamine becomes addictive as people crave the dopamine flush. It is also responsible for healthy voluntary movement. Therefore, dopamine is necessary to drive our physical movement as well as our mental movement via the reward system, if you pair happiness and the feelings of reward (by increasing dopamine through doing something that you love such as eating chocolate) every time you study a chapter, you will be motivated to study as you are seeking the reward. However, be careful to avoid dopamine flush with bad habits as they would be harder to quit. Dopamine also plays an important role in your sleep, creativity, and memory.
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This hormone is the most significant hormone in maintaining your wakefulness state. There are other molecules involved in maintaining your mind and body in an alert state but it is orexin that is the boss of them all. It is also responsible for maintaining your sugar craving balance and fatigue levels and metabolism regulation. If you start feeling cold and tired, your orexin must be suppressed. There are a number of causes to a suppressed orexin, for example, having a chronic inflammation due to untreated infections or an unhealthy lifestyle. Fix those issues to treat your inflammation and release the inhibition on your orexin levels. Exercising and constant exposure to bright light also helps in increasing orexin levels.
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