Top 5 Easiest Ways To Boost Both Your Happiness And Your Health

Happiness and health.

These are probably the two biggest things that we all want in our lives.

And every once in a while, we’ll find that amazing thing that is both healthy and makes us happier!

Man, I love it when that happens.

Anyways, here are ten things you can do that are scientifically proven to make you both a happier and a healthier person.

1. Eat Dark Chocolate.

Attention ladies: this is my one weakness.

Give me dark chocolate and I will love you forever.

And I’m not alone on this one.

A lot of theories have been tossed around as to why people love chocolate so much, including the existence of drug-like chemicals found in chocolate, such as anandamides, which act on the same part of the brain as marijuana, and phenethylamine, which has amphetamine-like effects.

 

But there is nowhere near enough of these chemicals to have any real effect.

My theory: chocolate just tastes delicious.

Dark chocolate (emphasis on dark) is loaded with antioxidants.

Try to consume it without milk, since this seems to block the absorption of these antioxidants.

Moderate consumption of dark chocolate has been shown to help prevent cardiovascular issues, lower blood pressure, increase insulin sensitivity, and more.

Of course, the tough part with keeping dark chocolate consumption healthy is that you must use moderation.

Eat too much and the risk of wait gain counteracts all the benefits you could have gotten.

Want more excuses to eat chocolate? Check out these 12 reasons dark chocolate is awesome.

 

 

2. Have A Glass Of Wine.

Or sip on your favorite alcoholic beverage.

I’m sure you don’t need “science” to tell you about the mood enhancing effects of alcohol.

Wine and beer are delicious, but they also promote relaxation and reduce anxiety.

Red wine is loaded with antioxidants such as resveratrol which have been shown to help protect the heart from damage.

But it’s not just red wine that can be good for you; light to moderate alcohol consumption has been shown to reduce all cause mortality, particularly relating to cardiovascular disease.

Yet again, moderation is key here.

Moderate drinking in women is one drink per day and for men is up to two drinks per day.

Start going much above that and the negative health effects of alcohol will wreck your body.

 

3. Drink Green Tea.

In addition to caffeine, a less known component of green tea is the amino acid l-theanine.

Theanine is known to induce calmness and relaxation, and has been shown in animal studies to increase levels of serotonin and dopamine, which help regulate mood.

In addition, the primary antioxidant in green tea, EGCG, has been shown to improve mood.

In case you haven’t noticed the pattern here, antioxidants seem to be a really key player in these healthy choices.

Green tea has a huge number of health benefits, including a substantial decrease in all-cause mortality for those who drink it.

I’m way too lazy to list the health benefits of green tea here, so just check out this other post I wrote with more than you could ever want to know about green tea.

 

4. Take A Nap.

Sometimes people will hassle you for taking naps.

But you know how good a nice mid-day nap feels.

In fact, napping doesn’t just improve your cognitive abilities and mood.

Napping is pretty darn good for you too, and finally its not about the antioxidants.

People who regularly take naps have a greatly reduced risk of cardiac mortality.

The expectation of a nap could even be enough to reduce blood pressure.

If you can find time during your afternoon to nap, you have every reason to do so!

Believe it or not, napping is not that simple. To get the most out of your zzzzz’s, you should learn more about how to nap strategically to get the effects you want.

 

5. Meditate For Five Minutes Per Day.

It’s so easy to implement this into a morning routine that I simply don’t understand why it isn’t more common.

There are many types of meditation, but lets keep it simple.

Just get comfortable, close your eyes, and focus on your breath for five minutes.

It’s incredibly relaxing and sets a positive tone for the rest of the day.

Meditation is one of those habits that is incredibly rewarding, but hard to understand why until you try it.

Unfortunately, most studies done on meditation and health are of poor quality, so it is hard to say what physical health benefits, if any, we know for sure come from meditation.

However, those who meditate have been shown to have considerably higher functional health, including better scores on vitality, bodily pain, mental and emotional health, and social functioning.