Optimizing your endorphin levels doesn’t take much effort, and it naturally leads to a healthier, happier lifestyle. In fact, taking time to relax from your daily stressors works wonders on all aspects of your life! Laughing at your favorite show or comedian, listening to your favorite music, having sex with your partner, and bonding with family and friends can all boost your endorphins. The sense of camaraderie or teamwork works positively on your endorphin levels…and psyche.Īnother great way to optimize your endorphin levels is to do things that lift your mood. Push through that HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workout, strength day or long run and you’ll feel the positive emotional difference! Group exercise is also a great way to produce endorphins. Intense cardiovascular workouts or strength training for at least 30-45 minutes will have a positive impact on endorphin levels, as well as your fitness in general. However, daily pastries, chocolate bars, and sugar-loaded snacks and drinks are not.ĭaily exercise, on the other hand, gives you a healthy boost of endorphins to reduce the discomfort from a challenging workout. Keep in mind that a little dark chocolate occasionally can be good for your endorphins. The more you ride the rollercoaster, the more your body adapts to higher endorphin levels, creating a need for even more sugar to keep an even keel, and setting you up for dependence on sugar. The body then goes through big spikes and dips of endorphin levels sending you on an emotional rollercoaster ride. To compensate, the body then dramatically drops its endorphin levels which leads to depression and low self-esteem, feeling emotionally overwhelmed, having a lower tolerance to pain and cravings for sweets (to get those levels back up). Now wait, that sounds like a good thing, right? Not necessarily.Įxcessive sugar intake spikes beta-endorphins to levels above what the body likes. Chocolate and other sugars stimulate beta-endorphins and other feel-good brain chemicals to give you that relaxed, talkative, self-confident feeling shortly after eating it. We all know someone who has declared themselves a “chocoholic.” There is some truth to that statement. As opiate-like chemicals, they can be stimulated by high sugar intake (and illicit drugs of course). Just like everything else in life, beta-endorphin levels are all about balance. How can I optimize my Beta-Endorphin levels?
You can see why they are good for your health and happiness!
This makes endorphins a powerful natural painkiller! The release of endorphins also produces a sense of wellbeing, eases emotional distress and increases self-esteem. So when you’re running down that hard trail, or excited about something, the brain is flooded with endorphins to reduce pain and produce feelings of euphoria and calmness. Beta-endorphins are released in response to pain, excitement and physical exertion. We have several different types of neurotransmitters, all with specific functions such as producing thoughts, feelings or muscle contractions. Neurotransmitters transfer electrical signals throughout the nervous system to initiate an action. Of course, some of you may be questioning whether running is ever enjoyable! But, if you get to that place where the pain is fading away, your energy picks up and the uncomfortable turns to pleasant, your beta-endorphins are at work!īeta-endorphins are part of a set of chemicals in the brain known as neurotransmitters. If you have ever gone for a run, you may have noticed it takes a while to “warm up” and start enjoying the run. You may have heard of the “runner’s high” (also called an “endorphin rush”), when the body responds to the pain of long-distance running by flooding the brain with beta-endorphin…it acts like a powerful natural painkiller.
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