Happiness hormone name

Your mood is influenced by many things — the good, as well as the bad. Spending time with a loved one or friend can improve it. Sitting in an hour of unexpected traffic can ruin it. But your mood is more complicated than the situations and environments you encounter. There's brain chemistry to consider, too. In between sensing a situation and responding to it, chemicals called neurotransmitters and hormones help your brain understand, evaluate and communicate what you're experiencing. These various neurotransmitters and hormones have specific jobs — each being activated in a certain way, signaling certain emotions and stimulating certain areas of your brain. When it comes to happiness, in particular, the primary signaling chemicals include: • Serotonin • Dopamine • Endorphins • Oxytocin Here's what you need to know about these happy hormones, including tips for activating the feel-good brain chemistry they provide to help improve your mood:

The happy hormones produced by the body include dopamine which makes us feel good, serotonin which reduces sadness, oxytocin which is the love hormone, and endorphins that make us happy as well as reduce physical pain. Having a proper diet, exercise and relaxation will help boost happy hormones. 1. What is the happy hormone? Hormones are chemical substances produced by different glands in the body. They travel through the bloodstream, act as signal transmitters, and participate in many body processes. There are hormones involved in the growth process, hormones that respond to stress and also hormones that help regulate mood. Those are happiness hormones that help promote positive feelings, including happiness and joy. Happy hormones include: Dopamine: Also known as the “feel-good” hormone, dopamine is a hormone and neurotransmitter that plays an important part in the brain's reward system. Dopamine has been linked to feelings of well-being along with learning, memory, motor function and more. Serotonin: This hormone helps regulate mood as well as sleep, appetite, digestion, learning ability, and memory. Oxytocin: Often referred to as the love hormone, oxytocin is essential for childbirth, breastfeeding, and strong parent-child bonding. This hormone can also help promote trust, empathy, and bonding in relationships. Oxytocin levels usually increase with physical contact such as kissing, cuddling, and sex. Endorphins: Endorphins are the body's natural pain relievers, produce...

Mercey Livingston is a health and wellness writer and certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach. She's written about fitness and wellness for Well+Good, Women's Health, Business Insider, and Prevention.com among others. When not writing, she enjoys reading and trying out workout classes all over New York City. Tech for a Better World, stories about the diverse teams creating products, apps and services to improve our lives and society. It's not your heart that controls your happiness. It's your brain. There are four main hormones -- chemicals your body produces -- that trigger feelings of happiness, and each chemical is connected to specific events or rewards. Understanding these chemicals and how they work can help you figure out ways to boost their production and give yourself the mood lift you've been looking for. To explain exactly how these "happiness" chemicals work, I spoke to Loretta Breuning, founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and author of "Approaching a reward triggers dopamine. When a lion approaches a gazelle, her dopamine surges and the energy she needs for the hunt is released. Your ancestors released dopamine when they found a water hole," Breuning says. "The expectation of a reward triggers a good feeling in the mammal brain, and releases the energy you need to reach the reward." How to boost dopamine There are "Embrace a new goal and take small steps toward it every day. Your brain will reward you with dopamine each time you take a step. The repetit...