Endorphins are the last in my mini-series on our four feel-good happy hormones and neurotransmitters. Last but certainly not least.
Endorphins are your body’s natural painkillers and mood boosters. Your brain signals their release in moments of physical pain, discomfort, shock, stress response and trauma. Released and controlled by your hypothalamus and pituitary glands, they are peptide protein chains also known as endogenous opioids that bind to receptors in your nervous system and block pain signals. Endogenous means produced by the body and opiate refers to morphine. Endorphins mimic the actions of opiate painkillers. Yes, your body produces its own natural opiates (morphine). This process also increases your dopamine levels, improving your mood and increasing your feelings of pleasure.
Endorphins create feelings of euphoria, pleasure, excitement and well-being in us. Their intensity may be experienced from a sense of calmness to overwhelming feelings of pleasure, depending on your endorphin levels and activities. When it comes to endorphins, the words to remember are pleasure, exercise, eating, and laughing.
Endorphins reduce discomfort, stress response, anxiety and depression by creating a calming effect. They make your perception of stressors more manageable by relaxing your mind and body. They also improve sleep quality. Inflammation is the foundation of all physical illnesses and the stress hormones that cause inflammation and overwhelm your brain are the cause of all mental illnesses. Because endorphins reduce your stress response, they also reduce inflammation, boost your self-esteem, confidence, and assertiveness while supporting your immune system, memory and cognitive functions.
If your endorphin levels are low, you may have an increase in the following areas; aches, pains, discomfort, chronic pain, fatigue, stress response, and inflammation. Reduced self-esteem, confidence and assertiveness. Risk of depression, moodiness and anxiety. Trouble sleeping, risk of immune deficiency and cognitive difficulties.
If you’re feeling any of the above symptoms, don’t worry, your endorphin levels may just need boosting. You can boost your levels by eating the following foods. Starting with my favourite, dark chocolate with above 70% cocoa. As well as being a delicious treat, it boosts both your endorphin and dopamine levels. It’s rich in flavonoids and caffeine. The bonus is the absorbed flavonoids that get broken down by your gut and produce antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties.
Antioxidants fight free radicals that damage your cells causing oxidative stress; this plays a major role in many chronic illnesses and makes you age faster. Endorphins interact with the free radicals before they do damage to your cells and cause oxidative stress.
Antioxidants are in most of the foods you eat. The more antioxidants in your food the healthier you will be with the extra bonus of looking younger as you get older.
Dark chocolate also increases blood flow to the brain, as well as BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), and here they are again; your brain’s naturally produced antidepressants, which also reduce cortisol levels. A few squares of dark chocolate above 70% cocoa will do you a world of good.
Cayenne pepper, with its active component capsaicin, produces the burning sensation caused by eating spicy foods. This burning sensation is perceived as pain by your brain which immediately releases endorphins to relieve the pain and discomfort. Cayenne pepper not only releases endorphins but is also a blood stimulant. No, not like caffeine. It thins your blood and keeps it clean, strengthens your arterial walls and, amazingly, it closes up blood leaks efficiently. If there are medical reasons to use this, consult your health professional first and maybe teach him/her a thing or two about natural medicine.
Turmeric, another of my favourite foods, is good for optimal brain function and for fighting inflammation. The main ingredient in turmeric is curcumin. As well as giving your curry its yellow colour, it increases the production of endorphins, keeping you mentally balanced and reducing pain. Turmeric is fat soluble, so eating it with fatty meals, oils, butter, etc., is necessary for proper absorption. A pinch of pepper will accelerate absorption.
Tryptophan is the building block of serotonin and was discussed in my article on serotonin (October 2024). It also significantly increases your endorphin levels. Have a look at the foods listed in this article and plan a healthy diet that will keep both levels of endorphins and serotonin boosted.
When you exercise, your brain releases excessive endorphins to help your body cope with the increased physical stress and exertion. After a good workout or long run, you can feel increased happiness, reduced anxiety and, lucky for us, a higher tolerance for pain and discomfort. Both aerobic and anaerobic exercises increase endorphin levels. The degree of increase depends on the intensity, duration and your fitness levels.
Exercise releases dopamine, endorphins, serotonin and oxytocin, all four of your feel-good hormones and neurotransmitters. Together they balance your mood, protect you from depression and give you a sense of pleasure that makes you want to continue feeling pleasure.
Laughter releases endorphins, dopamine and serotonin. These three feel-good hormones gang up against cortisol and always win the fight to improve your mood, support your immune system, reduce your blood pressure, pain, discomfort and stress response. When laughter is the last thing you would think of doing because of depression, you can force it. It’s like a switch that turns on all your feel-good hormones. It’s always the best medicine.
If you’ve read my articles on dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin, well done, you’re wiser now. If not, you should. Hopefully, you have a good idea of what all your feel-good hormones and neurotransmitters do for you and how you can boost them when you need to.
Get to know them and feel them, think of them as friends. Remember them next time you’re feeling down, depressed, anxious, afraid or sad. Try matching your ups and downs and pains and aches to specific feel-good hormones. We are blessed with these built-in tools that are designed to serve us; all we have to do is let them.
By Joan Maycock
Joan Maycock MSc Health Psychologist specialises in Stress and Burnout Education, Stress and Burnout Educational Retreats, Workshops and 1on1 Sessions, for private and corporate groups. In Ireland and Portugal.
Email: eirinnretreats@gmail.com
