Happy hormones can prevent digestive problems

Explanation of the happy hormone that forms in the digestive tract

When you're happy, your body produces several hormones that can make the cells in it work better. One of them is the hormone serotonin.

Serotonin is a hormone that plays a role in stabilizing mood, feelings of pleasure, and happiness. This hromone can increase the brain's ability to store memory and help regulate sleep and appetite.

Recently, a study again proved the ability of serotonin to maintain digestive health. It has been shown that serotonin can reduce the ability of various bacteria in the gut to cause infectious diseases.

This discovery was made by a group of scientists from UT Southwestern Medical Center . Surely this is good news to find new methods that are effective in fighting infectious diseases.

Serotonin is better known as neurotransmitters-- chemicals the nerves use to communicate with each other - the brain. However, about 90% of the body's serotonin levels are formed in the digestive tract.

In the digestive tract, trillions of bacteria live in it too. Many good bacteria in the intestine help digest food. However, there are also bacteria that can cause serious infections and if left untreated, they can be fatal.

Because the environment around the digestive tract greatly affects the state of the bacteria, scientists then investigated whether the presence of serotonin can affect the bacteria that are there.

Happy hormones prevent digestive problems

The study was conducted using samples of E. Coli O157, a species of bacteria that is widely recognized as the cause of several diseases such as diarrhea and stomach cramps.

From gene testing, it appears that serotonin has succeeded in reducing the expression (reaction process) of a group of genes used by bacteria to cause disease.

Not only that, serotonin also reduces the gene expression of C. rodentium, which is a bacteria found in the mucus membranes of mice. These bacteria have a way of working similar to E. coli.

Additional experiments were carried out to test their effects in humans. After using human cells, the results also showed bacteria that had been exposed to serotonin could no longer produce lesions that caused infection.

Tips for increasing the serotonin hormone in the body

If you want to feel the benefits of the happy hormone which can prevent digestive problems, you certainly have to feel happy first to encourage the production of the hormone.

However, achieving happiness is not easy. Of course your mood is not always in a good state, happy events also don't come every day.

However, there is nothing wrong for you to try steps that can increase the hormone serotonin. As a bonus, you can also feel the satisfaction afterward which is still related to happiness. These include:

Sports.Exercising for at least 30 minutes per day can help improve your mood. Later, this will encourage an increase in the hormone serotonin in the body.
Eat foods that contain serotonin. One of them is containing tryptophan such as whole wheat bread and potatoes and omega 3 fats such as salmon. In fact, several studies have also shown that omega 3 foods can help reduce symptoms of depression.
Spend time in the sun. According to research, doing it for five minutes can help improve mood which later will also lead to serotonin production. You can try taking a walk around the beautiful garden to get its benefits.
Be grateful. Being grateful for the good things that happened to you can make you feel more fulfilled and happier with life.
Recall pleasant memories. A part of the brain called anterior cingulate cortex will produce more serotonin hormone when you memorize a beautiful memory.