Fresh Juice Can Improve Your Happiness

Studies show that happy people are healthier people. They have lower blood pressure and stronger immune systems than less happy people. Several years ago, my mother-in-law had an injury and ended up with a hairline fracture in her foot. Relegated to a boot and a walker, life wasn’t easy for our 90-year-old Nana. But my husband kept encouraging her to focus on the good things around her and all the positive things in her life. In two days, she progressed from the boot to a special shoe that was much easier to navigate. And then, a few days later, we heard that her doctor called her his model patient because she was healing so fast.

There are many opportunities to focus on the negative—from a clerk who’s rather cold and rude to the many times we have to sit on hold waiting for someone to answer our call, to the person who cuts us off in traffic. We have so many opportunities to remind ourselves to look for the good. This takes extra effort when we’re angry, irritated, stressed out, or frustrated. But, remember: we get what we focus on. If we focus on the negative, we’ll get more of that. If we focus on the positive or what we want, we’ll engage our positive core and bring all these good things to life. When we do that, we bring our healing forces to life.

So what does juice have to do with a good mood and happiness? A lot!! I’m going to share with you studies on how juices and diet affect our happiness. First, I want to start with my own personal story. Recently, we went to Greece for a Greek Island cruise. Just before the cruise, I tripped over one of our bronze dog statues and fell very hard on my right knee on our stone floor. I sustained a lot of injury to the soft tissue but nothing was broken. I got two treatments with Cold Laser Therapy and microcurrent electrical therapy that got me just to the point where I could at least limp for the trip. I didn’t want to cancel since it’s always iffy that you’ll get your money back, even with insurance. It wasn’t easy navigating the ship and getting off at the ports. But I did it.  Early in the week, the effect of all my juicing and good diet had paid off.  I was really happy, even in spite of the pain. As the week wore on, I was less happy, even though I was getting a little better each day. But I didn’t have access to any fresh juice. And I felt the pain more intensely. It was amazing to compare the difference. Once I got home, I healed almost completely within a few days.

5 Energizing Juices that Improve Your Mood

Celery juice.  Juice up celery to help your body lose excess water. It contains essential oils limonene and selinene, which give celery diuretic properties. Celery also helps to cleanse the body—you’ll get rid of toxins and lose weight easier. For extra weight loss help, combine celery and lemon, another natural diuretic. As an added bonus, it can help prevent stomach and colon cancer. It also has anti-inflammatory properties, helps to control blood pressure, and improves your mood.

Watercress juice. This cruciferous vegetable can help heal the thyroid and prevent weight gain. Consuming foods higher in iodine like kelp and watercress, and ensuring that you get enough B-complex vitamins and minerals like selenium (Brazil nuts), copper, and zinc. Iodine is the number one healer of underactive thyroids, and getting it from natural sources is important. It’s also rich in folate, which works on neurotransmitters that improve serotonin—the mood enhancer.   

Parsley juice is a morning energizer. It’s rich in vitamin C and a cornucopia of nutrients that feed the body and perk up your mood.

Wheatgrass juice. Rich in nutrients that support your thyroid, wheatgrass juice helps boost your metabolism. Also, because it is so rich in nutrients, it satisfies the body’s need for vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. If you can’t find fresh wheatgrass juice, get the SweetWheat powdered wheatgrass at juiceladyinfo.com

Fennel juice is known to be a mood enhancer. It gives you a feeling of wellbeing — kind of like a runner’s high.

Research on Fruits and Veggies and Mood

Research shows that adding more produce to your daily diet can benefit your mental health and sense of wellbeing. In one analysis of the eating habits and moods of 80,000 British adults, researchers at Dartmouth and the University of Warwick found that those who consumed the most fruit and vegetables every day rated themselves as significantly happier and more satisfied with their lives than those who ate lesser amounts.(1)

In another study, researchers looked at three randomized studies, factored in other data, including education, income, general health, physical exercise, smoking, and consumption of red meat and alcohol, and reviewed the results of a psychological questionnaire. When they reviewed the numbers, they discovered that the well-being score for people who ate 7-8 servings of vegetables and fruits per day was consistently three points higher than for those who ate little or none. (A half-cup of veggies is a serving, and 3/4 cup juice equals a serving. The happiness gap between the two groups was “notably large,” outweighing even the challenge of unemployment.(2,3)

Eating veggies also perked up college-age consumers. A study of 281 adults with a mean age of 20, conducted at the University of Otago, New Zealand, showed that those who reported the highest daily intake of fruits and veggies also declared they were happier, calmer, and more energetic than those who ate less. Even better, the healthy foods left a beneficial carryover–participants who ate the most produce reported that their positive feelings carried through to the next day.(4)

A study in England surveyed about 14,000 adults to evaluate how health behaviors impacted mental health status. Individuals who consistently consumed higher amounts of fruits and vegetables reported the highest mental health scores.(5)

Keep the Blues at Bay

Other studies found that veggie superfoods can actually ward off depression—while deficiencies can bring it on. Researchers at Duke examined the diets of 278 subjects aged 60+, and discovered that those with the lowest intake of fresh fruits and vegetables were most likely to suffer depression.(6)  British Medical Journal Open conducted the longitudinal study of more than 60,000 Australians aged 45 years and measured participants’ fruit and vegetable consumption, lifestyle factors, and psychological distress at two time points, 2006-08 and 2010. People who ate 3-4 daily servings of vegetables had a 12 percent lower risk of stress than those who ate 0-1 serves daily.(7)

How Much Is Enough to Keep You Happy?

The USDA updated the food pyramid, replacing it with a plate with the message to fill half the plate with fruits and vegetables at every meal. They suggested we eat between 1-2 cups of fruit (which equals 2-4 servings) and 1-3 cups of vegetables  (2-6 servings). Those might sound like larger amounts than you typically eat, which may be why fewer than half of us achieve these goals, according to the CDC, but we can greatly increase our servings when we juice.

Happy-Mood Morning

Fennel juice has been used as a traditional tonic to help the body release endorphins, the “feel good” peptides from the brain into the bloodstream.  Endorphins help to diminish anxiety and fear and generate a mood of euphoria.

• 4-5 carrots, well-scrubbed, green tops removed, ends trimmed
• 3 fennel stalks; include leaves and flowers
• 1/2 cucumber
• 1/2 apple (green is lower in sugar)
• Handful spinach
• 1-inch piece of ginger root

Happy Thoughts Juice Recipe

• 1 cucumber
• 1 half fennel — bulb and all
• 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 apple