Last updated August 7, 2023.
Edited and medically reviewed by Patrick Alban, DC. Written by Deane Alban.
Strenuous physical exercise isn’t the only way to boost endorphin production. Certain foods, positive lifestyle changes, and mind-body therapies do too.
Most people are familiar with endorphins for the role they play in “runner’s high,” a state of euphoria and increased pain tolerance brought on by extreme physical exertion.
While strenuous physical exercise is the most widely known way to increase endorphins, it isn’t the only way.
Fortunately, some of the best things in life — like love, laughter, sunshine, and chocolate — also increase endorphins.
Here’s the research on other proven ways to boost endorphins naturally (without the agony).
Endorphins: Your Body’s Natural Painkillers
Endorphins are brain chemicals that act as the body’s natural painkillers.
The word endorphin derives from two words — endogenous (from within) and morphine (the main alkaloid of opium).
Endorphins comprise a group of feel-good neurotransmitters that reduce pain, lessen the negative effects of stress, and keep the immune system running smoothly.
There are 3 distinct types of endorphins — alpha, beta, and gamma-endorphins — but they are usually referred to collectively as endorphins.
" The body’s natural painkilling endorphins, molecule for molecule, are up to 33 times stronger than morphine.
When your endorphin levels are low, you’re more likely to feel anxious, depressed, stressed out, and less able to enjoy life or experience joy.
Foods That Increase Endorphins
Certain foods either contain endorphins or encourage their release in the body.
Lucky for us, they also happen to be delicious!
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Dark Chocolate
Chocolate is one of the all-time favorite comfort foods and can invoke a feeling similar to falling in love.
There are several compounds in chocolate that perform this magic.
One of them, phenylethylamine, works by raising endorphin levels.
Research carried out on the benefits of chocolate found that chocolate “beat kissing hands down when it comes to providing a long-lasting body and brain buzz.”
Spicy Foods
Hot peppers are hot due to the compound capsaicin.
When you eat hot peppers, your brain perceives the heat caused by capsaicin as pain.
This causes endorphins to rush in to put out the fire.
This endorphin-stimulating quality makes capsaicin a useful treatment for the pain of arthritis, neuropathy, and severe itching.
Hot pepper enthusiasts find the “post-pepper euphoria” worth the pain.
Alcohol
Alcohol consumption causes a release of endorphins in areas of the brain linked to feelings of pleasure.
The key to boosting endorphins with alcohol is to drink moderately since heavier drinking negates the positive effect.
Any Foods You Enjoy
While chocolate and spicy foods directly cause a flood of endorphins, there’s evidence that eating any food you enjoy stimulates the release of some endorphins.
People who are low in either endorphins or the mood-enhancing brain chemical serotonin often crave foods that are high in carbohydrates or fats, both of which can increase endorphin output.
Tryptophan-Rich Foods
Tryptophan is a common amino acid crucial for the formation of several feel-good neurotransmitters.
It is known mainly as the precursor to serotonin, but it can also increase beta-endorphin, dopamine, and norepinephrine.
The best food sources are animal products (i.e., meat, poultry, dairy, fish) but soybeans, oats, and seeds are relatively good sources as well.
Raise Endorphin Levels With a Positive Lifestyle
Besides eating endorphin-boosting foods, there are other lifestyle choices that increase endorphins.
Many of these are associated with happiness and share the common thread of a connection, with others and with nature.
Laugh Yourself Happy
The average child laughs 300 times per day.
Sadly, by the time we reach adulthood, that number plummets to 17 times per day.
And that’s to our detriment since laughter, as they say, is good medicine.
One of the ways in which laughter reduces pain, boosts your immune system, and increases happiness is by boosting levels of endorphins.
And if you don’t really feel like laughing, it’s OK to fake it.
Just as smiling when you aren’t happy can make you happier, faking laughter can increase endorphin levels.
Surprisingly, even the anticipation of expected hilarity, such as settling down to watch your favorite sitcom, increases endorphins.
If possible, laugh with others; this substantially increases endorphin production compared to laughing alone.
Exercise With Others
I promised that you wouldn’t have to exercise to increase endorphin production — and you don’t!
But sitting all day is mind-numbing and unhealthy, so you should get some exercise anyway.
Here’s a tip to get the most from whatever exercise you do.
When you exercise, do it with others.
Not only are you more likely to actually exercise, but exercise will seem easier and take less time.
Taking an exercise class or having an exercise partner increases endorphins and tolerance to pain more effectively than exercising alone.
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Lend a Helping Hand
A study done at the US National Institutes of Health found that helping others activates regions of the brain associated with pleasure, social connection, and trust.
A flood of endorphins caused by being generous has been coined “helper’s high.”
You can help friends or family, give to your favorite charity, or volunteer for a cause you care about.
Gossip (It’s OK, Really)
While giving to others is a selfless way to increase endorphins, one of humanity’s less noble pursuits — gossip — can do the same.
While this might seem counterintuitive, both helping and gossiping are basic ways that humans connect with others.
Apparently, gossiping is a primitive need that’s essential for our social and psychological well-being.
And, for better or for worse, electronic devices, the internet, and social media make it easier than ever to share gossip.
Fall in Love
Phenylethylamine, the endorphin-boosting compound found in chocolate, is also produced by our brains when we fall in love.
It’s not possible to be “in love” all of the time, but having sex will do!
You’ll get a burst of endorphins when you have an orgasm, whether you are with a partner or “flying solo.”
Addiction to endorphins may explain why breaking up with someone you’re in love with causes such pain.
The shutdown of endorphin production when we are cut off from a loved one is not dissimilar to going cold turkey from an addictive substance.
While you can buy phenylethylamine supplements, we don’t recommend them.
Research confirms that once taken, phenylethylamine has a short half-life of only a few minutes.
Enjoy Music
Listening to music, especially music that makes you feel joyful, increases endorphins.
Even better than listening is participating in making music; grab an instrument or mic, or get up and dance.
Playing an instrument, singing, and dancing all stimulate endorphin release more than passive listening.
Better yet is to play music or sing with others; this adds an additional layer of endorphin-boosting effects.
Catch Some Rays
Visit a crowded beach or pool on a summer’s day and you’ll see how much people enjoy being in the sun.
What makes sunbathing so appealing?
The best-known benefit of sun exposure is essential vitamin D formation, but the sun’s ultraviolet radiation also boosts endorphin production.
Tanning, especially indoor tanning, feels so good that some people become addicted to its endorphin rush.
While you never want to get so much sun that you risk sunburn, moderate amounts of sun exposure can make you healthier and happier in more ways than one.
Make Time to Play
When we become adults, we tend to put aside childish things and, unfortunately, one of these is play.
Most adults consider playing a waste of time, but it can reduce stress, exercise your brain, boost creativity, strengthen relationships, and even make you feel younger.
If your main form of entertainment is screen time, turn off your electronic devices and engage in some endorphin-enhancing fun instead.
If it’s been so long that you’ve forgotten how to play, here are some ideas to get you started:
Play With a Child or Pet
Spend time with a child or pet.
They haven’t forgotten how to play and can be the best teachers.
Time Travel
Take a trip down memory lane and see what you’ve got stashed away.
Get out your old board games, arts and crafts supplies, or family photos.
They can remind you of what you used to enjoy before you grew up.
Go to a Park
Visit a nearby park for ideas.
Seeing the options — basketball, tennis, soccer, volleyball, pickleball, and frisbee tossing — might encourage you to join in.
Take a Sauna
Taking a sauna is a traditional way to relax, detox, and socialize.
It offers many health benefits, including increasing endorphins.
It’s believed that the heat from a sauna is responsible for this effect, so if you don’t have access to a sauna, taking a hot shower can also do the trick.
Boost Endorphins With Mind-Body Healing Techniques
Mind-body therapies of all kinds can help you relax and, thereby, reduce stress and anxiety.
Increasing endorphins is one of the mechanisms that make these activities so beneficial.
Amazingly, the body’s natural painkilling endorphins, molecule for molecule, are up to 33 times stronger than morphine.
And even if these modalities work only because of the placebo effect, that doesn’t mean they are worthless.
Interestingly, just the anticipation of healing can stimulate endorphin release.
Meditation
Meditation is one of the best things you can do for your health and happiness.
Doing regular meditation reduces the stress hormone cortisol while increasing endorphins.
Together, this diminishes chronic inflammation, an underlying cause of many diseases and mental disorders, including depression.
Sitting and quieting the mind isn’t the only effective way to meditate.
Moving meditations like tai chi, Pilates, qi gong, and yoga offer similar benefits and can also trigger endorphin release.
Neurofeedback
Biofeedback is a technique that teaches you how to alter body functions that you normally have no conscious control of, such as heart rate or blood pressure.
There are several kinds of biofeedback.
When biofeedback involves the monitoring of brain waves, it’s called neurofeedback.
Neurofeedback is a proven tool for increasing endorphins to minimize stress, significantly improve depression, and help with alcohol addiction.
Breathing Exercises
Watch a child or a pet sleep and you’ll see that their belly, rather than their chest, moves up and down.
This deep breathing from the diaphragm is the way we are meant to breathe, but few of us do.
Most adults take shallow breaths from the chest instead.
Jeffrey Rossman, PhD, is a psychologist and the author of The Mind-Body Mood Solution.
In his book, he explains that when you breathe at the rate of six breaths per minute, your heart and breath become synchronized.
He recommends achieving synchronization with a simple resonant breathing exercise.
Breathe in from your belly for 5 seconds and then breathe out for 5 seconds.
Do this for one minute.
This sends a signal to the brain to release endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine.
Massage Therapy
Getting a massage can do more than make you feel relaxed or soothe achy muscles.
The healing touch of massage can reduce stress hormone levels while increasing levels of endorphins and oxytocin, a hormone/neurotransmitter dubbed the “love hormone.”
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is an ancient practice that’s now used in Western countries predominantly for treating pain and stress.
Science has yet to discover exactly why it works.
Traditionally, acupuncture is believed to work by redirecting the flow of energy, known as qi or chi.
But research has uncovered a possible, more scientific explanation.
It’s now known that acupuncture causes the brain to release endorphins.
Since endorphins are your body’s natural painkillers, one theory posits that the discomfort of the needles is enough to cause the brain to release endorphins.
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