What if I told you there is literally a recipe for happiness? What’s more, if you take this recipe and enjoy it on a sunny day after an enjoyable hike to somewhere that makes you feel alive it creates the perfect situation that increases your serotonin levels. What does that mean and why is that the important outcome of the happiness picnic?

There is a neurotransmitter known as serotonin. A lot of us have heard it called the happy drug. Officially it’s a mood stabiliser and helps reduce depression and regulate anxiety. We can increase the levels in our system simply by ensuring we have adequate levels of certain substances in the body.

And here come your picnic ingredients…

Turkey, nuts and seeds, and bananas – these foods are rich in tryptophan. This is an amino acid needed to produce serotonin.

Coldwater oily fish like salmon and sardines, walnuts, chia seeds, and grass-fed beef. These contain omega 3 fatty acids, especially DHA, which improve the sensitivity of serotonin receptors.

Butter and egg yolks are great sources of Vitamin D. This vitamin helps convert vitamin D to tryptophan. We also get our vitamin D from sunlight. All you need is 10 minutes a day on an A4 size piece of skin.

For these ingredients to work we need a healthy gut microbiome. And this is where probiotics come in. A delicious food source is found in products like kimchi, sauerkraut, and yogurt.

There are a few other vital nutrients needed and these are zinc (also found in nuts, seeds, dairy, and eggs), magnesium (spinach, tuna, brown rice, dark chocolate, and avocado), B6 (ricotta cheese, tuna, and beef), B9 (salmon, leafy greens and eggs) and methionine (turkey, beef and dairy).

Practising gratitude, exercise and massage have all been found to boost serotonin levels.

So, there you have it, pack a picnic filled with foods from all of those listed above, enjoy it in the sunshine after you have taken a heart pumping walk to somewhere beautiful. When you get there make sure you appreciate the beauty and feel the gratitude that you have the ability to even plan a happiness picnic.

At the end of your beautiful day out make sure you jump online and book a massage – now that’s happiness!!