News & Trends | Live Happy

Chocolate Is Good for Your Brain

We already know that a good dose of chocolate can make us happy. But new research shows it can give our brains and energy a boost as well. When thinking starts to get fuzzy this afternoon, reach for a piece of dark chocolate to sharpen your mind, says a new study published in the journal NeuroRegulation. Chocolate boost A 60 percent cacao confection will get you past a midday slump by making your brain more alert and attentive while its stimulants give your blood pressure a short-term boost, according to the research from Northern Arizona University. A regular chocolate bar with high sugar and milk content won't be as good, Larry Stevens, Ph.D. and NAU professor of psychological sciences, told the university's news center. 60% is the magic number His team's first-ever chocolate consumption study using brain-wave measuring electroencephalography, or EEG technology, also measured blood pressures of its 122 participants. (It must have been tough to recruit participants for this study!) The Hershey Company, the study sponsor, provided confections that looked identical but had either low cacao content, higher cacao (60 percent), or higher cacao plus L-theanine, an amino acid in green tea that acts as a relaxant. Chosen for taste and availability, the 60 percent cacao was moderate and kept its effect small but statistically significant, researchers said. If you want to go for it, "there are quite palatable chocolate preparations publicly available containing up to 90 percent cacao," they added. Really. (Because the study was sponsored by Hershey, you may want to take the results with a grain of salt—er, sugar.) Jim Gold is a veteran journalist who divides his time between Seattle and the Bay Area.

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Stephen Colbert’s Generosity Stuns Teachers

Comedian Stephen Colbert is showing his appreciation of his native South Carolina's public school teachers by funding every existing grant request they have made on thecrowdfunding website DonorsChoose.org. "Using the proceeds of the sale of my old set on The Colbert Report, which we auctioned off, and with the generous matching funds from The Morgridge Family Foundation and ScanSource, DonorsChoose is going to flash-fund all 1,000 projects in South Carolina," Colbert said in a surprise live video feed May 7 at Alexander Elementary School in Greenville. The $800,000 worth of projects were submitted by 800 teachers at more than 375 schools. Grants will pay for new books, classroom supplies, school-branded clothing and professional development for teachers. "Enjoy your learning, South Carolina," Stephen said to a roomful of students and educators. He was speaking from a conference in New York hosted by DonorsChoose.org. "There are going to be some happy, happy teachers across the state," said state schools Superintendent Molly Spearman. "This is Teacher Appreciation Week, so what a great way to say 'thank you teachers for what you're doing every day.' " DonorsChoose.org accepts public donations as little as $1 for classroom projects posted by public school teachers. When a project reaches its funding goal, the organization ships materials to the school. Jim Gold is a veteran reporter who splits his time between Seattle and the Bay Area.

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Yoga on the Go

Harried travelers who prefer to chill out in chaturanga instead of at the bar can now breathe a deep, restorative sigh of relief at a growing number of airport yoga rooms."I definitely have found myself going to the bar and having a glass of wine," Ritu Riyat, a yoga instructor and life coach who has used airport yoga rooms, told The New York Times. "With yoga, I don’t need to have that glass of wine."A growing trendAirport yoga rooms have taken off since San Francisco International Airport launched the first one in 2012. Now at least four U.S. airports have yoga rooms. One recently opened at Heathrow in London and its operator plans another in Hong Kong, the Times reported."The Yoga Room gives modern travelers a space that fosters and supports quiet and reflection," says Melissan Mizell, design director at Gensler architects, which created San Francisco's first room. "Those aren't emotions that people typically encounter at the airport."Calm amid the stormBecause though vacations may be restorative, travel itself is stressful(especially business travel). Planes run late, people run late, and on top of that, many of us have a fear of flying. Perhaps that's what makes an airport the perfect place to stop what you're doing (if you have time—perhaps time you didn't know you were going to have) to stop for a moment of peace and mindfulness."Yoga's probably a lot healthier than trying to quell the stress at an airport bar," Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst, told the Times.Read more about the health benefits of yoga.Where to find airport yoga rooms:Burlington, Vermont: Evolution Yoga room, second floor.Chicago: O'Hare Yoga Room, Terminal 3.Dallas-Fort Worth: Yoga studio, near Gate 40 between Terminals B and D.San Francisco: Yoga Rooms, Terminals 2 and 3.Jim Gold is a veteran journalist who splits his time between Seattle and the Bay Area.

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Puppy Power

Petting puppies is the newest—and cutest—way students anxious over year-end exams and dissertation deadlines can de-stress at the University of Central Lancashire in England.When the UCLan Students' Union announced on Facebook it would take 300 signups for a "puppy room" on May 7, all the slots—and a waiting list—filled up in a day.Besides relaxing 20 to 30 puppy cuddlers at a time, the 15-minute sessions will raise money for Guide Dogs, which will provide the tail-waggers.A Japanese study on the "power of kawaii," or cuteness, showed people have higher levels of concentration after looking at pictures of puppies or kittens. So why not go even further and enjoy snuggling with the real thing, Lucy Haigh, a UCLan Students' Union board member, told Rock FM. "Everyone's going to leave a little more happy than when they came in," Lucy said. "We're going to measure it."We already know petting dogs helps relax us andkeep us healthy. The guide dogs-in-training get something out of the sessions, too: getting used to being around people.Jim Gold is a veteran journalist who splits his time between Seattle and the Bay Area.

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Credit Card Debt Tied to Depression

Next time you're in Macy's checkout line, think about paying cash instead of credit. Your purchase, and the ensuing debt, will be less likely to cause depression, suggests a study to be published in the Journal of Family and Economic Issues.Credit cards, overdue bills and other short-term debt increase depressive symptoms, says the first study of different types of debt and their effects on various groups of people. The results were reported in Science Daily.Depressive symptoms were particularly strong among unmarried people, people reaching retirement age and less-educated people, says lead author Lawrence Berger, Ph.D., a University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Social Work professor.Mid-term and long-term debt were not linked to depressive symptoms—only short-term credit card debt, Berger said.Berger's team focused on data about 8,500 working-age adults in two waves of the National Survey of Families and Households, conducted six years apart and ending in 1994.Jim Gold is a veteran journalist who splits his time between Seattle and the Bay Area.

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Mindfulness Acts as Antidepressant, Study Says

Depression sufferers who would rather avoid pills can turn to mindfulness therapy to keep the disease at bay, according to a new study published in The Lancet. Mindfulness therapy Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is just as effective as antidepressants at preventing a relapse among patients with depression, concluded United Kingdom researchers who undertook the largest-ever study comparing the two treatments. "Depression is a recurrent disorder. Without ongoing treatment, as many as four out of five people with depression relapse at some point," says Willem Kuyken, lead author and Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Oxford. A recurrent disorder For most patients, antidepressant medication reduces the likelihood of relapse or recurrence by up to two-thirds, says co-author Richard Byng, a Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry professor. "However, there are many people who, for a number of different reasons, are unable to keep on a course of medication for depression," Byng says. The primary reason is the inability to tolerate side effects. Read about a new way to fight inflammation and depression. The study After dividing 424 patients into two groups—212 receiving MBCT and 212 taking antidepressants – researchers concluded mindfulness was just as effective as antidepressants and offers a similar level of protection. Relapse rates were 44 percent in the mindfulness group and 47 percent in the antidepressant group. MBCT uses group discussion and cognitive behavioral exercises to teach people with recurrent depression skills to recognize and respond constructively to thoughts and feelings associated with relapse, preventing a downward spiral, they said. Read more about the hidden signs of depression. Jim Gold is a veteran journalist who divides his time between Seattle and the Bay Area.

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Can Divorce Make Us Happy?

Women who leave bad or destructive marriages find happiness more often than those who remain in them, says a new study from the University of Arizona and University of Colorado, Boulder.Interestingly, according to the study, women who left so-so or decent marriages fared worse than those who stayed in them, according to the same study.The studyFor the new study, published in the Journal of Family Psychology, researchers measured life satisfaction among 1,639 men and women ages 25 to 74. Marriage quality was determined by survey questions such as "How much does your spouse or partner really care about you?" "How often does your spouse or partner make too many demands on you?" and "How often does he or she get on your nerves?"Gender differenceFor men, life satisfaction seems to have little to do with marriage quality, divorce or remaining married."This may be due to differences in how men and women view themselves in their marriages and the roles they take, with women generally being more invested in their relationships and more affected by their quality," said the study's lead author, Kyle Bourassa, a Ph.D. candidate in the University of Arizona Department of Psychology, according to a report in Fusion.One takeaway: If you’re a woman, carefully analyze just how bad your relationship is before calling the divorce lawyer.Jim Gold is a veteran journalist who splits his time between Seattle and the Bay Area.

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A Sense of Awe May Fight Depression

The awe you feel at the sight of the Grand Canyon or sound of Schubert's "Ave Maria" can increase your sense of well-being by suppressing inflammation-inducing chemicals, and may even help ward off depression, a recently published study indicates. Awesome research "Awe is associated with curiosity and a desire to explore, suggesting antithetical behavioral responses to those found during inflammation, where individuals typically withdraw from others in their environment," Jennifer Stellar, lead study author, told the News Center at her team's research site, the University of California, Berkeley. While a healthy diet, rest and exercise are known already to bolster the body’s defenses against physical and mental illnesses, the Berkeley study, published in the journal Emotion, is among the first to examine the role of positive emotions such as awe. Researchers examined the link between positive moods and emotions and the presence of a chemical that causes inflammation, cytokine Interleukin-6. Cytokine, friend and foe Cytokines help trigger inflammation to fight infection and illness. However, sustained high levels of the protein are associated with type-2 diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, Alzheimer’s and depression. High cytokine levels can also block the neurotransmitters serotonin, a mood influencer, and dopamine, the feel-good chemical linked to reward-motivated behavior. More than 200 young adults reported on one day the extent to which they had experienced positive emotions such as amusement, awe, compassion, contentment, joy, love and pride. Those who experienced more positive emotions had lower levels of the Interleukin 6. Awe had the strongest association with lower cytokine levels. Go out in search of awe "That awe, wonder and beauty promote healthier levels of cytokines suggests that the things we do to experience these emotions—a walk in nature, losing oneself in music, beholding art—as a direct influence upon health and life expectancy," says UC Berkeley psychologist Dacher Keltner, a study co-author. Jennifer, now a University of Toronto postdoctoral researcher, says she can’t say for sure which comes first, low cytokines or positive feelings: "It is possible that having lower cytokines makes people feel more positive emotions, or that the relationship is bidirectional." Jim Gold is a veteran journalist who splits his time between Seattle and the Bay Area.

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The Sweet Smell of Happiness

Apparently, some people are literally dripping with happiness. The smell of sweat actually can spread emotions, says a new study.We produce chemical compounds, or chemosignals, in our sweat when we experience happiness, says the study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Our chemosignals can be detected by others when they smell us.Emotions are contagiousThese chemosignals trigger a "contagion of the emotional state," says Gün Semin of Utrecht University in the Netherlands, psychological scientist and according to senior study author. "This suggests that somebody who is happy will infuse others in their vicinity with happiness. In a way, happiness sweat is somewhat like smiling—it is infectious."Past research already showed chemical compounds in sweat emit negative emotions, but few studies examined positive emotions.Happy sweatResearchers recruited 12 men who were prohibited from engaging in alcohol use, sexual activity, consumption of smelly food or excessive exercise during the study. After taping moisture-absorbing pads to their underarms, the men view video clips making them feel happy, afraid, or neutral. Then 36 women in a blind test smelled the sweaty pads while scientists monitored their facial expressions.Women exposed to “fear sweat” showed greater activity in the medial frontalis muscle, a common feature of fear expressions. And women exposed to “happy sweat” showed more facial muscle activity indicative of a Duchenne smile, a common component of happiness expressions.Smells in syncWomen generally have both a better sense of smell and a greater sensitivity to emotional signals than men, the researchers say. But when it comes to a sweat donor and a sweat smeller, they say, the findings suggest a certain level of “behavioral synchronization.”Does this study pass the smell test? We'll leave it to you to sniff out the flaws. Leave us your comments, below.

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Desmond Tutu and Dalai Lama Write Happiness Book

Got questions about joy? Your answer could come from spiritual leaders Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama, who will collaborate onThe Book of Joy. The best part: They want you to help write it. The two aretaking your questions on a Facebook page(orhere on mobile). Questions will be compiled into a list that readers can vote on. Winning questions will be answered by the South African archbishop and the Buddhist leader. The two will meet inDharamshala, India, April 20-24 not only to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s80thbirthday but also to collaborate on the book. Co-writer Douglas Abrams, who worked with Desmond Tutu on a children's title,God's Dream, will interview the two about their perspectives on joy. Videos of their discussions will be shared with the world after their meeting. As Douglastold Publisher's WeeklyDesmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama "are two of the most infectiously happy people on the planet, and they are willing to share what they have learned with the rest of us." The Book of Joy: Finding Enduring Happiness In an Uncertain Worldwill be published in 2016 by Avery Books, a Penguin Random House imprint focused on wellness and health. *** Jim Gold is a veteran journalist based in Seattle and the Bay Area.

Chocolate Is Good for Your Brain

Stephen Colbert’s Generosity Stuns Teachers

Yoga on the Go

Puppy Power

Credit Card Debt Tied to Depression

Mindfulness Acts as Antidepressant, Study Says

Can Divorce Make Us Happy?

A Sense of Awe May Fight Depression

The Sweet Smell of Happiness

Desmond Tutu and Dalai Lama Write Happiness Book

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