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10 Must-Read Books for Happy, Healthy Eating

We all know that what we eat has a major influence on our overall well-being. But with the cascade of conflicting nutrition information out there, the problem is knowing exactly how to go about eating well. The nutritional experts themselves don’t always agree on what’s good for us—or what’s good for the planet. Should we eat “good fats,” including red meat—as several new books espouse—or stick to a plant-based diet. Should we seek out fermented foods for gut health, or focus on avoiding wheat as our primary dietary goal? We have gathered a full spectrum of current expert opinion on healthy cooking and eating in the books listed here, so in the end you can...go with your gut, and follow whatever advice seems right for you and your lifestyle. And there is some common ground: Reduce your sugar intake. Eat veggie-centered meals. Drink lots of water. Make your meals colorful by including a variety of fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes. Cut out processed food. The opinionated—sometimes cutting-edge—books included here should help you make better, more educated decisions when you stroll through the supermarket aisle or sit down at the table. 1. The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet By Nina Teicholz If you like to discuss what’s healthy and what’s not, this book will get you talking. Author Nina Teicholz, a New York Times writer and former NPR reporter, is all for eating meat, eggs and dairy (saturated fat), and she backs up her claims with research from various scientific studies. The author is not a fan of vegetable oils, processed carbs (boxed snacks) and sugar. A lover of whole foods, she encourages you to eat bacon with your eggs, but to put down the candy bar. 2. Eat Fat, Get Thin By Dr. Mark Hyman In Eat Fat, Get Thin, New York Times best-selling author Dr. Mark Hyman doesn’t advocate eating fast food; instead he recommends eating the healthy fats found in eggs, nuts, olive oils, avocados and other super foods. According to the author, you can achieve optimum fitness, lose weight, prevent disease and increase your energy just by making smart food choices and eating the right kinds of fat. 3. The Good Gut: Taking Control of Your Weight, Your Mood, and Your Long-Term Health By Justin Sonnenburg and Erica Sonnenburg, Ph.Ds. Trust your gut. New scientific research shows that caring for our gut microbes might be the most important health choice we make, according to Stanford researchers and husband and wife team Justin and Erica Sonnenburg, Ph.Ds. In their new book, The Good Gut, the authors explore how processed food and overuse of antibiotics are damaging our healthy gut microbiota. They then detail how we can take steps to nourish and strengthen our gut health by eating more high-fiber food. Bacteria in our bodies can fight pathogens, digest food and produce energy and hormones. Learn how your mood, health and weight can all be influenced by the state of your gut microbes. This book includes recipes and a meal plan to show how more mindful diet and lifestyle choices can prevent disease and improve our overall health. 4. Hungry Girl: Clean & Hungry By Lisa Lillien New York Times best-selling author Lisa Lillien, who has made her name as the “Hungry Girl,” offers decadent-sounding recipes such as PB&J waffles, Hawaiian Shrimp-Fried Rice with Pineapple and BBQ Meatloaf in a “clean eating” style, which means they are made with healthy, unprocessed ingredients. Clean & Hungry features 90 vegetarian recipes, 108 gluten-free recipes, and 56 “regular” recipes that can be made in less than 30 minutes. 5. The Joy of Half a Cookie: Using Mindfulness to Lose Weight and End the Struggle With Food Jean Kristeller, Ph.D., and Alisa Bowman The author’s Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training Program involves mindfulness techniques to transform your relationship with food. The Joy of Half a Cookie is filled with practices that will help you make healthier choices around food with fewer struggles. You won’t find a list of forbidden foods, daily menus or calorie counts in this book. What you will find are the tools that help you “tune in to your own hunger experiences” and begin your journey toward mindful eating. 6. Food Freedom Forever: Letting Go of Bad Habits, Guilt, and Anxiety Around Food By Melissa Hartwig Melissa Hartwig, co-creator of the bestselling TheWhole30 cookbook, explains how you can develop a better relationship with food by letting go of the stress and anxiety around choices. Discover how to choose differently and experience food freedom when you start from a position of strength. Food Freedom Forever is part guidebook and part nutritional coach. Learn how to create healthy habits and be compassionate with yourself when you slip back into old habits. Because this book is a follow-up to TheWhole30, you can bet that the program is going to involve giving up some food groups. 7. Forks Over Knives—The Cookbook: Over 300 Plant-Based Recipes for Plant-Based Eating Through the Year By Del Sroufe Forks Over Knives is not only a cookbookbut also a movement that advocates cutting out meat, dairy and oils to prevent disease and lose weight. With recipes centered around fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes, this cookbook doesn’t just tell, it shows you what you should be eating. Del collaborates with other chefs to design creative vegan meals that are easy to make. Even if giving up dairy or meat isn’t in your plans, this cookbook offers some delicious ways to incorporate more vegetable-centered meals into your week. 8. Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life By Thich Nhat Hanh and Lilian Cheung Renowned Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh joins Harvard nutritionist Lilian Cheung to urge people to be mindful of what foods go into their mouths. A combination of nutrition book and meditation book, discover how to pay attention and breathe to eat healthier. Both experts contend that mindful eating can help everyone eat less. This book also offers healthier alternatives to popular food choices, and several practical exercises to help you build a healthier relationship with food. 9. The New Health Rules: Simple Changes to Achieve Whole-Body Wellness By Dr. Frank Lipman and Danielle Claro Author Frank Lipman has practiced and studied integrative medicine for 35 years. In The New Health Rules, he offers actionable items you can do for optimal health. The book outlines which foods help prevent Alzheimer’s, why sugar can be destructive, and how to use good bacteria to improve our digestive system. It also includes simple rules to improve your health, such as choosing healthier fruits like berries or melon instead of high-sugar fruits such as pineapple or mangos. 10. Wheat Belly Total Health: The Ultimate Grain-Free Health and Weight-Loss Life Plan By Dr. William Davis What started as an anti-gluten and -wheat manifesto by cardiologist William Davis in his original Wheat Belly book has become a worldwide grain-free phenomenon. In Wheat Belly Total Health, the author explains the differences between grains and why and how you should avoid each of them in order to regain full metabolic health and well-being. Wheat and other grains, he contends, are the culprit not only of excess weight but of a laundry list of maladies, including auto-immune diseases. The book provides scientific backing for his claims, as well as first-person testimonials of people who have lost weight and regained their health. Sandra Bienkowski is a regular contributor to Live Happy and the founder and CEO ofTheMediaConcierge.net.

Self-Care

How Positive Is Your Online Persona?

In August 2016, Karlie Hay saw her dream of being named Miss Teen USA come true. But within hours, the 18-year-old landed in a much harsher spotlight when a series of tweets in which she used racial slurs surfaced. Karlie took responsibility for her actions and apologized, but the incident served as a reminder of something that often gets overlooked, particularly among younger users: While our digital lives may seem “virtual” and separate from our real lives, they're very much connected.And in today’s world, a casual text, Facebook comment or tweet can become a serious problem. Janell Burley Hofmann, a mother of five and author ofiRules: What Every Tech-Healthy Family Needs to Know About Selfies, Sexting, Gaming, and Growing Up became an unexpected expert in the topic three years ago when her oldest child turned 13. “He was pining for a smartphone,” says Janell, who was active in advocacy work and parenting programs at the time. “I was already seeing how technology was becoming central to a lot of conversations about family life, so I saw this as an opportunity to stop and think about what we want—not only from technology, but from life.” Before giving her son a smartphone, Janell created an 18-point contract that outlined the specifics for its use. Emphasizing such things as courtesy, respect and learning, the contract also reminded him to put down the phone and look at the real world. After writing a column about it for Huffington Post, the contract went viral. “I realized this was a global conversation,” she says, noting that the contract has since been translated into 12 languages. “All of us are part of this conversation.” Not just for kids Today, she has opened up that conversation to parents, schools, businesses and organizations. Central to Janell’s work is the idea of your “digital character,” or how you portray yourself online. It’s not just tweens and teens who are making missteps across the digital universe; adults are often just as culpable. Her message of building our digital character is designed for children and their parents alike. “Knowing how we want to appear online is a choice,” she says. “So much of the time we make comments or post things without thinking about it. But we can develop our digital character, and that can influence our relationships and who we want to be.” She suggests putting the same kind of thought into our digital well-being as we do into things like our health and nutrition. That begins with being more mindful of how (and how much) we use technology. “When we are aware of our digital habits, we can meet the needs of our real lives, whether that means learning to be fully present instead of watching our phone, or learning that we can finish a meal without answering our texts.” Digital mindfulness We also can become more aware of how the things we post or even “like” reflect who we are. Getting caught up in online rants or arguments serves no purpose and once said can live eternally in the digital space. They can cause rifts between family and friends or cause hurt feelings and anger on both sides. “It’s time to think about how we want to use our energy. And think about what it’s doing to you. If you find yourself clenching your jaw, or your heartbeat goes up and you’re getting mad, it’s probably not the best use of your energy.” Building digital character On the flipside, the digital space is also a great way to practice being your best self. Janell says looking for positive ways to interact online, such as using humor or reaching out to others with compassion, is a great way to use our time online. “It’s easy to forget sometimes that it’s not a private conversation. Think about the reach you have in your own set of [online] friends and then think about what happens if that gets shared,” she says. “Even if we put something in a private text, it can become public very quickly. Nothing is private anymore, even with privacy settings. We need to be willing to stand behind what we’re saying.” She advises using the “billboard test” before sending out a text, tweet or post: Imagine it being on a billboard outside your office, home or school. Would you still be as eager to send that thought out into the world? “You don’t need to be all sunshine and lollipops, but how we handle situations online can strengthen us in every way. If we strengthen our [character] online, we strengthen the quality of our character overall,” Janell says. Visit Janell Burley Hofmann's website to find out more about iRules and how you can promote good online character within your own family. Paula Felps is the Science Editor for Live Happy magazine.

Education

Who Has the Happiest College Students on Campus?

Rice University has the happiest students in the country, according to The Princeton Review’s recently released guide, The Best 381 Colleges, 2017 Edition. What exactly makes those students so happy? At Rice, the responses from students vary: Some love the diverse and “quirky” population, while others appreciate the small class sizes and wide range of activities available on campus. Other notable schools rounding out the top five for happiest students include Vanderbilt University, University of Dayton, Auburn University and the University of Iowa. Students at Vanderbilt boast a healthy mix of academics and extracurriculars, while at the University of Iowa, students feel they are provided a “great education at a reasonable price.” Kimberly Mendoza, a graduate student in the department of chemistry at Rice, isn’t shocked that her school of choice earned the top spot in happiness. She says there is a lot of student engagement on campus and everyone is “free to pursue their own interests at their own time and pace and make new friends along the way.” Her experience has largely been positive and she says even her friends and family have noticed the happiness and joy that Rice brings to her life. “There are a variety of diverse organizations I participate in and I have made friends not only in my own department but across campus,” she says. “I am a member of the Rice Owls Dance team, mentor undergraduates, complete my own research and even teach. I feel that the university is very supportive and I could not be happier.” The criteria for happiness For its annual college rankings lists as well as The Best 381 Colleges, more than 143,000 students were surveyed on a wide range of topics, from which schools have the best professors, to which ones serve the best dorm food. “We are pleased that our students are happy, not because we set out to make them happy, but because we set out to create a great community and a great learning environment,” says John Hutchinson, Rice's dean of undergraduate students. Houston-based Rice also ranked No. 1 in interaction among students of “different racial, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds” and ranked in the top 10 for overall student quality of life. Rice President David Leebron released a statement saying these recognitions represent the university’s “more important commitments: the general welfare and positive engagement of our students and building a diverse and inclusive community.” Smaller schools, big happiness Robert Franek, lead author and senior vice president of The Princeton Review, says it doesn’t surprise him that smaller schools like Rice are able to consistently rank high on the happy list. “[These schools] don’t stop at providing just an academic experience for students,” Robert says. “I think Rice and the other 19 schools on the happiest students list are making a real commitment to those students by saying ‘we want to make sure that we are nourishing your mind, body and spirit.’ I think they are taking those responsibilities very seriously for the students that are enrolled.” Happy students are more engaged Martin Seligman, director of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania and the best-selling author of Flourish, has written that greater well-being enhances learning and positive moods “produce broader attention, more creative thinking and more holistic thinking.” At the International Positive Education Network’s Festival of Positive Education held this summer in Dallas, Martin spoke to the benefits of having happier institutions. “Happy kids do better academically,” Martin said. “That tells us this is worth doing and not a zero sum game.” According to data culled by The Princeton Review, Rice has a graduation rate of 80 percent after four years and 91 percent after six for its 3,900 students. Montana Tech of the University of Montana, a school that tops the list for having the least happy students, has only a 17 percent graduation rate after four years and 43 percent within six. Chris Libby is the section editor at Live Happy.

Education

Queen Bees and Wannabes with Rosalind Wiseman

Rosalind Wiseman has had only one job since graduating from college—to help communities shift the way we think about children and teens’ emotional and physical well-being. Rosalind is the author of Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and the New Realities of Girl World—the groundbreaking, best-selling book that was the basis for the movie Mean Girls. We sat down with Rosalind to dive into the life of teenagers on this episode of Live Happy Now. What you'll learn in this podcast: Concrete strategies to help you empower your daughter to be socially competent and treat herself with dignity How Girl World has fundamentally changed in recent years The roles of technology in your teen's life How to prevent the influence of cliques on your child'sdecision making Links and resources mentioned in this episode: Download afree sketch noteof this episode Purchase a copy of Queen Bees and Wannabes Visit CulturesOfDignity.com Follow Rosalind on Facebook and Twitter Related articles: Find Happiness In Your Headphones What is Your Healing Rhythm? Live Happy Summer Playlist

News & Trends

Is Everyone Having Fun Without Me?

In his song from The Lion King, “The Circle of Life,” Elton John reminds us that, from the moment we’re born, “There’s more to see than can ever be seen; more to do than can ever be done.” Today, thanks to social media, we’re constantly reminded just how much there is to do—which often becomes a reminder of all the things we’re not doing. When viewed through the lens of Facebook or Instagram, it begins to look like everyone else is doing more than we are, or doing a better job at it, or having more fun doing it—without us. Before long, it’s easy to start feeling like a kid stuck inside with the flu on a snow day while the rest of the world is outside sledding. Universal fear The feelings created by this phenomenon are so common that they have their own catchy acronym: FOMO, or the Fear of Missing Out. The problem is so ubiquitous that scientists are beginning to study it, and the term has even been added to the Oxford English Dictionary. FOMO, that feeling that others are having a better time than you are, is what U.K. psychotherapist Philippa Perry calls “a modern take on the grass being greener on the other side.” And many experts fear that it’s getting worse. In 2015, the Australian Psychological Society conducted a survey on FOMO, studying adults as well as teens ages 13 to 17. Andrew Fuller, clinical psychologist and spokesman for the APS survey, reports that the study confirms what many of us suspected: Social media can make us feel isolated. “Teens who were heavy users [of social media] reported higher levels of FOMO,” Andrew says. “They report fearing their friends were having more rewarding experiences than them, being worried when they find out their friends are having fun without them, and being bothered when they miss out on a planned get-together.” Those who connected to social media five or more times per day showed the greatest levels of FOMO, with about 50 percent of the teens falling into that category. FOMO: Not just for kids It’s not just teens who feel the anxiety, either. An international study published in Computers in Human Behavior found that about 75 percent of the survey’s participants—who ranged in age from 18 to 62—experienced FOMO. What’s particularly interesting is that the very thing we’re using to connect with other people may actually be making us feel more isolated. “For those who fear missing out, participation in social media may be especially attractive,” concluded Andrew Przybylski, Ph.D., lead author of the study and faculty member at the University of Oxford. “Services like Facebook [and] Twitter … are technological tools for seeking social connection and provide the promise of greater levels of social involvement.” However, all too often those Facebook photos and Instagram posts serve as a reminder that someone out there is having more fun than you are. Turning to social media for connection may, instead, leave you feeling more isolated and left out. In fact, the international study, like the one conducted in Australia, directly linked higher levels of FOMO with greater social media interaction. Read More: Nothing Compares to You It’s not all bad…is it? Of course, social media alone can’t shoulder the blame for FOMO; how we approach it plays a big role in how it affects us. “We all have good and bad things in our life,” explains Eric Barker, writer and publisher of the Barking Up the Wrong Tree newsletter, which covers research-based formulas for happiness. “Focus on the good, you’re happy. Focus on the bad, you’re depressed.” He cites Paul Dolan of the London School of Economics, who says, “Your happiness is determined by how you allocate your attention.” Constantly comparing ourselves to others can force us to make “upward comparisons,” Eric adds. “That’s like comparing your paycheck to a billionaire’s. This is a prescription for FOMO. You could be focusing your attention on something great happening in your life right now, but instead you’re [directing your attention] to that friend who just bought a brand new Mercedes.” While it may be natural to compare ourselves to others to a certain extent, it’s not necessarily healthy. Nor is it entirely accurate. “On Facebook, everyone presents their best self,” Eric reminds. “They post photos of their fantastic vacation, not the lousy hotel room they stayed in on an awful business trip.” Read more: Is Facebook Making Us Depressed? No mo' FOMO How do you keep from getting sucked into FOMO? As Eric points out, it begins with where you focus your attention and what you take away from it. Here are three tips for giving FOMO the boot: Limit your social media time. “Rather than sprinting to your Facebook feed every moment there’s downtime, designate when you’ll check social media and, otherwise, stay off it,” Eric advises. “You want social media to be the place you visit, not where your head is primarily at.” Get in the moment. Instead of scrolling through other people’s lives, take a moment to be mindful of what is going on, in real time, in your real world. Stop worrying about what you’re missing and start enjoying what you’re doing; you’ll soon find yourself less concerned about what you aren’t doing when you start loving what you are doing. Resist making comparisons to others, suggests Rebecca McGuirre-Snieckus, Ph.D., in Psychologies magazine. “Look at the positives of your life, stop and think, ‘Wow, look what I’ve achieved.’” Comparing yourself to others won’t change your situation; appreciating what you have will only make it better. Read more: Living For Likes Paula Felps is the Science Editor for Live Happy.

Woman with open book, her head filling with amazing ideas.

Reading

7 Best Books to Boost Your Brain Health

In the past few decades there has been an explosion of interest in physical fitness. We know that cardio workouts lift our moods and weight-training fends off bone loss. We’ve tried yoga and dedicated ourselves to the elliptical machine. But what about mental fitness? Now that Americans are living longer than ever, researchers, psychiatrists and other doctors are turning their attention to how we can maintain sharp and lucid minds, and also optimize happiness and creativity. Not surprisingly, many of the same practices used for physical fitness are also good for your brain. Each book below provides a slew of science-based tips to keep your brain sharp and your body healthier as you grow older. 1. Hardwiring Happiness By Rick Hanson, Ph.D. Want to have a happier, more peaceful brain? Rick Hanson says we first have to overcome our negativity bias, or how our brains learn more easily from negative experiences than from positive ones. His book explores his “HEAL” method: Have a positive experience, Enrich it, Absorb it, Link it to negative thoughts and feelings to soothe and eventually replace them (OK, that’s a long L). Practice daily and you can change your brain to a more nurturing and happy place, according to the book. 2. Change Your Brain, Change Your Life By Dr. Daniel G. Amen Neuropsychiatrist Daniel Amen offers scientific evidence on how to optimize brain function. The case studies he presents indicate that anxiety, depression, anger and obsessive-compulsive behavior are related to how structures in your brain work, and that you can in fact change how these structures work. His “brain prescriptions” to make those changes include breathing techniques, improvements in diet, meditation, self-hypnosis and writing exercises. 3. Your Creative Brain By Shelley Carson, Ph.D. Harvard psychology professor Shelley Carson, Ph.D., shows how brain-activation states (“brainsets”) influence the way we think, approach problems and perceive the world. Her “CREATES” model comprises seven brain-activation states that she says can enhance your creative brain and mental functioning: Connect, Reason, Envision, Absorb, Transform, Evaluate and Stream. She encourages the reader to use specially designed quizzes, problem-solving techniques and self-tests to tap into what she calls our most important asset, creativity. 4. Boost Your Brain: The New Art and Science Behind Enhanced Brain Performance By Dr. Majid Fotuhi and Christina Breda Antoniades Boost Your Brain offers actionable advice on how to get a “bigger and better brain,” based on more than 25 years of neuroscience research. Find out what foods help build new synapses and what key behaviors you should avoid. Dr. Majid Fotuhi explains that the size of our brains can be increased (due to neuroplasticity) in just a matter of weeks, resulting in improved focus, memory and creativity. To get a bigger brain, he recommends fitness training, stress reduction, meditation, cognitive skills training and improved nutrition. 5. The Brain Warrior’s Way: Ignite Your Energy and Focus, Attack Illness and Aging, Transform Pain into Purpose By Dr. Daniel G. Amen and Tana Amen, RN “The key to victory rests between your ears,” writes psychiatrist and best-selling author Daniel Amen. Fight against the constant bombardment of technology, negative news and a typical American diet that isn’t healthy, he says. While poor choices can lead eventually to disease, the book advises, thoughtful and goal-directed decisions can slow aging, help prevent dementia and improve your health, focus, energy and moods. 6. Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain By Dr. John J. Ratey Exercise is a master key to brain functioning, says Dr. John Matey. Discover the role exercise plays in our mental processes and why it’s the best defense against numerous health conditions and diseases, including depression, addiction and Alzheimer’s disease. Matey’s research includes numerous case studies about how important exercise is to your overall well-being. 7. Eat Complete: The 21 Nutrients that Fuel Brainpower, Boost Weight Loss, and Transform By Dr. Drew Ramsey What you eat is directly connected to the health of your brain, says Drew Ramsey, a psychiatrist. Your brain impacts your mood, health, focus, memory and appetite. By fueling it nutritiously, your brain and body can operate optimally. With 100 recipes, Eat Complete shows readers how to avoid nutritional deficiencies and stimulate growth of new brain cells. Start your day with a cup of Tumeric Cinnamon Hot Chocolate if you want to slow your brain’s aging process, Drew advises. Sandra Bienkowski is a regular contributor to Live Happy and the founder and CEO ofTheMediaConcierge.net.

science

Can You Spice Up a Meal by Changing the Music?

When Steve Keller hosted a dinner at the upscale Nashville restaurant Etch earlier this year, he received plenty of comments about his food choices. Some found the food he served almost too spicy. Others found it incredibly sweet. Some were underwhelmed by its flavoring and found it almost bland. But the meals Steve’s guests were served were identical—the only thing that differentiated the dining experiences was the music being piped through each person’s earbuds. It was all part of an experimental research project called Spicy Sounds: A Sensory Experience, designed to provide more clues into how sound affects taste. While we have long accepted the fact that sense of smell can affect the taste of our food, research in the emerging field of neurogastronomy shows the effect that other senses have on how we perceive taste. Neurogastronomy looks at how all of our senses work together to taste the food we eat, and some of the most compelling new research shows just how powerful sound is in shaping that perception. At Steve’s event, diners listened to a soundtrack of either music or white noise, while a control group received no sound at all. The music came in two styles—one designed to evoke mental images of spiciness, and the other, images of sweetness. Before eating, diners were asked to listen to the sounds while gauging how sweet or spicy they thought the food in front of them would be, and then were asked to rate the actual sweetness or spiciness of each dish while they ate it. Tasty beats “I knew that if you’re playing the wrong music it can totally ruin the dining experience, but it had never crossed my mind that music could affect the way your taste buds process food,” says Nashville musician and diner Tiffany Shea. “The idea that music could change your experience with the food so drastically brings a whole new depth to music that I didn’t even know existed. It blew my mind.” And for Steve, that is part of the joy of his research. “I think the big revelation is how music affects not just the taste of the food, but our perception of how it will taste,” says Steve, a Nashville music producer who founded iV, a branding agency that has worked with major companies including BMW, Kraft Foods and television networks to help them connect with customers through sound. “I hadn’t considered that sound would shape perception even before they tasted the food,” he says. “But the way we’re wired, sound reaches the brain 20 to 100 times faster than sight. So before we see something, the sound has already reached the brain, and all the information our senses collect after that is filtered through that sound.” Shanna Strassberg was part of the control group that didn’t listen to music or white noise while eating. Initially, she thought she had missed out on being part of the experience. “I was talking to someone afterwards and said something about how spicy one thing on the plate was, and they said, ‘No, that was sweet.’ That’s when I realized this really is a thing, and that people were having very different experiences with the same food.” Love Music? Listen to our podcast on How to Create the Perfect Happy Playlist The chocolate lab Charles Spence, Ph.D., professor of experimental psychology and head of the Crossmodal Research Laboratory in the department of experimental psychology at Oxford University, is one of the leading researchers on how our senses work together to change perception. His 2010 study published in the journal Attention, Perception & Psychophysics looked at the relationship between music pitch and the taste of food. In one experiment, Charles found that people eating chocolate reported it tasted bitter when listening to low-pitched music, but the same chocolate tasted sweeter to them when they listened to higher-pitched tunes. Steve says research has also shown that white noise can cut the perception of sweetness. Tiffany, who listened to white noise while eating, reinforces that finding, saying that she didn’t find the food sweet or spicy. “I really didn’t think it was on one end of the spectrum or the other, and then that made me wonder what the true taste of the food actually was.” It’s not just food that is affected by sound, of course. Charles and fellow Oxford University researcher Janice Wang have studied the effect that music has on wine and found that the right music can enhance the taste by as much as 15 percent. Flavor saver A study they published last year in the journal Perception showed that participants in a wine-tasting event held at Oxford rated wines as being more acidic when they listened to a high-pitched Debussy piano piece. However, when the music was changed to a melodious Rachmaninoff cello piece, participants thought that the wine tasted fruitier. The academic explanation? The study concluded that our brains work to match sounds with taste, and our ears unconsciously influence our taste buds. It also works before we’ve popped the cork. A study in the Journal of Applied Psychology showed music had a strong influence on the type of wine consumers bought; when French music was played, French wines consistently outsold German wines, but when German music was played, German wines were the top seller—even when customers believed the music had no effect on their choices. Of course, there are many marketing opportunities for such findings; restaurants can use music to sell certain types of food or to increase its appeal. Last year, British Airways introduced an audio menu that matches music to in-flight meals to offset the fact that our ability to taste is reduced by 30 percent when we’re in the air. Tracks are carefully selected to enhance the flavor of each item. But Steve is among those who see the link between music and taste as having positive outcomes for both our mental and physical well-being. “This is about more than how Dunkin’ Donuts can use music to sell more coffee,” he says. “We are starting to see ways that we can use music that haven’t been explored before.” Sonic care In healthcare environments, the connection between sound, taste, smell and appearance is beginning to attract attention. Taking the idea that food is medicine one step further, neurogastronomy researchers are looking at how the different senses can benefit patient care. “Think about someone going through chemotherapy, whose taste senses have been affected, or a diabetic who shouldn’t have sugar—what if we could use sound or aroma to bring back the taste of something that’s been lost? Our senses are important, and by tending to all of them, not just treating the disease, I think we could improve health outcomes as well as patient satisfaction.” Steve says that as research continues uncovering the ways our minds perceive and interpret sound, we’ll see greater use of music as part of a healthy, healing journey. “I get really excited thinking that the day is coming when a doctor will prescribe a playlist instead of just pharmaceuticals.” Read more: What's Your Healing Rhythm? Read more: Find Happiness in Your Headphones Paula Felps is the Science Editor for Live Happy magazine.

science

Live Happy at Work – Content Packages

Live Happy offers customized content packages to serve your specific needs. Our battery of topics explored by expert teams deliver science-based, real-world facts and applications that enhance employee well-being and foster personal happiness that spills over into their work. Our customizable training and content packages can include: Training presentations and curriculum (materials for in-house training or featuringLive Happycontributors, writers, researchers):Since Live Happy has relationships with positive psychologists and researchers all over the world, we have been able to consolidate this research into 6 key practices that lead to a life and career filled with happiness and meaning:Attitude, Connection,Engagement & Mindfulness, Resilience, Meaning and Accomplishment. Each practice will be thoroughly but simply described with “action items” for each one—easy practices employees can do to start working their happiness muscle. Customized content:We can supply custom creative content for your email newsletters, company intranet, social media accounts and on-board trainings! We have articles, quizzes, video and audio interviews on a wide variety of happy and wellness-based topics. Training videos:We have access to trainings from many of positive psychologies top experts from simple trainings on gratitude to more complex in-depth information on developing character strengths. Learn about resilience, grit and the power of giving back, and how these skills can affect your authentic happiness. Let us customize a program specific for your company. Podcasts:Our#1 new and noteworthypodcastis educating, enlightening and entertaining. We can develop specific podcasts for your select audience, even interview your internal experts on how you promote happiness in the workplace. Many of our work- related podcasts come with digital work sheets that ask you to do actions after the training. Digital and/or print subscription toLive Happymagazine:Our award-winning magazine weaves the science of positive psychology through inspiring features, relatable stories and sage advice. Each issue is filled with content to assist and teach anyone how to develop a happier life. We also create a unique digital edition version of each issue that is mobile friendly and interactive. Videos:Happiness is a skill and can be taught, tracked, stretched,incentivizedand improved. Our partnernCourageoffers a series of short-form “how to” and “facts” videos that work on mindset conditioning in under 10 minutes a day. This easy, step-by-step improvement program uses stories and mental triggers that will help individuals create the happiest, most successful lives possible. App:Achieving a healthy state of physical fitness doesn’t happen overnight, so why would developing a positive mental lifestyle be any different? Consistency is the key. With theFeed Your Happy™ app, you can use the built-in reminder system to regularly condition yourself to deliberately, consciously focus on what’s going right in your life and participate in activities that strengthen your happiness skills. Illustrated quotes:We have a database of over1000 illustrated quotesthat we can customize with your brand. Annual employee participation event:In 2012 theUnited Nations established March 20 as the International Day of Happiness. Live Happy has created the largest awareness campaign of any organization and celebrates by posting giant orange Happiness Walls in cities across the United States during a month-long social engagement called #HappyActs. See what we’ve done! Visithappyacts.org.

work

5 Ways to Spark Joy at Work

In Marie Kondo’s best-seller, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, she asks us to place our hands on each thing we own and then ask ourselves, “Does this spark joy?” From our T-shirts to our teacups, from our books to our pocketbooks—if the item sparks joy, keep it and store it in a place that’s accessible. If it doesn’t spark joy, Marie advises we get rid of it. Now, imagine if we asked ourselves this same question—does this spark joy?—when it comes to our jobs. For some of us, work and joy in the same sentence may seem like an oxymoron, but it doesn’t have to be. Ask yourself these questions: Where do you gain meaning? What at your work leads you to do your best? Where do you have joy? As executive coaches and authors of Profit from the Positive: Proven Leadership Strategies to Boost Productivity and Transform Your Business, we believe your job can spark joy for you. When we asked people we were coaching or have coached what brought them joy at work, here were the top five responses: 1. HELPING OTHERS Be it solving a customer’s problem, coaching an employee or collaborating with a teammate. “There’s nothing better than helping someone to reach their full potential and then watching them shine!” What can you do? Lend a helping hand. Don't ask, “Can I help?” Instead ask, “How can I help?” Offer your guidance not only for work that needs to be accomplished but also for career advice. 2. GIVING AND RECEIVING RECOGNITION Whether it’s giving positive feedback to colleagues or receiving it. “The icing on the cake would be that my work is appreciated and valued by others.” What can you do? Recognize co-workers for a job well done—it not only brings them joy and boosts their productivity but also makes you feel good. 3. MAKING FRIENDS Building relationships with people at work: “Colleagues who have become friends” and “people who care about your well-being and your work.” What can you do? Connect with people you enjoy. Seek out people who fill you up rather than those who drain your energy. 4. FEELING A SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT Making a difference by “delivering on a commitment that meets or surpasses the customer’s expectation,” and “creating something bigger than myself.” What can you do? Recraft your job. Recrafting means any change—large or small—you can make that allows you to use your strengths even more. 5. WORKING WITH A TEAM “Joy is being on a team that has a common mission and everyone is giving of themselves to accomplish the same goal.” What can you do? Look for opportunities to collaborate with others, even if you work remotely or solo. And remember, if no joy can be found in your current job, it’s time to put on your explorer’s hat and see what else is out there. Life is too short not to find joy at work. MARGARET H. GREENBERG and SENIA MAYMIN, Ph.D., are sought-after executive coaches, speakers and positive psychology practitioners. Find them at ProfitFromthePositive.com.

work

The Importance of Positive Education Continued

This week we sat down with positive psychology and well-being thought leaders live at The Festival of Positive Education in Dallas, TX. We asked them why positive education was so important, what children can gain from it and how focusing on developing character strengths in students can begin to help society as a whole. Who you'll hear in this podcast: Dr. Abdulla Al Karam Lea Waters, Ph.D. Links and resources: Visit theInternational Positive Education Networkwebsite. Thanks for listening! Thank you so much for joining us this week onLive Happy Now. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Also,please leave an honest review forLive Happy Nowon iTunes! Ratings and reviews are important in helping others find the podcast; we greatly appreciate it! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.