The smile comes with eating!

Let's deepen the topic:

1) The importance of a convivial attitude

The art of conviviality passes first of all from a mental attitude of predisposition to the gift of self and empathy. In one of his famous poems, Gibran compares love to making food for others, then becoming able to offer oneself around the table to satisfy not only the physical hunger of our diners but to feed them the substantial and tasty food of our presence. attentive and generous:

Like sheaves of wheat, love welcomes you into itself.
He beats you until you are naked.
Sieves you to free you from the shells.
It grinds you to make snow.
It works like dough until you are yielding.
And he entrusts you to his sacred flame so that you may be the bread of the table

2) The importance of proper nutrition

Conviviality and the pleasure of good food are known to ease social inhibitions, stiffness and stress. Not everyone knows, however, that in addition to the purely convivial and goliardic aspect, a good mood can also be favored by proper nutrition based on foods which, due to their chemical composition, favor the release of serotonin, a neurotransmitter of the central nervous system.
In fact, the latest neurochemical research shows that not only the brain but also the nervous system feeds like any other organ; for this reason nutritional imbalances can cause states of unhappiness, mental confusion and other more or less severe symptoms.
Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that allow information to pass between nerve cells, thus regulating thoughts, emotions, memory and mood. Several neurotransmitters are built from specific nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and amino acids. If the diet is deficient in these elements it is easy for mood disorders to appear.

Among the nutrients that collaborate in the production of neurotransmitters, in addition to serotonin there is the group of vitamins B. In fact, several studies have demonstrated the relationship between depression And vitamin B deficiency. In particular, B1 is the vitamin that the brain needs most to function; also important is B12, essential for cerebral vascularity. Vitamin B6 is especially valuable for women, sensitive to hormonal fluctuations.

In what foods are these found vitamins? In the brewer's yeast, wheat germ, liver, eggs and especially in whole grains such as: wheat, barley, oats, corn, rice, rye and spelled.

3) What about chocolate?

The Aztecs, who introduced us to this delight, considered the chocolate a sacred drink and also the science when he classified the plant that produces these "miraculous" fruits he gave it the name of Theobroma cacao - "Food of the Gods".

The miraculous effects are due to the fact that eat chocolate does increase the production of serotonin one of responsible neurotransmitters of your Happiness.

4) What about ice cream?

Nicu Sebe and Theo Gevers two researchers from the Science Department of the University of Amsterdam they have developed a software that, reading the facial expression, recognizes and measures emotions that cause that expression. With this software they were analyze facial expressions of those who were eating various types of foods, from ice cream to cereal bars.

The ice-cream the food proved that gave the best results: the expression of someone who is eating an ice cream exceeds abundantly, in happiness, any other food.

But what is miraculous about ice cream?

The response of the neuroscience it is very complex and includes aspects related to pleasure due to flavor, those related to pleasant childhood memories, up to those due to details movements that engage the facial muscles to enjoy ice cream.

When you are enjoying yourself licking an ice cream, without realizing it, you activate the same musculature as when you laugh. Since body, mind and spirit are closely connected, while with the body you reproduce the expressions of the smile, your central nervous system is also adjusting at this stimulus and just like when you are laughing naturally, begins to produce the serotonin, that that makes you feel and be happy.

5) So bring a smile to the table! But not only…. what millennial wisdom in the words you will now read!

When we are at the table it is easier to smile because the food, as we have seen, and perhaps a good glass of wine help to create an atmosphere of joy in which tensions are lowered. So let's take the opportunity to keep this blessed smile inside, so that we can carry it around and show it off in the moments and places where it is urgent!

These beautiful words from a anonymous Franciscan:

A smile costs nothing and pays a lot; it enriches those who receive it, without impoverishing those who give it.
It lasts only an instant but its memory is sometimes eternal.
No one is rich enough to do without it; no one so poor as not to be able to give.
It creates happiness at home, around the family table, in business it is support, a deep sensitive sign of friendship.
A smile gives rest in tiredness, it is food for the soul.
In discouragement it renews courage, in sadness it is consolation, for every pain it is a natural remedy.

You can find more information on these topics on my website and gain direct experience through my Courses and Events www.gianniferrario.com