We all know that eating well nourishes our bodies. Nutritious food gives us energy, supports our immune system, and keeps us feeling our best. 

But what if I told you there’s a superfood for your soul—one that’s completely free, always available, and scientifically proven to boost your well-being?  

That superfood is kindness.

OK, you don’t eat kindness like other superfoods, but hear me out.

Acts of kindness, whether big or small, are like a powerful supplement for the mind and heart. Research has shown that experiences of kindness release a cocktail of feel-good chemicals—dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin—and these help reduce stress, increase happiness, and even improve heart health. 

Kindness isn’t just about making someone else’s day brighter; it’s a boomerang—what you give comes right back to you in the form of better health.

Nature’s Reward

I think of this as Nature’s Reward. It’s nature’s way of saying, “Thank you and well done for acting in a way that keeps all of us – i.e., life – thriving.”

You see, many moons ago, in the distant past, our ancient ancestors learned from experience that helping each other was key to survival. There were no supermarkets in those days. And there were more wild animals around, without the barriers of city limits to keep them out.

Helping others meant food, protection, and companionship.

This tendency to help each other, to gather in groups, even to laugh and tells stories by the campfire grew in each succeeding generation. Over time, kindness to each other became instinctual. And it became pleasurable. Wind the clock forward to the present day and that satisfying feeling you get when you help someone is thanks to our ancient ancestors.

And it comes with an accompanying set of chemicals in the brain and throughout the body that bring about some quite amazing effects.

Brain circuits

Nowadays, we’ve charted lots of ways that being kind impacts our mental (and physical) health. Kindness is an antidote to stress; it even dials down activity in stress regions of the brain. It’s a physical effect! And the magic is that it works in the opposite direction to experiences of stress.

Experiences of kindness also dial up activity in happiness and positive mood regions of the brain. And these positive mood regions become strengthened just as a muscle becomes stronger when you regularly work out.

And that’s the key, and what we see in science. Regular acts of kindness boost happiness. But it’s not just that kindness momentarily feels good or satisfying. There’s a physical effect on the brain that makes the feelings longer lasting.

This doesn’t mean that being a kind person guarantees you’ll be happy. Experience tells us this isn’t true. Life happens, as we all know, and often in unpredictable ways. But since these positive regions of the brain are strengthened, what it does mean is that as life happens, happiness and positive moods in general become more accessible to us.

And this is consistent with an array of scientific studies that show that kindness generally makes us happier.

Not just Yourself

And the best part? Kindness isn’t limited by time, money, or circumstance. You don’t need to wait for the “right moment” to be kind. It can be as simple as sending a thoughtful text, paying a sincere compliment, checking in on someone, or practicing patience when someone is having a tough day. Small, consistent acts of kindness add up, just like small healthy choices add up to a stronger body.

And they impact others too, beyond the person you show kindness to in the moment. Kindness creates a ripple effect that extends much further than the person you’re kind to.

Think of a pebble dropped in a pond. In time, ripples reach the far sides of the pond and lily pads rise. They rise because of the wave. And the wave was created by the pebble dropped in the pond. Now, the pebble is a metaphor for kindness and the pond is human society. The wave is how kindness travels from one person to the next.

But it’s not lily pads that rise. It’s the smiles on people’s faces. It’s the quality of people’s days that are lifted as they experience a moment of kindness that began with that seemingly small thing that you did – that pebble you dropped metaphorically into someone’s day.

Acts of kindness are rarely isolated acts, even if they might seem so in the moment. They lift people’s spirits. They give people hope. And people naturally pass that good will onto others. That’s how the ripple effect works.

So, if you’re looking for a way to boost your mood, reduce stress, cultivate deeper connections, and make some ripples of joy in the world, let kindness be your go-to superfood.

And you don’t need to search for this superfood in the aisles of a supermarket, nor hunt in the depths of the Amazon rainforest.

It’s free. And you already have it in abundance.

Sprinkle it everywhere, and watch how it transforms not just your mental health, but the world around you.

Resources

This article is adapted from Chapter 3 of my book, ‘The Joy of Actually Giving a F*ck: How kindness can cure stress and make you happy‘. The chapter is called, ‘A Superfood for your mental health’. The book is about all the ways that kindness impacts our mental & physical health, and how it can make a difference in our homes, communities, places of work, and the world. It’s all backed up with science and there’s a references section at the back that contains all the studies cited in the book.