10 Quick Tips to Boost Your Serotonin
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This week’s Tuesday Ten features simple tips to make your brain hum. You’ll feel so great, you’ll be looking down on Cloud 9.
Before we get to it, a word to the wise about serotonin:
There is quite the plethora of mood-elevating, serotonin-enhancing products and drugs available. If you don’t want to go the Prozac route, there are many excellent natural methods for boosting your mood. Indeed, many studies have shown that natural methods like exercise may be just as effective as traditional drug therapies. (However, in some cases, depression can become so severe, there’s simply no food or supplement that is going to “cure” you. I like to remind my readers that it’s always important to consult an expert before embarking on your own curative adventure.)
But for light cases of the blues, or stressful days, there are plenty of things you can do to elevate that feel-good hormone, serotonin:
10. Avoid the fast track to happiness.
Carbohydrates give you an instant lift because they trigger the release of serotonin. Indeed, I’ve seen several articles lately actually recommend eating a sugary treat to boost your mood and sleep better. Bad advice (see Dr. Weil’s take). Carbs are a quick fix, but they do nothing to stimulate ongoing production of serotonin, which is what you want.
9. Don’t avoid carbs entirely.
Proteins contain tryptophan, a large amino that converts to serotonin in the brain. (I’ll be discussing tryptophan supplements in the future.) Yet relying solely on protein can hamper serotonin production. Though scientists aren’t sure why this is, it makes sense that subsisting entirely on one macro-nutrient might cause problems for brain chemistry.
Tryptophan works best when consumed in conjunction with a small bit of carbohydrate, such as a scoop of brown rice, a handful of nuts, or a few tablespoons of legumes. These complex carbohydrates are essential to helping your brain properly process the tryptophan in protein. Vegetables are also great – and my preference.
8. Eat protein.
Turkey, fish, chicken, cottage cheese, nuts, cheese, eggs, and beans all contain generous levels of tryptophan.
7. Eat fat.
Hormonal processes require essential fatty acids, so don’t shirk your “good fats”. Get plenty of DHA-enhanced eggs and dairy in your diet, and eat fish a few times a week. Good sources are wild salmon, mackerel, and tuna. You vegheads can also nosh on avocados, nuts, flaxseed, vegetable oils (walnut, avocado, almond, flax, olive) and seeds.
6. Take a fish oil supplement!
Though fish oil won’t produce serotonin, essential fatty acids play a vital role in brain health and mood regulation. I recommend Vital Omegas, of course, but there are plenty of good ones on the market. As with most things, you do get what you pay for, so buy the best you can afford.
5. Exercise to feel good.
Exercise is a natural stimulator of many important “mood” hormones, including serotonin and dopamine. Don’t think of exercise as a chore to lose weight or prevent heart disease “someday”. Realize that 15 or 20 minutes of exercise every day will naturally release these feel-good hormones that are so vital to feeling happy and calm. As junior apple Mike A. says, exercise is about feeling good, not just looking good.
4. Avoid the stimulant cycle.
Caffeine, sugar, alcohol. Caffeine, sugar, alcohol. Many of us get trapped in the stimulant cycle. These substances temporarily give you a lift, but actually deplete and blunt valuable hormones in the long run. If you like caffeine, try to limit your java intake to one or two cups a day at the most. The same for alcohol. I recommend avoiding sugar completely.
3. Sleep right.
When we’re feeling down, it’s tempting to sleep, sleep and sleep some more. But quality sleep is far more important than quantity. Force yourself to get up early, but allow for a rejuvenating nap midday if you need it (just don’t exceed one hour). The same goes for stressed-out workaholics getting by on 5 or 6 hours of sleep a night. Find a way to get an extra hour (hey, that sounds like another Tuesday 10 to me!).
2. Investigate supplements wisely.
HTP is a popular supplement, but I personally prefer rhodiola, which actually slows the process of serotonin breakdown (it also has better scientific backing).
1. Boost other hormones!
Oxytocin is another feel good hormone often called the “cuddle hormone”. Oxytocin is released when we feel love, trust and comfort. It can be even more powerful than serotonin. If you need a lift, remember the power of simply spending time with your significant other or family members and friends.
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Technorati Tags: hormones, brain chemistry, depression, anxiety, happiness, Prozac, anti-depressants, oxytocin, serotonin, dopamine, rhodiola, natural stress relief, cuddle hormone, caffeine, stimulants, alcohol, sugar, fish oil, exercise, protein, mood
Posted By: Mark Sisson
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one of the highest levels are found in walnuts…..instead of going for Prozac go for walnuts…..natural way to boost up and charge ur mood…..chao!!!
Have one child and five stepchildren..craving walnuts…I guess my body knows best!
Very informative article, and website. Thank you.
Myself (58) and mom (86) have had an ongoing eye issue for years that I cannot seem to get to the bottom of. I do kinesiology and have tested galore to no avail. I got into Hannah Krogers book which led me to my large intestines for myself taking a product called “circuflow” with Aloe vera. Doesn’t seem to totally cure the problem. What direction would you suggest I go?
Thank you
Ellen
yer-it@wizwire.com
Also, there’s a supplement called 5-HTP that aids in serotonin synthesis. It is marketed for those with depression or insomnia, but I have neither of those and take it regularly, and it just generally makes me feel a little better. There are no side effects, doesn’t make you loopy, and I’ve gone for period without it, but its definitely nice to have to enhance your life.
Good information although it is commonsense. Sometime commonsense does work
Thank you, You’ve helped
Regarding #8
via WebMD
“Protein-rich foods, such as meat or chicken, contain high levels of tryptophans. Tryptophan appears in diary foods, nuts, and fowl. Ironically, however, levels of both tryptophan and serotonin drop after eating a meal packed with protein. Why? According to nutritionist Elizabeth Somer, when you eat a high-protein meal, you “flood the blood with both tryptophan and its competing amino acids,” all fighting for entry into the brain. That means only a small amount of tryptophan gets through — and serotonin levels don’t rise.”
Hi, alcohol isn’t a stimulant.
Hahaha… this is a good one, I’ll recommend this one some of my friends.
When did alcohol become a stimulant? Here I was thinking it was a CNS depressant.
I guess I’ll take the rest of your advice with a grain of salt too.
He only refers to alcohol as a stimulant in that he includes it in the ’stimulant cycle’, which would hardly be a cycle if it didn’t contain a depressant (as in sugar, alcohol, caffine; up, down, up makes a cycle).
Also, since alcohol depresses a certain part of the brain and boosts inhibition, it is indeed stimulating at low doses.
Haven’t you seen rowdy drunk people ? Drunks get sedated and sleepy when they’ve had too much, but before that it’s pretty stimulating.
Now I am a strong advocate for the use of marijuana because it does make people happy when there is little to be happy about. But this completely falls into your segment for number 10, and I think it should be included even if you don’t agree with its use, and perhaps added to the stimulant section as well.
After quitting smoking it took several days to get my emotional state back to its regular level. I had a few emotional out breaks dealing with a very tedious homework assignment that resulted in a broken piece on my desk, hah. Continual use causes NO DEPENDENCY OR ADDICTION, but I will be the first to admit as a emotion altering drug it leaves a hole in the continuity of my happiness, and when I am happy without the drug it is the difference between eating a McDonald’s dollar menu burger and a fat black Angus burger freshly ground at the store.
marijuana is addictive! i know many people who go nuts if they cant get their regular dose!
Weed is not physically addictive.look it up. Your friends may have a mental addiction but that it.its in there minds your body does not have withdrawls from weed.
Great article!
Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more information? It is extremely helpful and beneficial to your readers
Weed for happiness ? I don’t know about that. I ate psilocibyn mushrooms when I was depressed. That cured me better than anything can. I can just summon happy feelings any time of day I want and bam. Like getting a shot with a vial of happy juice – if such existed. Marijuana can cause mood swings this is true. It is addictive but this is because it is so good. Imagine you were having sex with the most attractive partner. Wouldn’t you get all angry if some one suddenly told you you cannot see them anymore? And you wouldn’t you do almost anything to get back together? People fall in “love” with the high.
I am not a trained professional of course (though this just make me less biased..) so take my words how you will.
Psilocibyn Mushrooms? What does it contains that makes you feel good?
psilocin which mimics the effects of serotonin in the brain
“Weed” has always been far less moody than booze. It wasn’t Beer or Martinis that fueled the Peace movement of the 60’s.
Thanks, that’s a new one for me! Any other foods that contains psilocin?
haha you mean psilocybin and its totally illegal. It’s what makes magic mushrooms magic. and magic they are….
Gee, why does the good stuff always get banned…?
Weed is not physically addictive that is a fact! It may be mentally addictive to some people but its all in their minds.
Great article. It puts a lot of information in perspective. I have been working on getting my metabolism revved up, so much so that I have started a blog on the topic. http://getmetabolismsecrets.com
thank you for your article it gives me a lot of information,
weed can be cool and i dont think it is physicaly addictive , but best only to smoke when in the right frame of mind. Smoking when depressed or anxious can sometimes lead to deep thought and depression. As with all drugs for best results start with a posative frame of mind!!!!.
take some ecstacy, it makes your serotonin go crazy. An hour after you have that and some OJ and a cig you’ll be the happiest person alive. THIZZ OR DIE u beezy
I don’t get it – this article advocates some grains, legumes and beans. I thought Mark was totally against these things, as they go against primal nutrition?
You know, Mark evolved too. At first he was eating some bread (little, but always…), now he doesn’t
nice article about protein…very informative thx