Increase serotonin: Which foods you can use to increase your serotonin level

Serotonin is one of the most important hormones in our body. Serotonin not only regulates the day-night rhythm - it also puts you in a good mood. If your serotonin level is in the basement and you feel tired and unhappy as a result, you can naturally increase your serotonin. We introduce you to foods with which you can naturally increase your serotonin levels.

Serotonin is called a feel-good hormone for a reason. If we don't have enough of it, it affects our feelings and our mood suffers.

We feel tired, dissatisfied and sluggish, which is why serotonin is indispensable for our body and for the prevention of depressive moods. Many people complain, especially in winter fatigue, a bad mood and depressed moods.

Fortunately, there is a solution to the deficiency: yours Serotonin levels You can not only through sunlight, you can too increase your serotonin through certain foods and nutrients.

 

Increase Serotonin: What is Serotonin?

Serotonin (also called 5-HT or 5-hydroxytryptamine) is also called natural happiness hormone bezeichnet.

But the effect is much more than that. Serotonin is one of the most important messenger substances in the human bodybecause it does a number of things. So there are among others Information from the dendrites of one nerve cell to the receptors of the next nerve cell continue.

Serotonin is made from the essential amino acid L-tryptophan in the brain. These must get into your body through nutrition and is commonly found in foods such as nuts, cheese, and red meat.

A Tryptophan deficiency can lead to lower serotonin levelswhich in turn can lead to mood disorders, such as anxiety or depression.

 

Most people suffer from a serotonin deficiency, especially in the cold season. In this regard is Lack of sunlight is the most common cause of low serotonin levels. Serotonin is mainly activated by the sun (UV rays), which determine our day-night rhythm.

 

Serotonin effect: what is the function of the neurotransmitter serotonin?

Neurotransmitter and hormone - serotonin functions as both in our body and is of great importance for it. But what exactly does serotonin do? Serotonin On the one hand it influences our mood and our sleep-wake rhythm and on the other it controls our body temperature and our appetite.¹

It also appears to be serotonin on our brain's reward system (nucleus accumbens) To influencewhich is why we often resort to chocolate when serotonin levels are low and we want to increase our serotonin. Thus there is also a connection between serotonin and weight gain.

 

 

That we often feel better afterwards is mainly due to the tryptophan content of the chocolate. L-Tryptophan is an amino acid that acts as a precursor to serotonin applies.

In order to raise the tryptophan level and thus be able to increase serotonin in the body, you should rather use dark chocolate, which has a particularly high tryptophan content.

Only one The disadvantage is that the feeling of happiness does not last forever if you eat something that contains the serotonin precursors, so a high content of tryptophan or 5-HTP have.

 

 

Here we can give you our BRIGHT MOOD recommend. The capsules contain 400 mg L. tryptophan in a daily dose, which is converted to serotonin via the intermediate product 5-HTP and can help increase your serotonin. It also contains reishi extract and other bioactive plant extracts and eight B vitamins, which are responsible for numerous metabolic functions in the body. B vitamins support the nerves and provide energy. As part of our 60-day money-back guarantee, you can BRIGHT MOOD Try it out very relaxed.

 

 

To increase serotonin levels, you need to fuel production every day to improve your mood and prevent deficiency. Especially in the cold season you should pay attention to a sufficient diet that contains a lot of it, to be able to increase your serotonin.

 

Serotonin's natural antagonist: melatonin

Melatonin is the natural antagonist of serotonin: Serotonin lifts the mood, Melatonin makes you tired and sleepy. However, both are as Hormones for maintaining a balanced day-night rhythm of great importance.

Unlike the happy hormone serotonin, melatonin is a Sleep hormone, which is produced in the pineal gland after dark. In the morning the production of the sleep hormone decreases.

As soon as the light of the sun hits your skin and the retina of your eyes, the formation of serotonin is stimulated and you begin to wake up from your sleep. Depending on the time of day, the two hormones alternate constantly.

However, the ratio of hormones can get out of whack, especially in winterbecause it is light much later in the morning and dark earlier in the evening. During this time, the sun is extremely rare, which is why serotonin is comparatively low and we often suffer from a serotonin deficiency.

 

 

Due to the low sun intensity in winter is also often from autumn Blues or the Winter depression talked about because the sun is more natural mood is missing.

The body automatically produces more melatonin than serotoninwhy we ourselves Often feeling just as sleepy and listless during the day as in the evening. When we have low serotonin levels, we cannot get out of bed in the morning and we also cannot push our mood with coffee.

 

Serotonin Deficiency: Symptoms

There are a number of symptoms that can occur when you have low serotonin levels. Symptoms also seem to express themselves differently in men and women.

A 2007 study found that lower serotonin levels in women were more likely to lead to depression and other mood swings, while men reported more impulsive behavior.² A more recent study from 2015 showed that a deficiency can affect mood differently in people who have previously suffered from depression than in people who have never had depression.³

Psychological symptoms of serotonin deficiency:

• Anxiety
• depressive moods
• aggression
• impulsive behavior
• Trouble sleeping
• irritability
• listlessness
• low self-esteem
• decreased appetite
• difficulty concentrating

 

Physical symptoms of serotonin deficiency:

• Cravings for carbohydrates
• Weight gain
• fatigue
• Nausea
• digestive problems

 

Lack of Serotonin & Depression

As soon as serotonin levels are low over a long period of time, depression can result. Shift workers are most often affected in this regard.

In the long term, the low serotonin level means that it's not just yours Confused sleep rhythm. A little serotonin or a deficiency can also have a negative effect on your well-being and your performance. In the case of clinical depression, the consequences are treatment with psychotherapy or drugs such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs or antidepressants).⁴ SSRIs help your body use serotonin more efficiently. However, such drugs can also lead to unpleasant side effects.

So that it doesn't get that far in the first place, you should get yours Boost serotonin by pushing value with the right nutrients that can make up for the deficiency and increase your serotonin. You don't have to use a serotonin drug like serotonin tablets right away. You can also find serotonin in foods, which naturally increases serotonin.

 

 

Serotonin & Food: Increase in serotonin levels

Fortunately, we don't have to feel depressed and tired in autumn and winter and can increase our serotonin. If the happiness hormone is missing due to the lack of sunlight, we just have to activate by foods and nutrients that improve serotonin synthesisbefore we resort to drugs like serotonin capsules or serotonin reuptake inhibitors that increase our serotonin.

The best serotonin suppliers include:

• Vitamin D
• Tryptophan
• carbohydrates
• Omega fatty acids 3
• Cocoa
• Vitamin B6 and B12
• Magnesium
• Bananas and avocados
• GABA

 

Increase serotonin levels with vitamin D.

Vitamin D and serotonin are closely related. The sun vitamin is also formed by the influence of light and can help to increase serotonin. If we don't have enough of it, in the worst case depression can be a consequence.

One of the most important tasks is the regulation of the brain messenger substance serotonin. also it influences the processing of the two messenger substances dopamine and norepinephrine, which are also important clocks for our mood.

As soon as the vitamin D level is low due to the lack of daylight, our serotonin level is unbalanced. Therefore, when you have serotonin deficiency, the first thing you should think of is vitamin D to increase serotonin.

 

 

 

For this we recommend our DAILY SUNSHINE. Vitamin D3 + K2 drops contain 1000 IU Vitamin D two drops each and are combined with vitamin K2, which ensures better absorption in the body. The drops are dissolved in MCT oil from coconuts for maximum bioavailability. Due to the simple dosing with the pipette, you can easily drip it directly onto the tongue or dissolve the neutral taste in water.

You can already achieve a positive effect with a dose of 400 IU daily if you want to increase your serotonin. Since most foods in the Western diet contain far too little vitamin D, you should reduce serotonin production through a dietary supplement such as DAILY SUNSHINE push.

Valuable suppliers of vitamin D are high-fat fish, as

• mackerel
• Hering
• Tuna
• Salmon

 

 

But avocados and cod liver oil are also among the most important sources of vitamin D. In 100 g avocado alone there is 200 IU of vitamin D. In cod liver oil it is even 12.000 IU per 100 g. On average, you should take a dose of 800 IU daily, but this recommendation is purely a maintenance dose.

If the vitamin D stores are used up, a daily intake of 4.000 IU may be necessary. This dose is only used with preparations and food supplements like ours DAILY SUNSHINE reached. Numerous scientists are still arguing about how high the vitamin D requirement really is.⁵ The best way to do this is to consult your doctor and see which dose is best for you.

 

Increase serotonin with the precursor L-tryptophan

Most of the serotonin is found in the gastrointestinal tract. 90 percent of the total amount of serotonin (about 10 g) is formed and stored in so-called enterochromaffin cells, which are located in the epithelial tissue of the digestive tract. The remaining 10 percent are located in the nerve cells of the intestine.

Serotonin can also be produced in the nerve cells of the brain. However, the digestive tract can produce hundreds of times more serotonin than our brains. The starting material for the happiness hormone serotonin is tryptophan - an amino acid that is converted into 5-HTP and then into serotonin in the brain. So tryptophan turns into serotonin.

 

 

Since it is a protein building block, include animal foods, especially meat, to the foods rich in tryptophan. But also plant-based foods have a high tryptophan content, e.g. B.

• cashews
• Soybeans
• mushrooms
• Quinoa Salad
• Amaranth
• Millet
• Sunflower seeds

 

For the conversion of tryptophan to serotonin in the body, the amino acid first has to cross the blood-brain barrier.

Unfortunately, competing amino acids, especially the protein building blocks valine, isoleucine, leucine and tyrosine, also want to cross the blood-brain barrier. As a result, tryptophan cannot easily reach the brain.

 

Serotonin increase with carbohydrates

Because of the competing amino acids, you should get your Combine protein-rich meals with carbohydrates.

This way, your insulin levels will skyrocketso that all amino acids are channeled into the muscle cells. What remains is the tryptophan, which can now easily cross the blood-brain barrier.

It is best if you prefer to long chain carbohydrates grab how you prefer whole grain products, for example in the form of pasta, rice and bread.

  

Avoid serotonin deficiency through omega-3 fatty acids

Omega-3 fatty acids are extremely important for building healthy brain cells. Most of the time, people with low vitamin D and serotonin levels also suffer from a deficiency of omega-3 fatty acids.

Did you know that omega-3 fatty acids can directly activate the nerve cells (presynaptic cells) that are responsible for the release of serotonin?

Omega-3 fatty acids are mainly found in high-fat fish (Mackerel, salmon) as well as in linseed oil, hemp oil and walnut oil. Algae oil capsules are ideal for vegetarians and vegans. Adults should take 20 mg per kilogram of body weight per day in order to compensate for the serotonin deficit.⁶

 

More serotonin with cocoa

Surely you know it too - chocolate makes you happy, as is well known. Although it does not contain serotonin, cocoa beans consist of the amino acid L-tryptophan, among other things.

As you already know, L-tryptophan is converted to serotonin in the brain. This is also the reason why we simply feel better after enjoying chocolate and can easily stimulate serotonin production. Dark chocolate is best.

 

B vitamins raise serotonin levels

The Regular intake of B vitamins is essential if you want to increase your serotonin. B3 (niacin) and B6 (pyridoxine), which are ideally taken with a vitamin B complex preparation, are particularly important.

Vitamin B3 plays a central role here. As soon as there is a serotonin deficiency, the body can obtain the vitamin from tryptophan. 60 mg tryptophan result in 1 mg vitamin B3. However, the vitamin B3 requirement is 11 to 17 mg daily in order to optimize the serotonin level. 

Vitamin B12, which contains the neurotransmitters serotonin, melatonin, Adrenalin, Norepinephrine and dopamine. A low vitamin B12 level can immensely impair the production of serotonin. A higher dose is essential, especially for vegansbecause the micronutrient is mainly found in animal foods, especially meat and fish.⁷

 

Increase serotonin levels with magnesium

If you suffer from chronic fatigue, depression, and listlessness, you should definitely add more magnesium because the mineral is involved in converting tryptophan to 5-HTP. As a reminder: L-tryptophan and 5-HTP are precursors of serotonin.

Magnesium also accelerates the production of other neurotransmitters, which are essential for your mood and an optimal serotonin level. Since the mineral itself has a positive effect on your brain metabolism, it is used both preventively and therapeutically for migraines.^{8, 9} 

 

Serotonin & nutrition: better synthesis with bananas and avocados

Bananas are the ideal snack, especially in winter. The high-carbohydrate fruit is not only sweet and tasty, but also extremely nutritious.

The yellow fruit contains plenty of vitamin B6, potassium and tryptophan, which is why they can ensure a better mood and an optimal serotonin level, especially in the case of tiredness and drive disorders.

Have a similar effect Avocados, which are also high in tryptophan and vitamin B6. The fruits also contain unsaturated fatty acidsthat regulate cholesterol levels.

 

Balanced serotonin levels with GABA

Another way to lift your spirits and prevent depression is GABA. GABA stands for gamma-aminobutyric acid, also called gamma-aminobutyric acid.

GABA is a non-proteinogenic amino acid that can optimize serotonin levels. More precisely, GABA is a neurotransmitter that is produced both in the brain and in the pancreas.

GABA's starting material is glutamate - a salt of glutamic acid. This is an amino acid that transmits stimuli from nerve cells. GABA is therefore an excellent remedy for a prevailing serotonin deficiency, which has a calming effect on the central nervous system.

At the same time, it has a performance-enhancing effect because it supports the formation of growth hormones. However, the disadvantage is that you cannot take GABA directly as a dietary supplement because it is produced in the brain.

 

Fortunately, you don't have to forego the stimulating and performance-enhancing effects of GABA. For example, you can stimulate the formation of the messenger substance in the brain by consuming foods that contain a lot of glutamate.

Parmesan cheese has a very high glutamate content of 6.500 mg per 100 g. Walnuts (3.400 mg per 100 g), eggs (1.400 mg per 100 g) and tomatoes (420 mg per 100 g) are just as rich. Walnuts are also rich in omega-3 fatty acids.

 

Increasing serotonin: other helpful methods

Serotonin levels can not only be improved through food, but can also be boosted by other methods. Here we introduce you to other methods that can increase your serotonin. For example, exercise can help: Exercise triggers the release of the precursor of serotonin, tryptophan, in the blood and can decrease the amount of other amino acids. This creates an ideal environment for more tryptophan to reach your brain.

In addition, a Massage therapy help increase dopamine & serotonin. Dopamine and serotonin are both neurotransmitters that affect mood. A 2004 study examined 84 pregnant women with depression. Serotonin could be detected to a higher degree in them after 16 weeks after the women had received a 20-minute massage from their partners twice a week. They also felt less anxious and depressed.¹⁰

 

Increase serotonin with positive thinking and a good mood

Just think positively! At this sentence, some people must shake their heads. But there is research that advocates increasing serotonin when you are surrounds with positive thoughts or otherwise put you in a good mood. When you think of something that makes you feel good this can help to increase the serotonin in your brain and contribute positively to an improved mood. For example, you could try to visualize a happy moment you had or think of a positive experience with your loved one. In addition, photos of your loved ones, places or pictures of other things that make you happy can also help to increase serotonin.

Moods are a complex subject and can depend on different things. In some cases that are not acute, it can be helpful to influence your thoughts and steer them in a positive direction.

 

 

Summary

Serotonin acts as a neurotransmitter and hormone in the body. Together with the sleep hormone melatonin, serotonin contributes to a balanced day-night rhythm and also influences our appetite. It also has a Impact on our well-being and our performance.

A low serotonin levels can be associated, for example, with tiredness, listlessness and depressive moods through to states of anxiety and depression. This occurs more often in the darker season when there is a lack of daylight.

However, there are a number of things you can do to naturally increase your serotonin levels by including important nutrients in your diet that boost production, such as vitamin D, omega-3s, and magnesium.

More tips for your well-being and #teamahead can be found in the Academy or on ours Instagram channel.

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[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK545168/

[2] http://www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S0006-3223(07)00147-3/

[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4471964/

[4] http://flipper.diff.org/app/items/info/5332

[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23093054

[6] http://www.vitasearch.com/get-clp-summary/37318

[7] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4042564/

[8] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8747885

[9] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22426836

[10] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15715034/