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The gut and brain connection explained: how your diet fuels happiness
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Have you ever heard the saying, "You are what you eat"? While it might seem like just a catchy phrase, your diet and the nutrients you consume actually play a crucial role in shaping how you think and feel. Two of your happiness chemicals known as serotonin and dopamine are responsible for balancing your mood and making you more motivated. Wondering how you can increase serotonin and dopamine levels? The answer is simple: through food! Here’s how your diet works in your favour and the top 5 foods for quickly producing dopamine and serotonin.
How does diet affect your mental health?
Your diet and mental health are intricately connected, influencing everything from your mood and energy levels to your overall sense of well-being. All of your experiences are regulated by emotions which are programmed in your brain. This process occurs after the right amino acids find their way to the brain. Let’s take a look at how that happens.
How is the gut and brain connected?
Most people believe that a simple change in diet can alter your gut and have plenty of effects on mood, sleep and overall well-being. It’s important to note that the function of amino acids in the body is entirely different to the role these compounds play in the brain and that is due to the ability to enter the brain. Being an extremely important organ, the brain has evolved to protect itself in various ways. Apart from your 7mm hard skull, the brain has many layers within to provide added protection, including a barrier that is selective to what enters the brain[1 Trusted Source 2015 - Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology Research evaluation The Blood–Brain Barrier ] . This layer of cells allows free entry to water and essential nutrients, prevents entry of toxins and harmful bacteria and controls other compounds that must be tightly balanced to maintain optimum brain health[2 Trusted Source 2020 - Nutrition Reviews Systematic and meta-analysis Effects of 5-hydroxytryptophan on distinct types of depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis ] . So how does the gut and brain connection affect your happiness chemicals?
Even though serotonin and dopamine are needed in the brain to keep you happy, sleep well, feel pleasure, and keep you moving, the brain stops the entry of gut-made serotonin. Stomach levels of serotonin are usually high as 90% of serotonin is made in the gut[3 Trusted Source 2019 - Biochimie Research evaluation Serotonin in the gut: Blessing or a curse ] ,[4 Trusted Source 2020 - The Turkish Journal of Gastroenterology Research evaluation Does Seratonin in the intestines make you happy? ] . This gut-made serotonin, however, stays there and aids other organs. Only a small amount of serotonin aids in mood regulation as your brain likes all things exclusive and requires these chemical messengers to be made inside the brain to perform their functions.
From your diet to your brain
One way to support the production of your happiness chemicals is with your diet. Protein-rich foods contain high amounts of natural nutrients called tyrosine and tryptophan that get converted into dopamine and serotonin.
Tyrosine found in foods is the direct precursor to your pleasure chemical that gets converted into dopamine in the brain.
Tryptophan, on the other hand, has to go through another step to become your feel-good chemical serotonin. To cross the blood-brain barrier, tryptophan has to bind with a transporter molecule. Your body uses less than 3% of food’s tryptophan to make brain serotonin[5 Trusted Source 2010 - Neuropsychopharmacology Research evaluation The Reward Circuit: Linking Primate Anatomy and Human Imaging ] . In the brain, tryptophan is then converted to 5-htp. Serotonin (chemically known as 5-ht) is then made from 5-htp.
Because of these complex processes, there’s only a certain amount of tyrosine and tryptophan that actually gets converted to your happiness chemicals. Is there an even more efficient way to improve your well-being through the feel-good effects of these chemicals compared to your diet? Let’s take a look.
How can I increase serotonin and dopamine levels quickly?
Increase dopamine and serotonin levels by making sure your body gets enough of the direct building blocks of your happiness chemicals. Let’s explain this in more detail.
What foods increase dopamine?
The best dopamine diet to boost the levels of your pleasure chemical contains foods that are high in dopamine’s building block tyrosine. Tyrosine can mostly be found in protein-rich foods[6 Trusted Source My Food Data 3rd-party source Foods Highest in Tyrosine ] . What foods are high in tyrosine? Foods like dairy and soy products, and meat are full of dopamine’s building block tyrosine. Here are 5 ways you can get dopamine in foods that consist of the building block of your pleasure and reward chemical:
|
Food (per 100g) |
Tyrosine content (mg) |
|
Parmesan cheese |
2300 |
|
Frozen dried tofu |
1800 |
|
Powdered full fat milk |
1300 |
|
Beef steak |
1200 |
|
Turkey meat |
1200 |
|
Whole egg |
500 |
How can I boost my dopamine fast?
Alternatively, tyrosine, dopamine’s building block, can be taken in supplemental form to ensure adequate intake. brain feed has created the world’s 1st natural 800mg tyrosine capsule from fermented corn.
Which foods increase serotonin the most?
Foods that increase serotonin, your feel-good chemical are high in serotonin’s building block called tryptophan. Similarly to tyrosine, tryptophan can also be found in protein-rich foods[7 Trusted Source My Food Data 3rd-party source Foods Highest in Tryptophan ] . Your body produces serotonin in the gut, along with dopamine which helps with healthy digestion[5 Trusted Source 2010 - Neuropsychopharmacology Research evaluation The Reward Circuit: Linking Primate Anatomy and Human Imaging ] . Which foods have the most tryptophan? Foods like tofu, seeds and meat are packed with serotonin’s building block tryptophan. Here are the top 5 foods for a quick boost in your feel-good chemical:
|
Food (per 100g) |
Tryptophan content (mg) |
|
Frozen dried tofu |
750 |
|
Chia seeds |
720 |
|
Pork |
630 |
|
Mozzarella cheese |
600 |
|
Chicken |
380 |
|
Canned salmon |
350 |
Is there a serotonin pill?
Instead of opting for foods that are high in tryptophan, you can go straight to serotonin’s building block 5-htp in the form of a supplement. Unlike tryptophan, 5-htp freely crosses the blood-brain barrier for its direct conversion to serotonin. brain feed’s 100mg 5-htp is extracted and isolated from Ghanian Griffonia simplicifolia seeds. 98% of the tablet is comprised of 5-htp making it the smallest, nutrient-dense tablet available and no unnecessary bulking agents.
References
[1] Daneman, R., & Prat, A. (2015). The Blood–Brain Barrier. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology, 7(1), a020412. https://cshperspectives.cshlp.org/content/7/1/a020412
[2] Javelle, F., Lampit, A., Bloch, W., Häussermann, P., Johnson, S. L., & Zimmer, P. (2020). Effects of 5-hydroxytryptophan on distinct types of depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutrition Reviews, 78(1), 77–88. https://academic.oup.com/nutritionreviews/article-abstract/78/1/77/5555860?redirectedFrom=fulltext
[3] Banskota, S., Ghia, J.-E., & Khan, W. I. (2019). Serotonin in the gut: Blessing or a curse. Biochimie, 161, 56–64. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0300908418301652?via%3Dihub
[4] Bektaş, A., Erdal, H., Ulusoy, M., & Uzbay, İ. T. (2020). Does Seratonin in the intestines make you happy? The Turkish Journal of Gastroenterology, 31(10), 721–723. https://turkjgastroenterol.org/en/does-seratonin-in-the-intestines-make-you-happy-136614
[5] Haber, S. N., & Knutson, B. (2010). The Reward Circuit: Linking Primate Anatomy and Human Imaging. Neuropsychopharmacology, 35(1), 4–26. https://www.nature.com/articles/npp2009129
[6] Foods Highest in Tyrosine (n.d.). My Food Data. https://tools.myfooddata.com/nutrient-ranking-tool/tyrosine/all/highest/grams/common/no
[7] Foods Highest in Tryptophan (n.d.). My Food Data. https://tools.myfooddata.com/nutrient-ranking-tool/tryptophan/all/highest/grams/common/no
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