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Natural Dopamine Boosters
How To Boost Dopamine Naturally And Why You Should
Why wouldn’t you want to increase your Dopamine levels when Natural Dopamine Boosters are available?
Now, don’t get me wrong, there are some extremely good quick fix in a bottle dopamine options online , offering connivence at a price, however this article is aimed more at the natural/herbal alternatives that are readily available.
Often times the first brain chemical we think about when it comes to dealing with a problem focusing and concentration, as well as not being motivated is serotonin. Low serotonin is definitely an issue that many folks who battle depression and other issues face.
The thing that researchers also know is that when it comes to how the brain handles depression and other issues, is that the other neurotransmitters in your brain play a role as well. These studies prove that folks with a diagnosis of clinical depression have much lower levels of dopamine neurotransmitters in their brains. This initial finding leads to a lot of learning about how dopamine levels impact our brains, and what happens when people experience a deficiency of it.
Upping the levels of dopamine in your brain should definitely give you an overall cognitive boost, especially when it comes to things you have to remember or have to detailed attention to. This is why when dopamine is given to folks with neurodegenerative issues often show a great deal of improvement. It’s also why many students have turned to various nootropic substances to boost their cognitive levels, utilizing dopamine boosters to study longer and harder, and be able to perform better in class.
We now know that when we lose out ability to focus, or concentrate, and stop enjoying things that we typically do, it can be a key indicator of not having enough dopamine in our brain. Dopamine deficiency can also account for the sluggishness that is often associated with many folks who suffer from depression.
For many years, the immediate answer from doctors was to turn to pharmaceuticals. While there are some pharmaceuticals that work really well, they also can induce some really adverse side effects. Luckily, there are now a number of well tested natural supplements that raise dopamine levels safely and typically don’t present any unwanted effects. Many naturopathic practitioners are successfully treating patients with dopamine deficiency symptoms, helping them live more fulfilling, better lives.
What Is Dopamine And What Does It Do?
Dopamine is a brain neurotransmitter. That means it is a chemical that passes brain information from one neuron to another neuron. How this dopamine effects us, depends on where the dopamine came from, as well as where it’s going, along with several other variables of where its coming and going.
Dopamine is highly involved in your brain activities. When dopamine is released and travels through your brain, you get a rush of energy, because dopamine is your brain response to setting a reward based goal, and that energy is what motivates you to reach that goal. Dopamine is what lets you know that you are satisfied by something, and is the underlying brain chemical behind our drive to complete goals and feel rewarded. When that dopamine isn’t present, that is when you start to notice the things that should provide reward based pleasure, like music, or your hobbies, or exercise. Dopamine deficiency can definitely be a reason that you continually feel down.
We took a look at four individual supplements that have each been found in various studies to raise dopamine levels, and/or even out the function of the Dopamine in our brains to a more balanced level. People who have true dopamine deficiency aren’t the only people who can benefit from these. Anyone seeking a boost in their mood, motivation, energy or just general life interest could experience many of the positive effects these natural dopamine boosting supplements offer.
8 Natural Dopamine Boosters:
1. L-Tyrosine
Tyrosine is an amino acid and one that is essential to brain function. You can get Tyrosine in your diet, and it is also created inside our bodies. Tyrosine forms a precursor that gets converted to dopamine in the brain and forms a different neurotransmitter (norepinephrine) that helps control our moods. Given what it does, L-tyrosine can be a great place to start for better sleep, a more even keel on your mood, better focus, and really any type of mild dopamine deficiency symptoms.
One of the great things about tyrosine is that you will feel the effects in your brain rather quickly. Start with one capsule, and in thirty minutes if you feel no cognitive response, you can take another, and the same again in 30 minutes. We all have different needs in our brain and respond differently to amino acids. As with all of these supplements, talk to your Doctor before taking them, as we are not giving any sort of medical advice. Tyrosine is best taken 2-3 times a day.
Foods high in Tyrosine include:
- Almonds
- Avocados
- Bananas
- Fish
- Green Tea
- Meat
- Milk
- Watermelon
- Yogurt
2. Mucuna
Mucuna is a plant-based supplement that contains up to five percent of the same brain chemical that is synthesized inside our bodies as L-tyrosine and then is turned into dopamine. When you take it as a supplement to your daily routine, Mucuna is able to enter your brain via the bloodstream and is shown to increase the levels of dopamine in the brain.
In the Indian medicine culture, Mucuna has been a long standing staple, used to treat many different illnesses, including neurological issues such as Parkinson’s. Studies have shown that dopamine deficiency conditions like depression and anxiety can also benefit from taking Mucuna as a supplement, and that also effects other mood oriented brain neurotransmitters like serotonin.
3. L-theanine
Theanine is another amino acid, this one found mainly in teas, both green and black. Theanine (along with caffeine) is a contributing factor to the way tea can affect your mood or energy. Studies show that it has an effect on multiple neurotransmitters in the brain, and produces a calm, mellowing feeling that works to balance out the stimulus from the caffeine in the tea we drink.
It also works in conjunction with the caffeine, delivering the energy in a more focused manner, one in which you won’t experience the jitteriness or crash that is typically associated with drinking something caffeinated.
Food high in Theanine include:
- Green Tea
- Black Tea
4. Rhodiola
Rhodiola is a plant that has been quite popular in Eastern Europe and through Asia for helping with depression, as well as knocking out fatigue while increasing performance at work. One of the reasons these effects take place is due to the way it controls and enhances dopamine stability, while also supporting its consumption and reuptake. When compared to a placebo in humans, studies show a reduction in anxiety, fatigue related to stress, as well as depression. Taking 170mg of this extract twice a day could definitely have a positive impact.
5. B-Vitamins and Minerals
Vitamin B6, as well as Zinc and Folate, are crucial for dopamine creation and synthesis, as well as the firing of the neurotransmitters. These are quite commonly depleted in our bodies because of our diet, or because we live and work in high-stress environments or ones with exposure to toxic environmental variables. While these aren’t direct contributors to Dopamine in your brain, a high-quality multi
vitamin and mineral daily pill can renew and replenish your levels, which will lead to your neurotransmitters operating at an optimal level, and support your emotional well-being.
6. Bacopa Monnieri
Many home remedies are excellent at curing a specific symptom or problem that arises. Bacopa is no exception, working on such symptoms as forgetfulness and depression, just to name a few. Many people turn to the web and find sites just like this one when they are looking for relief from a particular issue. Often the natural remedy manages to cure the problem, or at least lead to the kind of relief that the person was looking for.
There are some herbal home remedies that go one step beyond just treating a symptom or problem once it has arisen. These supplements actually provide insulation that wards off problems in the future – preventing them from happening in the first place or ensuring they will be milder than usual. These natural remedies are not really “remedies” at all, but more “insulators” in that they are preventing whatever might be the problem from happening in the first place.
Bacopa is an insulator against stress and anxiety, having been scientifically proven to prevent a person from reacting to normal triggers with stress reactions. Instead of treating the stress, Bacopa Extract may be able to prevent it or at least minimize the stress reaction in the first place. This is not just conjecture, and even though it is based on the experience of those who have taken Bacopa, it is also based on research that postulates at the mechanism by which this happens.
7. Phenylalanine
Phenylalanine is an necessary amino acid (a building block of proteins inside the human body), which means body needs it for your health can’t make it. A person needs to get it from food. Phenylalanine can be found in 3 forms: L-phenylalanine, the natural form which is found in proteins; D-phenylalanine (which is a mirror image of L-phenylalanine which is usually made in the a laboratory), and DL-phenylalanine,the combinaton of` the two forms.
Your body transforms phenylalanine into tyrosine, which is another amino acid that is needed to produce proteins, brain chemicals which includes L-dopa, epinephrine, and norepinephrine, and also thyroid hormones. Since norepinephrine has an effect on mood, various forms of phenylalanine have been suggested to treat depression. Signs and symptoms of phenylalanine insufficiency include confusion, loss of energy, depression, diminished alertness, memory troubles, and absence of appetite.
Foods high in Phenylalanine include:
- Beef liver
- Dried and Salted Scrod
- Hard Roe
- Pork Liver
- Turkey
- Soybean Kernels
- Veal Cutlets
8. Resveratrol
The chemical Resveratrol which is an antioxidant is found in a variety of plant species including blue berries, cranberries, grapes, and is an important constituent of red wine. This chemical compound is also manufactured by plants in instances where fungi and bacteria attack them. Definitely an important source of this compound is red wine. This discovery was made some few decades ago and has indeed provided the solution to the French paradox.
It was discovered some time back that the French consumed increased levels of fat and as such lived unhealthy lives. However, they were less inclined to contracting various heart diseases compared to the average American. It was therefore concluded by researchers that the Resveratrol in Wine was the reason behind their tremendous state of health.
The Resveratrol wine is made up of adequate amounts of the compound.
The amount of the content which is found in the red wine far outweighs what is in white wine. The reason behind this is that grape skins are combined with the juice for longer periods when producing the red wine. It is the skin of all these plants where the vast number of the mixture gets extracted from. In the red wine actually the constituents of the substance may differ from one particular red wine bottle to the other. It is therefore imperative to look at the red wine which will be the right source for this compound.
In Resveratrol wine the highest constituent is around 40 mg/litre and gets extracted from the solid sensitive Muscadine grape. A number of the other wines possess 2 to 2.5 mg of this compound for each litre. The Pinot Noir grape comes also as another widely known choice of grapes for manufacturing wines with adequate amounts of the substance.
This product also flourishes in a moist environment which also keeps the yeasts and molds that attack the various plants alive. In a moist environment like that the plants will turn out increased quantities of the substance to avoid the possible attack by fungi or some other foreign pressures. The Pinot Noir which is from New Zealand, Washington and France also possess more constituents of the compound when likened to wine from an area hotter than maybe Australia or California.
The compound located in red wine has some benefits it renders to the body. These include extending your life span and reducing some types of cancers. Also it may help you in reducing weight by acting as a metabolism increaser. It could also help you in reducing age-related diseases and cancer prevention. Furthermore it can act as a mechanism for protecting the heart and brain from traumas and also fighting type II diabetes.
Foods high in Resveratrol include:
- Blueberries
- Cranberries
- Cocoa Beans
- Chocolate (Dark)
- Grapes
- Peanuts
- Red Wine
Precautions When Taking Dopamine Supplements
When it comes to brain chemicals, balance is key. If you overdo it, you’re going to have negative effects just as bad, if not worse than had you not taken it at all. Don’t ever try adding more than one dopamine enhancing supplement at a time to your routine unless you’ve worked with your healthcare provider on a specific plan to do so. Be sure to check with your Dr. on how any of these supplements might interact with medication as well as other supplements you are already taking, and if you’re a pregnant or lactating woman, you should probably steer clear of these all together for the time being.
Increasing Dopamine In The Brain Without Supplements
Along with supplementing your diet and supplement routine with new items to increase dopamine levels, there are a handful of ways to do it naturally. Examining your diet can be a great place to start with this. One thing that has been found is that your gut health can play a role in your dopamine levels. When you have too much of the bad types of bacteria in your system, it can lower your dopamine levels. Foods which are high in natural probiotics like Kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir and others are definite must haves when you are eating with the intent of boosting dopamine levels.
Another way to naturally spark your dopamine levels is to get engaged in something that has an end goal, associated with intrinsic reward. In other words, give yourself something to achieve, in which achieving it
will bring you pride and satisfaction. By accomplishing smaller goals and giving yourself that winning feeling, you can retrain your brain on how to use its dopamine.
Exercise and meditation are two other fantastic ways to boost your dopamine production. Working out has shown in many studies that it increases neural growth, slows your brain from aging, and helps optimize the way nutrients are delivered to your brain. You may be familiar with runner’s high which typically is associated with endorphins which have a painkilling aspect, however, dopamine is also responsible for playing a part in that bulletproof feeling.
The Bottom Line On Dopamine
It’s quite apparent that dopamine is the source of our motivation and our reward based logic system. When you approach increasing dopamine is a healthy manner, you will feel more productive and in some cases, a new zest for living your life. Keep it natural and food based, and stay away from the many unhealthy methods of increasing your dopamine, and you will reap the rewards!
Also see: Best L-Dopa Supplement Review
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Dr Chuang is passionate about Nootropic medicine and research, bringing many years of experience to provide the most up to date and accurate information available.
Whether you are seeking a boost in concentration and focus, want to supercharge your memory and learning, or seek to improve your mood or sex life, then count on Dr Chuang for qualified, expert and authoritative comment on Nootropics.
