What is serotonin? Sounds like that thing in the brain that makes us happy. Yes, it is. Serotonin is another neurotransmitter responsible for generation of emotions. If you are high in serotonin – you are positive, confident, flexible, and easy-going. If you are sinking in serotonin – you will tend to become negative, obsessive, worried, irritable, and sleepless.
Serotonin deficiency is the most common mood problem seen nowadays.
The reason why serotonin is so emotionally vital is that it is our frontline defense against both depression and anxiety. It is converted in your body from tryptophan, an amino acid (protein building block) found in meat and dairy. Tryptophan first converts into a substance called 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan), which then converts directly into serotonin. This important process can be obstructed by a number of things:
Are You Eating a Pro-serotonin Diet?
Serotonin, like everything else in your body, is made out of foods you eat. Low-calorie diets, fast foods and skipped meals, for example, can quickly reduce serotonin supplies.
Few foods contain 5-HTP or serotonin themselves, so everything depends on your getting enough tryptophan from your diet. Where do we get tryptophan? From high-protein food. Tryptophan is found in foods like turkey, beef, pork, dairy products, chicken, and eggs. If you are a vegetarian, you are at a greater risk of developing tryptophan malnutrition.
Getting too little healthy fat may be another way in which your diet can contribute to your low serotonin state.
Is Stress Draining Your Serotonin?
Chronic exposure to high-stress situations can exhaust serotonin as your brain quickly uses it up trying to keep you calm and centered. Although all of the chemicals responsible for your sense of well-being are drained by too much stress, serotonin is often the first and most significant casualty.
Is It Your Genes, Gender, or Sex Hormones?
Through genes that underprogram serotonin-producing activity, you can inherit a tendency to be shy, angry, depressed, obsessive, or sleepless. And as far as the gender goes, females produce a third less serotonin than males do. PMS and menopausal mood problems result when levels of sex hormones, specifically estrogen, which help program serotonin production in the brain, fall too low.
Are You Getting Enough Light, Especially in Winter?
Serotonin is one of the few chemicals stimulated by light. For lower-serotonin people, the later afternoon tends to be the beginning of the “unhappy hours”. Many of them hate darker seasons and darker times of the day. If you suspect that you suffer from winter mood slumps, you can raise your serotonin with the amino acid supplements combined with some bright light for more effectiveness.
Are You Getting Enough Exercise and Oxygen?
Exercise can definitely raise your serotonin levels. Muscle activation during exercise allows more tryptophan, which the body converts to serotonin, to cross the blood-brain barrier. Once through, it quickly converts into enough 5-HTP and then serotonin so that by the end of your workout you suddenly find yourself in the highest spirits. Exercise also increases your intake of oxygen which is very important in the formation of serotonin from amino acids.
Reference: Ross, Julia. The mood cure: the 4-step program to rebalance your emotional chemistry and rediscover your natural sense of well-being.
