Neurotransmitters Balancing

An imbalance of neurotransmitters can lead to problems with mood, memory, addictions, energy, and sleep.

Please keep in mind that genetics and upbringing has a role in this, for example:

• If your genetics dictate that you have a high dopamine neurotransmitter dominance.

• If you grew up in a hostile environment, your body wired itself differently compared to someone who has grown up in a less hostile environment.

Although you try to balance all your neurotransmitters optimally, you can still remain a dopamine dominant individual. “Nature of the Animal”.

Lifestyle factors also play a big role in affecting your neurotransmitters and you can alter this.

Chronic stress, poor diet, environmental toxins, alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and drugs (both prescription and recreational) are major culprits. Underlying health conditions such as hormone imbalances, chronic inflammation, thyroid diseases, and blood sugar disorders can also cause neurotransmitter imbalances. 

There are no reliable ways to measure neurotransmitter levels in the brain and there are no scientifically accepted norms as to what those levels should be; to my extended knowledge as of now.

There are over 100 known neurotransmitters, but just a handful do most of the body’s work. While all neurotransmitters are important, the big four is what will be focused on:

Serotonin: is a chemical messenger (neurotransmitter) that helps brain and nervous system cells communicate. Its main function is to stabilize your mood, as well as your feelings of happiness and well-being. Serotonin also plays a role in the digestive system and sleep cycles.

Dopamine: Your body makes it, and your nervous system uses it to send messages between nerve cells. That's why it's sometimes called a chemical messenger. Dopamine plays a role in how we feel pleasure. It's a big part of our unique human ability to think and plan. It helps us strive, focus, and find things interesting.

Acetylcholine: It is a neurotransmitter that communicates signals between neurons in the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS).

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA): GABA’s main job is to work as an inhibitory neurotransmitter, which means it blocks messages sent between the nerve cells and the brain or spinal cord. Specifically, GABA blocks certain nerve signals in the brain to reduce fear, anxiety, and stress. Without the right level of GABA in the body, conditions such as anxiety disorders may become worse.

Serotonin

Low serotonin levels are linked to the most common mood disorders of our time:

• anxiety

• depression

• eating disorders

• insomnia

• obsessive-compulsive disorder

• seasonal affective disorder

Symptoms of low serotonin include:

• binge eating

• carbohydrate cravings

• digestive disorders

• hypervigilance

• insomnia

• low libido

• low self-esteem

• negativity

Men and women manifest symptoms of a low serotonin level somewhat differently.

Women are much more likely to experience mood disorders and carb cravings, while men are more likely to be impulsive, have attention problems, and drink alcohol in excess.

Increasing Serotonin

Tryptophan is the amino acid precursor, or building block, of serotonin. It’s found mainly in protein-rich foods like meat, eggs, fish, and dairy. So, theoretically, eating tryptophan-rich foods should raise serotonin levels, but the relationship between serotonin, tryptophan, and food is not that straightforward. Unexpectedly, both tryptophan and serotonin levels drop after eating a meal containing protein. It turns out that protein blocks the synthesis of tryptophan into serotonin.

Eating carbohydrates separately — with no protein — at some of your meals or snacks allows tryptophan to enter your brain and boost serotonin levels there.

Another surprise is that tryptophan supplements work better to increase serotonin than the tryptophan found in food.

Other supplements that raise serotonin levels include:

• B complex vitamins

• curcumin

• l-theanine

• magnesium

• omega-3 essential fatty acids

• Rhodiola rosea

• SAM-e

Dopamine

Named also as “Motivation Molecule”. It provides the drive and focus you need to do what needs to be done. Dopamine is so critical to motivation that dopamine-deficient lab mice become apathetic to the point where they’ll literally starve even when food is readily available. Dopamine has another important role as the brain chemical in charge of the body’s pleasure-reward system. Dopamine is released when your needs are about to be met and delivers a feeling of satisfaction when you’ve accomplished your goals.

If you’ve lost your zest for life or find yourself engaging in self-destructive behaviors to feel good, your dopamine level may be low.

Signs of low dopamine include:

• apathy

• inability to experience pleasure

• low energy and motivation

• low libido

Dopamine deficiency can manifest as a lethargic and apathetic form of depression unlike the anxiety-ridden depression linked to low serotonin.

Increasing Dopamine

Many people self-medicate with addictive substances like caffeine, alcohol, sugar, nicotine, and recreational drugs to increase dopamine.

Others get their dopamine fix from behavioral excesses of all kinds — too much shopping, sex, gambling, video games, and thrill-seeking behaviors. SOCIAL MEDIA WITH THE REFRESH BUTTON!!!

Fortunately, addictions and risky behaviors are not the only way to increase dopamine. You can increase dopamine naturally with the right foods, supplements, and lifestyle activities. The amino acid tyrosine is a major building block of dopamine and must be present for dopamine synthesis. Tyrosine can be found in most animal food products.

Besides animal food products, other foods that increase dopamine include: 

• apples

• avocado

• beets

• chocolate

• green leafy vegetables

• nuts

• oatmeal

• seeds

• Two of the most popular beverages, coffee and green tea, increase dopamine.

While these drinks offer significant health benefits, be mindful that caffeine is easily abused and addictive tendencies are a hallmark of low dopamine. There are plenty of supplements that increase dopamine naturally as well. An excellent supplement to start with is l-tyrosine, the precursor to dopamine.

Other supplements that increase dopamine include: 

• citicoline

• curcumin

• Ginkgo biloba

• Mucuna pruriens (velvet bean or cowhage)

• Phosphatidylserine

Bacopa monnieri, a traditional Indian Ayurvedic herb, helps normalize dopamine production up or down as needed. This makes bacopa an excellent choice for balancing dopamine levels, especially for those who suspect that they have too much dopamine.

Healthy lifestyle activities like physical exercise and meditation increase dopamine. 

And since dopamine is released when you accomplish a goal, taking on new challenges helps raise dopamine levels. Break down your long-range plans into short-term goals. Then, every time you tick an item off your “to do” list, you’ll get a little dopamine boost.

Acetylcholine

Named also as “Molecule of Memory and Learning”. Acetylcholine, is essential for learning and memory. Symptoms of acetylcholine deficiency are typical of “senior moments” — struggling to remember, focus, follow plots, and find the right words. But these symptoms can occur regardless of age. Acetylcholine levels are significantly lower in Alzheimer’s patients. Acetylcholine activity is the target of Alzheimer’s drugs, which attempt to slow the progression of cognitive decline by blocking the breakdown of acetylcholine.

Increasing Acetylcholine

If you are low in acetylcholine, you may find yourself craving fatty foods. Your brain is urgently trying to tell you something. The best way to increase acetylcholine is to quit your low-fat diet and start eating healthy fats. Alarmingly, the brain literally starts to digest itself for the raw materials needed to create acetylcholine when you don’t provide it with enough dietary fat.

The precursor to acetylcholine is choline, a nutrient found mainly in high-fat dairy products, fish, meat, and poultry. The best sources of choline by far are egg yolks and whole eggs. 

If you’re a coffee drinker, consider switching to tea which slows the breakdown of acetylcholine. Not all forms of choline supplements effectively raise acetylcholine levels, but there are a few that do. 

The alpha-GPC (L-alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine) form, which naturally occurs in human breast milk, readily enters the brain. It has been found to improve memory and cognition in Alzheimer’s patients. 

Another form of choline that increases acetylcholine is citicoline. Citicoline also increases blood flow to the brain, brain plasticity, and the capacity to grow new brain cells. It is used therapeutically to treat a wide variety of serious brain disorders including age-related cognitive decline, dementia, Alzheimer’s, and substance abuse.

Other supplements that naturally increase acetylcholine levels are huperzine-A, derived from Chinese club moss, American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), and gotu kola (Centella asiatica). Gotu kola is also good for skin elasticity.

In the medication realm: A good rule of thumb is that any medication that starts with “anti” is likely to affect your acetylcholine level — antibiotics, antihistamines, and antidepressants, for example.

GABA

“Nature’s Valium” - Relaxation

Typical symptoms of low GABA are being easily stressed out, overstimulated, and overwhelmed. Other signs and symptoms of a GABA deficiency are lying awake with racing thoughts, feeling dread for no particular reason, and experiencing heart palpitations, cold hands, and shortness of breath. A low GABA level is associated with anxiety disorders and panic attacks, as well as physical disorders with an emotional component such as irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease.

Increasing GABA

You may be drawn to unhealthy ways to increase GABA such as reaching for high carbohydrate foods, alcohol, or drugs to relax. There are healthy foods and supplements that can do the trick.

Good food sources of GABA include: 

• barley

• beans

• brown rice

• chestnuts

• corn

• kale

• potatoes

• spinach

• sprouted grains

• sweet potatoes

• yams

• Fermented foods like unpasteurized yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, and miso also raise GABA levels. 

GABA supplements are available, but may be of limited use since, theoretically, GABA is too large a molecule to cross from the bloodstream into the brain.

Though it seems that GABA supplementation works well for some people. The only way to know for sure if it will work for you is to give it a try. If supplemental GABA doesn’t work for you, consider taurine. This is an amino acid that activates GABA receptors in the brain and encourages the formation of GABA.

Probiotic supplements that contain Lactobacillus rhamnosus markedly improve GABA levels.

Other GABA-boosting supplements include magnesium, l-theanine, and kava. If you live where you can buy picamilon, you might want to give it a try. It combines GABA with niacin to create a compound that more readily enters the brain.

All kinds of exercise can increase GABA, but yoga in particular stands out. One study found that just a single one-hour session of yoga increased GABA levels by 27%.

Conclusion

Your primary home in this life is your body and your mind. How you fuel your body and your mind is through your digestive system, make sure your stomach acid is correct so you can absorb nutrients from healthy food correctly, Eat as per your ancestors and modify to what works for you best. We are all from different backgrounds. What works for one will not work for another. 

One’s journey must start within and work outward. With all gears and cylinders firing and good fuel being provided; the individual then has the capacity to then TAKE ON THE WORLD.

Have self awareness, understand yourself, put all advantages to your side (eating well, exercise, meditation, reading, spending time with family) and then work on the areas of your life that require to be worked on.

To become your APEX. Best version of yourself. We go through the world trying to find answers. The answers are within us all along.

This is not medical or chemistry advice and should not be taken as recommendation. Please consult with qualified professionals.