This is the fourth article in the series on how to balance your brain chemistry with food and supplements. Please read the first three articles in the series:
Your Brain on Food and Supplements – Dopamine
Your Brain on Food and Supplements – Acetylcholine
Your Brain on Food and Supplements – GABA
Serotonin is used in your gut extensively (80% to 90% is found there) but we are concerned about the brain. In your brain it does various things like control of appetite, mood and anger.
Serotonin natures are happy, sensory, and live in the moment. Despite being calm they can be very impulsive and like to seek a wide variety of exciting new activities.
Serotonin deficiency is a primary cause of mood or depression disorders. Other symptoms can include carbohydrate-craving, allergies, arthritis, backache, constipation, diarrhea, headache, insomnia, premature ejaculation, tinnitus, yawning, lack of pleasure, being a loner, OCD, perfectionism, rage, shyness, lack of concentration, and slow reactions.
How to Increase Your Serotonin Levels
In order to increase your serotonin, you need more tryptophan. Tryptophan is a precursor to serotonin. Here is a list of the best food sources for tryptophan. The list is basically in descending order of how much you get from a typical portion.
- Wild game
- Pork
- Avocado
- Wheat germ
- Egg
- Duck
- Cottage Cheese
- Turkey
- Ricotta
- Sausage
- Halibut
- Whole grain oats
- Beef liver
- Chicken
- Oat
- Granola
- Chocolate
- Whole Milk
Supplements
L-Tryptophan – Take 500 mg to 2,000 mg a day in divided doses between late afternoon and bedtime. Take more at night if you need help sleeping. Take with food during the day to avoid daytime sleepiness.
5-HTP – Take 100 mg to 600 mg a day in divided doses between late afternoon and bedtime. Take more at night if you need help sleeping. Take with food during the day to avoid daytime sleepiness. I strongly prefer this to L-Tryptophan because it crosses the blood-brain barrier much better and you need far less.
If you suffer depression you can take these on an empty stomach in the morning too. This will help your depression but may make you sleepy. It has that effect on me so I take mine late.
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Related posts:
- Your Brain on Food and Supplements – GABA GABA calms and stabilizes the brain. It is the primary...
- Your Brain on Food and Supplements – Acetylcholine Acetylcholine is important for memory and learning and is a...
- Your Brain on Food and Supplements – Dopamine Most people have some kind of dominate nature that centers...
- How To Take Care of Your Brain Update from Stephen: There is a new book out by...
- 25 Ways To Enrich Your Brain Experience One of the best things you can do for your...
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Stephen, another informative and useful article. It’s nice that L-Tryptophan is available in the US again after being banned for a decade or so by the FDA. This is a really great series, keep it up.
Stephen,
Another useful post!
I think you may want to change “How to Increase Your GABA Levels” to “How to Increase Your Serotonin Levels”.
@Jonathan and Roger, thanks for the comments and the heads up Roger.
I’m really enjoying this series of posts, Stephen. Thanks for writing them in such a way that they’re easy to understand; I’m learning a lot.
Hi Stephen,
It looks like you may have saved the best for last as I think serotonin is probably one of the most common problems for people. As Jonathan says, it’s great that tryptophan is back on the market again. St Johns Wort is another supplement that can be used to increase serotonin when 5-HTP or tryptophan fails.
I know I already mentioned Julia Ross’ Mood Cure book, but it’s worth bringing up here again since it includes some great information for getting off of SSRI medication.
Hi Stephen
This is another great post. Thank you for sharing.
I hope you have a great day.
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action
I’m really enjoying catching up on some of these brain supplement articles you’ve done. alot of great stuff in here. I’ll have to do a proper google search and look around for it but there used to be a great book i read called ‘the serotonin diet’ or something like that. very short, very good read when it comes to managing moods. I’m also a huge huge huge 5htp fan. amazing stuff.
I am curious if you know much about fish oil pills. I was speaking with a nurse I work with, and she was expounding on the many benefits of fish oil. I have read about bipolar and major depressive disorder being treated by psychiatrists who prescribe fish oil. My mother, who has genetically high cholesterol, was prescribed prescription fish oil pills! Now,Ｉdon’t know if it has any effect on serotonin levels, but it would be interesting to find out!
That is a great, great series!
I knew serotonin was a key ingredient in sleep regulation but I didn’t know it affects so deep on a psychological level. I keep finding out interesting things reading your blog.
@Laurie, thank you so much for stopping by and your kind words.
@Vin, I have no experience with St. John’s Wort but I know there is evidence it is as effective as SSRI’s. The one thing I like about supplementation or eating for brain balance is that they actually increase the level of neurotransmitters available. I think St. John’s Wort inhibits reuptake like the SSRI’s.
@Giovanna, thanks!
@Christopher, thank you for stopping by to comment on my blog!
@Steve, fish oils are a source off Omega 3 fatty acids which most people are heavily deficient in. I can’t say enough about how important they are. I have switched from fish oils to Udo’s Choice oil. It is made from seeds and grains and is therefore a safe alternative to fish oils. It is also made with a great ratio. With fatty acids the ratio is critical. Fish oils can be contaminated with mercury. When I took them I took a molecularly distilled version to avoid mercury contamination. Mercury contamination is a huge problem with fish and it is a killer for your brain and CNS.
@Dragos, thanks for your support. The four neurotransmitters that were the subject of this series, including serotonin, are all very ritically important to proper health. What goes wrong in your brain dramatically effects your body.
Hi Dear Stephen, somehow I’ve missed getting your posts. Usually I get them through stumble where I can stumble and review them but when I didn’t get any for awhile I decided to hunt you down.
So Glad I did. I’ve been printing out a couple of these articles and giving them to a friend to read who has been looking into all this brain “stuff”. He was really please and excited to read your posts and said it was some of the best info he’d seen. I think what makes your articles so good is that they are not only highly informative but also laid out very clearly and simply so that the lay person can understand what is going on with the brain. I love when someone does that. So I thank you SO much.
I also have to learn to understand what RSS means and how to use it. I know everyone does. I’ve been on the computer for ages and I never subscribe to anyone’s RSS as I don’t even know what that is or how it works. LOL!! And yet I do HTML code and other things. Aaah, must be selective learning.
Anyway, Thank you my friend and if you are still on stumble please send me any of your pages. So enjoy them. You are really helping a lot of people. More than you might think.
I just posted about a book called Merle’s Door and the author only eats wild game meat. It must serve him well and now I see for more reasons than previously thought.
I am working on a book right now about the chemical ways that the Food Industry manipulates the brain and eating patterns. Fascinating look at the research, I hope the author figures out how to defeat the Industry!
Found you through Writer Dad – glad I came on over.
All the four post are really relevant and informative focusing on brain nutrition and supplements for developing and maintaining a perfect and a healthy brain. Brain is the most significant as well as the most complex organ of our body. Nutrition plays the key role in maintaining a perfect and a healthy brain. Thanks for sharing your views and information on brain food and supplements.
.-= Brain Supplements´s last blog ..Brain Surgery Equipment =-.
Hello,
Thank you for the info on different neurotransmittors. Also greatly effects are the hormones that are from adrenals, norepinephrine..
Remember to remind care of side effects for supplements and espec if someone is already taking meds. There can be an excess of seretonin in the body.
Have tried 5HTP and then experienced heart palpitaions and anziety (50mg).
I was told this week low in acetylcholine due to low Mn and low dopanime as anemic in iron that is needed to create dopamine , though enough tyrosine .
My son tried fish oils 2 years ago and in 2 days he was his self, and color came back, energy…
Wonder if I have excess GABA as well?
Thank you for the info
wow, sucks to be a vegan needing serotonin foods :p
Thanks for all the infomation, my son has recently been diag. with simple tourettes and I am looking for a natural way to help his brain with seratonin and dopamine levels to see if this will help him. I have made lists of your foods and suppliments I will take advice from the health food shop people regarding his age etc. I will let you know how we get on. Caroline
Hy great post, really worked for me. Using the information in your post, i started a balanced diet & also found very good brain health supplements to grow my memory power & its showing the results
Thanks a lot..:)