Serotonin: an important link for (un)happiness

Serotonin is one of four important happiness hormones/neurotransmitters

DOSE is the acronym for the happiness hormones/neurotransmitters that have the most influence on your mood. DOSE stands for dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphin. In this blog, we will discuss serotonin and how you can become happier by increasing serotonin naturally. More on dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphin will follow soon.

About serotonin

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter involved in regulating hunger and satiety, sleep, learning, temperature regulation, memory, behavior, and mood. The amount of serotonin in the brain therefore largely determines how you feel. With a high level, you are fulfilled and content. With a low level, life can feel quite unbearable.

Symptoms of serotonin deficiency

A serotonin deficiency primarily has a negative effect on your mood. You feel downcast, depressed, and/or anxious. Sometimes you have no idea what you are doing or who you are at all. You may withdraw from social activities. Yet you are searching for happiness and find it in things that provide fleeting happiness. This can lead to addictive behavior in the form of eating, drinking, substance abuse, shopping addiction, gambling, sex, pornography, personal goals, gaming, etc. These addictions provide a good feeling only temporarily. They do not increase your serotonin levels, but rather the highly addictive dopamine in a way similar to cocaine: temporarily and with increasing difficulty.

Increase serotonin naturally

1. Increase serotonin by engaging in activities that are calming for you. This could be meditation, prayer, or yoga. Some people feel better listening to trance or other genres of music, as long as it has a calming effect.
2. Exercising has a serotonin-increasing effect.
3. Drink as little alcohol as possible. Remember that half a glass of red wine per day is the maximum a person can drink without causing too much damage.
4. Make yourself as big as possible by striking power poses (like bodybuilders do) for 2 minutes. This increases not only serotonin but also testosterone.
5. Think positively and say positive words to yourself and others. Think of nice things and try to share those nice thoughts.
6. A healthy dose of sunlight for more vitamin D3, serotonin, and dopamine
7. Avoid empty calories, especially sugars, and replace them with slow carbohydrates from vegetables, for example.
8. Avoid Omega 6 fats (vegetable oils) and increase Omega 3 intake (this helps against lifestyle diseases).
9. Increase your turmeric intake in combination with black pepper. This duo alone increases 3 happy hormones and prevents certain types of cancer.
10. Take a good multivitamin. For example, vitamins B3, B6, and B12 also help raise your serotonin levels.
11. The following probiotics also increase your serotonin:
    Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei and Bifidobacterium bifidum
12. Tryptophan supplement that you do not take with other proteins (may be taken on an empty stomach).

As you can read, your thoughts and gut flora have a significant influence on your mood. Most notably, the bacteria in your gut influence your mood and behavior by producing or not producing signaling molecules that make you happy or unhappy. So, take good care of your gut and, first and foremost, ensure you have the right bacteria by taking a probiotic containing one or more of the following strains: Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei and Bifidobacterium bifidum. Next, you provide those bacteria and yourself with the right nutrition and dietary fiber from primarily vegetables, legumes, moderate amounts of fruit, and a little whole-grain products such as oatmeal.

Other products that also help to increase your serotonin are tryptophan-rich foods. Tryptophan is the precursor of 5-HTP and serotonin. Foods rich in tryptophan include: sourdough bread (whole wheat), oatmeal, nuts, seeds, spirulina, cocoa (pure), sesame seeds, chickpeas, spinach, sunflower seeds, parsley, asparagus, mushrooms, and broccoli.
beans, nuts, seeds, soybeans, Parmesan cheese and turkey

In addition to these foods, there are also natural MAO inhibitors that ensure that serotonin, among other things, is broken down less rapidly. These come with a warning. Complications can arise with an excess of MAO inhibitors and/or in combination with psychoactive medications. Normal foods such as aged cheese, beer, wine, pickled herring, chicken liver, yeast, excessive coffee, citrus fruits, figs, broad beans, chocolate, or cream can cause headaches and nausea and even become toxic. Here are some mild natural MAO inhibitors: seaweed, turmeric, passion flower and rhodiola.

Warning: Never experiment with stronger MAO inhibitors on your own, but always seek the expertise of a specialist first, especially if you are already taking psychoactive medication.

You want to live healthier and be happier, but you are not succeeding.

You put a lot of effort into living a healthy life and being happier, but you are not succeeding. If you fall back into old patterns, you remain in a negative spiral. Low serotonin levels lead to depression, poor eating habits, and anxiety. This results in even lower serotonin levels. We offer services involving behavioral and nutritional advice, as well as trip therapy, allowing you to break this negative spiral through temporarily high serotonin levels and introspection. Your self-worth and self-love can rise as a result, enabling you to take better care of yourself and those around you. Curious? Read more about our services here. effects of the trip.