Dopamine: more happiness when dopamine is in balance

Dopamine 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 dopamine and how you can become happier by balancing dopamine. More on oxytocin and endorphin will follow soon.

About serotonin we previously wrote an article and You can find that article here.

About dopamine

Dopamine is an important neurotransmitter that helps keep the reward and pleasure centers of our brains under control. It also keeps us motivated and focused, so that we can work towards achieving our goals.

Symptoms of dopamine deficiency

Signs of low dopamine include decision stress, low libido, fatigue, depression, an inability to cope with stress, poor concentration and memory, mood swings, a lack of motivation, and failing to complete tasks or work towards goals. Furthermore, you may develop a sugar dependency, causing dopamine and serotonin levels to drop (further). This makes you even more susceptible to addiction.
Those with addiction may also have low dopamine levels, because fueling addictive behavior is one of the body's shortcuts to increase dopamine levels in the brain. In conditions such as ADD and ADHD, dopamine levels can be low or, conversely, too high in relation to other neurotransmitters. People with ADD and ADHD are, on average, 20 times more susceptible to addictions. These are particularly addictions where dopamine levels temporarily rise, such as alcohol, smoking, cocaine, MDMA/XTC, heroin, gambling, and sex addiction.

Symptoms of a dopamine excess

Anorexia, other eating disorders, and hyperactivity can be a consequence of excessively high dopamine levels. However, we would like to emphasize that high dopamine levels cause fewer problems if they are more balanced with other neurotransmitters, particularly serotonin. Excess dopamine has been linked to menstrual disorders, delayed puberty, infertility, and reduced immunity.

According to the 'British Journal of Nursing', elevated dopamine in the limbic system is linked to schizophrenia, paranoia, and withdrawal from social situations. Drugs such as amphetamines and cocaine cause a buildup of dopamine, which leads to drug-induced psychosis or schizophrenia.
High concentrations of dopamine in the brain are found in patients with ADHD and Parkinson's patients. These individuals with elevated dopamine levels in the brain were more likely to act impulsively with a need for immediate gratification and develop addictions.

We would like to add to this story that an elevated dopamine level causes far fewer to no problems if dopamine can be better converted into noradrenaline and adrenaline (see the image below). This improves the balance between serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline, allowing you to live in satisfaction.

Dopamine balance naturally

1. Set achievable short-term and long-term goals.
2. Meditation in any form.
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. Listen to your favorite music.
5. Physical contact with other living beings. For example, contact with pets, cuddling, or massages.
6. A healthy dose of sunlight for more vitamin D3, serotonin, and dopamine
7. Avoid empty calories, particularly from 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, vitamin B complex, zinc, magnesium, manganese, and copper also help raise your serotonin levels.
11. Tyrosine-rich foods such as almonds, pumpkin seeds, avocado, banana, fresh unsweetened dairy, and fresh lean meat.
12. Probiotics in the form of yogurt, kefir, or supplements.
13. Say goodbye to social media.
14. Turn off your smartphone an hour before going to bed and use it minimally during the day.
15. Don't drink coffee, but green tea.
16. Do something creative.
17. Good nutrition, good nutrition, and more good nutrition!

Correcting excess dopamine

Symptoms primarily arise when dopamine is too high in relation to serotonin and noradrenaline. You can achieve a better balance by increasing serotonin.

Read more here increase serotonin through supplements or increase serotonin through diet and behavior

You support the balance between dopamine and noradrenaline by increasing your intake of copper and vitamin C. This can be done with legumes, nuts, and seeds.

Afterword

As you can read, your lifestyle and gut flora have a significant influence on your dopamine levels and 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, as a first step, ensure you have the right bacteria by taking a probiotic. A very good probiotic, for example, is Ultra Jarro Dophilus.. After this course of probiotics, which you only take once, you provide those bacteria and yourself with the right nutrition and dietary fiber from mainly vegetables, legumes, nuts, moderate amounts of fruit, and a little whole-grain products such as oatmeal.

In addition to these foods, there are natural MAO inhibitors that ensure that dopamine and serotonin, among others, are 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 that carry less risk: 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 make a great effort to live a healthy life and be happier, but you are not succeeding. If you fall back into old patterns, you remain in a negative spiral. An imbalance of neurotransmitters leads to depression, poor eating habits, and anxiety. Poor eating habits, depression, and anxiety, in turn, cause a worsening balance of neurotransmitters. We offer personalized services including behavioral and nutritional advice. We test your neurotransmitters using an extensive questionnaire and take medication and psychological issues into account.

Start your free intake here

Start the neurotransmitter test here (free account required)

In consultation, we can also arrange trip therapy with magic mushrooms/truffles, allowing you to break this negative spiral through temporarily high serotonin levels and introspection. This can increase your self-esteem and self-love, enabling you to take better care of yourself and those around you.

Curious? Then read about our the here effects of the trip.