In a world that is seemingly out of your control, taking care of yourself in little ways can make a huge difference. Eating foods that nourish the body, mind, and soul is one of the easiest ways to do this. Caring for yourself via your diet can help keep you in tune with your hunger cues, but the foods you eat also influence your mental health. In fact, what you put on your plate can increase the production of dopamine, your body’s feel-good hormone.
What Is Dopamine?
Dopamine is a type of neurotransmitter that the body makes. The nervous system uses it to send messages between nerve cells, which is why scientists refer to dopamine as a chemical messenger. Dopamine also plays a role in how you feel pleasure, helping us strive, focus, and find interest in things. The body spreads it along four major brain pathways, and you don’t notice it until a problem arises. Too much or too little can lead to varying health issues, including Parkinson’s disease, although other conditions are much less dire.
It’s hard to pinpoint a single cause of most mental health disorders and challenges. Researchers speculate, though, that they are often linked to too much or too little dopamine in different parts of the brain. Some research shows that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be due to a shortage of dopamine. Drug misuse and addiction is often because drugs satisfy the brains’ natural reward system. Repeated drug use, however, raises the threshold for that kind of pleasure, meaning you need to take more of that drug to get the same dopamine rush. At the same time, drugs make the body less able to naturally produce dopamine. If you want to naturally increase dopamine levels, though, the following foods may come to your aid.
Coffee
In moderation, coffee exhibits several health benefits, especially if the coffee beans are high quality. Drinking a cup of coffee a day can help increase dopamine levels because caffeine signals the body to produce additional dopamine. You don’t necessarily have to drink coffee to help the body produce more dopamine. Matcha, chocolate, green tea, and other caffeinated teas can increase the body’s dopamine production. Consider a morning cup of caffeinated tea or coffee an investment in your overall mood.
Foods High In B-Vitamins
If the body is low in B-vitamins, it is unable to produce enough dopamine, according to health experts. Vitamin B6, specifically, is essential for the synthesis of many neurotransmitters, including dopamine, serotonin, GABA, and melatonin. Most B-vitamins are fairly easy to obtain from a variety of food sources. In the case of vitamin B6, you can easily include more of it in your diet by eating avocados, pistachios, quinoa, bananas, sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast, acorn squash, chestnuts, hazelnuts, oranges, sesame seeds, and tomatoes.
Nuts And Seeds
Nuts and seeds contain heart healthy fats and vital protein, but they also contain an essential amino acid that works with dopamine. Nuts and seeds contain L-tyrosine, which the body breaks down and converts to dopamine. Peanuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, and sesame seeds, for example, are great sources of L-tyrosine. Anytime you want to boost your happiness, snack on some high-quality nut butters and trail mixes.
Chocolate
Sweet treats are tricky when it comes to dopamine because they work in two ways. Sweets tend to produce serotonin, the feel-good hormone, in the body. Chocolates also contain small amounts of phenylethylamine (PEA), a compound that stimulates brain cells to release dopamine, according to studies. PEA is also associated with falling in love! That said, the quality of chocolate is very important. Ideally, you should consume fair-trade dark chocolate instead of chemically manufactured candy bars.
Probiotics
There is a clear connection between the gut and brain, with scientists referring to the gut as the second brain. Certain species of bacteria that inhabit the gut are capable of producing dopamine, which may positively impact mood and behavior. Although research is limited in this area, some studies suggest that, when consumed in enough quantities, certain strains of bacteria may reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. Dopamine production likely plays a role in the way probiotics improve mood, but more studies are necessary on this topic.
