Dopamine-stimulating Morning Routine?

[YourUniverse]

I want to start each day enriching my brain with dopamine, and Id like help with ideas!

In Tools of Titans, Rick Rubin said the best thing he ever did was get 30 minutes of sunlight first thing in the morning, which sounds like an amazing way to get the dopamine wheels spinning. Where I am in Canada, sunlight is unreliable, as is the weather (temperature is reliably cool). Thoughts on ways to get similar benefits on a dark, rainy/snowy morning?

Coffee seems like a sure bet on dopamine, with added gelatin.

Protein-rich breakfast, with necessary sugars. Maybe goats milk, eggs, salt, cheese and honey? What would an ideal, dopamine-stimulating breakfast look like?

Perhaps some stretching, or some exercise? I believe stretching is more GABA-promoting, and exercise would have to be light enough to not cause a stress response (dismal way to begin a day).

Perhaps 5 minutes of meditation?

Supplemental tyrosine, L-theanine?

Is there anything dopamine-y that Im missing from a lifestyle perspective?

 

[Constatine]

Exercise is definitely a very important aspect. Taking some vitamin C before exercise can negate much of the stress response. A very basic factor is sleep quality. Try to sleep in complete darkness and wake with the rise of the sun.

 

[paymanz]

yes light exposure is great.

i like small dose of saffron too.

 

[cyclops]

Where I am in Canada, sunlight is unreliable, as is the weather (temperature is reliably cool). Thoughts on ways to get similar benefits on a dark, rainy/snowy morning?

Red Light?

 

[YourUniverse]

Red light on dark mornings and exercise with vitamin C beforehand.

@paymanz whats your experience been with saffron?

Is meditation something worth doing for dopamine? I know L-theanine turns brain waves from beta to alpha, like meditation does

 

[paymanz]

Red light on dark mornings and exercise with vitamin C beforehand.

@paymanz whats your experience been with saffron?

Is meditation something worth doing for dopamine? I know L-theanine turns brain waves from beta to alpha, like meditation does

It improves my mood, its famous for its anti depression and antioxidant effects.and i have seen studies showing it increases dopamine.

 

[Luckytype]

It improves my mood, its famous for its anti depression and antioxidant effects.and i have seen studies showing it increases dopamine.

Bear in mind there are apparently several grades of saffron as far as food grades are concerned. Im not sure how this would influence its effectiveness

 

[LUH 3417]

It improves my mood, its famous for its anti depression and antioxidant effects.and i have seen studies showing it increases dopamine.

do you just eat saffron threads?

 

[paymanz]

Bear in mind there are apparently several grades of saffron as far as food grades are concerned. Im not sure how this would influence its effectiveness

Yes thats important, apparently deeper red color indicates the quality.

do you just eat saffron threads?

Yes i make a powder and dissolve it in hot water or in my tea.

30mg a day or as much as i feel like.

 

[YourUniverse]

Aiming a 250w incandescent bulb on my face every morning, will see how this goes.

I like the idea of getting dopamine really high in the morning, setting the tone for the day. Gets you in the mode to get stuff done, and ensures serotonin will be lower with the dopamine/serotonin inverse relationship. Charles Poliquin, perhaps the worlds most prolific strength trainer, says what you eat for breakfast determines your neurotransmitter profile for the day; he may not be versed in the Peat ways, but Im sure theres some shred of truth to the statement.

Keeping prolactin low is really important for getting high dopamine, so like @Travis has pointed out many times, avoiding the exorphins from grains, soy, and cows milk is crucial - I have stopped having cow cheese as part of breakfast. Having some b6 at breakfast probably helps with this goal.

 

[jyb]

Keeping prolactin low is really important for getting high dopamine, so like @Travis has pointed out many times, avoiding the exorphins from grains, soy, and cows milk is crucial - I have stopped having cow cheese as part of breakfast. Having some b6 at breakfast probably helps with this goal.

Mind pointing to the original post about this?

 

[Constatine]

Aiming a 250w incandescent bulb on my face every morning, will see how this goes.

I like the idea of getting dopamine really high in the morning, setting the tone for the day. Gets you in the mode to get stuff done, and ensures serotonin will be lower with the dopamine/serotonin inverse relationship. Charles Poliquin, perhaps the worlds most prolific strength trainer, says what you eat for breakfast determines your neurotransmitter profile for the day; he may not be versed in the Peat ways, but Im sure theres some shred of truth to the statement.

Keeping prolactin low is really important for getting high dopamine, so like @Travis has pointed out many times, avoiding the exorphins from grains, soy, and cows milk is crucial - I have stopped having cow cheese as part of breakfast. Having some b6 at breakfast probably helps with this goal.

Be careful not to overdose with the light. Things get counterproductive past 1 J/cm^2.

 

[cyclops]

Be careful not to overdose with the light. Things get counterproductive past 1 J/cm^2.

Approximately how much time would that be if your holding this light (LGS1) right up against your face: Orange and Red Light Therapy - LGS1

 

[YourUniverse]

Mind pointing to the original post about this?

OK We So Know Prostaglandin D2 Is The Main Driver Behind Baldness. What Can We Do About It?

"I think prolactin is more responsible for the female phenotype, and is more variable in males than estrogen. However: it is estrogen which transcribes for the prolactin receptor, and you need both ligand and receptor to get 'manboobs' and/or visceral fat. We all have some prolactin receptors in these areas, some more than others, so keeping prolactin down by avoiding exorphins—and perhaps also by taking bromocriptine or tyrosine—might seem wise for those striving to maintain a 100% natural male phenotype. I think everyone here avoid grains, but exorphins can also be found in soy—in addition to genestein—and cow's milk; however, goat and sheep milk much reduced (~10%) opiate potential due to a few substitutions in their casein isoform. Goat cheese and beef appear to be the best animal foods, since: they are very low in ω−6 fatty acids, they have largely non‐immunogenic peptides, and they are practically absent of prolactin‐stimulating exorphins."

rest of the thread has more context

 

[Constatine]

Approximately how much time would that be if your holding this light (LGS1) right up against your face: Orange and Red Light Therapy - LGS1

6.6 seconds per spot I think. That wavelength is pretty safe in general but I would still keep the dose around 1.

 

[cyclops]

6.6 seconds per spot I think. That wavelength is pretty safe in general but I would still keep the dose around 1.

O wow, been doing way longer then that. How long would you use it "per session" though if doing one session per day?

 

[YourUniverse]

6.6 seconds per spot I think. That wavelength is pretty safe in general but I would still keep the dose around 1.

This is really eye opening, could you please elaborate? I was under the impression a person could bathe in red light virtually all day

 

[Constatine]

O wow, been doing way longer then that. How long would you use it "per session" though if doing one session per day?

Depends on the area covered. Just per skin area 6.6 seconds is good.

This is really eye opening, could you please elaborate? I was under the impression a person could bathe in red light virtually all day

It gets more complicated. Around 1 J/cm^2 is optimal for tissues but if you are using a device in spectrums around 670 then yes your skin would be getting the full dose but of course less light reaches the deeper tissues. Light doesn't necessarily need to reach the deeper tissues for there to be beneficial effects but for local effects and not systematic effects it does. Because the lower wavelengths are much less intense in deeper tissues the dose would have to be higher to reach 1 J/cm^2 there than in the skin. But this means that in order to provide the correct dose to the deeper tissues you must massively overdose the skin. In nature (sun light) other spectrums of light such as blue light protect against this effect by opposing red light's effects on the mitochondria in the skin layers. So with our devices it is probably best to get systematic effects with lower doses than to overdo ROS production.

 

[cyclops]

Depends on the area covered. Just per skin area 6.6 seconds is good.

It gets more complicated. Around 1 J/cm^2 is optimal for tissues but if you are using a device in spectrums around 670 then yes your skin would be getting the full dose but of course less light reaches the deeper tissues. Light doesn't necessarily need to reach the deeper tissues for there to be beneficial effects but for local effects and not systematic effects it does. Because the lower wavelengths are much less intense in deeper tissues the dose would have to be higher to reach 1 J/cm^2 there than in the skin. But this means that in order to provide the correct dose to the deeper tissues you must massively overdose the skin. In nature (sun light) other spectrums of light such as blue light protect against this effect by opposing red light's effects on the mitochondria in the skin layers. So with our devices it is probably best to get systematic effects with lower doses than to overdo ROS production.

Well since you are more interested in systemic effects, rather then local what do you think would be a good amount of skin to cover? How many different areas of 6.6 seconds would you do for the best overall effect?