Best Methods For Rasing Dopamine Through Diet

[Jsaute21]

What are some proven ways to boost natural dopamine levels in the body? I take my add medication only once a week because i am somewhat fearful of synthetic substances, but i feel noticeably better when taking it. (Lazer focused, lift in mood, far more regular with bowel movements). Side effects are limited for me. I was prescribed concerta when i was in middle school because i loved running around and couldn't sit still. I always had little motivation in school. I am prone to depression/anxiety which i believe is triggered by ADD symptoms of not being able to let in significant things go. I stopped taking in college. From a health perspective, things look great on the outside, but i have just delved in to this thyroid topic. I have definitely been hypo for a couple of years...as i was a former pro athlete (lacrosse) that under eat because of superficial reasons. I am starting to follow Peat and Tom Brimeyer now and believe i am nursing myself to health. Please comment as you see fit on ways to maximize natural dopamine conversion, metabolism and thyroid health as well as supporting testosterone. Below is my daily schedule.

6:00 Wake up.
7 Am breakfast: 2 eggs cookedi n butter w/ 2 glasses of OJ with salt and gelatin. (I take taurine, choline, ginko biloba and vitamin D with this meal). Once a week i take concerta. (18 MG).
7:30-8:00: coffee with milk, gelatin, sugar.
9:30-10: Applesauce and Cottage Cheese
12:30: Depends on the day. chopped liver sandwich with spinach or carnitas at chipotle. Something balanced.
3:00: Raw carrot salad with coconut oil, vinegar. I also eat a couple of dates.
3:30 Sometimes another coffee.
5:30: Work out (if feeling up to it). Either have bcaa or gatorade during.
7:30 balanced dinner. usually sweet potato or a normal potato of some sort.
9:30: Either OJ with gelatin/sugar/salt or some ice cream with honey.

 

[Rand56]

5:30: Work out (if feeling up to it). Either have bcaa or gatorade during.

If you are going to continue to take BCAA's, you should really take it with extra tyrosine or phenylalanine. I made the mistake of taking BCAA's on it's own before and it plummeted my mood, and I'm low dopamine. There is a discussion of this somewhere on the forum. Just search BCAA and tyrosine.

 

[Jsaute21]

Thanks @Rand56. How do you know you are low dopamine?

 

[Rand56]

Thanks @Rand56. How do you know you are low dopamine?

I have the typical signs. Lack of motivation and desire, the inability to stay on task, etc. I've taken tyrosine and phenylalanine before in the past. They did help with my depressive symptoms, but their effectiveness always wore off for me, and from what I've read from others, this is not uncommen. Trying to do more Peaty stuff has been helpful, but I have yet to get over the hump. I think a big key for me is my gut health, and recently doing some high dose biotin which I feel is helping also.

 

[dibble]

Maple syrup. Crazy amounts of manganese.

Also black and tea and green tea due to the theanine.

 

[Brian]

The main thing is to lower prolactin and PTH, so some digestible calcium and a reasonable balance of A,D, and K should be the main things to focus on to stimulate osteocalcin production and lower prolactin. Not much of each is needed if taken at the same time on the skin or orally with fat. Usually just 5,000 IU Vitamin A, 1,000 IU Vitamin D, and 1-2mg K2. Personally I don't think extreme amounts of calcium are necessary, just 1 gram per day in a form that is very well absorbed may be enough. Large amounts of milk at one time if your gastric acid release isn't functioning well might not be a great source of calcium if its not being broken down enough. So if you don't think you are digesting milk very well a more condensed source of calcium such as cheese, greek yogurt or calcium carbonate combined with a tablespoon or two of vinegar in a meal will probably be better absorbed.

Once you are producing plenty of osteocalcin you can probably benefit from more magnesium intake which should further decrease PTH and prolactin by antagonizing intracellular calcium and raising ATP. Then increasing zinc intake a little and maybe a small amount of P5P B6 will decrease prolactin even more.

Dopamine will always be low as long as prolactin is high, and lowering prolactin should be achievable with diet and some simple supplements.

 

[Jsaute21]

Thanks @Brian good stuff.

 

[paymanz]

Also creatine supplemention improves dopamine system.

 

[Brian]

Thanks @Brian good stuff.

I'll also strongly second the caution with BCAA's if you suspect your dopamine is low. Definitely only take with a protein meal or tyrosine or phenylalanine, and only in the smallest amount that you notice benefits from. If your prolactin is high its probably best not to take BCAA's at all until you get it down and your dopamine up. BCAA's will definitely crash your brain levels of dopamine if its not already fairly high. Low dopamine and serotonin at the same time is no fun at all.

 

[Jsaute21]

Appreciate the advice. What are best ways to determine if prolactin is high?

 

[BobbyDukes]

I once did a tryptophan depletion diet, and it definitely felt quite androgenic to me. But alongside that, it also made me more grouchy and irritable. An interesting experiment, nonetheless. With the BCAAs, I noticed more androgenic effects, too. But it also made me feel almost suicidal (despite ample phenylalanine supplementation). Never felt that depressed in all my life. Stopped the BCAAs straight away, and won't ever risk going back. I was only using 100mg! Extremely ridiculous when you look at it that way. I even tried taking the phenylalanine away, and my mood got even worse. Perhaps it was a toxic batch. But then again, the BCAAs can be used as potent anti-psychotics. Be careful with the BCAAs, if you have previously had problems with depression.

Ugh yeah. Basically what Brian just wrote.

 

[Tarmander]

I'll second the manganese suggestion. Also tonic water with quinine does a nice job lowering serotonin and making room for dopamine. That would be considered food in my book.

 

[DaveFoster]

I think more coffee would be the simplest thing.

 

[X3CyO]

Liver and coffeeeeee

 

[milk_lover]

I once tried BCAA alone and I was so depressed for three days. That thing is so powerful. I echo what people said here about it.

 

[Richiebogie]

You say your dinner is balanced. Does this include a source of zinc like lamb, beef or oysters?

Perhaps put your diet into cronometer or nutrition data tracking.

Aim for similar DV% for copper and zinc.

 

[sladerunner69]

That is crazy what people are saying about BCAA's... how could the effect be so strong??? That is so strange... I have taken a fair amount of bcaa's regularly especially with high protein meals and have noticed that it tends to leave me listeless and empty inside. I never connected that to low dopamine, but it makes sense. It becomes quite hard to feel happy. Why does it do this if it competes with tryptophan and lowers serotonin? Shouldnt it raise dopamine?

 

[Elephanto]

That is crazy what people are saying about BCAA's... how could the effect be so strong??? That is so strange... I have taken a fair amount of bcaa's regularly especially with high protein meals and have noticed that it tends to leave me listeless and empty inside. I never connected that to low dopamine, but it makes sense. It becomes quite hard to feel happy. Why does it do this if it competes with tryptophan and lowers serotonin? Shouldnt it raise dopamine?

To me it gives a very good feeling, a dopaminergic one and this just goes in accordance to what many studies have showed. Maybe what you guys experienced is a blood sugar crash which would happen with bcaas because they trigger insulin pretty potently so they must be taken with a lot of carbs. This could also happen with large doses of taurine which alsos triggers insulin so both can be anti-anxiety but also pro-anxiety in the wrong condition. You can have a state of high dopamine and feel uneasy because you don't have the energy (carbs) to back it up (or an inability to use the energy efficiently, so maybe this just shows hypothyroidism)

 

[ecstatichamster]

Most studies on bcaas show it leaves many people feeling empty and depressed a little. Low dopamine or maybe serotonin in the brain is important. Bcaas may block these too much.

 

[Aymen]

Cacoa , L-Tyrosine rich foods.