According To A Study Done In 1988, Caffeine Can Increase Brain Serotonin Levels

milk_lover

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http://nutritionreviews.oxfordjournals. ... /46/10/366
I don't have an access to the full study. The abstract says the following:
"High [d?]closes of caffeine produced increases in tryptophan and serotonin in brains of rats."

Has anybody read the full study, checked if it was soundly designed, and whether the conclusion makes sense based on the findings? I don't get it. Coffee makes me think positively about the world and serotonin in the brain supposedly makes you depressed.
 
J

jb116

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Without knowing other nutritional variables we can't conclude that caffeine itself raises serotonin.
I suspect that in a lab setting where they used high doses of caffeine, they did not monitor vitamin/mineral loss
since caffeine can induce such things (albeit not a true concern if eating properly and sufficiently). So in this case
I'd feel there is a a possible reduction of B6 with high caffeine doses and no replenishment. An effect there would be
reduced tryptophan conversion to niacin and therefore increased serotonin. So I'd take that with a grain of salt.
 
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milk_lover

milk_lover

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jb116 said:
post 104332 Without knowing other nutritional variables we can't conclude that caffeine itself raises serotonin.
I suspect that in a lab setting where they used high doses of caffeine, they did not monitor vitamin/mineral loss
since caffeine can induce such things (albeit not a true concern if eating properly and sufficiently). So in this case
I'd feel there is a a possible reduction of B6 with high caffeine doses and no replenishment. An effect there would be
reduced tryptophan conversion to niacin and therefore increased serotonin. So I'd take that with a grain of salt.
Interesting, jb116. Still, I'd like to see another study on coffee and brain serotonin to be sure.
 
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XPlus

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Caffeine is an effective stimulant of the metabolism.
If dietary variables aren't adjusted accordingly, there will always be stress hormones at play to provide the necessary energy (i.e. increasing serotonin).
Also, the idea of taking caffeine with low glycogen storage capacity has been discussed by haidut before.

Compounds that boost the metabolism, like caffeine and niacinamide, should be carefully introduced into the diet over time, and accompanied with increased nutrient and vitamin intake.

Possibly, maintaining constant levels of something like PUFA during the experiment would be expected to highly hinder potential positive progress.
 

Parsifal

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XPlus said:
Compounds that boost the metabolism, like caffeine and niacinamide, should be carefully introduced into the diet over time, and accompanied with increased nutrient and vitamin intake.
Do you know which nutrients and vitamins are needed with a boost of metabolism and why please?
 

XPlus

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Parsifal said:
post 104457
XPlus said:
Compounds that boost the metabolism, like caffeine and niacinamide, should be carefully introduced into the diet over time, and accompanied with increased nutrient and vitamin intake.
Do you know which nutrients and vitamins are needed with a boost of metabolism and why please?

Boosted metabolism will trigger corrective functions inside the body. This might include repair, maintenance and even possibly growth.
Protein requirements will generally increase as the metabolism runs higher. Also, they'll increase depending on how much muscle was lost on previous diets (if any) and how much new muscle is gained.
The protein is ideally taken in balance with carbs.
So, the requirement for both increases simultaneously, triggering hunger and signaling the need for more food.

The increase in vitamin and mineral requirements in general can be taken care of by eating more foods as needed.
Things like, Milk, cheese, eggs, OJ, shellfish, gelatin, fruits, meat, liver and coffee cover most of the things.
In my experience, I need more B1, B3, B6, A, D, E, K, Zinc, Potassium, Sodium and Magnesium.
The extra vitamins are a must for me when running a high metabolism, especially the B6 but I could probably get away with most mineral requirements by eating extra salt.

All these vitamins are used up pretty quickly when the metabolism is high but B6 deficiency shows up on the skin.
More thiamine is needed on high carbs diet I think.
Niacinamide gets wasted during stress as I remember.
I adjust the fat solubles according to the following:
A: according to dandruff and ingrown hairs.
D: Blood levels (i.e. labs)
E: Estrogen level
K: Blood thickness as well as gum and nose bleeding

Some people need different things than other.
Ray mentioned a story of a guys who needed a lot of B2.
I personally have not noticed any benefit from supplementing it so far.
 
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Giraffe

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Interesting, jb116. Still, I'd like to see another study on coffee and brain serotonin to be sure.
Since the predominant dogma is that serotonin is the "feel happy" stuff, I guess it is easier to find studies that are aimed at raising serotonin. In order to raise serotonin, you only need to chose the dose of caffeine high enough that it triggers a stress reaction with the following release of free fatty acids. "Free fatty acids release tryptophan from albumin, contributing to the formation of serotonin" (Fatigue, aging, and recuperation)

I found a study (full text link) in which they tried to induce caffeine withdrawal in rats by injecting 30 mg/kg for six days. If you extrapolate that dose to a 80 kg human, this equals 2,400 mg (or 2 liter very strong coffee).

There are plenty of references in that study. When evaluating the studies I would ask:

  • What is the human equivalent dose? (I think LD50 for humans and rats are comparable.)
  • Were the subjects given time to build up tolerance to caffeine?
  • How was the caffeine administered (ingested, injected)? What's the impact of that route of administration?
 

tara

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There are plenty of references in that study. When evaluating the studies I would ask:
  • What is the human equivalent dose? (I think LD50 for humans and rats are comparable.)
  • Were the subjects given time to build up tolerance to caffeine?
  • How was the caffeine administered (ingested, injected)? What's the impact of that route of administration?
Yeah. And:
  • What is the nutritional context?
 

jaguar43

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http://nutritionreviews.oxfordjournals. ... /46/10/366
I don't have an access to the full study. The abstract says the following:
"High [d?]closes of caffeine produced increases in tryptophan and serotonin in brains of rats."

Has anybody read the full study, checked if it was soundly designed, and whether the conclusion makes sense based on the findings? I don't get it. Coffee makes me think positively about the world and serotonin in the brain supposedly makes you depressed.

Ray Peat has stated that Caffeine increases serotonin uptake.
 

Luann

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Coffee = headache.
Low serotonin also = headache.
That's just personal experience, but it does seem to redeem coffee a little
 

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