We all know pretty much that what we put into our bodies can not only affect what we look like, but also how we feel.
But do you know to what extent or why?
Well….in several of my blogs I will have mentioned an important chemical called serotonin (Our happy chemical) and we talk about how to produce more serotonin but what we don’t discuss so much is how food can effect it’s production!
Let’s start here…how important is serotonin?
Serotonin impacts every part of your body, from your emotions to your motor skills. It can effect sleep and pain, it greatly effects mood, bone health, and even digestion…so i’d say it plays a pretty big role in our lives!
Serotonin helps regulate your mood naturally. When your serotonin levels are normal, you feel:
happier
calmer
less anxious
more emotionally stable
more focused
The scientific name for serotonin is 5-hydroxytryptamine, or 5-HT. It is mainly found in the brain, bowels, and blood platelets.
So how is it produced?
(Please speak to a doctor before making any changes to your diet)
It used to be thought that serotonin was just made in the brain, but now we know actually 95% is made in the GUT!!! Sooooo now we can start to see the importance of food and how it effects our mood!
You can’t directly get serotonin from food, but you can get tryptophan, an amino acid that’s converted to serotonin in your brain. Tryptophan is found primarily in high-protein foods, including turkey and salmon.
There is a gut - brain barrier which is a bit on the complex side so we won’t go into this too much here, but we want our gut to be serotonin friendly anyway…
Tryptophan is an amino acid that is important for the production of serotonin in the body. It is also key to brain function and has a role in healthy sleep.
People cannot make tryptophan in their bodies, so must obtain it from their diet.
Therefore we want to eat more of these tryptophan-rich foods which are usually even higher in other amino acids. Because they’re more abundant, these other amino acids are more likely than tryptophan to cross the blood-brain barrier. From what i’ve researched though we also need carbs to help them to be absorbed. Tryptophan needs carbohydrates to be able to reach the brain and create serotonin. (Slow release carbs are best).
Where can we get Tryptophan?
Go NUTS…. because all nuts and seeds contain tryptophan. Studies show that eating a handful of nuts a day can lower your risk for cancer, heart disease, and respiratory problems.
Anywhere else?
Dark leafy veg, oily fish, poultry, eggs….worth doing a little bit more research or speaking to a nutritionist if you ask me!
Healthy gut foods include: fruits, vegetables and wholegrains, beans, pulses, live yoghurt and other probiotics.
What else?
Exercise helps to move the serotonin around the brain so also highly recommended, also relaxation techniques which are believed to help production of serotonin levels!
