Research indicates that in the United States 60-80% of the
people, especially women, have low serotonin levels. You
don't have to get caught in the low serotonin cycle of
hopelessness and despair. You can alter your low serotonin
levels by carefully orchestrating your foods, activities
and daily routines and habits.
You alter your brain chemistry, manipulate your
neurochemical profile and affect your body's physiology
every day by what you do and don't eat, what you think
about, and how and where you spend your time. Through your
daily behaviors and the environments in which you spend
your time, you create your biochemical profile and this is
reflected in the emotions, energy, thoughts, actions, and
psychological states that either bring you into peak
performance or that block your best functioning.
You have an enormous power to shape your inner world - your
experience of life. What you do every day, what you eat,
when you eat it, what activities you engage in and when you
engage in them, what kind of environment in which you live
and work - everything you do and do not do - shapes how you
feel, think and how you experience your life.
You can create the range of emotions, energy levels and
intellectual and creative functioning that you want. You
can learn how to use what you do and do not do everyday and
how you do it to create inner strength, hope, joy, mental
alertness, and enthusiasm. By designing a life that keeps
your biochemistry in balance you can maintain a state of
optimal wellness, vitality and performance. When you
understand the optimal physiological requirements of your
body operating at its best, you can design your lifestyle
to provide the diet, exercise, behaviors, thoughts,
scheduling, and environment to support and nourish this
optimal state of functioning in your body.
1. Serotonin levels are increased by a carbohydrate rich
diet.
When you eat carbohydrates it results in a rise in insulin
levels that acts to usher the amino acid tryptophan into
the brain. Tryptophan is the precursor to serotonin. One
and a half ounces of carbohydrate food (1/4 cup of oatmeal
or a piece of sourdough bread) will significantly boost
brain levels of serotonin. The healthiest carbohydrates to
use are whole grain, low glycemic index carbohydrates such
as barley, oats, buckwheat and carbohydrate rich vegetables
such as yams, sweet potatoes and squashes. Fruits and most
other vegetables have a neutral effect on brain chemistry.
2. Eat the kinds of protein that favor serotonin production.
These proteins are high in the amino acid tryptophan:
chicken, white flakey fish, lean cuts of pork, veal,
cottage cheese, lamb, low fat cheeses, low fat milk and
dairy products, soy and legumes.
3. All meditative activities raise serotonin levels.
Spend time in a natural place such as a forest, park,
mountains, or seashore.
Prayer, meditation, positive visualization boost serotonin
levels and your feelings of well being, relaxed
concentration and peace.
Engage in low arousal, highly meditative and internal
spiritual practices that relax you.
Try relaxing activities such as hobbies or crafts.
4. Engage in exercise that increases your heart rate
somewhat but not significantly.
Strolling, yoga, non-aerobic swimming, bike riding when
done at least 4 days in a row a week will over a period of
60 days increase your baseline serotonin levels.
5. Have a regular wake sleep cycle.
The production of serotonin for the next day requires at
least 7 continuous hours of sound high quality sleep the
night before.
6. Get out in the sun at least 30 minutes in the morning
and for 2 hours throughout the day.
Sunlight burns off melatonin produced the night before. The
presence of high levels of melatonin consumes serotonin.
Sunlight suppressed the production of melatonin and allows
your serotonin levels to rise during the day. Without the
exposure to adequate natural light your melatonin levels
will be higher and your serotonin levels will be lower.
7. Eat a meal with high level of proteins that contain
tryptophan and follow that by a carbohydrate snack two
hours later.
This will act to drive the lingering tryptophan into the
brain and set up the production of greater amounts of
serotonin the next day.
8. Do things that revitalize you and let you feel good.
Take a low activity, high relaxation vacation with your
family or by yourself with plenty of time to slow down.
Listen to classical music, light rock, folk or easy
listening music.
Visit a museum, go to the theater, the symphony, or watch
TV or films about love stories, comedies and other feel
good movies.
Engage in long, deep conversations with one or two other
people.
Clean and organize your environment.
Read: Self-help books are especially complimentary.
----------------------------------------------------
Mary Ann Copson is the founder of the Evenstar Mood &
Energy Wellness Center for Women. With Master's Degrees in
Human Development and Psychology and Counseling, Mary Ann
is a Certified Licensed Nutritionist; Certified Holistic
Health Practitioner; Brain Chemistry Profile Clinician; and
a Health, Wellness and Lifestyle Coach. Discover ways to
positively affect your neurotransmitter profile at
http://evenstaronline.com/brainchemistry
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