Neurotransmitter Cheatsheet

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⏰ IN A RUSH?

Today’s 30-Second Summary

If you don’t have time to read the whole email today, here are some key takeaways:

• Neurotransmitters are a) very important b) subject to a lot of vaguery and obfuscation in popular media

  • In today’s main feature, we will be disambiguating some of the most important mood-related neurotransmitters, what they do, how they make us feel, and how to have more of them

• Omega-3 fatty acids have a lot of health benefits—including for joints and for the brain—but not all sources are created equal

  • Today's sponsor, NativePath, are offering a convenient, sustainable, and highly bioavailable form—far better than cod liver oil!

Read on to learn more about these things, or click here to visit our archive

🤫 A WORD TO THE WISE

👀 WATCH AND LEARN

Brain Benefits in 3 Months… Through Walking?

Neuroscientist Dr. Wendy Suzuki explains (click the video preview image below to read more, and also obviously to watch the video if you wish):

You’ll notice that we’re now hosting these videos on our website, so that we can have room to provide a bit more context. Watch and enjoy!

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🧠 MAIN FEATURE

Which Neurotransmitter?

There are a lot of neurotransmitters that are important for good mental health (and, by way of knock-on effects, physical health).

However, when pop-science headlines refer to them as “feel-good chemicals” (yes but which one?!) or “the love molecule” (yes but which one?!) or other such vague names when referring to a specific neurotransmitter, it’s easy to get them mixed up.

So today we’re going to do a little disambiguation of some of the main mood-related neurotransmitters (there are many more, but we only have so much room), and what things we can do to help manage them.

Dopamine

This one predominantly regulates reward responses, though it’s also necessary for critical path analysis (e.g. planning), language faculties, and motor functions. It makes us feel happy, motivated, and awake.

To have more:

• eat foods that are rich in dopamine or its precursors such as tyrosine (bananas and almonds are great)

• do things that you find rewarding

Downsides: is instrumental in most addictions, and also too much can result in psychosis. For most people, that level of “too much” isn’t obtainable due to the homeostatic system, however.

See also: Rebalancing Dopamine (Without “Dopamine Fasting”)

Serotonin

This one predominantly helps regulate our circadian rhythm. It also makes us feel happy, calm, and awake.

To have more:

• get more sunlight, or if the light must be artificial, then (ideally) full-spectrum light, or (if it’s what’s available) blue light

• spend time in nature; we are hardwired to feel happy in the environments in which we evolved, which for most of human history was large open grassy expanses with occasional trees (however, for modern purposes, a park or appropriate garden will suffice).

Downsides: this is what keeps us awake at night if we had too much light before bed, and also too much serotonin can result in (potentially fatal) serotonin syndrome. Most people can’t get that much serotonin due to our homeostatic system, but some drugs can force it upon us.

See also: Seasonal Affective Disorder Strategies

Oxytocin

This one predominantly helps us connect to others on an emotional level. It also makes us feel happy, calm, and relaxed.

To have more:

• hug a loved one (or even just think about doing so, if they’re not available)

• look at pictures/videos of cute puppies, kittens, and the like—this triggers a similar response

Downsides: negligible. Socially speaking, it can cause us to drop our guard, most for most people most of the time, this is not a problem. It can also reduce sexual desire—it’s in large part responsible for the peaceful lulled state post-orgasm. It’s not responsible for the sleepiness in men though; that’s mostly prolactin.

See also: Only One Kind Of Relationship Promotes Longevity This Much!

Adrenaline

This one predominantly affects our sympathetic nervous system; it elevates heart rate, blood pressure, and other similar functions. It makes us feel alert, ready for action, and energized.

To have more:

• listen to a “power anthem” piece of music. What it is can depend on your musical tastes; whatever gets you riled up in an empowering way.

• engage in something competitive that you feel strongly about while doing it—or by the same mechanism, a solitary activity where the stakes feel high even if it’s actually quite safe (e.g. watching a thriller or a horror movie, if that’s your thing).

Downsides: its effects are not sustainable, and (in cases of chronic stress) the body will try to sustain them anyway, which has a deleterious effect. Because adrenaline and cortisol are closely linked, chronically high adrenal action will tend to mean chronically high cortisol also.

See also: Lower Your Cortisol! (Here’s Why & How)

Some final words

You’ll notice that in none of the “how to have more” did we mention drugs. That’s because:

• a drug-free approach is generally the best thing to try first, at the very least

• there are simply a lot of drugs to affect each one (or more), and talking about them would require talking about each drug in some detail.

However, the following may be of interest for some readers:

Antidepressants: Personalization Is Key!

Take care!

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📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW

28-Day FAST Start Day-by-Day: The Ultimate Guide to Starting (or Restarting) Your Intermittent Fasting Lifestyle So It Sticks – by Gin Stephens

We have previously reviewed Gin Stephens’ other book, “Fast. Feast. Repeat.”, so what’s so special about this one that it deserves reviewing too?

This one is all about troubleshooting the pitfalls that many people find when taking up intermittent fasting.

To be clear: the goal here is not a “28 days and yay you did it, put that behind you now”, but rather “28 days and you are now intermittently fasting easily each day and can keep it up without difficulty”. As for the difficulties that may arise early in the 28 days…

Not just issues of willpower, but also the accidental breaks. For example, some artificial sweeteners, while zero-calorie, trigger an insulin response, which breaks the fast on the metabolic level (avoiding that is the whole point of IF). Lots of little tips like that peppered through the book help the reader to stop accidentally self-sabotaging their progress.

The author does talk about psychological issues too, and also how it will feel different at first while the liver is adapting, than later when it has already depleted its glycogen reserves and the body must burn body fat instead. Information like that makes it easier to understand that some initial problems (hunger, getting “hangry”, feeling twitchy, or feeling light-headed) will last only a few weeks and then disappear.

So, understanding things like that makes a big difference too.

The style of the book is simple and clear pop-science, with lots of charts and bullet points and callout-boxes and the like; it makes for very easy reading, and very quick learning of all the salient points, of which there are many.

Bottom line: if you’ve tried intermittent fasting but struggled to make it stick, this book can help you get to where you want to be.

Click here to check out 28-Day FAST Start, and start!

Wishing you a peaceful and fulfilling Sunday,

The 10almonds Team