Posted on 02 Jun, 2010 -
the chemical key to happiness
Why so much of our emotional well being is connected to the brain chemical serotonin
A list of causes and symptoms of serotonin deficiency
The best ways of rebuilding or maintaining higher levels
About a year ago almost to the day, a very good friend of mine tried to take his own life in the bathroom of their family home.
The diagnosis? No serotonin.
Sure, there were things going on in his life at the time that had started leading him down the road of despair. But it was the lack of this essential chemical neurotransmitter that lead him to see so little positive in the world and no hope of a better future.
Fortunately for my friend, the suicide attempt failed and he got the help he needed to sort him out.
A major key to getting better - and feeling better now
If serotonin checks were done as often on the NHS as they slip that blood pressure cuff round your bicep, I wonder what the results might be?
In the meantime, here’s some essential information about serotonin to help you keep your own emotional well being regularly screened, monitored and assisted:
Serotonin is a chemical neurotransmitter that occurs within the chemistry of the brain. It is a key player in the regulation of emotion, stress levels, sleep patterns and overall disposition. It is thought to play a large role in the biology of depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, migraine, sexuality and appetite.
Serotonin is produced in the body when healthy foods that contain the amino acid L-Tryptophan are eaten.
Factors that can decrease the levels of serotonin in the body include increased levels of stress, lack of sleep, lack of exposure to sunlight, lack of exercise and a poor diet.
Symptoms of low serotonin include problems with sleep, the blues and depression, anxiety, inability to suppress carbohydrate or sugar cravings, confusion and poor reasoning, tiredness, low self esteem, and loss of interest and pleasure in usual activities.
It is also linked to an inability to control weight, headaches, fibromyalgia, IBS and asthma.
Low serotonin levels may also play a role in the ‘failure’ of many people and particularly women to stick to a diet - particularly if it’s a low-carb one. Judith Wurtman, director of the Program in Women’s Health at the MIT Clinical Research Center, has found that when you stop eating carbohydrates, your brain stops regulating serotonin. “When serotonin is made and becomes active in your brain, its effect on your appetite is to make you feel full before your stomach is stuffed and stretched,” said Wurtman. “Serotonin is crucial not only to control your appetite and stop you from overeating; it’s essential to keep your moods regulated.”
Drugs such as Prozac known as SSRI’s (Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors) are often prescribed to correct low serotonin levels. As they work by increasing the amount of time that the chemical stays in the brain, however, they do not actually help increase the levels available but merely attempt to recycle it. They can be helpful in some cases, worse than nothing in others: including an increased risk of anxiety and suicidal thoughts.
There is now a lot of evidence that nutritional approaches may actually work as well as prescription drugs and in cases even better. The widely available supplement, 5-HTP, has been found particularly effective. 5-HTP is actually the precursor to serotonin and a growing base of scientific evidence suggests that 5-HTP does everything that SSRIs do, but without the side effects.
In preliminary studies dating back to the late 1960s and early 1970s, 5-HTP given to seriously depressed people was reported to produce dramatic and sudden improvements.
St. John’s Wort is another nutritional supplement that has been shown to be effective in treating mild depression. Hypericin, one of its key constituents, increases the concentration of serotonin in the central nervous system, and inhibits two enzymes responsible for the breakdown of serotonin.
As Serotonin is produced in the body when foods containing the amino acid L-Tryptophan are eaten it makes sense to increase consumption of these foods, and or to opt for a tryptophan supplement. Foods that contain the highest levels include turkey, nuts, brown rice, fish, lean pork, cottage cheese, eggs, peanuts, and sunflower and pumpkin seeds.
High-serotonin foods include walnuts, bananas, pineapples, plantains, plums, and vegetables that grow underground such as carrots, sweet potatoes, and whole-grain breads and pastas.
Good sleep and relaxation are important for boosting serotonin levels. Meditation, therefore, has been found to be particularly effective.
In a very enlightening article on the subject in The Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, editor-in-chief Simon N. Young says that levels of serotonin can be elevated firstly with through some kind of therapeutic help. The second thing he suggests is that the patient get more sunlight. Sunlight is already known to be crucial for sufferers of SAD (Seasonal Defective Disorder) but is increasingly believed to be good for all forms of depression.
Other things that can help include laughter, exercise and having fun…
Right - down to the kitchen for a turkey and cottage cheese sandwich… a quick meditation… and a couple of episodes of Have I Got News for You…
