Posted by Click aquí para leer este post en español
Hey Life Warriors!
the internet is full of those illustrations where we are told about the benefits of Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphins, where they are called “the happiness chemicals” or the “happiness hormones” (second one would be more accurate since only oxytocin is a real hormone), and explaining us how we can boost the production of these chemicals through many different behaviors, from completing a task to hugging a dog.
While all these chemicals can help us, as always, reality is abit more complex. Let’s see what these chemicals really do and how we can make them work for us.
SEROTONIN
Serotonin (C10H12N2O) is a neurotransmitter that can be found mainly in our digestive system. Our body obtains it out of the amino acid tryptophan, which is an essential amino acid (i.e. we need to obtain it out of our dietary intake). Main sources of tryptophan are protein rich foods: meat and fish, legumes, nuts, dairy products and also cocoa (hence the anti depressant powers of chocolate!). Very low levels of tryptophan are associated with stress or anxiety.
Daily recommended tryptophan intake is 3,5 mg per kilogram of bodyweight.
Serotonin has a role in many body and mind functions, out of which the best known are regulation of mood and sleep. However, serotonin is also important for our bone health and our sexual appetite, and very high levels of this neurotransmitter are associated with osteoporosis and decreased libido.
The risks of having too high levels of serotonin make it very important to leave pharmacological supplementation in the hands of health care professionals. What we can do on our end is ensuring that we are eating enough tryptophan so our body can naturally produce it.
DOPAMINE
Dopamine (C8H11NO2), known as “the pleasure hormone”, actually is not a hormone and it doesn’t produce pleasure itself. What dopamine really does is pushing us to repeat behaviors that our brain perceives as pleasant.
low levels of dopamine are associated with Parkinson disease, while too high levels cause hallucinations, mania or schizophrenia, and their pharmacological use should therefore only be carried out by medical professionals.
The power of dopamine in our decision-making brings us both good news and bad news:
Good News: If we too are aware of how our brains work, we can “reprogram” it so it will perceive as pleasurable things that are actually good for us. We just need to want to do it and be willing to tolerate a certain degree of discomfort at first. We can assure you that putting up with this slight discomfort for a few weeks will lead to things you couldn’t even imagine. If you’d like to know how to do this, we explain it in detail in this post, but we’d be happy to help if you leave us a comment or send us a message
Bad News: In today’s society, we are confronted with numerous stimuli aimed at “hooking” us through a powerful and frequent stimulation of our dopamine. We talked about all of them in a previous post (streaming platforms, junk food, social networks, etc.), and all of them are designed by powerful industries to exploit to their advantage how our brain works and direct us towards their uncontrolled consumption.
Among the activities that could help us to generate them naturally, we find general consensus on three:
- Aerobic exercise: jogging, running, skipping rope, cycling, swimming…. The effect of these activities is increased when we do them in a group, which will also help us to generate more oxytocin. Double benefit!
- Meditation: if you still needed more reasons to meditate, here’s one more
- Laughter: a funny movie, a comedy show, telling jokes with friends… can you think of a better way to generate endorphins?
SUMMARIZING
Good News: If we too are aware of how our brains work, we can “reprogram” it so it will perceive as pleasurable things that are actually good for us. We just need to want to do it and be willing to tolerate a certain degree of discomfort at first. We can assure you that putting up with this slight discomfort for a few weeks will lead to things you couldn’t even imagine. If you’d like to know how to do this, we explain it in detail in this post, but we’d be happy to help if you leave us a comment or send us a message
OXYTOCIN
Oxytocin (C43H66N12O12S2 ) is the only one of these four which is really a hormone, although it only acts like a hormone during labor and breastfeeding. In its role as pleasure generator, same as the other three, it acts as a neurotransmitter.
According to Dr. Belén Igual in this Body and Mind article, and also to what we see in this Healthline article, apart from its “primary” functions as an assistant in childbirth and lactation, oxytocin plays an important role in our mood. We can influence the release of oxytocin through a number of actions such as:
- Having physical contact with people we love: shaking hands, kissing, hugging, caressing, giving or receiving a massage…
- Sex: oxytocin, which promotes reproductive functions, is released during orgasm to encourage us to repeat this behaviour and ensure the perpetuation of the species. I’m sure you didn’t need any additional reason to want to have more sex, but just in case, here’s one: oxytocin 😉
- Contact with animals and nature: A walk in the fresh air, petting your dog (or someone else’s dog 😉
- Expressing love or friendship: Telling someone how much you appreciate them, whether it be your partner, children, parents, siblings, friends…. Also do nice things with them, like enjoying a good meal, exercising together, etc.
- Yoga: there is some scientific evidence about how the practice of yoga helped to raise the level of oxytocin in patients with special needs.
- Meditation: here is an additional benefit of meditation beyond those mentioned in our previous article (click here if you missed it)
- Generosity and Gratitude: Doing things for others and thanking others for the things they do for you will not only make this world a better place, but will also make you feel better yourself, so get to it!!
- Music: Not only listen to your favourite music, but also sing along. The shower can be a good place to start, but don’t be shy, do yourself a favour and sing along 😉
ENDORPHINS
Endorphins are also neurotransmitters produced in the brain, with the primary function of reducing physical and emotional pain. There are three types of endorphins: alpha, beta and gamma, and low levels of endorphins are associated with depression, fibromyalgia and chronic headaches. As we will see below, there is a close relationship between oxytocin and endorphins. Different activities will help us to generate both and their mechanisms of action complement each other.
Among the activities that could help us to generate them naturally, we find general consensus on three:
- Aerobic exercise: jogging, running, skipping rope, cycling, swimming…. The effect of these activities is increased when we do them in a group, which will also help us to generate more oxytocin. Double benefit!
- Meditation: if you still needed more reasons to meditate, here’s one more
- Laughter: a funny movie, a comedy show, telling jokes with friends… can you think of a better way to generate endorphins?
SUMMARIZING
