Serotonin and Dopamine are two important neurotransmitters.
They play a huge part in our mental health and if you have an imbalance, it can affect your; mood, memory, movement, sleep and libido. In this article we will discuss in detail, what they actually are and do. As well as how you can boost your levels.
What Is A Neurotransmitter?
Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers which help our body’s function. They carry electrical signals between neurons in the brain and send messages to different parts of our body.
Serotonin and Dopamine are two of the key neurotransmitters our body needs.
Serotonin Explained
Serotonin is most commonly known for making us happy and putting us in a good mood.
This neurotransmitter helps regulate and improve mood, but it also plays a big part in our digestive system and immune system. Serotonin helps us heal as well as get good quality sleep.
Nearly 90% of serotonin is found in our Gastro intestinal tract (GIT). This is largely due to the fact that serotonin is produced by an amino acid called Tryptophan. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid, meaning we must consume as our body does not produce it.
You can get Tryptophan from foods such as turkey, chicken, eggs, cheese, fish, tofu and soy.
Dopamine Explained
Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that allows us to feel pleasure.
Once described as ‘molecule of more’, it is produced in certain areas of our brain. It is responsible for making you feel good after you have done something that triggers our reward system in our brain.
It helps with our motivation. However, it also plays a part in our body’s movement and motor skills, which is why you can often hear it associated with diseases like Parkinson’s. Dopamine will send signals to make our muscles move.
Dopamine can also drive a person towards a behavior that spikes the brain activity which makes us feel reward, although it doesn’t differentiate between whether that activity is healthy or unhealthy.
For example, with dopamine, we want this in small doses not one huge amount as this can cause addictions to things such as drugs, alcohol and nicotine.
What Can Cause An Imbalance?
Now that we know the importance of these two neurotransmitters, we need to understand what happens if they are not in balance.
When they are, it helps our digestion, sleep and also maintain good mental health.
When we have Serotonin and Dopamine deficiencies, our health can be severely affected.
Signs Of Low Serotonin And Dopamine:
Depression
The most notable disease that can be caused by low serotonin and dopamine is Depression.
As discussed previously, we know that Serotonin is responsible for regulating our mood and giving it a boost. If our levels are as they should be, it should make you feel happy and calm. Therefore if we have a deficiency in our levels of Serotonin, our mental health can be severely affected.
If our Dopamine levels are low, it inhibits the ability to feel pleasure which in itself has a direct affect on our mood as well as not feeling any drive or motivation. A person with low serotonin or dopamine would feel tired, sad and generally down in their mood.
People who are suffering with depression and/or anxiety may wish to address their serotonin and dopamine levels.
It is a vicious cycle to be in, when the consequence of low levels also prohibits an individual from feeling like they would want to do anything about it. Some people may find that their healthcare provider will offer certain medications that increase their levels, such as SSRIs which we will discuss later on.
Gut Health
Serotonin and Dopamine play a part in your gut health and keeping it healthy. It has become increasingly reported how our gut health has a direct impact on our overall health. As well as the link between the brain and the gut – commonly known as the Gut-brain axis.
The Gut-brain axis refers to the connection between the Central Nervous System (CNS) and the Gastro-intestinal Tract. This ‘axis’ helps our body communicate with each other through a physical and chemical process.
Historically, our body systems were and are viewed as independent and distinct systems, whereas now we are learning that our brain and gut are incredibly interlinked. Think about the sayings of ‘gut feeling’ and ‘butterflies’…!
The bacteria within our gut, also known as the gut microbiome, is responsible for producing around 90% of our body’s supply of serotonin. The role of Serotonin within our digestive system is important as its use is to move food through it by controlling peristalsis (the contractions of muscles to move that food along) and to help get rid of waste.
Therefore if your Serotonin is low, you’re likely to suffer with constipation.
Up to 50% of our body’s dopamine is produced in the gut. We know that dopamine is involved in our muscle movement. Therefore, if you have low dopamine then it can affect the muscles within our body, including their digestive system.
A person diagnosed with Parkinson’s would have very low dopamine levels which would affect their GI tract. This would cause conditions such as constipation, as they would find it very hard to pass stools through their bowels.
Sleep
Serotonin and Dopamine have a role within your sleep-wake cycle.
We know that if Serotonin levels are low it can cause depression, that can also lead to insomnia. Therefore our sleep cycle and quality of sleep can be severely affected by this.
However too much serotonin can also cause wakefulness and impact on your REM sleep. REM being; Rapid Eye Movement.
If we are unable to get enough REM sleep this can lead to issues with our memory and the ability to function within the daytime. We also know that getting good quality, restorative sleep gives our body and mind the chance to heal and restore.
Making sure we have the correct levels of dopamine in our body helps our body and its circadian rhythm. Which put simply, is our 24 hour ‘internal’ body clock that naturally responds to light and dark. Dopamine helps our brain know when to be alert and stop producing melatonin, so if our levels are low it can cause excessive tiredness and it affects your ability to sleep.
How To Boost Your Serotonin & Dopamine Levels
There is no ‘official’ test available that simply finds out whether your levels are low, unless other factors are involved ie; concerns of a tumor. It is more about how an individual feels. We now know that your mood would be a big indicator as to whether it may be the case.
There is medication available to help increase your levels of serotonin and dopamine.
These tend to be