Nutrition

• Serotonin is a key neurotransmitter your brain uses for mood-stabilization, emotional regulation, and happiness

  • Relative serotonin deficiency has been implicated in such mental health problems as:

    • anxiety, depression, impulsivity

• Okay, cool, so what?

• 95% of your total body serotonin is made in your gut!

• Clearly, how your brain feels and works is a function of more than just what you think about or what you do

• Moreover, your gastrointestinal (digestive) tract is lined with 100 million neurons (the same kind of cell that makes up your brain)

• It has been shown that your gut health can impact your mental health, for better or for worse

• The function of the neurons in your gut, and the production of serotonin and other neurotransmitters in there, are very highly dependent on the good bacteria that live in your gut

• It has been shown that "traditional" diets, which are high in vegetables, fruits, unprocessed grains, and fish and sea food while avoiding processed foods are associated with 25-33% lower risk of depression than typical "Western" diets, which contain more processed or refined foods, meats, and dairy.

• What you eat matters immensely!

• If you're interested, here's a link to an article from Harvard Health on just how what happens in your digestive system can affect your brain.

• The National Institute of Health suggests getting involved with your household's meal planning and grocery shopping, if you can

• Nutritional changes also don't have to be drastic; you can start by cutting out things you don't need, such as soda, candy, or fast food

• When you have a choice, opt for the healthier one. Your choices add up and every healthy one you make counts!

• If you're absolutely not sure where to start, choosemyplate.gov will get you going

• If you have a sense of what is healthy, here's a more information-dense resource to round out the details

• I just want to know which foods will help raise my serotonin levels, that sounded good

  • Well, it's not exactly that simple:

  • Your body makes serotonin from an amino acid called tryptophan, which you can only get from food

  • Your body is more likely to absorb tryptophan if you eat it alongside some form of carbohydrate

  • This is, of course, tricky--not all carbs are good for you! So choose the carb buddy for your tryptophan bolus carefully.

  • Here and here are some foods high in tryptophan

Glad you asked.

• The best thing you can do for them is to eat a diverse diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and beans

• You can also give them a hand by eating fermented foods, such as yogurt, sauerkraut, or kimchi

• Avoid artificial sweeteners

• Get plenty of fiber

Help them help you!