Do the food we eat actually influences our mood?
What is serotonin?
Serotonin is a hormone that’s believed to act as a mood stabilizer.
It’s said to help produce healthy sleeping patterns as well as boost your mood. Studies show that serotonin levels can have an effect on mood and behavior, and the chemical is commonly linked to feeling good and living longer.
Serotonin is made up of one of a building block of protein :Tryptophan. Eating the food that contains tryptophan increases the production of serotonin in body. it is known that tryptophan depletion is seen in those with mood disorders such as depression and anxiety. Research has also shown that when a low-tryptophan diet is followed, brain serotonin levels drop.
Foods that boosts the serotonin production:
1. Eggs
The protein in eggs can significantly boost your blood plasma levels of tryptophan, according to recent research. Pro cooking tip:( Don’t leave out the yolks!) They’re extremely rich in tryptophan and other nutrients that are major contributors to the health benefits and antioxidant properties of eggs.
2. Tofu
Soy products are rich sources of tryptophan. You can substitute tofu for pretty much any protein, in pretty much any recipe, making it an excellent source of tryptophan for vegetarians and vegans. Some tofu is calcium-set, which provides a great calcium boost.
3. Seeds and nuts
Pick and choose your faves, because all nuts and seeds contain tryptophan. Studies show that eating a handful of nuts a day can lower your risk for cancer, heart disease, and respiratory problems. They’re also good sources of fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants.
Other ways to boost serotonin
Food and supplements aren’t the only ways to boost serotonin levels.
1. Exercise
2. Sunshine (light therapy)
3. Gut bacteria (probiotics).
Does the serotonin levels in our body is anyhow connected to gut microbes? Or if it so then how taking these foods is relatable to gut microbes effect. Please throw some light on this aspect as well.
ReplyDeleteOur microbiota in the gut is essential though to extract various nutrients from the food into the blood moreover it helps to produce hormones like serotonin through neural coordination.
ReplyDeleteSo these foods induces the gut microbes to produce serotonin or these microbes help to extract it from food.
DeleteThere are basically two pathways for the synthesis of serotonin hormone. The first being formed in enterochromaffin cells and uptake and activation by thrombocytes, the other being production of this hormone in neurons in CAN these both process are activated by microbiota that means it only promotes the synthesis while the food we take contains Tryptophan which will directly going to impact the amount of serotonin produced and released in blood.
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere that sunlight also effects the level of seratonin production in our body and hence changes mood. So I want to know- this sunlight interaction is involved in which pathway as you mentioned there are only 2 pathways?
DeleteGiven that the relationship between sunshine and serotonin is probably a multimediated phenomenon, one contributory facet may be the role of sunshine on human skin. Human skin has an inherent serotonergic system that appears capable of generating serotonin. Skin in presence of sunlight helps in modulating the levels of serotonin moreover sunlight when reaches to Central nervous system via retina can be
DeleteLight reaches to CABS can be the possible explanation to modulate the secretions of serotonin according to various studies done on primates .
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DeleteI read somewhere that sunlight also effects the level of seratonin production in our body and hence changes mood. So I want to know- this sunlight interaction is involved in which pathway as you mentioned there are only 2 pathways?
Delete