Serotonin is an important brain chemical. It is a neurotransmitter that’s been called “Happy molecule” for the important role it plays in maintaining a positive mood and stop you from feeling down or depressed. It exerts a powerful influence over mood, emotions, memory, craving, pain sensation, sleeping habits, appetite, digestion and body-temperature regulation. Production of this happy hormone increases when we are exposed to natural sunlight. Serotonin plays a role, not only in the treatment of depression but also in susceptibility to depression and suicide.

Serotonin is manufactured in brain where it performs its primary functions. 90% of our serotonin is supplied in the digestive tract and blood platelets. Its production is closely linked to the availability of vitamin B6 and amino acid tryptophan. If our diet lacks sufficient vitamins, we have a greater risk of serotonin deficiency. We may experience a lack in serotonin levels due to physiological causes, digestive disorders and stress. Since high levels of the stress hormone cortisol robs us of serotonin. Our current lifestyle against all the elements necessary for the body’s natural production of serotonin causes its depletion.

Relation between Serotonin and Depression/Anxiety/Stress



Serotonin plays an important role not only in the treatment of depression but also in susceptibility to depression and suicide. Imbalanced Serotonin or low serotonin levels may influence mood in a way that leads to depression and is intimately connected with anxiety in a number of different ways. It works in different areas of the brain and low levels of serotonin seems to have an interactive effect with neurotransmitters, especially nor epinephrine (non adrenaline) which is directly related to anxiety. Many other problems include low brain cell production of serotonin, a lack of receptor sites that receives serotonin, or a shortage of tryptophan, the chemical from which serotonin is made. If any of these biochemical glitches occurs, it can lead to depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety, panic and even excess anger.

Prolonged periods of stress can deplete serotonin levels. Serious and systematic stress possesses an impact on the body’s ability to produce and synthesize serotonin. This means that you should stay away from stressful situations as much as possible, and find healthy ways to deal with stress once it comes your way. If you want to reduce lifestyle stress, try practicing

    Yoga
    Meditation
    Deep breathing exercises
    Self expression

Natural Serotonin boosters are a way to help fight Depression and Anxiety

There are various ways to boost your serotonin naturally and prevent depression and anxiety:-
If you are anxious or depressed, boosting your brain serotonin might help. It is also known as ‘feel good’ chemical in the brain. It’s connected with mood, appetite and sleep and also with learning and memory. If your serotonin levels are too low, you are likely to be irritable, anxious and perceive the world as unfriendly. You may feel depressed, pessimistic and have irregular appetite and sleep.

Sunshine: -



Sunlight is not only the body’s best natural source of Vitamin D; it also allows serotonin levels to remain high for a natural mood boosting that reduces your risk of developing Seasonal Affective Disorder /depression (SADD).

Light therapy is a common remedy for seasonal depression. Many studies show a clear relationship between being exposed to bright light and serotonin levels. To get better sleep, or to boost your mood, try to walk daily during spare time. Light probably helps in serotonin synthesis. Research has found a positive correlation between serotonin synthesis and total hours of sunlight during the day. Getting a better mood could be as easy as opening the curtains of your dark room. Exposure to bright light is a second possible approach to increasing serotonin without drugs. Bright light is, of course, a standard treatment for seasonal depression, but a few studies also suggest that it is an effective treatment for non-seasonal depression and also reduces depressed mood in women with premenstrual dysphonic disorder and in pregnant women suffering from depression.

Get natural light during the day not artificial light during the night, as daytime sunlight is better at giving you serotonin than artificial LED, Fluorescent or UV light. Getting artificial light especially at night has the added disadvantage of blocking melatonin production.

Exercise:-



It is great way to boost your serotonin levels. Exercise causes an increase in tryptophan, which is the precursor of serotonin. The tryptophan persists well after exercising is finished, suggesting that mood elevation may be present for hours after the exercising has finished. It also boosts other feel good neurotransmitters such as dopamine (which helps regulate pleasure in your brain) and endorphin, so you get a lot of benefits from the effort you put in.
If u can’t find the time to exercise regularly, try walking for 30 minutes or an hour per day. Exercise helps in burning calories and boosting tryptophan levels, causing an increase in serotonin.

Diet:-

There are very few natural serotonin food sources. The list of serotonin rich foods are:



    Walnuts
    Hickory nuts
    Almonds
    Egg
    Cheese

The foods that are rich in Serotonin and should be taken are:

Fruits: Banana, kiwi, pineapple, plums, grapefruit, mango, honey, tomatoes and avocado etc.

Vegetables: Corn, Broccoli, cauliflower, green vegetables, spinach, mushroom, Soy Products:-soya milk, tofu and soybeans etc

Legumes and beans: - Lentils, Mung bean, chickpeas, cooked beans—Kidney, black, Lima, navy and pinto are good source of serotonin.

Massage:-



Massage therapy helps cut down the stress hormone cortisol while boosting serotonin levels and increasing dopamine. This double prolonged benefit makes massage particularly valuable.

Relieve happy memories:-



Reliving happy times may be enough to give your brain a serotonin boost. This may directly increase serotonin levels and keep you from depression.

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