If you’re living in a northern climate, it’s no secret that the cold winter can seriously dampen your mood, even leading to a disorder that’s appropriately called SAD – the seasonal affective disorder.
One possible solution is boosting the levels of serotonin, which is known for its mood-affecting ability. What’s more, serotonin is known to suppress appetite, therefore avoiding emotional overeating and other dietary issues. You can improve your mood and overall well-being by learning how to boost serotonin with your diet. Here’s how it all works.
What Is Serotonin and Why Is It Important?
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter with many complex functions, but most commonly, it’s related to regulating your mood. Beyond mood, it also affects your internal clock and appetite, while a decreased serotonin level can be related to depression, OCD, ADD, and even aggressive behavior.
Many antidepressants like Prozac make you feel better mainly because they increase serotonin levels. Serotonin, therefore, has a critical role in making us more stable, less anxious, and overall feeling better.
Instead of reaching for antidepressant drugs, you can opt for foods that increase serotonin.
Now, consuming serotonin in its complete form doesn’t actually do the trick since the chemical cannot pass the brain-blood barrier. Therefore, you need to consume an amino acid called tryptophan, which is the key to producing more serotonin in your body.
This amino acid will react together with tryptophan hydroxylase to form serotonin in the brain.
Tryptophan is present in foods that contain higher levels of protein, while, of course, some foods are richer in tryptophan than others.
Symptoms of Low Serotonin Level
Low serotonin level is often indicated by symptoms that closely resemble depression:
- low mood
- low self-esteem
- anxiety
- poor memory
- difficulty sleeping
- aggression
- craving for sweets
People who are more prone to developing depression or who have suffered from depression in the past might suffer from low serotonin levels.
Another contributing factor is the lack of sunlight, which may occur in the northern climate and result in seasonal affective disorder.
There are three simple ways to increase the serotonin level naturally without any medical interference: being exposed to more sunlight, exercising more, and consuming foods with higher levels of tryptophans so the body can synthesize more serotonin.
How to Boost Serotonin
Dietary changes are one of the easiest fixes to low serotonin levels, as it’s fairly easy to include tryptophan-rich foods in your daily eating habits.
In fact, a 2014 study found that the participants’ mood indicated significantly more positive affect scores after consuming a high tryptophan diet as compared to a low tryptophan diet, which means that food might be the key to boosting your mood.
While it has been debated that consuming tryptophan might not have such a significant effect since not all of the chemical will be absorbed, Judith J. Wurtman, former director of the Program in Women’s Health at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Clinical Research Center and the author of “The Serotonin Power Diet“, explained how carbohydrates are the actual key to absorbing more tryptophan.
While it’s true that tryptophan is hard to absorb since proteins prevent the chemical from passing the blood-brain barrier, carbohydrates change that in favor of tryptophan. Carbohydrates are digested into glucose, which releases insulin, the key to flushing amino acids into your organs.
That’s how tryptophan gets into the brain, where it’s converted to serotonin, making you feel more satisfied, calm, and happy.
Boosting your mood is not the only reason why it’s wise to consume foods that increase serotonin. Studies have shown that serotonin acts like a ‘brake’ for your appetite, helping you avoid overeating and food obsession.
The serotonin power diet, which Judith Wurtman developed, focuses on consuming carbohydrates to increase your serotonin production – it’s the one diet where carbs are your friends, not your enemy.
The main point of the serotonin power diet is to balance nutrients, eating a certain amount of protein and carbohydrates with each meal.
In short, the serotonin diet can be divided into 3 phases:
- Serotonin Surge – the first part, lasting for two weeks, is about getting your mind used to eating certain nutrients in certain amounts. Breakfast consists of protein together with carbohydrates and fruit, lunch focuses on protein together with veggies, and the dinner will consist of carbs. However, those carbs are, of course, healthier options like legumes or rice.
- Serotonin Balance – this 6-week phase closely resembles the first phase except for adding proteins to the dinner as well. Don’t mistake the protein consumption for a high one – the diet limits proteins to an extent lower than a traditional protein serving. The goal of this phase is to maintain a higher serotonin level.
- Serotonin Control – the third phase is the last transitional period, which helps turn these dietary changes into natural eating habits. The main change involves limiting snacks – you’re allowed to have one snack, while the other phases allow more.
The serotonin power diet has proved to be successful not only in theory. According to many dieters who have reviewed the Serotonin Power Diet book on Amazon, the diet helped them control their eating habits better than ever, and they felt a significant improvement in their mood.
Any downsides? The main issue is the complexity of the diet plan. For the serotonin power diet to work efficiently, precise guidelines must be followed, especially regarding the nutrient balance and dinner times.
The upsides outweigh the downsides largely, though, so when you’ve struggled with either a bad mood or issues with balancing your diet, the serotonin power diet might be the best option.
Foods That Boost Serotonin
When you’re not too keen on following a new diet plan but still want to learn how to boost serotonin, there are a few specific so-called serotonin foods that are known to have higher levels of tryptophan.
Here are a few foods that boost serotonin:
- eggs
- cheese
- milk
- chicken and turkey
- salmon
- tofu
- nuts and seeds (especially pumpkin & squash seeds)
- oats
- beans and lentils
- potatoes
- cauliflower
- dark green leafy vegetables
When low serotonin level is an especially critical health issue, serotonin supplements might also do the trick as it’s a little harder to absorb the tryptophan from the diet.
However, before opting for supplements, you should consult your doctor to ensure you don’t overdo the serotonin intake.
If you want to boost your mood naturally, though, you can consider the serotonin power diet for a healthier, happier you.
