Dopamine: Understanding its Role in the Body and How to Increase Levels Naturally

2024-02-21 03:30:00

Over the years, dopamine has been closely associated with reward and pleasure, and is often referred to as the feel-good neurotransmitter, but dopamine plays a role in many bodily functions such as coordination of movements, memory, decision making, motivation, learning and reward, a brain mechanism that reinforces us to repeat a behavior, as explained by Dr. Cristina Muñoz Gil in an article in Mapfre Salud.

Having too much dopamine is related to higher levels of aggression or problems controlling impulses, while a lack of it can cause tiredness, feelings of sadness or demotivation.

Dopamine and Parkinson’s

New research from the Champalimaud Foundation (CF) has focused on the fundamental participation of dopamine in movement and specifically on understanding how its deficiency influences Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Marcelo Mendonça, first author of the study explains that walking is something that most healthy people do without thinking twice. However, it is actually a complex process that involves several neurological and physiological systems. Parkinson’s disease is a condition in which the brain slowly loses specific cells, called dopamine neurons, resulting in reduced strength and speed of movements.

When there is an increase in dopamine in the brain, the body reacts with a feeling of well-being.

There is another important aspect that is affected: the duration of the actions. Someone with Parkinson’s might not only move more slowly but also take fewer steps in a walking sequence or episode before stopping. This study shows that dopamine signals directly affect the duration of movement sequences, bringing us one step closer to discovering new therapeutic targets to improve motor function in PD.

How to increase dopamine

Scientists who study neurological and psychiatric disorders have long been interested in how dopamine works and how relatively high or low levels of dopamine in the brain relate to behavioral challenges and disability.

Here are some tips to increase dopamine levels:

Magnesium-rich diet: Eat a diet rich in magnesium and foods rich in tyrosine. These are the building blocks of dopamine production. Tyrosine is an amino acid. It is absorbed into the body and then goes to the brain, where it is converted into dopamine. Foods known to increase dopamine include chicken, almonds, apples, avocados, bananas, beets, chocolate, green leafy vegetables, green tea, lima beans, oats, oranges, peas, sesame and pumpkin seeds, tomatoes, turmeric, watermelon and wheat germ.

Avoid sugar and coffee: Avoiding sugar or coffee can help maintain adequate dopamine levels. These substances, although they produce a quick high, in the long term interrupt the normal uptake of this neurotransmitter and make it less sustainable. Most addictive substances alter dopamine circuits and can overstimulate the system, reinforcing its consumption and leading to addiction.

Sleep: Dopamine plays a very important role in regulating sleep. Try to sleep a minimum of 7 hours a day. Sleep deprivation produces cognitive deficits and negatively affects us.

Daily exercise.

Avoid stress, apply techniques such as meditation or breathing.

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