Dopamine Menu

Your Dopamine Menu

 

Just a bite of extra dark chocolate- better yet, dipped in some peanut butter for sweetness. A peak at my social media feed for some puppy videos to make me smile. I’m not a drinker but I can imagine the appeal of a big glass of red wine to unwind after work. Instead, I’ll indulge in one more cup of coffee or a quick shopping trip to TJ Maxx attempting to distract myself from a difficult conversation or a stressful day. It works in the moment but then backfires as I become ‘tired and wired.’ What seems to be abandoned when I am on this rollercoaster of dopamine highs and lows is time in nature, deep meaningful conversations with friends, cooking healthy food, and sleeping well.

Thanks for joining us in this place of encouragement and inspiration, A few things you should know: You are loved and complete just the way you are AND you can make small changes in your life to find wellbeing in mind, body and spirit.

What is Dopamine?

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter made in your brain. It plays a role as a “reward center” and is involved in many bodily functions, including memory and learning, movement, motivation, mood, attention, behavior and cognition, attention, sleep, and arousal. It also works as a hormone released into your bloodstream regulating the “fight-or-flight” syndrome.

 

Known as the “feel-good” hormone, dopamine gives you a sense of pleasure as part of your reward system. When you’re doing something pleasurable, your brain releases a large amount of dopamine. You feel good and you seek more of that feeling. This is why junk food and sugar are so addictive. They trigger the release of a large amount of dopamine into your brain, which gives you the feeling so pleasurable that you want to repeat that experience.

 

In the book, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence–

Dr. Anna Lembke, psychiatrist and author describes the predicament of our modern lifestyle, living with unlimited access to high-reward, high-dopamine stimuli: unlimited food, drugs (legal and illegal), the continuous news cycle, gambling, shopping, gaming, texting, pornography, social media scrolling, and all of those phone notifications. We’ve all become vulnerable to compulsive overconsumption of ‘junkfood dopamine.’ She also explores the exciting new scientific discoveries that explain why the relentless pursuit of pleasure leads to pain and what to do about it.

 

She describes pleasure and pain as a mood see-saw. When we lean heavily on the pleasure side (think of high coffee or sugar intake), we inevitably crash (the 3:00 slump). Or we continue to increase our sugar and caffeine use just to feel like normal. Our brains are hard-wired to seek out behaviors that release dopamine in our reward system.

 

Lembke illustrates how finding contentment and connectedness means keeping dopamine in check in four ways: 1. Increase the ‘pain gremlins’ with cold plunge or cold showers- this increases your dopamine naturally without a resulting crash. 2. Heat up your core temperature with daily exercise. 3. Try intermittent fasting- going without food for 12-16 hours each day. 4. Abstain from your ‘drug of choice’ for 1 month (i.e. give up alcohol, sugar, pot, gambling, etc.) Then re-evaluate your need for that substance.

 

If you don’t find yourself on that extreme see-saw but you still want to gradually and safely improve your dopamine levels try these suggestions:

1. Eat a diet that’s high in magnesium and tyrosine-rich foods. These are the building blocks for healthy “slow” dopamine production. Foods known to increase dopamine include chicken, almonds, apples, avocados, bananas, beets, chocolate, green leafy vegetables, green tea, lima beans, oatmeal, oranges, peas, sesame and pumpkin seeds, tomatoes, turmeric, watermelon, and wheat germ.
2. Engage in activities that make you deeply happy or feel relaxed. Some examples include exercise, meditation, yoga, massage, playing with a pet, walking in nature or reading a book.
3. Create a dopamine menu- A list of go-to activities, depending on your mood, time a or energy level, to keep your dopamine levels balanced. There is value in writing down what you identify as bringing real pleasure, joy, satisfaction, and accomplishment with intentionality. Top choices may include: a movement break, sunshine on your face, accomplishing small tasks, taking a quick mindfulness break or body scan, deep breathing, a 10-minute power nap, or practicing gratitude.

 

Be Well,

-Trish

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https://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/a62533493/dopamine-menu/