The decision to increase
serotonin in the body should be based on your absolute certainty that you do in fact need to
raise its levels. If you increase excessively you may experience what is known as a
serotonin syndrome or serotonin toxity, whereby your brain builds up an overdose that could
kill you if not properly treated.
If you have it in excess,
you are most likely to experience restlessness, vomiting, in coordination, mental status
changes (confusion or hypomania), tremor, agitation, overactive reflexes, hallucinations,
shivering, increased body temperature, fast heart beat, rapid changes in blood pressure,
diaphoresis, diarrhea, nausea and fever. Untreated serotoinin syndrome can be
deadly.
If it happens that the
levels drop, then you are most likely to fall in to depression, terrible mood or even anger.
You simply become irritable and some people are known to become suicidal. Generally, low
brain serotonin level is associated with increased risk taking and being too
aggressive.
Continual low levels of
serotonin can lead to fatigue especially during the graveyard shift i.e. the afternoons. You
may experience late afternoon bouts of depression and compulsive starchy or sugary food
eating. This is especially true when you lunch is filled with food like ice cream, coffee,
chocolates or sweets.
These various experiences
can lead you to actually take the wrong measures to increase the levels. For example, taking
addictive substances, such as alcohol, tobacco and caffeine. Some also start eating a lot of
chocolate, sweets and other sugary foods that merely cause weight gain and consequently
obesity. We all know where all that can lead to.
There are ways to raise
serotonin levels. For example, There is a vitamin called HTP that is used to build up levels
of serotonin almost naturally. This is said to replace the prescription antidepressants like
Prozac or Zoloft. They are raw materials that produce amino acids that are necessary for
generating serotonin.
So the question is, how to
increase seretonin levels naturally? The shortest answer lies in the diet - types of foods
you eat. For example, a diet that lacks omega-3 fatty acids is likely to lower the levels of
the feel good hormone. There are various foods that increase the level of serotonin in the
body - mostly these are carbohydrate-rich meals. You can eat some potato with its skin every
night.
Just avoid eating food that
has too much protein. Good complementary foods to your potato meal include, butter, salsa,
olive oil, mustard or some spices. Try not to eat too much cheese, sour cream, bacon bits,
or cream of chicken soup.
You can also read
about,
Serotonin levels in the
brain
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