Serotonin vs. Dopamine: Why do we need them & what are they?

Serotonin and dopamine are both neurotransmitters (chemical signals in the brain) that cause us to “feel good”. Everything we do is essentially based on how it makes us feel. We eat tasty foods because it makes us happy, we date the person that makes us happy, etc. Serotonin and dopamine are what motivate us and can contribute to addiction if we are not careful. If you have heard these terms before but aren’t sure how to increase them or what the difference between serotonin vs. dopamine is then this article is for you.

What is the difference between serotonin vs. dopamine?

Both are neurotransmitters as mentioned above and they are how our neurotransmitter communicates positive feel good feelings.

Serotonin

Serotonin is our “happy” neurotransmitter that 80%-90% is produced in our gut. Increasing your serotonin production naturally can help reduce the risk of heart disease. This is partially because low levels of serotonin contribute to depression, anxiety and hostility is a risk for coronary heart disease. Whereas a positive mood can reduce your risk for heart disease.

Having a positive mood decreases your chance of struggling with anxiety, depression, and heart disease. Higher levels of serotonin are associated with a better mood.

Tryptophan is a precursor for serotonin production.

Low Symptoms of Serotonin

Serotonin levels in the body can be low from poor gut health, stress and other factors. Common Symptoms and Disorders Include:

ADHDBipolarDepression SchizophreniaAnxietyDecreased Impulse ControlPursuing Short-Term Gratification, despite Long-Term BenefitsAntisocial BehaviorAngerUncontrolled AggressionDecreased Sensory Gating (Blocking out external things)Autism Spectrum DisorderHow do I increase Serotonin Naturally?

Having social support can increase your serotonin, a community of individuals (family and/or friends).

1. Positive Thinking.

Positive thinking can actually alter your brain metabolism and utilizing therapy such as cognitive-behavioral therapy can be helpful to increase your positive thoughts. Another form of therapy is mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral therapy, which helps you be more mindful of how your thoughts are impacting you and how to change them.

2. Sunshine

We know that sunshine is important for the production of vitamin D and to also help with depression. However, recent research shows that bright lights from a red light in your home or sunlight can actually increase your serotonin. (Young, 2007)

This is truly incredible, because if you are having a bad day, the combination of exercise and sunshine is proven to actually increase your “happy” neurotransmitters!

Vitamin D is needed to activate tryptophan in order to produce serotonin via tryptophan hydroxylase 2.

3. Exercise

We KNOW that exercise is good for us but if you have symptoms of depression or anxiety, you may not feel like exercising. You may be too tired or too exhausted and have no desire.

Exercise works as a natural antidepressant by increasing serotonin levels, tryptophan & 5-HIAA. A study on aerobic exercise showed that 5-HIAA was increased, 5-HIAA is a way to measure serotonin in the body.

Exercise also increases your tryptophan production, tryptophan is what makes you want to take a nap after eating thanksgiving turkey every year (in combination with the carbs & desserts). Tryptophan helps relax you and can help you sleep and therefore when you sleep well you feel better as well.

A good point that I wanted to make is that our lifestyle has changed dramatically from when we were once hunter and gatherers. We spent the majority of our days outside, food was from the ground or an animal and we received plenty of bright light and exercise.

Depression and anxiety increases every year and we wonder why. Well people are working from home, inside and sitting the majority of the day.

They say that “sitting, is the new smoking”, because of the detrimental effects being sedentary has on our mental and physical well-being.

4. Diet

Since 80-90% of our serotonin is produced in the gut, this means that our diet plays a major role in our serotonin production.

Some ways we can take care of our gut health is by eating prebiotic and probiotic rich foods such as kefir, kimchi, pickles and other fermented foods. It is also beneficial to supplement with the amino acid l-glutamine to decrease any intestinal permeability that could cause poor nutrient absorption.

Tryptophan raises serotonin, but research shows that eating large quantities of turkey is not enough to actually increase serotonin levels in the brain.

5. 5-HTP or Tryptophan Supplementation

Purified tryptophan crosses the blood brain barrier and can be absorbed. Whereas tryptophan consumed in high protein foods, causes tryptophan to compete with the more dominant amino acids. Since protein is made up of a combination of amino acids.

Milk contains a protein called ?-Lactalbumin that contains more tryptophan than most forms of protein. Therefore a cup of warm milk before bed with some manuka honey could boost your immune system while increasing your serotonin!

Tryptophan supplementation is a great way to increase your serotonin levels, allowing it to cross the blood-brain barrier and without it competing against stronger amino acids in a protein molecule.

Increasing tryptophan levels can help with impulse control and decreased aggression. (Zamoscik et. al., 2021)

Low tryptophan levels increase the chances of an individual pursuing decisions with a less probable outcome as well as a lack of impulse control and they get easily distracted by short-term gratification versus long-term benefits. (Patrick & Ames, 2015)

5-HTP is a product of tryptophan and it can be taken with other proteins and amino acids and it does not compete. This makes it better absorbed and a great option to take as a precursor for serotonin. (Birdsall, 1998)

Tryptophan or 5-HTP supplementation has been shown to reduce symptoms of social anxiety.

6. Omega 3 Fatty Acids

Omega 3s particularly EPA and DHA help increase serotonin and dopamine levels both.

“EPA increases serotonin release from presynaptic neurons by reducing E2 series prostaglandins and DHA influences serotonin receptor action by increasing cell membrane fluidity in postsynaptic neurons.”

– (Patrick & Ames, 2015)

Dopamine

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a major role in addiction. It is a neurotransmitter that plays a role in motivation, motor function and even reproductive behaviors. Dopamine plays a role in cognitive function, hence why conditions such as Parkinson’s cause a decrease in motor function due to lowered levels of dopamine. Environmental factors like social defeat can contribute to lowered dopamine.

Symptoms of Low Dopamine

Stress and environmental factors can cause lowered levels of dopamine causing the following:

PsychosisSusceptibility to AddictionADHDSchizophreniaDepression or Major Depressive DisorderHow do I increase Dopamine Naturally?1. Meditation

Research shows that dopamine can be increased through meditation, giving us a sense of pleasure and calmness. (Young, 2007)

Meditation, along with deep breathing can help us to slow our heart rate down and decrease our negative reaction to an event.

2. Exercise

Aerobic exercise has been shown to increase dopamine release in the body. (Sacheli et. al., 2019)

Dopamine is lower in individuals suffering from Parkinson’s disorder and exercising is an important way to naturally boost dopamine levels. Exercise works by improving the plasticity of the cortical striatum, the cortical striatum effects motor control, decision-making and motivation.

3. Social Interactions

Social isolation can cause an increase in aggressive behavior and therefore aggressive behaviors are lessened by increased social interactions.

4. Healthy Childhood

This one may sound confusing, but childhood trauma can affect presynaptic dopamine function. (Howes et. al., 2017) Research shows that child abuse or childhood trauma can cause schizophrenia.

Lower levels of dopamine can be from acute stress.

5. Omega 3s

Polyunsaturated fatty acids such as Omega 3s help increase dopamine levels. Omega 3s also decrease overall brain inflammation which contribute to depression and anxiety.

Dopamine and Addiction

Dopamine plays a role in addiction as mentioned above, especially drug addiction. That is because addictive drugs raise dopamine levels, due to the increased feeling of “pleasure”.

Not only are drugs addicting, but also food, exercise, alcohol, sex, and believe it or not stress can be addicting. This is because these behaviors have been reinforced hits of dopamine.

You eat a food that makes you feel good and it gives you dopamine and serotonin like in a sugary dessert. The dopamine and serotonin both in this case contribute to addiction of sugary foods.

Dopamine reinforces addiction of drugs or food by increasing your motivation to obtain those substances and receiving the dopamine after receiving them reinforces those behavior. Hence the reason why addiction can be difficult to deal with.

When we are stressed, we have low levels of dopamine and serotonin and this is why people often turn to substance use or food as ways to make them feel better.

Unfortunately these only temporarily increase your dopamine and your body can become dependent on sugar or drugs because of this. This is all part of the “dopamine motive system“.

References:

Birdsall T. C. (1998). 5-Hydroxytryptophan: a clinically-effective serotonin precursor. Alternative medicine review : a journal of clinical therapeutic, 3(4), 271–280.

Howes, O. D., McCutcheon, R., Owen, M. J., & Murray, R. M. (2017). The Role of Genes, Stress, and Dopamine in the Development of Schizophrenia. Biological psychiatry, 81(1), 9–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.20...

Patrick, R. P., & Ames, B. N. (2015). Vitamin D and the omega?3 fatty acids control serotonin synthesis and action, part 2: Relevance for ADHD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and impulsive behavior. The FASEB Journal, 29(6), 2207–2222. https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.14-268342

Sacheli, M. A., Neva, J. L., Lakhani, B., Murray, D. K., Vafai, N., Shahinfard, E., English, C., McCormick, S., Dinelle, K., Neilson, N., McKenzie, J., Schulzer, M., McKenzie, D. C., Appel-Cresswell, S., McKeown, M. J., Boyd, L. A., Sossi, V., & Stoessl, A. J. (2019). Exercise increases caudate dopamine release and ventral striatal activation in Parkinson’s disease. Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society, 34(12), 1891–1900. https://doi.org/10.1002/mds.27865

Young S. N. (2007). How to increase serotonin in the human brain without drugs. Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN, 32(6), 394–399.

Zamoscik, V., Schmidt, S., Bravo, R., Ugartemendia, L., Plieger, T., Rodríguez, A. B., Reuter, M., & Kirsch, P. (2021). Tryptophan-enriched diet or 5-hydroxytryptophan supplementation given in a randomized controlled trial impacts social cognition on a neural and behavioral level. Scientific reports, 11(1), 21637. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-01...