Serotonin – body’s ‘happy chemical’ is a neurotransmitter that is responsible for moods, better sleep, memory and learning. Although, a disbalance in the level of serotonin can cause overall imbalance in your natural habitat: a high level can also cause laziness, loss of interest and boredom. Taking our time, lets consider low level of serotonin for now.
Low serotonin can cause quite a number of health issues. These issues can range from mental health issues including depression, insomnia, anxiety to physical health issues like muscle rigidity and even high blood pressure. Low serotonin can be a cause of multiple factors: age-related health and brain changes, chronic stress, lack of exposure to sunlight and lack of physical activities. If you find yourself in the mentioned life style, here is how you can change for your own good by naturally boosting serotonin level in your brain:
4 ways to naturally boost serotonin
1. Better diet
Tryptophan – an amino acid recommended to have in your diet to naturally drive your hormones. Serotonin is composed of tryptophan. Hence, a decent consumption of the specific diet can help you drastically. Foods recommended for high-level of tryptophan are:
- Salmon fish
- Eggs
- Soy products
- Corn seeds
- Nuts
2. Regular exercise
A plenty of researches show that a regular routine of exercise can increase your serotonin level. Furthermore, you can personally experience this after three to four days of regular exercise, it will feel like a good day and you would even manage your stress better. This is by far the best recommendation to naturally boost serotonin levels in your brain.
You can read more about How exercise can help you lift your mood
3. Sunlight
Sunlight is important for a number of health factors, also including ‘happy chemical’ in your brain. A survey research has concluded that in winters, most people are prone to depression due to lack of exposure of sunlight in their daily life. Therefore, the name for such temporary emotional behavior is recorded as ‘Seasonal Affective Disorder’ (SAD).
“The brain produces serotonin in response to sun and daylight,” said Winsberg. People who spend most of their time indoors should buy specialized lamps that can fulfil their need for light. Winsberg believes that the first 30 minutes of the day should be spent walking in the light.
4. Gratitude for serotonin
Gratitude can be regarded as a ‘hack’ to naturally increase your ‘happy chemical’ hormones. However, for some people, gratitude is counting their blessings by keeping pictures on their work table of their loved ones; writing a diary of your daily routines, etc.