Serotonin is an important neurotransmitter (brain chemical).  It is involved with vasoconstriction, mood, sleep, inhibition, and many other vital functions.  Many drugs are involved with blocking the re-absorption of serotonin by nerve endings in the brain and thus increase the concentration in the brain. 

Drugs are toxic and can often have side effects.  There are natural methods to help increase serotonin levels in the brain.  Learning natural methods to increase serotonin can reduce dependence on drug medication.     Orthomolecular medicine is a system of medicine practiced by MD doctors around the world.  It is a system of medicine that uses mainly natural substances, non-toxic, and considered safe in a wide range of dose. 

Orthomolecular medicine mainly uses herbs and vitamins/minerals.  The following ideas can be considered orthomolecular methods. 

1.      Serotonin is synthesized from the amino acid tryptophan.  Thus to produce serotonin, you need tryptophan.  Tryptophan is an amino acid that you can only obtain by consumption.  Therefore you want to consider eating foods containing sufficient levels of tryptophan to help replenish your serotonin levels each day.  The following is a list:

1. Cottage cheese.
2. Brown rice.
3. Avocados.
4. Bananas.
5. Walnuts.
6. Tomatoes.
7. Soy protein.
8. Meat.
9. Turkey is probably the highest serotonin containing food.  Eat turkey to help increase serotonin levels.

2.      Starchy carbohydrates such as pasta, bread, and so on can stimulate production of serotonin.  Starchy vegetables, mainly vegetables grown below the ground, such as carrots, potatoes, and so on can stimulate the production of serotonin.  These starchy carbohydrates have the ability to decrease the levels of amino acids in the bloodstream, but may actually increase the levels of tryptophan.  Tryptophan competes with many other amino acids for transport in the body.  If tryptophan is not adequately transported, due to competition with other amino acids for transport, then sufficient tryptophan may not be available for serotonin synthesis.  There are 20 amino acids that humans need each day.  The starchy carbohydrates decrease 19 of them, except tryptophan.  Thus starchy carbohydrates, when eaten at the proper times, can help increase serotonin levels.

a.       Proper times to eat starchy carbohydrates to help increase serotonin levels: Starchy carbohydrates stimulate production of serotonin.  They do not produce serotonin.  Thus if you eat too many starchy carbohydrates, you can over stimulate serotonin production, resulting in diminished serotonin levels.  Therefore you want to consider eating in a way that helps maintain proper serotonin levels.  The cycle for serotonin is the sleep cycle.  Thus you want much of your serotonin production to occur in the evening, to help produce sleep and the proper cycles of sleep.  Therefore you want to limit your starchy carbohydrates in the daytime.  They will stimulate serotonin production, thus depleting serotonin levels.  The proper time to consider eating starchy carbohydrates is in the evening, helping your body to stimulate serotonin production and getting your body ready for sleep.  You should consider eating serotonin producing foods daytime and nighttime, but especially in the nighttime, to ensure you have sufficient serotonin available for your sleep cycles.  You can laboratory test your serotonin levels to see if they are normal or not normal 

3.       If you eat starchy carbohydrates in the daytime, you should consider eating protein at the same meal.  Protein can inhibit the effects of carbohydrates stimulating tryptophan production.  This can help conserve serotonin.  It is an excellent idea to eat protein at every meal containing starchy carbohydrates.  Protein helps balance the natural cycles of digestion, called the feast-famine cycle.  You can read more about the feast famine cycle in the article the, "Diabetic Diet," in the diabetes section of the web site.  In the evening, eat only a little protein and eat the starchy carbohydrates first.  This will allow the starchy carbohydrates to have a more dominant effect in the bloodstream than the protein.  In the daytime, consider eating more protein and eating the protein first, so that it will have a more dominant effect in the bloodstream than starchy carbohydrates you consume.

4.       Negative ions help produce serotonin.  Ion filters produce negative ions.  You can consider the consumer digest to pick a reliable ion filter.  Water also helps produce serotonin.  You can take a shower at night to help produce serotonin.  Consider sleeping by large bodies of water if you have sleep problems.

5.      Vitamin B6 is necessary to produce serotonin.  You can laboratory test your vitamin B6 levels.  Orthomolecular doses for vitamin B6 range from 100-300 mg total daily, in divided doses.

6.       Calcium helps calm nerves.  The better you sleep, the better the serotonin sleep cycles.  Thus restful and deep sleep will help support proper serotonin levels and balance.  Calcium supplements in the evening can help calm nerves, which can lead to better sleep.  Consider using elemental calcium, found in the product page on this web site called Bone-Up.  Elemental calcium is the calcium found in bones and is thus the most efficient type of calcium to supplement.  Eating chocolate or drinking milk near the time you supplement calcium can block the effects of calcium supplementation.  You can laboratory test for calcium levels to be sure they are at proper levels, especially if you feel your nerves are strung out.

7.      Magnesium, vitamin B6, and calcium are all cofactors of each other.  This means they often work in combinations, not alone.  Zinc is usually found with magnesium and B6.  Potassium is a cofactor of magnesium. Thus it might be an excellent idea to laboratory test for all of them; to be sure all the levels are proper.  These minerals and vitamins need to be at appropriate levels, in order to have proper metabolic (the proper processing and handling of nutrients in the cells) functioning.  It is important for proper cell functioning, to have proper, restful, and deep sleep.  The appropriate balance of these minerals help to stimulate and inhibit cell functioning, which allows for the proper cycles of sleep and rest, as well as proper stimulation of daytime cycles.

8.      Regulated blood sugar levels can help produce better sleep.  Higher blood sugar levels at bedtime, than normal, can produce stimulating hormones such as adrenaline.  Adrenaline is a stress hormone and not conducive to sleep and serotonin sleep cycles.  We recommend considering the method of eating many small meals each day, to help regulate blood sugar levels.  The key point in eating many small meals, there should be an interval of 2 and ½- 5 hours between each time you eat.  Most people, who try frequent small meals as a method of eating meals each day, do not wait for the proper interval time between meals.  There is a digestive cycle each time you consume food.  The hormone insulin is produced during the digestive cycles to digest carbohydrates.  It is mainly secreted for the first 2 and ½ hours after a meal.  You need to let the body rest and insulin do its job.  Eating before the interval time of 2 and ½ hours between meals is completed, will stimulate insulin again, possible disrupting digestive cycles and producing adrenaline and excess blood sugar into the bloodstream.  This is counterproductive to regulating blood sugar levels.  Steady blood sugar levels can help produce sleep, by allowing the body to begin to calm down and turn on the night cycles of metabolic functioning.  You can read the article, "Diabetic Diet," to understand the proper methods of eating small meals.  Although that article is written for diabetics, the main difference between the digestive cycles of diabetics and non-diabetics, diabetics usually feel more of a need to eat every 2 and ½ hours while non-diabetics usually feel hungrier every 3-4 hours.  Thus the article, "Diabetic Diet," on the web site www.dk50.com,  applies to everyone; just the timing for meals is different for each individual.  An excellent supplement to help regulate blood sugar, it is corosolic acid.

9.       If you are not getting restful sleep, then your serotonin cycles are probably not working properly.  Aside from the problems of poor sleep, serotonin levels can be affected by poor sleep.  One orthomolecular method to help sleep is to take about 400 mg of magnesium and 100 mg of potassium 1 hour before bedtime.  You should not take higher amounts than these doses, unless you get laboratory testing to determine your magnesium and potassium levels.  Magnesium is an inhibitor mineral of calcium.  Calcium is involved in many daytime cycles.  Magnesium can help you calm down a stimulated body from the daytime excitement, by helping to regulate calcium.  Proper calcium and magnesium levels can help prepare the body for  sleep.

10.  The hormone melatonin is produced from serotonin.  Thus you want to have melatonin at appropriate levels, to help conserve serotonin.  If melatonin is low, this may stress serotonin to produce more melatonin, thereby depleting serotonin levels You can measure melatonin levels by laboratory testing, but often melatonin measurements are unreliable.  Melatonin levels start to decline about 1- 1 and ½ percent each year after age 20.  Thus by the time you are 30-35 years old, your melatonin levels may have dropped to levels that affect function.  You can supplement 1-3 mg of melatonin one hour before bedtime, to help restore levels back to youthful levels.  Usually 2-3 months of supplementation can restore youthful levels.  It is often recommended to cycle melatonin.  One method is to take melatonin 6 days on it and 1 day off it.  Also take it 6 weeks on it and then stop it 1 week. Whenever supplementing hormones you should consult a hormonal specialist.  Melatonin can also help produce better sleep, which can also enhance its beneficial effects on serotonin.

11.  Serotonin is involved in your sleep cycles.  First serotonin begins its sleep cycle around the time you are getting ready to sleep.  Shortly after you begin sleep melatonin is produced.  Shortly after melatonin is produced, growth hormone is produced.  Later in the sleep cycle testosterone is produced, around the time you are waking up.  Thus all of these hormones and serotonin influence each other.  You want to have proper balance of all your important hormones, to help support your sleep cycles and metabolic functioning.  This idea of the vital hormones supporting each other and the neurotransmitters, is contained in the article, "Hormonal Cascade," in the hormone section of this web site.  The basic idea, the vital hormones DHEA, growth hormone, melatonin, thyroid hormone, adrenal, testosterone, progesterone and estrogen all work together in men and women.  The better they work together, the better each hormone is utilized in the body.  You can measure all of these hormones with a hormone specialist (see article, “Hormonal Cascade”, to get national referral number for cutting edge hormonal doctors), and then you can supplement or use medication to restore these hormone levels.

12.     Consider the supplement TMG.  TMG promotes a chemical process in the brain called methylation.  Methylation often declines in functioning as we age.  After the age of 35 it is a precaution to supplement TMG to help produce better brain functioning, which may help keep serotonin properly in balance.  You can laboratory test for homocysteine levels.  If these levels are proper, this can indicate methylation is proper and there is no need for TMG.  If homocysteine is high this usually indicates that methylation is not optimal and TMG may help this condition. 

13.  Caffeine from sodas, coffee, tea and so on can stimulate the adrenaline hormones.  Adrenaline hormones can result in blood sugar surges.  “The glucocorticoids are 21-carbon steroids, with many actions; the most important of which is to promote gluconeogenesis.  Cortisol is the predominant glucocorticoid in humans.  (Ref. Robert K. Murray, MD, Ph.D., Daryl K. Granmer, MD, Peter A. Mayes, Ph.D., D.Sc., Victor W. Fodwell, Ph.D., Harper’s Biochemistry, 25^th Edition, Appleton & Lance, Stanford, Connecticut, 2000, Page 575.)”   Also, “gluconeogenesis, the synthesis of glucose from non-carbohydrate sources, such as fat and protein. (Oxford Dictionary of Biology.)”  Thus, as the chemistry books explain, cortisol’s (adrenaline) primary job is to promote the production of blood sugar from the synthesis of fat and protein.  Cortisol is the body’s stress hormone and is released in response to stress.  Steady blood sugar levels can possibly help maintain a calm mood.  Caffeine can stimulate adrenaline and blood sugar surges.   Wildly fluctuating blood sugar may result in difficulty in maintaining control of emotions.  This may lead to difficulty in sleeping and depression.

14.  MAO enzyme helps break down serotonin.  It is proper to breakdown compounds in the body, in order to help recycle or eliminate them.  However, you do not want to over stimulate the breakdown of certain compounds, such as serotonin.  You do not want to over stimulate MAO because this may lead to inefficient and improper breakdown of serotonin.  Certain foods can over stimulate MAO, such as aged cheese, some aged wine, some smoked fish, and nutmeg.  You can read more about MAO in the article, "Eating cheese can be dangerous in Parkinson's."  Adrenaline hormones can also stimulate MAO.  Thus caffeine, fluctuating levels of blood sugar, stress and other factors can stimulate adrenaline, which can then stimulate MAO.  MAO can be highly stimulated by certain foods and stress, which may result in breaking down serotonin levels rapidly.  If you want to conserve serotonin, you need to attempt to control the over production of MAO.

15.  Serotonin is involved in vasoconstriction.  This is proper at nighttime.  The blood flow at nighttime needs to move into the digestive organs and systems.  During the daytime the blood supply is active in the skeletal muscles and other daytime cycles.  The vasoconstriction at night helps to move the blood supply into the nighttime cycles of organs and systems.  Vasoconstriction also helps control urination.  If you wake up 2 or more times a night to urinate, you may be having serotonin imbalance.  Serotonin imbalance may lead to improper vasoconstriction.  Proper vasoconstriction may be necessary for proper night time cycles.  There may be other reasons for frequent urination, such as prostrate problems in men, drinking too much liquid, water imbalance and so on.  However, to help improve the symptom of frequent urination, which then may support serotonin function, you need to consider eating more serotonin foods at night.  Increasing serotonin levels by eating foods that produce serotonin can help proper fluid regulation during sleep.  I recently woke up one night 4 times in about 4 hours to urinate.  The next day, I ate no starchy carbohydrates until 6:00 PM.  At 6:00 PM I ate a small portion of starchy carbohydrates and I ate serotonin-containing foods.  One hour before bedtime I ate two large slices of bread.  I ate cottage cheese with a little applesauce.  I took a double dose of melatonin, 2 tablets one hour before bedtime.  I slept through the whole night without waking up to urinate.  I slept like a dead person would sleep and woke up quite refreshed.  You can use diet to help regulate your serotonin levels and possibly influence proper urination flow at nighttime. 

16.  Bacteria in the intestines can break down tryptophan.  From the 25th edition of Harper’s Biochemistry, referring to amino acids breaking down as the result of bacteria, "The amino acid tryptophan undergoes a series of reactions to form indole and methylindole (skatole), the substances particularly responsible for the odor of feces (Ref. Robert K. Murray, MD, Ph.D., Daryl K. Granmer, MD, Peter A. Mayes, Ph.D., D.Sc., Victor W. Fodwell, Ph.D., Harper’s Biochemistry, 25^th Edition, Appleton & Lance, Stanford, Connecticut, 2000, Page 671)."  Also, "human fecal bacteria decarboxylates tryptophan to tryptamine, whose oxidation forms indole-3-acetate (page 354)."  Thus bacteria often break down tryptophan.  The idea is to conserve serotonin.  Thus you need to conserve tryptophan, the precursor of serotonin.  If you over stimulate tryptophan by eating too many starchy carbohydrates, then bacteria in the intestines may breakdown the tryptophan before it can be synthesized into serotonin.  It is also noted that there is an odor from tryptophan broken down by bacteria in the intestines.  This means if you have a strong odor when you have a bowel movement, this can indicate you are eating more starchy carbohydrates than you should, leading to over production of tryptophan and resulting in bacterial breakdown.  You are depleting your tryptophan levels when you over produce tryptophan. 

In conclusion, there are many natural methods to help conserve serotonin.  Often serotonin is linked with depression, obesity, migraines, and poor sleep.  It is easy to see possible connections when you realize proper balance of serotonin is closely connected to the foods you eat, your vasoconstriction, mineral balances, sleep cycles, and so on.  It might be prudent to learn to live within the cycles of life, to better help regulate your body and health.  Good luck.  

Note – In order for these nutritional ideas to be successful, you must use supplements of the highest quality. Dr. Bob often said, “almost all supplement companies produce poor quality.”  You can consider the product page of this web site. Almost all the products met Dr. Bob’s approval.  Since he passed away we have attempted to keep the same high standards.   

WARNING: DO NOT STOP ANY TREATMENT OR MEDICATION YOU CURRENTLY USE.  CONSULT WITH YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE STARTING THE USE OF SUPPLEMENTS.  

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