The constitution of the WHO states “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
Serotonin hormone (also known as 5-hydroxytryptamine or 5-HT) is made from the essential amino acid tryptophan that functions as a neurotransmitter to carry signals between nerve cells(neurons) throughout your body. Tryptophan deficiency can lead to lower serotonin levels. This can result in mood disorders, such as anxiety or depression.
Unlike calcium-rich foods, which can directly increase your blood levels of this mineral, there are no foods that can directly increase your body’s supply of serotonin. That said, there are foods and some nutrients that can increase levels of tryptophan like turkey, eggs, cheese, soy products, and salmon.
Serotonin is found mostly in the digestive system, although it’s also in blood platelets and throughout the central nervous system. Elsewhere in the body, serotonin also helps with sleep, sexual function, bone health, and blood clotting.
Generally, the normal range for serotonin levels in your blood is 101–283 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL). This benchmark, however, may differ slightly depending on the measurements and samples tested, so talk to your doctor about specific test results.
In the brain, serotonin helps with mood regulation and memory, but the neurotransmitter also has important jobs in other parts of the body.
There’s no single cause of low serotonin levels, but it typically occurs for one of two reasons: not having enough serotonin or inefficient use of the serotonin you have. In the first scenario, you have low levels of serotonin because your body is not producing enough to maintain normal levels.
Meditating can help relieve stress and promote a positive outlook on life, which can greatly boost serotonin levels.
Increasing how much serotonin is in the brain appears to improve communication between brain cells, which in turn lifts mood and reduces symptoms of depression. This why prescription antidepressant medications are used to treat clinical depression and other mood disorders.
as mentioned purified tryptophan increases brain serotonin but foods containing tryptophan do not. This is because tryptophan is transported into the brain by a transport system that is active toward all the large neutral amino acids and tryptophan is the least abundant amino acid in protein. There is competition between the various amino acids for the transport system, so after the ingestion of a meal containing protein, the rise in the plasma level of the other large neutral amino acids will prevent the rise in plasma tryptophan from increasing brain tryptophan. The idea, common in popular culture, that a high-protein food such as turkey will raise brain tryptophan and serotonin is, unfortunately, false. Another popular myth that is widespread on the Internet is that bananas improve mood because of their serotonin content. Although it is true that bananas contain serotonin, it does not cross the blood–brain barrier.
Research on the association between serotonin and depression supports the idea that serotonin plays a role, not only in the treatment of depression but also in susceptibility to depression and suicide.
it’s believed that serotonin influences when, how much, and how well you sleep. Serotonin does not regulate these tasks alone; other neurotransmitters like dopamine also play a key role.
Your brain has specific sections that control when you fall asleep, regulate your sleep patterns, and wake you up. The parts of your brain that are responsible for regulating sleep also have serotonin receptors.
A 2007 study found that people with depression often have low levels of serotonin. Serotonin deficiency has also been linked to anxiety and insomnia.
Serotonin contributes to normal bowel function and reduces your appetite as you eat to help you know when you’re full. The neurotransmitter also plays a protective role in the gut.
a low prolactin response to the serotonin-releasing drug fenfluramine was associated with the metabolic syndrome, a risk factor for heart disease, suggesting that low serotonin may predispose healthy individuals to suboptimal physical as well as mental functioning.
Studies have shown that serotonin levels may influence bone density (the strength of your bones). Research suggests that high circulating levels of serotonin in the gut might be associated with lower bone density and conditions like osteoporosis.
Massage therapy has been found to promote the release of serotonin and decrease the stress hormone cortisol, making it an appealing non-pharmaceutical addition to depression and anxiety treatment plans. You don’t even need a professional massage to reap the benefits.
A frequently cited study of pregnant women with depression published in the International Journal of Neuroscience in 2004 concluded that massage could be beneficial even when given by someone who isn’t a trained massage therapist.
After participants in the study had two 20-minute massage sessions given by their partners, their serotonin levels increased by 28% and their dopamine levels by 31%.
When you have any kind of tissue damage, such as a cut, the platelet cells in your blood release serotonin to help heal the wound. Increased serotonin levels cause the tiny arteries (known as arteriole) of the circulatory system to narrow. As they get smaller, blood flow slows.
This narrowing (known as vasoconstriction) and slowed blood flow are two crucial elements of blood clotting—a crucial step in the process of wound healing.
Exercise, as mentioned, improves mood in subclinical populations as well as in patients. The most consistent effect is seen when regular exercisers undertake aerobic exercise at a level with which they are familiar.
The largest body of work in humans looking at the effect of exercise on tryptophan availability to the brain is concerned with the hypothesis that fatigue during exercise is associated with elevated brain tryptophan and serotonin synthesis. A large body of evidence supports the idea that exercise, including exercise to fatigue, is associated with an increase in plasma tryptophan and a decrease in the plasma level of the branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) leucine, isoleucine and valine. exercise results in an increase in the plasma ratio of tryptophan to the BCAAs before the onset of fatigue.
the decline in vigorous physical exercise and, in particular, in effort-based rewards may contribute to the high level of depression in today’s society.
The idea that alterations in thought, either self-induced or due to psychotherapy, can alter brain metabolism is not new. Numerous studies have demonstrated changes in blood flow in such circumstances. However, reports related to specific transmitters are much less common. In one recent study, meditation, as mentioned was reported to increase release of dopamine. The study is the first to report that self-induced changes in mood can influence serotonin synthesis. This raises the possibility that the interaction between serotonin synthesis and mood may be 2-way, with serotonin influencing mood and mood influencing serotonin. Obviously, more work is needed to answer questions in this area.
Exposure to bright light is another possible approach to increasing serotonin without drugs. Bright light is, of course, a standard treatment for seasonal depression, but a few studies also suggest that it is an effective treatment for nonseasonal depression and also reduces depressed mood in women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder and in pregnant women suffering from depression. The evidence relating these effects to serotonin is indirect. In human postmortem brain, serotonin levels are higher in those who died in summer than in those who died in winter.