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Dopamine has everything to do with how motivated, and driven we feel right now. It strongly affects how eager we are to engage in life and pursue our goals!
Depleted dopamine levels can have significant negative effects on both our physical and mental health. Let’s take a look at some of those negative effects.
Low dopamine levels can result in decreased motivation, difficulty initiating tasks, and reduced interest in pursuing goals or activities.
Low dopamine levels are often linked to depressive symptoms, including persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and lack of pleasure in activities that were once enjoyable.
Dopamine plays a key role in regulating our mood, and imbalances can contribute to the development or exacerbation of depression.
Dopamine is involved in regulating arousal and energy levels. Depleted dopamine levels can lead to fatigue, lethargy, and a general lack of motivation or drive to engage in daily activities.
These are potentially devastating consequences, not just when it comes to goal achievement, but also our life in general and therefore we must do whatever is within our control to optimize our dopamine system and we can start by adopting some basic lifestyle habits that promote healthy baseline dopamine levels.
Now before we talk about those lifestyle habits I think it is really helpful for us to have a basic understanding of how dopamine is released in our brains. To do this I am borrowing an analogy form Dr. Kyle Gilette called the “wave pool analogy.
Imagine your dopamine system as a wave pool, like the kind you may find at a waterpark.
In this graphic the blue line represents the water level in the pool or in our case your case the dopamine level in our brains. Be aware that there is always a baseline level of dopamine present in our system.
The pink line represents the spikes and dips in dopamine we experience whenever we do something pleasurable.
High and frequent waves in a wave pool would cause some water to slosh out and the overall water level would drop. That is kind of like it works in our brains too. High and frequent peaks in dopamine would cause our baseline levels to drop.
This dynamic is key to understanding the dopamine system and leveraging it to our advantage. Yes, there are practical and concrete things we can do to optimize our dopamine system. We’re not simply at the mercy of our brain chemistry.
So, what can we do to promote healthy baseline dopamine levels and optimize our dopamine system?
Here are 3 lifestyle habits essential to dopamine health.
The first and most important one is to optimize the quality of your sleep. Baseline levels of dopamine need to be replenished and this happens mostly during our sleep. You guys, there is a lot of information out there on how to get good sleep. Our bodies don’t always respond in the same way to whatever experts suggest we do to improve our sleep.
What works for me is to go to bed early. Go to bed at the same time every day if possible , get at least 7 hours of sleep every night and refrain from consuming caffeine after 12 noon.
Go do some research, experiment and find what tactics work for you to improve your sleep. But, make sure you do it, because good sleep is the foundation of a healthy dopamine system.
The second one is exercise ! Surprise ! Surprise. While we exercise and especially afterwards we experience dopamine peaks, but I’m not really talking about those.
Exercise also has a very positive influence on the baseline level of dopamine in our systems. Regular exercise has been shown to increase the synthesis of dopamine in the brain. As you engage in physical activity, neurons responsible for dopamine production become more active, leading to higher baseline levels of dopamine over time.
The kind of exercise and how much of it you do depends on various factors such as your age, current level of fitness , health status and specific goals.
For me , as I’m growing older I want to make sure I get some cardio vascular exercise , strength training, flexibility training as well as mobility training.
Again, find something that works for you. You don’t have to become some kind of fitness maniac. But make sure you get enough exercise.
The third lifestyle habit is nutrition. What a minefield this can be. Everyone and their mother seems to be creating their own diet and claiming it to be the most effective one.
I’m not going to recommend any of those specific diets, but I will recommend consuming more foods that are high in L-tyrosine.
L-tyrosine is an amino acid that serves as a precursor to several important neurotransmitters, including dopamine. In the brain, L-tyrosine is converted into L-DOPA, which is then further converted into dopamine.
Foods high in L-tyrosine include things such as lean meats, dairy products, eggs, nuts, seeds, and legumes. Personally, I consume lots of these. There are some L-tyrosine supplements available. I don’t take those, but they might be worth checking out. But, remember to consult your physician first.
Healthy baseline dopamine levels are essential to our overall well-being.
But, because of its huge influence on motivation and drive.
If you are an ambitious person with goals and dreams you want to achieve then optimizing your dopamine system is even more essential.
To help you do exactly that I have created a beautiful comprehensive guide called DOPAMINE DRIVE. Download it from the HOME page.
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