“Your brain is the command and control center of your body. If you want a better body, the first place to ALWAYS start is by having a better brain.” ~Daniel Amen, MD ¹

Specific nutrients have profound effects on our overall emotional well-being, including our ability to focus, motivate to do things, sleep well or wake up energized.

Good Mood Makers

Serotonin: made in the intestines from 5-HTP, which is derived from L-Tryptophan. Serotonin is our daytime “feel-good” neurotransmitter, and people who are low in this report feeling “under a dark cloud”. It helps us feel full and content after a meal, making it useful for people who are needing to lose weight. SSRI and MAO-inhibiting antidepressant drugs act to keep serotonin around, and people who do well with these might otherwise feel negative, moody, obsessive, irritable, or fearful. Serotonin is converted during dark winter months and at night to melatonin by the brain, and this is why many animals hibernate, and many people experience a wintertime S.A.D. (seasonal affective disorder) or low mood. Melatonin is our “sleep hormone” which also acts as an antioxidant for regeneration of many tissues. Without enough melatonin, people don't sleep well, or are restless with light sleep.

GABA (Gamma-Amino-Butyric Acid): made in the brain from L-Glutamine. GABA acts as the main calming neurotransmitter in the brain, which makes it important for regulating the stress response. People who are low in GABA report feeling overwhelmed, easily upset or frustrated, and shaky, especially after missed meals. L-Glutamine is a good precursor amino acid, because of its importance in gut health, brain health, and muscle recovery.

Dopamine & norepinephrine: both are made from the amino acid L-Tyrosine. Dopamine is the first thing made from L-Tyrosine, and is the neurotransmitter responsible for pleasure and satisfaction. It is that feeling of “I want to do that again” derived from good food, balanced exercise or intimacy. Many addictive drugs raise dopamine levels to many times normal, then leave a person with a dopamine deficit afterward. Alcoholics and people addicted to other drugs are usually deficient in dopamine, and susceptible to addiction from low levels of dopamine in the first place. Dopamine is converted into norepinephrine, an excitatory neurotransmitter that is important in mental focus and feeling energized. This is released when we need to be alert, and can be stimulated by caffeine. Norepinephrine causes the release of epinephrine (known as adrenaline), which carries us through stressful events with greater clarity, energy, and less pain or inflammation. L-Tyrosine is also the “T” in thyroid hormones T3 and T4, which are the major hormones involved in energy, temperature regulation, and fat burning.

Note that all of the good mood neurotransmitters that are listed above come from protein. Turkey is famous for containing L-Tryptophan, but all of these (Tyrosine, Glutamine & Tryptophan) can be found in a complete protein source.

Omega-3, mono-unsaturated & saturated fats: Nerve cells have membranes that are made of a high percentage of omega-3 fats, especially DHA. They also contain a high percentage of cholesterol, and the arachidonic acid found in butter and other saturated fats. Solid research is linking deficiencies of omega-3 fatty acids with depression, anxiety, and other clinical problems treated by psychology. All of the good mood neurotransmitters listed above are held inside bags made of fat. If the bags are flexible, they can withstand stressors and neurotransmitters inside are preserved better than if the bags are made of stiff trans-fats or saturated fat sources.

Probiotics: These are good bacteria that inhabit us, and are responsible for the fermentation of many traditional foods like sauerkraut, sourdough, miso and tamari. In the last decade, we have found out that these bugs outnumber the cells in our own body, and they are very important (in ways that we're still uncovering) for the conversion of food into nutrients we can use, and even neurotransmitters like GABA and serotonin that have good effects on our mood and emotion.

Bad Mood Bummers

Glutamate: used as-is by the brain as the main excitatory neurotransmitter. While it is important in learning and memory and can be converted into calming GABA, it is linked to problems of focus, concentration and insomnia. Interestingly, glutamate is found commonly in foods containing MSG (mono-sodium glutamate), and goes by names like hydrolyzed vegetable protein, autolyzed yeast, and L-glutamic acid. Dairy, whey protein, and gluten grains such as wheat have high amounts of glutamate. Excess glutamate can excite nerve cells into self-induced death, and is associated with a number of neurodegenerative disorders.

Sugar & White-Flour Starches: Sugar was “brought to Europe from the East in the 1100s as a precious drug, kept under lock and key by apothecaries and worth its weight in silver. In a way, it's unfair to categorize sweets and white-flour products as foods. They're really more like drugs. What's left after the extraction process is a potent crystallized concentrate, not unlike other plant concentrates we're familiar with, like cocaine or opium, also extracted from lovely plants full of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. The Sugar-and-starch combo can make foods doubly addicting and is part of why they have such mood-altering power.”²

At the Mountain-River Naturopathic Clinic, we can help you figure out dietary and targeted nutrient therapies to help conditions that range from low mood or insomnia, to anxiety or attention deficit. We work with all other health care providers to ensure there are no harmful interactions with existing therapies, and make sure you have therapeutic quality nutrients at non-toxic levels.

1. Amen, Daniel, MD. Change Your Brain, Change Your Body. Harmony Books (Crown Publishing) 2010.
2. Ross, Julia, MA. The Mood Cure. Penguin Books, 2002.