The UltraMind Solution (28 page)
Read The UltraMind Solution Online
Authors: Mark Hyman
GABA: Getting Relaxed
Dopamine and the Catecholamines: Getting Focused
Do you have low dopamine levels? Take this quiz to find out.
In the box on the right, place a check for each positive answer. Then find out how severe your problem is by using the scoring key below.
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Score one point for each box you checked.
Dopamine is the pleasure and reward neurotransmitter. It is responsible for attention and focusing. It motivates you and stimulates you to engage in life. Its close cousins are the stimulating and energy-giving neurotransmitters epinephrine and norepinephrine.
All three are built from the amino acid
tyrosine,
which in turn comes from the essential dietary amino acid
phenylalanine.
Supplementing your diet with both of these amino acids can help mood, energy, and attention. You get these amino acids by eating high-quality protein such as beans, nuts, seeds, and lean poultry, fish, and eggs.
Dopamine levels are low in addicts, in people with low-energy types of depression as opposed to an agitated or anxious type of depression, and in people with ADHD. Stimulant drugs like Ritalin are designed to mimic dopamine effects. That is why they are prescribed to people with ADHD. Cocaine, speed, and a cup of coffee also mimic dopamine’s effects. But taking any of these drugs over time (Ritalin included) depletes your body’s ability to make your own dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine.
This neurotransmitter is also low in Parkinson’s disease. The flat, slow, and sluggish appearance of people with Parkinson’s disease is because they can’t produce enough dopamine.
If you have a dopamine receptor that isn’t very good at “listening” to the signals, then any little stress or toxic influence like mercury can trigger a problem because toxins can interfere with the receptors’ ability to listen to messages. Genetic variations in dopamine receptors have been found in people with autism and ADHD.
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So even if you have enough dopamine, the receptors may not work as well, leading to ADHD, autism, and mood disorders.
The good news is that we
can
improve the function of these receptors with proper nutrition (remember how fats influence neurotransmitter and receptor production) and vitamin supplementation (especially folate, B
6
, and B
12
, which you will learn more about a little later in this chapter). Both improve your cells’ ability to “listen” as well as produce more neurotransmitters.
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That’s why studies show that supplementing with the amino acid tyrosine, as well as essential fats (omega-3 fats, PC, and PS) and special nutrients (folate, B
12
, and B
6
), can improve depression, ADHD, and Parkinson’s.
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These nutrients give your body what it needs to function as it was designed, and to repair the damage that leads to conditions like these in the first place.
In fact, nutrients often work better than conventional medication and without side effects, because they are part of your brain’s natural raw materials and design.
Tyrosine is a wonderful, safe, cheap way to boost dopamine levels. Even the military has researched it and uses it to boost physical and mental performance during stressful conditions.
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(In fact, I am using it to help me stay focused and write this book!) And the amino acid phenylalanine can be very helpful in boosting the other energy-giving, motivating, and focusing neurotransmitter norepinephrine. You will learn more tips on how to do this in
chapter 22
.
Do you have low serotonin levels? Take the following quiz to find out.
In the box on the right, place a check for each positive answer. Then find out how severe your problem is by using the scoring key below.
SEROTONIN QUIZ | |
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