Dopamine Diet Food Lists and Best Natural Sources to Use

How does your diet affect dopamine levels in the brain and what foods are recommended for optimal levels of this mood-regulating neurotramsitter?

The Dopamine Diet is an eating plan that incorporates foods that naturally increase dopamine production in the brain. This diet is said to support weight loss by controlling cravings for sugary/starchy foods.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is responsible for controlling various body and brain functions. One of these functions is modulating our senses of pleasure, reward and hunger cravings.

Sugary foods, caffeine, stimulants and other unhealthy foods can cause a short-term surge of dopamine activity in the brain, followed by depletion of this neurotransmitter. Over time, this can negatively affect dopamine balance and result in poor appetite regulation, leading to over-eating of sugar-rich foods.

Eating foods recommended by the Dopamine Diet can help to normalize dopamine levels by increasing consumption of the building blocks needed to make this brain chemical. What foods are recommended when following this diet and what foods should be avoided?

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What is the Dopamine Diet?

The Dopamine Diet incorporates protein-rich foods that provide the precursors required to naturally increase dopamine production in the brain.

It omits foods and other substances which are known to deplete dopamine stores and may cause a loss of dopaminergic neuroreceptors. For best results, daily exercise and effective stress coping skills are also necessary.

In general, foods which are high in protein make good Dopamine Diet foods. These foods are sources of the amino acid L-tyrosine, which is necessary to manufacture dopamine in the brain.

Some of the best foods to raise dopamine levels include lean cuts of red meat, turkey, chicken, fish, eggs, cheese and avocados.

Green leafy vegetables are excellent foods sources too. They are concentrated with various micronutrients which are beneficial as cofactors in catecholamine synthesis.

Some other healthy food options for the Dopamine Diet include bananas, cherries, strawberries, blueberries, chickpeas, black beans, broccoli, cauliflower – and herbs like rosemary, basil and cilantro.

Dopamine Diet Foods

The Dopamine Diet is based on foods which naturally increase the availability of dopamine precursors. By increasing levels naturally, low dopamine symptoms may be avoided. Some of these include:

• Inability to feel pleasure (anhedonia);
• Chronic mental and physical fatigue;
• Suicidal thoughts and/or behaviors;
• Hopelessness;
• Depression;
• Irritability;
• Lethargy;

This list is not conclusive. Other symptoms are possible and vary depending on individual factors.

The Dopamine Diet does not include certain substances which are consumed very commonly today. It omits all food sources which are associated with toxicity and oxidation.

High-sugar foods, foods high in saturated fats, refined and processed foods, bleached foods, fast foods, fried foods, deep-fried foods and foods that are laden with pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics and/or steroids are not recommended for the Dopamine Diet.

While many of these foods – like those high in sugar – do cause a temporary increase in the release of dopamine in the brain, they do not provide the building blocks to replenish stores of this neurotransmitter.

As a result, eating these foods is often accompanied by an energy crash and low moods. This can cause the individual to eat more unhealthy foods to lift their mood, resulting in a continuous cycle.

Some research suggests that a sugar addiction should be treated the same way as we currently treat drug addictions. We know that sugar activates the same dopaminergic receptors that control addiction to substances like cocaine and the withdrawal symptoms can be unpleasant and difficult to overcome.

Tyrosine and Dopamine Synthesis

The Dopamine Diet is based primarily around increasing your consumption of tyrosine-rich food sources, but you can also improve balance of this neurotransmitter by taking L-tyrosine supplements.

Tyrosine is an amino acid and the rate-limiting precursor of dopamine (and other catecholamines) biosynthesis. That means that dopamine cannot be manufactured without tyrosine being present in the system.

Tyrosine can be gained through the diet, taken as a dietary supplement – or biosynthesized in the liver from phenylalanine.

Some available tyrosine is used to biosynthesize an amino acid called L-DOPA. Tyrosine is converted into L-DOPA via the actions of a monooxygenase enzyme called tyrosine decarboxylase.

The L isomer of DOPA is able to enter the brain by crossing the BBB (blood brain barrier). Once inside the brain, L-DOPA is converted to natural dopamine.

Dopamine biosynthesis as part of the pleasure/reward pathway occurs mainly in the VTA (ventral tegmental area) of the mesencephalon (midbrain).

From there, it is released into the prefrontal cortex and the nucleus accumbens. Dopamine is also manufactured in the substantia nigra, and then released into the dorsal striatum to modulate motor functions.

Benefits of the Dopamine Diet

According to the WHO, 65.3% of females and 74.1% of males in the US are overweight. 36.3% of females and 33.7% of males in the US are obese. Further, 42.1% of females and 27.6% of males in the US are physically inactive.

As in many countries, people in the United States eat excessive amounts of addictive foods.

Unnatural chocolate, sugary foods and beverages, caffeinated beverages, alcohol, nicotine, pharmaceutical drugs, illicit drugs and environmental toxins can all have damaging effects on dopamine biosynthesis.

The Dopamine Diet is based on controlling the intake of these unhealthy foods – and replacing them with foods that encourage natural hormonal and neurotransmitter balancing.

When you positively change the foods you consume regularly, you empower your body to function better on various levels simultaneously.

Dopamine and Appetite

Choosing foods that upregulate dopamine production indirectly affects health in various other positive manners.

Focusing your food consumption on dopamine-boosting foods may also help to reduce your risks for developing diabetes mellitus, heart disease, cancer, obesity and various other disorders affected by nutrition.

Nutritionally-void foods make the brain continue sending out hunger signals. It is not getting necessary nutrients and so commands more eating in hopes of obtaining these nutrients. Now add in the fact that these addictive foods trigger dopamine release; making them seem pleasurable.

As the brain starves for nutrients, and simultaneously releases dopamine as a result of stimulatory food consumption, dopamine and dopamine receptor levels are compromised. In the long run, the eating-for-pleasure cycle causes serious dopamine deficiencies and chronic low dopamine symptoms.

It is always best to seek medical advice about initiating a Dopamine Diet plan for weight loss or improved mood. Use extra caution if you take thyroid replacement hormone, medications for hypertension (high blood pressure) and/or MAOIs (monoamine oxidase inhibitors).

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