Called the motivation molecule, dopamine is a neurotransmitter that can bolster your drive, productivity, and concentration. Understandably, with little of this neurotransmitter, you become lethargic, unmotivated, and unfocused. It may be hard to attain our goals with depleted dopamine.
With the importance of dopamine, it helps to know how to increase dopamine and what depletes it. This way, we will never lose the zest for life and accomplishment. Do you know that taking a cold shower can help you increase your dopamine? But aside from that, here is a long list of what to do to naturally improve our dopamine.
Diet
L-tyrosine is the precursor of dopamine. It is an amino acid that can be found in our bodies. We can have more of L-tyrosine by including cheese, chicken, fish, turkey, dairy, and other meat products in our meals.
We can also get dopamine from plants, such as turmeric, coffee, beans, nuts, bananas, avocados, and many others. It has also been studied that good bacteria or probiotics and supplements can also increase our dopamine levels.
Exercise
By doing workouts regularly, we can also increase our dopamine. Get motivated with attainable goals at first. This will increase your drive to achieve more. Exercise also reduces the effects of Parkinson’s disease, which is a dopamine-related disorder.
Sleep
A night of restful sleep can help balance our dopamine levels. We all know the effects of not getting enough sleep. We feel lethargic and maybe in a good mood during the day. This is because our brain’s dopamine levels plummet every time we don’t get quality sleep.
Meditation
Meditating for even short periods can help release dopamine. This can be the reason why those who meditate are more motivated and more focused on their goals.
Music
We get excited when hearing our favorite songs. We may want to move and dance with the melody. This is because of the dopamine released when we anticipate hearing beautiful sounds.
Weight Loss
When we are into a weight loss program, we avoid sugar. Sugar and artificial sweeteners may cause the release of more dopamine than expected. This may cause the depletion of our dopamine in our brains. This may also be true when you overeat during meals.
Friendly Touch
Although this may not be advisable during this COVID 19 pandemic, it is proven that getting friendly touch can increase our dopamine. You can also induce the release of the so-called motivation molecule by touching your pet and getting tapped at the shoulder.
After this pandemic, let’s hug and be hugged. It will make us more motivated for life.