A Dopamine Diet Can Help Promote Healthier Behaviors
If you think you may be suffering from low dopamine, then consider abstaining from certain foods and activities that excessively pump out this pleasure-inducing chemical. This article will help you learn how to repair dopamine receptors through a dopamine detox. A dopamine detox can help you ditch negative behaviors for healthier behaviors that are more sustainable long term.
Causes of Dopamine Deficiency
- Drug and alcohol abuse – These substances trigger the release of dopamine which is what gives you that high feeling. Once your brain stops releasing dopamine, you start to crash. Continuous use of drugs and alcohol depletes your reserves, which makes it harder to achieve the positive effects of this happy chemical.
- Obesity and overeating – Your body releases dopamine every time you eat, which is constantly depleting your dopamine reserves when done in excess.
- Diets high in sugar and saturated fats continuously trigger large amounts of release all at once. This produces the desire to consume more and more. The more you eat, the more dopamine is released, which is exhausting your reserves and receptors, making them lazy or inactive.
- Diets that lack protein can lead to a lack of l-tyrosine, which is an amino acid essential in building dopamine.
- Poor diet resulting in a lack of B vitamins, zinc, iron, copper, and magnesium.
- Digestive issues can lead to a deficiency because 50% of dopamine is produced in the gut.
- Chronic stress leads to a consistent overflow of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, while suppressing calming hormones like serotonin and dopamine.
*Learn more about causes of low dopamine and how to increase them here.
When is Dopamine Released?
Every activity (both negative and positive) releases dopamine. The difference is that positive behaviors, like exercise, release dopamine at a more moderate rate than negative behaviors. Negative behaviors like drinking alcohol provide a dopamine rush all at once. All humans have a natural dopamine addiction, and this is why we are easily attracted to behaviors that provide us with instant gratification. We are dopamine fiends that want more and more. Here are some examples of what behaviors release dopamine.
Positive Behavior Examples
- Eating healthy (exp: fruits and veggies)
- Exercise
- Playing competitive sports
- Completing a task at work
- Social Interactions with friends and family
Negative Behaviors Examples
- Eating unhealthily (exp: sugary or fried foods)
- Nicotine, drugs, and alcohol
- Gambling
A dopamine detox can help tame our brains to experience more pleasure from the healthier things in life.
How to Repair Dopamine Receptors With a Dopamine Detox
A Dopamine detox can rebalance the brain’s motivation-reward system. It can also help kick start a weight loss program that requires eliminating sugars, carbohydrates, and processed foods.
The fast involves abstaining from all activities that involve pleasure, including food, alcohol, sex, masturbation, social media, video games, TV, and even talking. The fast can be done for one day monthly. The only thing you should allow yourself to do during the fast is drink water, be in nature, do some light exercise, meditate, and write in a journal.
The point is to cut out over-stimulating activities so that your brain stops excessively pumping out dopamine, especially with negative behaviors. We can choose what our brain associates with pleasure by first eliminating all pleasure-inducing behaviors and then reintroducing only the healthy ones back first. You can slowly bring back negative behaviors, but only if the positive behaviors take up the majority of your time. The dopamine rush resulting from negative behaviors makes us lazy and less motivated to participate in more positive behaviors. For example, a slice of pizza releases more dopamine than a salad, so our brain wants the pizza every time. But when you eliminate pizza from your diet, your brain will start to associate salad with pleasure again.
Bore Yourself Enough and You'll Start to Enjoy the Simple Things in Life Again
Boring yourself will give you a chance to reset your pleasure-reward system so that you associate pleasure with the healthier things in life. For example, a dopamine diet can give you the willpower to eliminate sugars. Have you ever gone hungry long enough to the point where you could eat just about anything? Even bland rice or plain oatmeal sounds delicious when you are starving. This is all connected to the dopamine’s pleasure-reward system in the brain. You want to starve yourself of pleasure, so your brain stops taking advantage of the healthier things in life. Your brain will have a new appreciation for positive behaviors, as long as you do not overwhelm it again with the negative ones. *Remember, negative behaviors make your brain lazy.
Dopamine Diet
If you find it challenging to cut out all pleasure-inducing activity for one day, try a dopamine diet instead. Think of the “fast” as a quick fix and the “diet” as a lifestyle you will maintain for a certain amount of time.
Eliminate or reduce sugar, carbohydrates, saturated fats, processed food, caffeine, alcohol, smoking, drugs, or other negative behaviors. Include foods that increase dopamine.
Dopamine Foods:
- Vegetables
- Healthy Grains
- Legumes
- Nuts – almonds & walnuts
- Seeds
- Unprocessed meats, such as beef, turkey, lamb, chicken and fish
- Eggs
- Milk, cheese, and yogurt
- Fruit
To The Point - Natural Ways to Increase Dopamine
- A dopamine detox can rebalance the brain’s motivation-reward system.
- The fast involves abstaining from all activities that involve pleasure, including food, alcohol, sex, masturbation, social media, video games, TV, and talking. You can do the fast for one day each month.
- During abstinence, you should try to increase dopamine levels in healthier ways. Examples would include exercise, sleep, relaxation, and finding more positive things that please you, such as immersing yourself in nature.
- A dopamine diet involves limiting negative behaviors and maintaining a healthy balanced lifestyle.
If you are overcoming a drug or alcohol addiction, it can take anywhere from 3 months to 1 year to heal and rebalance your dopamine levels. Learn more about the process of overcoming drug addictions. Overcoming simple bad habits like food addictions can take anywhere from 3 to 21 days to form new healthier habits. An occasional dopamine detox can help speed up your recovery.
Learning how to repair dopamine receptors is a vital step in rebalancing dopamine levels. Check out this article to learn 8 ways to naturally increase dopamine levels.
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Writer Bio
Taleen Keuftedjian is a mental health and wellness enthusiast who coaches others on the importance of whole-body health, which incorporates brain, body, and spirit. She takes a relatable approach where she uses her own personal experiences to help motivate others to live a healthy, happy, anxiety-free life.
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