Are you depressed: anxious or depressed? If so, your serotonin levels may be low. Serotonin is one of the most surprising and important substances in your body, and when it goes down, problems develop. What is it? It is a neurotransmitter that helps transmit messages throughout neurons from one region of your brain to another. Low levels not only lead to depression and anxiety, but can also cause other problems like insomnia, loss of appetite, and memory loss, to name just a few. Therefore, it is in your best interest to make sure it stays high.

Several foods contain serotonin, but they are not very helpful, since serotonin cannot be absorbed directly into the brain. However, eating the right foods is the right approach. What you want to eat are foods that contain tryptophan; it is one of the 20 amino acids in your body (amino acids are the building blocks of protein in your body). But simply eating foods that contain tryptophan is not enough. The problem is that tryptophan has to pass from the blood to the brain to be useful, and under normal circumstances, it cannot pass. The reason is that there are 20 different amino acids in your blood at any one time (they come from the protein you eat) and they are all trying to enter your brain. Some are relatively large, and with such a large number trying to get in at once, tryptophan gets blocked. You can think of the entrance to your brain as a door with a large number of people trying to enter at the same time. If you are in this group, your chances of entering are relatively small. The same is true for tryptophan, and as a result, very little enters the brain, although there may be a good blood supply.

Therefore, you have to cut down on the competition and you can do this by eating carbohydrates. Carbohydrates make insulin, and this insulin sends amino acids from your blood to your body, all except tryptophan. When tryptophan discovers that it no longer has competition, it rushes to the brain where it is converted to serotonin.

Therefore, your first step is to eat foods that contain tryptophan. Some of the best are;

• Turkey: .37 grams per quarter cup
• Chicken: 0.28 g per quarter cup
• Cottage cheese: .4 g per cup
• Wheat germ: .4 g per cup
• Eggs: .1 g each

Other excellent sources are dairy products, soybeans, walnuts, and bananas.

Once you have a good supply of tryptophan in your blood, you should eat carbohydrates. They will allow your brain to absorb the tryptophan. Some of the best carbohydrates for this are:

• Whole wheat cereal
• Oatmeal
• Whole wheat bread and crackers
• Beans
• Pasta

However, it is important to eat complex carbohydrates and avoid simple carbohydrates like cookies, candy, and potato chips. Also, you should allow time between foods with tryptophan and carbohydrates, if possible. Carbohydrate snacks can be used after the main meal. It’s also important to make sure you don’t load up on protein in your main meal.

This should keep your serotonin levels high enough and help you feel good. However, food is not the only thing that helps keep serotonin levels high. Some of the others are:

• Exercise
• Vitamins
• Getting enough sunlight
• Meditation and relaxation
• Regular hours of sleep

A great way to raise your serotonin levels is to exercise regularly every day, but you don’t need to overdo it. Thirty to forty minutes of exercise a day is sufficient. Do aerobics and weights. Studies have shown that serotonin levels remain high for several days after a good workout. Walking, jogging, and biking are fine.

Various vitamins are also helpful in creating good serotonin levels. They include B6 (100-300 mg / day), calcium (1000-1200 mg / day), magnesium (300 mg / day), and folic acid (200 mg / day).

It is also important to get enough sunlight. When you wake up in the morning, your body begins to produce serotonin. How much you create depends on how much sunlight you are exposed to, so try to get outside for a while every day, especially in the morning.

Serotonin is depleted from stress and tension, so try to relax during the day. Meditation is particularly good, as is listening to relaxing music. Laughter also helps.

Lastly, try to sleep at regular times. However, there is a catch 22 here. You need good levels of serotonin to sleep well, but if you don’t sleep, it affects your levels.

Following this will help you feel better and be more cheerful and happy. But be careful: too much serotonin will make you sleepy.