Why do we feel good when we kiss someone, eat sugary treats or achieve career success? Because of dopamine. Dopamine is a type of neurotransmitter chemical that travels through the nervous system to bring a message to our brain. Your body makes it, and your nervous system uses it to send messages between nerve cells. Hormones are also neurotransmitters, but they travel through the blood.
Video Transcript
“How dopamine work in a human body?” I am so glad you asked the question because this video will bring you all the answers that you seek. And don’t’ forget to support our new channel by sharing, commenting, and subscribing.
Dopamine as a neurotransmitter has the effect of giving you pleasure, a sense of reward, and therefore motivation to do something. Dopamine is the molecule that is behind our most sinful impulses and also our cravings such as lust and addiction (whether to chocolate, cocaine, sex, or gambling) and is often referred to as the feel-good hormone.
When you eat junk food, you feel good afterward. Why is this? There is a system in your brain called the Reward System. This system is designed to reward you when you’re doing things that advance your chance of survival. In the olden days, people had to hunt for food; if you didn’t have a good hunting day, you will be left with an empty stomach and your chance of survival will decrease by the day until you cross paths with a bison.
Nowadays, the only thing you have to do to get food is open your fridge or cupboard or drag yourself to the next grocery store, takeaway, or restaurant. Our problem these days is that we are eating too much food. Eating constantly highly increases our chance of being overweight. Eating is becoming addictive because it makes us feel good… until the day when we can’t fit in our favorite pair of jeans and our reflection in the mirror makes all our previous feel-good factor disappears.
Drugs like cocaine for example make people feel good not because of the drug itself but because it stimulates dopamine That is why cocaine and sugar are so addictive, they satisfy your natural reward system in a big way. But repeated drug use also raises the threshold for this kind of pleasure. This means you need to take more to get the same high.
In addition to the risk of making yourself a target for the police, using drugs such as cocaine makes your body less able to produce dopamine naturally. This leads to emotional low when you are sober turning you into somebody people don’t want to be around anymore.
Talking about cocaine and sugar. Did you know that sugar is more addictive than cocaine?
A study published on 28 July 2010 in the Public Library of Science describes a strange rate experiment involving sugar and cocaine. The rats were given cocaine until they became dependent on it. Then researchers provided them with a choice – the rats could choose to switch to sugar. 94% of the rats chose to switch to sugar, even when they had to work hard to access it. The study concluded that sugar was more addictive than cocaine!
If you are dopamine deficient you lack motivation and drive, you become fatigued, you can become moody and depressed. So, make sure to monitor your dopamine level. What kind of things will deplete your dopamine level? Excessive caffeine, alcohol, the use of chemical drugs, too much sugar, stress, and cortisol.
The good news is that this wonderful “machine” called our body is able to produce dopamine naturally. How? I am so glad you ask this question because there are ways to increase the production of dopamine naturally.
- Exercise is a dopamine booster. Keep moving.
- Eat healthy preferably a keto (low carb high protein) diet, which will help you lower your insulin level and insulin has a huge role in regulating dopamine. Don’t drink too much coffee. Reduce your sugar intake. Reduce your alcohol intake.
- Laugh as often as can. Laughter releases feel-good chemicals.
- Connect with others. Find a sense of purpose. Go dancing.
- Learn something new. Challenge yourself regularly.
- Spend time in nature and in the sun. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a well-known condition in which people feel sad or depressed during the winter when they are not exposed to enough sunlight. While sun exposure may boot dopamine levels and improve mood, it is important to adhere to safety guidelines because getting too much sun can be harmful.
- Get a massage.
- Listen to your favorite music.
- Get enough sleep.
The bottom line is that dopamine is an important brain chemical that influences your mood, feelings of reward, and motivation. Levels of dopamine are generally well regulated by the body, but you can boost your level naturally by making a few diet and lifestyle changes. Drop the cocaine, but please do not switch to sugar, go outside for a run or a walk on a sunny day, and don’t forget to like, share and subscribe to our channel because it will give you such a feel-good factor that your dopamine level will for sure increase a notch or two.
Yours Truly, Scriptwriter, Joanne Reed
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