Serotonin Myths: High Serotonin Blues, Part 3

This is Part 3 in a series on high serotonin. Check out Part 1 and Part 2 here.

Questions are one of the only things in life that come in unlimited quantities. Ask any four-year-old. I certainly found no shortage of questions when I started looking into the problems of high serotonin. Yes, I said high serotonin. While serotonin deficiency seems to be the blanket diagnosis these days, there's evidence that too much serotonin may be causing more problems than too little.

So, questions? Yep, there are plenty. Here are some of my own questions about serotonin, and what I've drummed up through a little out-of-the-box research.

High Serotonin Q and A

• If serotonin deficiency doesn't cause depression, then what does?

There are a number of possible answers, but some of the top contenders are low thyroid function, dopamine deficiency, and hormonal imbalance (such as low progesterone/high estrogen in women). All of these can be interrelated and are largely affected by diet and lifestyle.

• How do we treat mood disorders outside of increasing serotonin? 

Looking at some of the possible root causes above, some of the best ways to approach mood disorders and depression would be improving metabolic health and balancing hormones. Granted, that's easier said than done. But again, lifestyle and diet play an enormous role in these areas. (More on that in the future.)

• Why do tryptophan, 5-HTP and St. John's Wort make some people feel terrible (like me), but make others feel better?

Believe me, this is a big question of mine. It obviously depends a lot on a person's specific metabolic state. But one interesting possibility is that high serotonin stimulates the release of stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol. Both of these chemicals can boost your mood and energy in the short term, but can have negative side effects if levels remain chronically high.

• What about light therapy, getting enough sleep, exercising, and eating well? Don't all these make you feel better because they raise serotonin levels?

No! That's a mainstream myth. Pretending that those things only affect serotonin levels is a great example of one-dimensional thinking. For example, being in the sunlight boosts thyroid function, exercising can raise dopamine levels, and eating enough protein can improve liver health. All of those directly impact your moods. And that's just a couple quick examples. The body is an incredible cascade of hormones, chemicals, energy and cells. Reducing it all to serotonin levels is ignoring the larger picture of mental (and physical) health.

• How did our ideas about serotonin get turned so upside down? 

Short answer? Follow the money. Around the mid-20th century, there were some concerns about the possible side effects of large doses of LSD (which is a serotonin antagonist). Because LSD is essentially anti-serotonin, some took the idea and ran with it. Suddenly increasing serotonin levels became the shiny new treatment for mood disorders and depression. Pretty soon the pharmaceutical industry was up to its elbows in drugs for increasing serotonin, and pretty much stayed that way for the next several decades. It would be financial suicide for them to backpedal and suddenly question the entire mainstream concept of serotonin.

If you're anything like me, these brief answers may have triggered even more questions! In that case, you might want to read some interesting articles on serotonin from Dr. Ray Peat (with ample references) here and here.


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Serotonin Myths: High Serotonin Blues, Part 2

This is Part 2 of a series on high serotonin. Check out Part 1 and Part 3 if you want to learn more.

After my disturbing experience with 5-HTP and tryptophan supplements (read about that here), I started thinking it was time to question my ideas about serotonin. Although it's known as the "happy" neurotransmitter, I quickly discovered other people have had experiences similar to mine. I started researching high serotonin symptoms and the effects of too much serotonin.

And that's when I found out a very disturbing side effect of high serotonin: increased risk of suicide. 

What?!?!

Talk about a huge light bulb moment. Is this why pharmaceutical antidepressants can cause suicidal thoughts? Obviously, anxiety and suicidal thoughts are supposed to be what antidepressants are treating. Then why are they causing the very problems they are supposed to solve?

The answer is simple: our ideas about serotonin are wrong. Dead wrong.

Serotonin Is Not So "Happy" After All

Although I did find that others had experienced the same 5-HTP side effects as I did, I quickly found out how few professionals acknowledged the problem. Books, articles, websites... they all said the same old thing. Serotonin makes you happy. Serotonin is the depression antidote. We all need some more of that good ole serotonin. 

Everyone seemed to know about the potentially life-threatening risks of anti-depressant drugs, but no one dared to implicate serotonin. I was asking a question that no one wanted to answer.

Well, not exactly no one. Dr. Ray Peat was one researcher in the field of biology that publicly questioned mainstream medicine's ideas about serotonin. He even proposed that serotonin could cause the very problems it's supposed to solve: depression, apathy, anxiety, etc.

I had heard of Ray Peat, but some of his ideas sounded kooky to me, so up until that point I had largely ignored all of his work. But now I was listening. And boy did I get an earful.

Here are a few interesting quotes about serotonin from Dr. Peat:

- In hibernating animals, the stress of a declining food supply causes increased serotonin production. In humans and animals that don’t hibernate, the stress of winter causes very similar changes. Serotonin lowers temperature by decreasing the metabolic rate. Tryptophan and melatonin are also hypothermic. In the winter, more thyroid is needed to maintain a normal rate of metabolism.

- Overdose with the serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or with 5-hydroxytryptophan [or 5-HTP], which has effects similar to serotonin, can cause the sometimes fatal "serotonin syndrome." Symptoms can include tremors, altered consciousness, poor coordination, cardiovascular disturbances, and seizures. Treatment with anti-serotonin drugs can alleviate the symptoms and usually can prevent death. [Note to self: super glad I stopped taking 5-HTP.]

- The serotonin syndrome has been reported in users of St. John’s wort as an antidepressant.

- Although several amino acids can be acutely or chronically toxic, even lethal, when too much is eaten, tryptophan is the only amino acid that is also carcinogenic. (It can also produce a variety of toxic metabolites, and it is very susceptible to damage by radiation.) Since tryptophan is the precursor of serotonin, the amount of tryptophan in the diet can have important effects on the way the organism responds to stress, and the way it develops, adapts, and ages.

- Decreasing tryptophan or decreasing serotonin improves learning and alertness, while increased serotonin impairs learning.

- Serotonin's contribution to high blood pressure is well established. It activates the adrenal cortex both directly and through activation of the pituitary. It stimulates the production of both cortisol and aldosterone.

(You can read Dr. Peat's articles on serotonin and check out his references here and here.)

Reading Dr. Peat's ideas on serotonin provided some answers, but it also led to even more questions. 

• If serotonin deficiency doesn't cause depression, then what does?

• How do we treat mood disorders outside of increasing serotonin?

• Why do tryptophan, 5-HTP and St. John's Wort make some people feel terrible (like me), but make others feel better?

• How did our ideas about serotonin get turned so upside down?

I plan to answer these questions (to the best of my ability) in Part 3 of this series. Stay tuned.

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Serotonin Myths: High Serotonin Blues, Part 1

This is Part 1 in a series on high serotonin. Check out Part 2 and Part 3 to learn even more.

A vast majority of anti-depressant drugs, natural treatments for depression, and much of how the mainstream medical institution views mental health is hinged on one theory: serotonin is the "happy" neurotransmitter. There are thousands of books, blogs, articles and podcasts about increasing serotonin levels to combat depression. But what if our ideas about serotonin are fundamentally wrong?

Questioning mainstream medicine is never fun or easy. It also doesn't tend to make you many friends. But I still managed to find myself in the mess of detangling the serotonin web, trying to sift fact from fiction, reality from hyperbole. And with good reason. I had my own personal experience to reckon with.

Tryptophan, 5-HTP and Serotonin: My Path to Happy?

Mood issues were one of the main reasons I started researching health and nutrition a few years ago. I found right away that most natural health gurus gushed about serotonin's "happy" and "feel-good" benefits. There was a general consensus that serotonin deficiency is a rampant condition that causes everything from depression to insomnia. The conclusion? Most folks need more serotonin. And, hey, I must be one of those folks.

Tryptophan and 5-HTP supplements are all the rage in the natural health community, since these are used by the body to make serotonin. It makes sense: they increase serotonin, and serotonin makes you happy. And who doesn't want to be happy?

It all sounded well and good to me. So off I went to procure my first bottle of 5-HTP. I followed the dosage instructions of a popular mood therapy book, and went about my life, waiting for the happiness to set in.

Unfortunately, that's not quite what happened.

Nightmare on Serotonin Street

It was subtle at first. Just a general brain fog, a touch of apathy. My sleep wasn't improving as much I wanted, so I referred back to my mood book and upped my 5-HTP dosage to the next recommended level.

That's when a stronger sense of apathy set in. I felt unnaturally listless and helpless. Almost like my real self was suddenly trapped in a thick fog in my mind, unable to reach the surface.

And for the first time in my life, I was exhibiting definite signs of depression. I had gone from occasional mood swings and low moods to checking off all the boxes in a depression questionnaire!

Something wasn't right, but I couldn't put my finger on it yet. After all, I was following recommendations for raising my serotonin, which was supposed to stop depression. There was only one theory about serotonin and therefore only one answer: I must need more serotonin.

Following that line of logic, I raised my dosage of 5-HTP again (though still within recommended levels). It seemed so harmless at the time, but it wasn't.

Within 15 minutes of my first dose, a feeling of intense panic set in. Not a thing in my life had changed in those 15 minutes, and yet suddenly it felt like my entire world was falling apart. My heart was pounding, my palms were sweating, my mind was racing. I genuinely felt I must be losing my mind.

After an hour or so, as the feeling slowly began to fade, as my heart rate returned to normal, a very small but important thought popped into my head: "This started when I took the 5-HTP."

To test this budding theory, I stopped taking 5-HTP completely (to be honest, I was so freaked out I chucked my bottle right into the trash can). I felt much better within hours and completely normal within a few days. And in finding this one answer, I had opened a whole new jar of questions about serotonin.

Getting Some Answers... and Even More Questions

It's funny to think that only by blindly following mainstream ideas about serotonin could I come to a place where I dared to question them.

One of the drawbacks of taking your health into your own hands is that sometimes you don't find out you're wrong until you've pushed the limits and fallen flat on your face. I've done it a few times. It's never fun, but it's always a learning experience.

A few months after the 5-HTP incident, I dared to experiment with tryptophan and endured a similar reaction (though I caught on earlier so it didn't escalate into crazy scary). That's when I started seriously questioning what I'd read about 5-HTP and tryptophan, which led to questioning modern ideas about serotonin and antidepressants as well.

I've learned a lot, but I definitely don't have all the answers... in fact, I've found just as many questions as answers along the way. But even without all the answers, this is too important of a subject to sit on the back burner. After all, our mental health is at stake.



Stay Tuned...

There is a lot more to say on the subject, and I've barely scratched the surface today. So it seems I'm destined to do a series of serotonin posts, and I will be posting more on the topics of tryptophan, serotonin syndrome and high serotonin symptoms in the weeks to come.

Update: I've written more in my series on serotonin! Check out Part 2 and Part 3 if you want to know more.

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Is Emotional Overeating Really Emotional?

A lot of diet books claim that emotional overeating is the chief saboteur of weight loss. The idea is that if you followed their diet and exercise plan, you would lose weight, but your darn emotions keep leading you to binges on chocolate cake or cheese pizza. So, basically, you're doomed to be overweight until you see a therapist and finally unravel the emotional web that's obviously keeping you from looking fit and fabulous.

This is a cop out. It's an excuse that diet gurus hand out when their diets fail. It gives them a reason to blame you and not the inadequacies of their plan.

Am I saying that emotional overeating is a myth? Not exactly. There's no doubt that feelings of loneliness, depression, hopelessness or frustration can lead to overeating. I'm just saying we're approaching this from the wrong direction.

We're all going to face situations that bring up negative emotions. It's one of those facts of life we just can't get away from. And this is nothing new. It's unfortunately something that's been common to basically anyone who's taken a breath on this planet since the beginning of time. So why is emotional overeating suddenly a problem now?

Here's what we need to be asking: "Why are my emotions driving me to overeat? Why can't I handle stress without turning to food?" And today I want to explore this from a physiological point of view.

When you have deficiencies in certain brain chemicals like dopamine or serotonin, your body will be driven to replenish these neurotransmitters in the most immediately effective way possible. If you're short on dopamine, you likely have trouble dealing with emotional situations and find yourself crushed by everyday problems. And your body might drive you to things like chocolate or wine (or even romance novels!) to get a dopamine fix. Similarly, if you're short on serotonin you might feel depressed, angry or hopeless and will be attracted to comfort foods like bread, pasta, and cookies, all of which temporarily drive serotonin levels through the roof. This is why after a stressful day or a fight with your spouse you might feel compelled to stuff your face with rocky road ice cream.

The interesting part comes in here: if we have healthy levels of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, we are actually more capable of handling stressful situations. That means that while you may not feel exactly giddy after listening to your boss rail on you about a deadline, you'll still be able to walk past the vending machine without stopping for a candy bar to mellow you out. When we have healthy neurotransmitter levels, we won't need our standby comfort foods because our bodies have plenty of brain chemicals to "comfort" us with.

So, it makes you wonder: are you overeating because you're emotional? Or are you emotional because your brain chemicals are out of whack?

Julia Ross, author of The Diet Cure and The Mood Cure, knows a great deal about the connection between our cravings and our brains. Check out the video below:






How to Naturally Boost Neurotransmitter Levels

There are two ways to make sure you have plenty of the neurotransmitters that provide a sense of well-being and energy:

1) Give your body what it needs to produce these vital brain chemicals.

2) Don't use your brain chemicals up faster than your body can produce them.

So, it's important to:

• Eat plenty of high quality protein. Julia Ross recommends a minimum of 20-30 grams per day, which is a good starting place for most people.

• Eat the right fats. Saturated fats like butter and coconut oil feed your brain.

• Eat enough. (I say this a lot, don't I?) A constant state of calorie deprivation is a surefire way to cause deficiencies in neurotransmitters.

• Sleep! Give your body some rest so it can catch up and rebuild. Plus, sleep is directly related to weight.

• Avoid over-exercising. Being active is great, don't get me wrong. But training for a marathon is a good way to use up brain chemicals real fast. It's not a good idea if you're trying to boost your neurotransmitters.

• Instead, exercise the smart way.

• Enjoy some downtime. I know, this isn't easy in our fast-paced society, but taking a breather every day does help restore your body's ability to cope with stress.

Believe me, when your neurotransmitters are in good shape, your perspective on life totally changes. No, it's not perfect (serotonin doesn't make you superhuman). But you're able to cope when things aren't going so well--and without turning to cheescake for help.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

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Book of the Month: The Mood Cure Book Review

Early this month I picked up a copy of The Mood Cure by Julia Ross. I'd previously read bits and pieces of The Diet Cure by the same author, which I found to be very interesting, and I was curious to see what The Mood Cure had to offer.

Like its predecessor, it promotes using temporary amino acid therapy to help deal with cravings and moods that make it difficult to eat the right foods. But The Mood Cure is focused more on healing our brains versus losing weight (although the two go hand in hand, as Julia points out).

The first thing I noticed was how reader-friendly this book is. I've read a few books on nourishing topics, and while I've always been engrossed in the material (because it's what I'm passionate about, after all), Julia's conversational tone made it very easy to digest all the great stuff her book has to offer. And believe me, there is a lot of information in here!

Which brings me to my next observation: this book does not leave you full of unanswered questions. I found The Mood Cure to be very thorough in every topic it covered. Julia Ross does not delve into a subject half-heartedly. Instead she makes sure we have all the information we need, plus how to actually use it.

Here is some of what The Mood Cure includes:

• A four-part questionnaire that helps you identify which amino acid therapy you need. Some people only need one type, others may need all four. I personally found this section really helpful. I suspected I was a little serotonin deficient, but after taking the first part of the questionnaire it became clear that this was what I needed to work on most.

• After the questionnaire, there are four detailed chapters about dealing with your problem moods. While of course there's lots of information about amino acid therapy, Julia also talks about plenty of other ways to improve your moods no matter what your specific needs are.

• Frankly, I was already sold after the first few chapters. But when I got to the section about bad-mood and good-mood foods, I was in for a real treat. Julia blasts refined flour and sugar, gluten-filled grains, vegetable oils, and even soy. Then she makes a great case for traditional foods like eggs, meat and her personal favorite (and mine) butter. She also promotes eating plenty of food and not letting yourself starve on a low-calorie diet that deprives your brain of what it needs to be happy. I consider this to be a particularly vital point in an age where 800-calorie diets are still rearing their ugly heads.

• There are also menu plans and supplement guides if you need them. I personally don't like to rely on too many supplements to get my nutrients, but she does have some good pointers. However, I have to admit she didn't bring up one of my favorite supplements: high vitamin cod liver oil. And since I think this supplement is imperative for good health (and good moods), I have to say I consider that a definite minus.

• But then Julia does something truly amazing: she lays out some wonderful plans for people on antidepressant drugs and those dealing with drug or alcohol addiction. I personally felt this section was a real eye-opener, delving into the physiological reasons behind addiction and shining a light at the end of a dark tunnel all too familiar for many people I know.

• Julia also addresses important topics like sleep, adrenal burnout and thyroid function with great detail and plenty of usable suggestions on each topic.

• At the end of the book there are some fantastic resources for health-care professionals and food sources if you need them. There's also plenty of recommended reading material listed throughout the book.

This is really one of the most useful books I've ever read. I have been practicing a lot of suggestions from the book during the last few weeks, and I have to say I'm enjoying the results. My moods have been way better overall. So far the book has lived up to its title. The encouraging tone of The Mood Cure is like a ray of hope for someone dealing with mood problems, and I highly recommend it to anyone who thinks it might help them or someone they know.

Buy The Mood Cure by Julia Ross today.

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