6 Dopamine Boosts That Influence Eating Behavior

Dawn (00:00):

Hello and welcome to the Gastric Health Show. My name is Dawn Boxell, and today’s topic is six Dopamine Boosts that Influence Eating Behavior. And we are going to dig into this. We have been through the whole month of January, we’ve been talking about hunger and appetite and cravings and GLP-1 appetite suppression hormone. And so I really wanted to bring in these neurochemicals that truly can influence your eating behavior.

Dawn (00:36):

Now of course, there is some genetic backing to all of that as to who will really be influenced the most. So I think understanding this piece is helpful in understanding yourself and understanding what’s truly going on in your body and what you’re lacking or what you need. So we’re going to dig into this and if you’re new to our show I’ve been a bariatric dietician for over 27 years and have worked with tens of thousands of bariatric patients over the years and have learned a lot from all of you.

Dawn (01:19):

And I really kind of take a bariatric, I look I guess at bariatrics through a different lens. I look through it through an integrative and functional medicine lens where we’re really utilizing food to shift behaviors, diet and lifestyle, I guess diet and lifestyle to influence behaviors and cellular reactions and biological processes is really the goal. So I think this talk will really help you see how important yes, these neurochemicals are in your genetics, but truly how you live your life and how you are happy in your life.

Why does dopamine is known as the happy hormone ?

Dawn (02:14):

So stick with me as I kind of explain this at a level that hopefully you’ll understand and really kind of give you some things to think about in your current situation, in your current life. What can I do to shift this perspective so that it will eventually just influence positively the level of dopamine that I have that then shifts and changes how I view eating and how I choose foods?

Dawn (02:51):

So let’s face it, your eating behavior really does have many influences, and I really want to have this conversation about the neurotransmitter dopamine. And although dopamine really is complex and there’s a lot of research behind it, and really it’s influence on your eating behavior may really be different than someone else, and it just really still deserves some attention. Dopamine is just a neurotransmitter and any dysfunction of the dopamine system has been implicated in really different nervous system diseases. So the level of dopamine transmission increases kind of in response to really any type of reward.

Dawn (03:47):

So it’s really been looked at a lot because of addiction and those type of addictive behaviors. So it not only controls your mental and emotional responses, but also some motor reactions. Dopamine is known as the happy hormone. However serious health problems arise if there’s too little dopamine or too much dopamine that’s being produced.

Dawn (04:16):

So dopamine is involved in food craving, decision making, executive functioning impulsivity personality trait all of which can contribute to your eating behavior. So this level of dopamine needs a sweet spot and each of us, because of our genetics, really can struggle with this piece of it. You may find that it’s really hard for you to navigate some of these things, or you just never really get away from it because of this dopamine response that’s occurring.

Dawn (05:00):

Genetics really do play a pivotal role in how dopamine is expressed, and dopamine binds to dopamine receptors to exert its action. Dopamine receptors play a pivotal role in regulating your emotion, cognition, memory, attention learning, sleep, impulse control, renal function locomotion and neuroendocrine signaling. So it regulates a lot of areas. It is made in your brain and your kidneys. So you can see why the renal function is included in that.

Five different dopamine receptor

Dawn (05:46):

But genetically there are five different dopamine receptor SNPs, DRD1, DRD2, DRD3,4 & 5 each playing a different role in dopamine signaling. So in one study, they found no relationship between food addiction and the DRD2 genotype. However, obese female carriers of the DRD2 A one allele reported greater scores on emotional eating and snack food reinforcement compared to non-carriers. So those who have this genetic SNP DRD2 may find that in the right instance or in the right environment.

Dawn (06:36):

So the right mindset could really influence the foods that you’re choosing or you’re eating behavior. These get tied together. So if you have this genetic SNP, this could make it when you’re kind of in a mood or a mindset that’s maybe more negative, you may find that you are gravitating more towards certain foods or just consuming more foods or be doing more of a binge.

Dawn (07:11):

There are some study on the connection with binge eating and dopamine. I don’t know that they’re all conclusive. I couldn’t include all of the information on this talk, but at least I know that this is something that’s being explored in really the connection between binge eating. There are studies showing that dopamine levels do influence binge eating and there are some that show that they’re not. So I think it’s kind of inconclusive right now, but I think for some individuals, I think what lacks is they’re not weaving in these pathways of the different genetic SNPs that also influence but I’ll get into that here quickly.

What does dopamine look like if it’s low?

Dawn (08:00):

But what does dopamine look like if it’s low? That’s what I want you to see. So overall low levels of dopamine can present as a poor mood, complacency inability to experience pleasure, fatigue, increased appetite especially carb cravings. So an appetite for carbs in general you have a low drive and motivation for pretty much anything you feel the need to get more motivated or alert from caffeine and sugar..

Dawn (08:39):

Additionally, the genetic SNP DRD2 is associated with weaker dopamine signaling and this insensitive reward system can lead to an increased risk for obesity, binge eating, comfort eating and overeating. So you can see having a genetic SNP in this dopamine receptor being an issue, whether it be too high or too low, and I’m not even getting into this, but when the dopamine receptors are elevated, those are the ones.

Dawn (09:18):

So if your DRD2 genetics SNP, if you have that and your dopamine level is elevated, those are usually seen, those levels are usually seen in the individuals with psychosis and schizophrenia. So you can see that yes, you might have more of a depressed state or poor mood and just no energy, no motivation for life. But then the opposite is not what you want either. You don’t want psychosis or schizophrenia, so you don’t want too much, but you need to understand where you fall.

What is influencing the dopamine level ?

Dawn (09:54):

What is influencing this dopamine level. If you look at other genes that influence dopamine and eating behavior this will help provide really a very personalized approach to the symptoms that you experience. So if you experience all these symptoms or several of them personally, I would encourage you to explore the whole pathways, all the pathways that correlate with eating behavior and your mood and behavior overall because you may not have this genetic SNP and then you may feel confused, but you have some other genetic SNPs that are also associated with eating behavior and kind of your mood.

Dawn (10:45):

So for example, the COMT gene, and this is catechol-o-methyltransferase, and it’s an important enzyme involved in phase two detoxification process in the liver, and it’s involved in the conjugation and degradation of catecholamine such as catechol- estrogens, dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. Those allele carriers with higher comped enzyme activity result in lower dopamine levels.

Dawn (11:19):

So you could get a double whammy, you could have this DRD2 gene genetics SNP, and with the correct allele and you have low dopamine levels. Then you throw in this COMT gene, which is going to think of it as kind of burning through it faster, which will help again further lower that dopamine level. So the additionally, there is certain allele carriers of the CLOCK gene which deal with our circadian rhythm are these are also associated with increased graylin levels and caloric intake and alterations in your eating behavior.

Dawn (12:06):

So if you are a person that maybe you don’t have the DRD2, so you don’t have these dopamine receptor genetic SNPs that influence your eating behavior negatively, but you do have the CLOCK gene maybe that’s driving it. So again, having one doesn’t guarantee that it’s going to influence your eating behavior negatively, but when you have a combination of multiple ones the likelihood is very high that you are really going to struggle with your eating behaviors until we really work on restoring these, your genetic your epigenetics, really were, we’re really focusing on the foods and maybe even diet lifestyle supplements, whatever is needed to get your genes to turn back off and turn the positive ones back on to support this better.

Dawn (13:12):

That’s really kind of the key to give you the best results. So I mean, as you can see, the genetic SNP DRD2, which is mostly correlated with eating behaviors compared to all the other D R D or dopamine response genetic SNPs are not as, they don’t correlate significantly like the DRD2 gene does. But really it truly is that combination of genes. It really give you the full severity of what you feel on a day-to-day basis which is why I love the three x four genetic test because it looks at the whole picture.

What can you do if you think dopamine may be influencing your behavior ?

Dawn (13:54):

We look at the pathways, we compare your mood and behavior pathways with your appetite and satiety fullness signals, so they interweave each other, they are connected. So looking at one does not solve the problem. You know, can’t just treat one gene. You have to look at the pathways that it’s crossing over and influencing.

Dawn (14:20):

So what can you do if you think dopamine may be influencing your behavior? So maybe you think, Hey, I potentially could have this DRD2 genetic SNP and I really do feel like this is influencing how I eat. Or maybe you think, hey, I might have a combination of all these eating behavior and appetite regulation genetic SNPs, and what can I do about it? And the answer is really there is a lot you can do. Like I had said, dopamine is made in the brain and the kidneys, but it really can be influenced in surprising ways and it’s really comes down to nervous system regulation and loving life.

Dawn (15:11):

If you want to think of it that way. That’s probably the simplest way to think about it. But balance a life balance is really where this comes to importance, because you have to in life to, if you want to have optimal neurochemical levels, you have to have fun in your life, you have to exercise, you have to have your food dialed in, you’ve got to have good family and friend relationships.

Dawn (15:45):

You’ve got to have some sort of faith to give you this well-rounded life that keeps those neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, endorphins, all of those happy hormones really do influence and help you navigate how you’re going to eat and how you choose different foods. This is why I really like our gastric health membership because we talk about this, we talk about those principles of fun, fitness, finance, family, friends, faith, food, all of these kind of foundational things that will build health.

Dawn (16:44):

We’re not just treating disease, we are building health. And that’s what the gastric health membership is for and that we’re working on growing is to build a community that we are focused on not just treating disease, but we’re actually focused on building health. You want a future of health. You don’t want to just treat the disease that you are experience you’re experiencing and shutting it off.

Living a life with happiness and love provides adequate doses of dopamine.

Dawn (17:12):

You want to then go further and develop a full sense of health by providing this well-rounded, fulfilled life that has balance and meaning and purpose, what you are here for, what your purpose is in life, and what excites you and what you are passionate about. And that’s what the membership is for. It’s for those people who truly want really to build a life of health and focus less on disease. So we all know this, we’ve heard this a million times, but you cannot pour from an empty cup. Living a life with happiness and love provides adequate doses or levels of dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin.

Dawn (18:03):

Life full of stress, anxiety, and depression leaves you with high levels of cortisol epinephrine nor epinephrine, and lacking in dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin. So again, you have to stop and evaluate. So dopamine is again complex in the way that it really influences how you eat because it’s not just simple things.

Dawn (18:33):

Yes, there are food pieces that we can do to optimize it, but there are other lifestyle things that are even more powerful that can at least help mitigate the stress and inflammation and just any of those anxious and depressive thoughts and experiences that get you in a bad place. Now, some of you may be thinking if I didn’t have stress I wouldn’t feel anxious and depressed. I’d be happy and oozing full of dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin just full of love.

Dawn (19:13):

But I think we all realize that none of us are escaping this earth without stress, but we all realize, or hopefully if you’ve listened to me long enough, you have realized that you can’t control the stress you’re given, but you can control how you react and respond to stress. So you can still have a life that is riddled with stressful events, yet live with an abundance of dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin because you know how to mitigate the stress.

Dawn (19:53):

You know what to do to control and shut it off, shut off that fight or flight and not respond to those negative emotions and thoughts. I heard a psychiatrist say he was giving some tips and one of the things that stuck with me is don’t believe everything you think. And gosh, that is so true. You can’t believe every thought that comes in your brain. And some of it is just we create this ourselves, me included. I am a human just like you and I experience stressful events and my brain takes off and going down this rabbit hole of the what ifs and the worries and the negative negative thoughts and the crazy thoughts that your brain comes up with out of hardly anything.

Dawn (20:56):

So I try to remind myself of that whenever I get in a situation that I feel stressed or my brain starts going down that rabbit hole of assuming and creating all these stories in my head that <laugh> have no validation I try to pause and say, don’t believe everything you think and why are you thinking those things when there’s nothing to back it up?

what are you doing with your life that is actually enhancing that?

Dawn (21:24):

There’s nothing that backs up that thought. So move on. And I would say that definitely has helped me kind of move through moods when I’m not in a mentally good space. So give it a try. Challenge yourself. Ask yourself, should I believe this thought? Is there really anything valid backing this? And just evaluate it, validate or don’t validate and move on because more than likely, at least in my instances more than likely, you’re going to find that there’s nothing to back it up and you’ll just move on and you can forget about it.

Dawn (22:08):

You can just realize that, that it was a thought, it was a fleeting thought and it needs to move on. So it sounds like, oh, okay, just boost, do my dopamine and serotonin and oxytocin and I’ll just be happy and I’ll always make good eating behavior choices and my, I’ll make healthy food choices and I’ll just be happy and fulfilled.

Dawn (22:36):

And you can have that. You can have that. But again, I think it’s how you look at things and I look at it’s how you approach life and how you can shift some of those thinking and those negative thoughts that get you in a place that really you are depressed and you are anxious and your dopamine truly is low, and you’ve got to flip it. You’ve got to get yourself out of that position so that you can live a life that is never going to be stress free, but it is.

Dawn (23:18):

You are fulfilled and you do have happiness and joy and love and you experience those feelings and you are excited and passionate about something. So you want a whole body approach when it comes to dopamine because just taking a medication or just shifting a food item is not the end all, be all you.

Dawn (23:48):

Yes, a medication can improve that mood and that those thought processes, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for them because there are times when you need support, you can’t get yourself out of where you’re at and without ’em, you may never have and you might have gone deeper into a hole. So I’m all for that. I think you just have to realize that just that pill is not the solution. What are you doing on the backside with your behaviors and your lifestyle that is enhancing that dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin level.

Let’s dig into the 6 dopamine boosts that influence eating behavior…

Dawn (24:26):

Naturally what are you doing with your life that is actually enhancing that? So you want long lasting sustainable results, and that is where a whole body approach really can provide that. It can provide that. So let’s dig into the six dopamine boosts that influence eating behavior. One is eliminate the foods that have a negative influence on mood and brain health.

Dawn (24:57):

Two is include three to four servings of foods rich in B vitamins and protein building blocks to support brain chemical balance. Number three, consume three to four servings of food that support gut health. No four, commit to grounding exercises that balance stress hormones. Number five, routinely stimulate the vagus nerve to lower the fight or flight response. Number six, optimize the production of other neurotransmitters like oxytocin, endorphins, and serotonin.

Dawn (25:33):

All of six of those things, if you really just pick one that you kind of resonate with, dial in on that one first and then go through the rest of these over time where you’re really trying different strategies until you find one that works the best because it will make a difference in your eating behaviors and what your dopamine out level actually is. So let’s kind of dig in first to food that have a negative influence on mood and brain health.

Dawn (26:14):

So this is where striving for more whole real food really can positively influence your brain. And the unfortunate reality is more sugar and ultra processed foods can that you consume you’ll likely experience changes in your eating behavior. There is a 2022 study that shows that DRD2 polymorphism or that genetic SNP I was talking about is associated with hedonic aspects of eating behavior, namely food reinforcement and emotional eating but not food addiction.

#1 Eliminate foods that have a negative influence on mood and brain health

Dawn (26:54):

So right now they’re showing those individuals with that DRD2 genetic SNP does have some the head hunger type thing or the eating behaviors that your head tells you about and food reinforcement from emotional eating so. You have an enhanced reinforcement when you eat emotionally. So additionally, there is another study in 2022 that found ultra processed foods evoked emotions that contribute to less healthy and sustainable food environments

Dawn (27:32):

So again, whole real food should be the majority of what you choose to eat the most days. So again, and I say this probably every time, I do not believe in perfection, but you can’t fake yourself out and rely on fast food and package processed meals that you never cook. You are going to be missing phytonutrients and antioxidants and many properties of food that you can only get when you choose a whole real food item that hasn’t been ultra processed.

Dawn (28:21):

So minimally processed foods are your best option. Whole real foods buying, just going to the produce aisle and picking an apple that’s no processing, but say you buy some nuts that are roasted and salted that’s minimally processed say you buy a snack snack of those little hundred calorie snack packs there really isn’t any real food ingredients in those that you can hang your hat on that are providing lots of good nourishing vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients that your body needs.

Dawn (29:10):

So those are the things that will be lacking in because if you rely on those for the majority of your food choices, then you’re not going to be getting what your body needs sustainably, and that is when those genes get turned on. That DRD2 gene is more likely to be turned on with an ultra processed food diet as opposed to a whole rail food diet. So evaluate what you do on a regular basis and make that decision whether you need to make changes with your choices.

Dawn (29:49):

Again, it’s not about perfection and it’s not if you have one little snack pack or snack bar or something every day or every other day, it is literally what you do the majority of the day. So if you’re having eggs with some vegetables and maybe a small amount of oatmeal for breakfast and lunches, a nice side of protein with a good serving of vegetables and same at dinner and you’re having a whole grain that is maybe some quinoa or brown rice or a whole wheat pasta you’re choosing those things the majority of the time, you’re likely going to be fine.

Dawn (30:31):

Of course, everyone’s genetics and biology is different. So working with a practitioner like myself can help you dial that in. If you feel like you’re struggling with your health numbers and lab indicators that your things aren’t okay, then work with hire someone. Hire me and I will help you navigate through what’s driving it. Maybe it’s just you have some blood sugar imbalances and we need to fix that.

Dawn (30:57):

Maybe some of these genetic SNPs have been turned back on and we need to turn ’em off. I don’t know. But again, if you are struggling with some of these symptoms and side effects and you’re just really struggling and you question if dopamine isn’t driving some of your eating behaviors these are things that you can consider and enlist to do that will get you going in the right direction.

Dawn (31:26):

The next one is support brain chemical balance. So your eating behavior is influenced by your brain chemicals, and this includes dopamine. So this is where providing adequate nourishing foods to support your brain building blocks is super important so. Protein foods and any of the foods rich in B vitamins are really necessary to manufacture all of the brain chemicals and keep them at optimal levels.

#2 B-vitamins and protein building blocks to support brain chemical balance

Dawn (32:01):

But more specifically, the amino acid tyrosine is necessary for healthy brain chemical production. So some of these foods include fatty fish, so think of salmon, mac, sardines those are all great sources of healthy fatty fish, dark chocolate, my favorite nuts and seeds, avocado, bananas, Brazil, nuts, eggs, blueberry, chickpeas, those are all great sources of the amino acid tyrosine as well as other protein and

Dawn (32:39):

B vitamins. So if you don’t regularly consume these, I would encourage you or challenge you to start incorporating these. I mean, who doesn’t like a square or two of dark chocolate, 70% or higher? So if you have not tried it, you have to experiment. You may not like every brand, I don’t like every brand, but I have found a few brands that I do love and I just rotate. And I don’t want to say I have it every night, but I would say most nights I have at least one or two squares, probably tops three squares of dark chocolate. And it’s a great way to get polyphenols as well as tyrosine for my brain chemicals to keep my dopamine up.

Dawn (33:27):

So again, it’s a combination of all of it, not one of these. You can’t just add dark chocolate and wait for the magic to happen, probably never going to happen, and you’re eating behavior is never going to get better just by adding dark chocolate. It’s the combination of all of these things together. Working together is the magic. So next is consume food to support gut health. It’s now understood that your vagus nerve is a communication highway. It actually was once believed that communication was one direction, the brain to the gut.

#3 Consume 3-4 servings of food that support gut health

Dawn (34:04):

But now we understand that this communication goes bidirectional and. The gut communicates to the brain and the brain communicates to the gut. So as you can imagine, maintaining a healthy gut is key to maintaining healthy brain chemicals like dopamine. Essentially a healthy gut comes down to fiber.

Dawn (34:26):

I will say it’s not the only thing, but it is a very important thing and something tangible that you can work on. So if you’re really good at getting fiber in, then your gut is probably in an okay place. Now, you might want to work with a practitioner like myself who could help you dial that in if you still have digestive symptoms. But soluble insoluble and resistant starch fibers are super important for having a healthy gut.

Dawn (34:57):

So to me, fiber makes the most sense and this can help support healthy dopamine levels and eating behaviors when consuming fiber filled carbohydrates on a regular basis. Additionally, your gut is kind of the exit pathway for many toxins. So keeping your gut flowing is important to toxin removal. Additionally, supporting liver detoxification can support healthy dopamine levels and eating behaviors. So again, if you have some of those genetic SNPs.

Dawn (35:37):

That influence how your liver detoxifies and it might slow down some of those detoxification processes, that is where it can get you in trouble. And then making sure that you are pooping regularly. If you are constipated that will not allow the toxins to be removed efficiently. And in some instances, some of it gets recirculated and reabsorbed and gets sent back through and kind of goes down different pathways negatively so it it impacts you negatively in your health when that occurs.

Dawn (36:26):

So we also can’t forget that when it comes to gut health, making sure that inflammation and blood sugar balance, all of those are intertwine. Those all support a healthy gut. So you can be great at fiber, but yet your blood sugar is still out of control and you have inflammation. Your CRP is elevated and you have inflammatory symptoms on the outside that need to be addressed.

Dawn (36:55):

So again, it’s really dialing in and focusing where you can and kind of ramping up that fiber intake. So that you can strive towards that. 30 grams of fiber a day is really kind of the sweet spot that I have people work towards. So these can be from foods like beans and lentils, whole grains, cruciferous vegetables like kale, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, nuts and seeds, even olives and mushrooms and berries, and any of the fruits are open and fair game.

#4 Commit to grounding exercises that balance stress hormones

Dawn (37:33):

So again, I think it’s just evaluating what you do regularly and see if there is room to improve and make those shifts one baby step at a time. The next one is grounding exercises for stress hormones. So grounding is a lifestyle intervention that reduces your stress hormone production and stimulates the vagus nerve. So we’re going to get a double bonus with this because stimulating the vagus nerve is positive for your health positive for your gut, positive for your brain.

Dawn (38:11):

And maintaining healthy dopamine levels is involve in this grounding and vagus nerve stimulation. So grounding can occur by walking barefoot on natural surfaces. So think of in the grass on natural stones, in sand and water, those types of things, natural surfaces, not our manmade surfaces. Dancing is another one that can really is consider a grounding exercise, swimming in nature. So swimming in a lake or a pond or those type of things can really stimulate the vagus nerve and improve your dopamine meditations of course, and mental affirmations.

Dawn (39:03):

So even just how you’re talking to yourself. I talked about that little voice or those negative thoughts that come in and .It gets you down this rabbit hole. This is another way to keep yourself in line so that it doesn’t get too bad and it’s the things you say to yourself all the time. So maybe put on your shower door on the outside, something that you can see through or write it on your shower door, your bathroom mirror.

Dawn (39:37):

Just some positive affirmations about yourself. I’m happy. I’m a good person. I am blessed I do good things I help people. Whatever you think of yourself positively, write them down and say them to yourselves on a daily basis. And that can make a difference in your dopamine level because again, it’s all connected. We’re not just math equations and we’re real people that have feelings and emotions that complicate things. So you’ve got to feel good about yourself.

Dawn (40:20):

You have to have a positive look on you. So how you talk to yourself is important. So overall, this is why it’s so important that to. Find things that work for you when it comes to stress. So feeling stressed should be a red flag that there’s work to do. And regulating your nervous system is important if you desire to feel happy and loved. And the optimal balance of dopamine and serotonin and oxytocin is going to take lowering those stress numbers.

#5 Routinely stimulate the vagus nerve to lower the fight or flight response

Dawn (41:02):

The next one is vagus nerve stimulation. We’ve already highlighted how the brain and gut communicate via the nervous or via the vagus nerve. In fact, the vagus nerve is vital to having a healthy gut. But brain chemicals like dopamine need vagus nerve stimulation as well. And this will additionally lower your fight or flight stress response, enhancing your dopamine. So as we mentioned, grounding exercises can stimulate the vagus nerve. But there are additional ways that you can stimulate your vagus nerve Cold showers.

Dawn (41:37):

So some people will just take a cold shower or you could. Just end your shower on cold cold water immersion. I don’t know if you’ve seen people taking these ice baths for one to two minutes. So cold water immersion gurgling. So just garling water is a great way and it’s a hard gargle. You don’t do it mild. You want to do it hard, and that will stimulate the vagus nerve rhythmic breathing.

Dawn (42:08):

So making sure that you’re breathing deep belly breaths are a great way to stimulate the vagus nerve. And then loud singing. So if you’re driving home from work, turn up your radio. As loud as you can and belt out your favorite song. It is a great way to stimulate your vagus nerve that can influence your dopamine and your eating behavior. The next one, our last one really is optimize production of other neurotransmitters. And I feel like I’ve been saying this already, but dopamine doesn’t work in isolation.

Dawn (42:47):

So other brain chemicals like serotonin and oxytocin work together to. Provide that ultimate euphoria of happiness and love and joy that everyone seeks. And when one or more are out of balance, your eating behavior will likely be influence as well. So this is why a whole body approach is so important. There’s not one magic bullet that makes all of this better makes your dopamine better. And your eating beha behaviors better when it comes to healthy eating behaviors. Optimizing all of your brain chemicals, dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin will likely be necessary.

Dawn (43:29):

And although dopamine is a brain chemical that is driven genetically, that doesn’t mean you can’t override your genetics. Now, I know I’ve given several ideas of how to boost. But I want to give how do you boost to these other ones? Now, we’ve already talked about on dopamine how doing all these things will boost it. But even just taking a cold shower because you’re stimulating that vagus nerve. But even something as simple as organizing a workspace.

#6 Optimize production of other neurotransmitters like oxytocin, endorphins and serotonin

Dawn (44:00):

So say you feel overwhelmed and you feel blah in your mood. Maybe you need to clean off your desk or a small side table. Or maybe you just need to clean off your nightstand. Simple. Keep it simple. Just clean an area that maybe is not a huge space, but yet is quite the mess. And then exercise and complete an important task. All those will boost your dopamine, oxytocin.

Dawn (44:33):

These are things like give someone a compliment or do something kind for someone else. You can pet a dog or a cat and also consider what you’re grateful for. So even doing just a gratitude journal is a great way to boost your oxytocin serotonin. Take a walk in nature, get some sunshine on your skin and your eyes. Stretch your body, sing a song you love. And then endorphins, you can exercise. Eat dark chocolate. Listen to your favorite music and meditate. So as you can see, they all have very similar but different things that will help boost them.

Dawn (45:14):

But again, they all work together. You can’t just say dopamine only but dopamine is super important. We are finding the dopamine does play a huge role in influencing your eating behavior. But if you want the whole package deal. You’ll want to influence all of these neurotransmitters. To really kind of give you the full experience of happiness, joy, and love.

Conclusion

Dawn (45:41):

Let’s kind of wrap this up. So as you can see, your eating behavior has many influences including dopamine. And this brain chemical can be alter genetically and. By gut bacteria but additionally by just life’s diet and lifestyle choices. So this is really why a whole body approach is key to regulating a healthy. Eating behavior by removing the foods that have a negative influence on your mood and your brain. And include the foods that are rich in building blocks for your brain. Support a healthy gut.

Dawn (46:20):

o grounding exercises in vagus nerve stimulation and optimize those other neurotransmitters. And this will give you the ultimate experience when it comes to dialing in your eating behaviors and. Really addressing things at the root of what’s driving it. And I would say this is really where the gastric health membership can help you build this sustainable foundation. We can really help you nourish your eating behaviors and. Your brain chemicals and just really a whole body approach and. Help walk you through that over the course of time. So that you get the most out of your life and. You feel that you are giving back to others in doing. What you are suppose to do and kind of living your superpower. Whatever your superpower is, really what should be driving you each day

Dawn (47:28):

To do things. So if we get your dopamine up and all those neurotransmitters up. Your food choices and your eating behavior will likely look a whole lot different. So I hope that’s help. I hope you guys have enjoyed this conversation. Love to connect with any of you. Feel free to reach out at any time and be happy to chat with you. You guys, have a great week and we’ll see you next time. Bye-bye.

Listen, Learn, Enjoy…

References & Links:

1. 1. Gastric Health Membership