How do I achieve Better Seratonin levels?

Question

What to eat or avoid eating?
What to do or avoid doing?

Answer 1

One thing to do is exercise daily. Exercise releases endorphins and promotes serotonin retention inter-synaptically.
Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, stick with lean meats and fish and avoid lots of carbs, fatty foods and sweets. The former are more necessary, won't weigh you down and will help you avoid diseases that make you more depressed. You want to keep your metabolism in high gear. Avoid, sodas, lots of caffeine, juices (high in sugar) and drink lots of water. Avoid alcohol and recreational drugs.
Develop a good support system- people who are not depressed tend to have people to vent off frustrations with, family and/or friends.
If necessary there are medications that can increase the amount of serotonin floating around, but if you can do it naturally, doesn't it make more sense? But it takes hard work and daily commitment.

Answer 2

One of the questions asked of a team of Columbia University health educators and health care providers -- had to do with which foods put the mood-altering chemical into a person's system. The answer cautions that attempting to raise serotonin levels through eating alone is tricky, because people often react differently to similar foods. However, the site states:

Carbohydrate-rich meals often increase serotonin levels... Believe it or not, candy and sweets, which are simple carbohydrates, have the greatest impact, but the effect will only last 1 - 2 hours. Complex carbohydrates (rice, potato, pasta) may increase serotonin levels, but not to the same extent because the protein content of these foods might actually inhibit serotonin production.

I headed back to the search results for more details. I wanted to find some specific examples of foods that increase serotonin levels.

An article on how food alters your mood from ParentsPlace.com suggests that carbohydrates trigger the release of insulin into the blood stream, which clears all the amino acids from the blood, except tryptophan. When competitors are out of the way, the tryptophan floods the brain, where it's converted to serotonin. Whole-grain breads, crackers, pasta, rice, cereal, and fruit all have the potential to increase your serotonin level.

Answer 3

That whole seratonin stuff should be left to the researchers. The science behind SSRI's still isnt' all that well understood, despite all the blather from the drug companies.

What you do is identify your symptoms, and pick the drug that targets those symptoms best. You should ask a doctor what to do for your depression, if that is the problem.

Answer 4

Drinking mangosteen juice will help with seratonin levels.
Better to ask your doctor about this than on here, perhaps?

Drugs are dangerous and foods, as supplements, are not.

http://www.mangosteen101.co.uk

http://www.goxanthones.com

Answer 5

Things to do: Excercise, sex and eating healthy
Avoid: Caffeine and junk food