10 Ways To Make Your Brain Increase Dopamine Naturally

One of the natural ways to increase dopamine production in the brain is through regular exercise. Engaging in regular exercise has many other health benefits, too including an increased blood flow to the brain, which makes it a good memory booster, improves motor skills especially in seniors, and of course, boost dopamine production^{1 2}.

Probably, this is one of the reasons exercise is an effective natural stress reliever. Moreover, exercise also boosts the production of other happy chemicals produced in the brain such as serotonin and endorphins.

The good news is that you don’t have to spend hours of hard exercise to achieve it. Simply do the easy movements on a regular basis such as walking or climbing the stairs instead of riding the escalators and elevators. Doing HIIT also exercises the entire body in just a short period of time a few times a week.

If you are doing yoga and meditation, you are in good shape. One study³ says that a PET scan shows an increase in dopamine levels in the ventral striatum of participants during a practice of Yoga Nidra meditation. This leads us to the next dopamine-boosting production in the brain, which is…

Similar to engaging in regular exercise, meditation offers many health benefits, too. Of course, this includes the increase in dopamine levels in the brain.

A regular meditation practice is helpful in reducing anxiety, curing working addiction, and even boost your sex life. It is a fact that our brains are susceptible to certain addictions like overthinking in which the Buddhists refer to as the monkey mind.

The habit of overthinking is distracting and even lead to stress and anxiety. Fortunately, a regular meditation and mindfulness practice helps achieve mental clarity and overcome the overthinking habit.

One study⁴ finds;

Here we show increased striatal dopamine release during meditation associated with the experience of reduced readiness for action. It is suggested that being in the conscious state of meditation causes a suppression of cortico-striatal glutamatergic transmission.

Here is another interesting thing that as simple as listening to music boosts the production of dopamine in the brain. Isn’t it obvious? How do you feel when you listen to your favorite tune? Certainly, it makes you feel good and happy, right?

The feeling good and achieving the feeling of happiness is a clear sign of dopamine increase in your brain. As a matter of fact, there is one particular music in which scientists claimed to have reduced anxiety by 65%.

Moreover, scientists are saying that listening to music induce similar effects as watching your favorite show on TV and eating your favorite food. So, let no one stops you from listening to your favorite music especially if it makes you feel good and happy.

In 2011, the BBC reports that listening to music releases a chemical in the brain that has a key role in setting good moods. That chemical is dopamine.

Dr. Vicky Williamson, a music psychologist says to BBC that even though the study didn’t answer why music was so important to humans, it has been proven important, otherwise.

This paper shows that music is inextricably linked with our deepest reward systems.

One of the ways to increase dopamine naturally is through diet. But, why eat tyrosine-rich foods? Well, tyrosine is an amino acid precursor to dopamine.

Hence, include your typical healthy diet the foods rich in tyrosine such as;

• Eggs
• Coffee
• Chocolate
• Beef
• Milk
• Almonds
• Avocados
• Yogurt
• Green Tea

This is just a short list of tyrosine-rich foods. Of course, there are other foods out there available to you that can further boost dopamine levels in your brain. Also notice that most of these foods, or in fact, all of them are known as aphrodisiacs.

There are certain things that give instant gratification. This makes people get addicted to them easily such as drug abuse, pornography, alcoholism, and even sex addiction.

Many people get addicted to something because it gives them some kind of instant gratification – drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography, and even shopping addiction.

These activities give instant gratifications. However, it has the opposite long-term effect on dopamine levels. Even overconsumption of sugar can lead to addiction, as well. In one study, the researchers found that men consuming a high amount of sugar are at risk of depression.

This is something true especially for artists, writers, poets and even dancers. Trying to create something new and putting yourself in a creative mode develops focus, which some experts call it “in the zone” or state of flow.

Guess what’s allowing you to achieve this level of concentration. It is dopamine. So, is creating something for gifted people only? Definitely not!

Anyone can put themselves in the flow state when creating something. Simply do something such as a hobby. Think and create something new, something unique that keeps your focus on a hyper level. Simple activities such as drawing, making arts and crafts, photography, even auto repair or something that peaks your interest in doing is a dopamine booster.

When we do big tasks, it can be discouraging and frustrating. So, why not break bigger tasks into smaller ones that can be tackled easily. Organizing and finishing tasks regardless how small or big they stimulate the rewards system in the brain. This takes away the worries but instead make you feel good you accomplished something.

Instead of worrying how you can get the job done especially if it’s a big task, break it down and work on it one small task at a time. Keep your brain feel satisfied by accomplishing small tasks, which led to the accomplishment of a bigger task.

Hence, break the bigger task and make a list of things to do. Work each one in an organized way and finish each task one after the other. This leads us to the next simple and natural way to increase dopamine naturally.

As simple as making a checklist is a simple yet effective way to increase dopamine in the brain naturally. Trying to do errands for the week without having a list of to-do things can be stressful.

Creating a list allows you to have a clear mental picture and prioritize which activity should be done first, and which one next. This makes things a lot easier than just doing what comes up on your mind.

Making a checklist of what-to-do keeps your brain clearly track of what you have already done and marked it as an accomplishment. The more tasks you have done, the better the feeling and a sense of completeness.

Moreover, creating a checklist gives you a visual representation clearly without cluttering and forgetting something, which can lead to feeling bad and even anxious. Upon finishing something in your checklist, mark it down as done. This keeps your dopamine level increasing and making you feel good.

The concept of cleansing is not new. In fact, cleansing is a popular topic these days. Other people call it detoxification or simply detox. There are many detoxification methods that you can do.

However, note that our bodies are already intelligent. Therefore, simply giving our bodies the necessary nutrients by eating clean and healthy, it automatically triggers a detox.

This is something to note that detoxification is a lifetime commitment. If you want to keep your body free of toxins and bacteria, you have to do a total shift from an unhealthy lifestyle to healthy lifestyle practices.

Furthermore, when you shift to healthy lifestyle practices, it makes your body and mind healthy and work together in harmony. When you achieve this, for certain, it is a clear sign that your dopamine level is at its proper level.

Focus on consuming whole foods preferably organic fruits and vegetables and avoid highly processed foods.

The previously mentioned dopamine-boosting methods are already good enough to get started. However, taking quality supplements is another way to boost or increase dopamine naturally.

The good news is that there are natural supplements available on the market that can further help increase dopamine production naturally. Among such supplements include;

• Acetyl-l-tyrosine
• Curcumin
• Ginkgo Biloba
• L-theanine

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, this short list would be able to help you achieve in increasing your dopamine level in natural ways. Of course, as mentioned earlier, there are many other ways to boost dopamine production naturally but these short list, hopefully, would be able to get you started.