Monday, October 4, 2010

Brain Chemicals (Part 5)

Some people take great pleasure in life. Even when painful things happen, they seem to rebound well, without too many emotional scars or prolong suffering. These lucky people are loaded with the brain chemicals that transmit enjoyment, contentment and euphoria. They are blessed with natural comforting substances that are many times more powerful then morphine and heroin.

There wonder brain chemicals are called Endorphins. Many foods can raise endorphin levels, and some can provide longer lasting lift then others. The questions is, do you have enough endorphins to boost in the first place? Do you find it hard enough to locate the natural enough natural enjoyment or comfort in your life? Do you find that major treats give you only brief pleasure? If the answer if yes, you may be deficient in endorphins. 

Women are born having approximately 50% of endorphins less then men. It explains why women are easier to be emotional or in tears whenever then read a romance book or watch romantic movies. Some women even shed tears while watching a commercial in tv. Endorphins are natural pain killers produced in our body. 

Do you avoid emotional intimacy or confrontation? Do you look for comfort in chocolate or other foods? How about alcohol or pain killing drugs? How about sex? If you are deficient in endorphin and too vulnerable to pain as a result, you can easily be driven to painkilling substances and activities. Meditation and running also effective endorphins-level raisers. But, it would usually need up to an hour for the runners to experience the endorphin effect, but as cardiovascular exercise is concerned, I do not recommend due to high levels of cortisol being secreted and the harm which could have done to our body. 

Depleted endorphin levels, could also distort the appetite and mood as well. Tears are not the only clues which points to endorphin levels, but also the unnatural sadness appears to be a common symptom. Some people feel sad for no reason and being overly sensitive. 

How did you become endorphins deficient? Is it your genes? Has too much stress drained off your endorphins? Any kind of prolong stress can wear down your endorphin levels. You use up quite a bit of endorphin every time you are upset, injured, sick, scared and even excited. 

Adrenaline and endorphin are released together by your pituitary and adrenal glands, to help you deal with significant stressors. Raised endorphin levels are what can actually calm you down after you feel upset. When endorphin levels are too low, some people tend to look for synthetic painkillers such as sugar, alcohol or drugs to keep the numbness going. When minutes of a traumatic event like death of someone close, the levels of endorphin in our brain increase and stay high for a period of time. 

As nutrition concerns for production of endorphins, yet again, high protein diet is required to build the 'twin' amino acids DLPA. The twin amino acids helps to amplify pleasure sensations and increase energy while decreases depression at the same time. A multi vitamins/minerals containign the basics can have a real impact on your overall sense of well being. The nutrients given the most credit for the mood boost were B vitamins. All the basic B vitamins have been shown to help eliminate every kind of emotional and physical discomfort. The mineral magnesium can also accomplish marvels with pain by neutralizing some of the pain-provoking chemicals in the body. Migraine and PMS discomfort can also respond dramatically to magnesium supplementation. Besides that, Omega 3 fats also promote the effective production of endorphins as well. 

Certain foods such as chocolate, sweets, baked goods, dairy products can all raise endorphin levels. However, no matter how good these food makes you feel, it is only temporary and the feeling doesn't last. These food are also unhealthy, highly addictive and likely to put on unneeded pounds. Chocolate not only contains lots of sugar, but also other substances like caffeine and magnesium. 

Well, I guess I have covered the four key neurotransmitters in our human brain which affects our lifestyle most of the time. Feel free to comment on these five part posts, which I hope the information I uploaded, can help people who are suffering from these 'false mood' symptoms, to have a much improved overall 'feeling'. 

Lastly, remember folks, never cut down the calories nor skip meals. Comprehensive high-protein diet at least 3 meals a day is a must if any of you would wan to clear the 'dark clouds' and regain back the 'sunny day' for an overall happy feeling. Good luck. 


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