Do you know the dopamine ? Known as the "pleasure hormone", it plays an essential role in your motivation, your concentration and your well-being. As such, a lack of dopamine can make you tired and irritable... And therefore less efficient in the gym! Fortunately, there are solutions to prevent deficiencies. Discover 5 tips to increase your natural dopamine and reach your sporting goals.
What is dopamine?
With endorphinserotonin and oxytocin, natural dopamine is part of what is commonly called the happiness hormones.
More than a hormone, dopamine is actually a neurotransmitter. The role of this chemical messenger is to transmit information between the different nerve cells, through receptors. These neurotransmitters are vital molecules for the human organism, because they allow the neurons to communicate with each other.
Dopamine is largely synthesized in the upper part of the brain stem and in the nucleus of the hypothalamus, a structure in the central nervous system. This secretion is conditioned to the intervention of two amino acids tyrosine and phenylalanine. We will come back to this.
Dopamine is greatly involved in the mechanism of award. When a positive event occurs, it is this hormone that spreads the feeling of pleasure in your brain.
In addition, dopamine is involved in many other mechanisms in the human body:
- Motivation;
- Focus;
- Motor coordination;
- Learning.
In addition, dopamine is involved in certain addictive behaviors related to drugs, alcohol or cigarettes. Using any of these substances releases dopamine in the brain. Your body identifies this action as pleasurable, and then urges you to do it again.
Finally, the lack of dopamine is associated with pathologies such as Parkinson's disease or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
How to recognize a lack of dopamine?
By controlling the reward system in the brain, dopamine greatly affects our motivation.
A dopamine deficiency can thus have several consequences:
- A fatigue important ;
- Decreased motivation;
- Lack of focus;
- Sleep disorders;
- Decreased appetite;
- Digestive system disorders;
- Memory loss;
- Mood disorders.
The role of dopamine in the sporty is crucial. Whether you're into weight training, fitness or any other physical activity, keeping your natural dopamine levels up is vital to achieving your goals.
Otherwise, lack of motivation, concentration difficulties and fatigue will cause your performance to drop.
How to stimulate your natural dopamine?
Now that you know the importance of the dopamine for sportsIf you're looking for a way to avoid deficiencies, you'll want to know how to do it.
But how to increase your dopamine naturally? This is what we will see through these 5 tips.
1. Watch your tyrosine intake
As explained earlier, dopamine is secreted from two amino acids. One of them is the tyrosine.
To ensure that you never run out of natural dopamine, you should eat enough foods containing tyrosine. This is generally the case for all products high in protein :
- Almonds;
- The egg;
- Tofu;
- Turkey;
- Counsel;
- Banana;
- Sesame;
- Soy;
- Or cheese.
It is also possible to supplement your tyrosine intake with food supplements.
2. Eat foods rich in phenylalanine
The phenylalanine is another precursor of dopamine. Without this essential amino acid, natural dopamine cannot be produced.
As for tyrosine, it is essential to cover your needs with your power supplywith :
- Soy;
- Fish;
- Eggs;
- Red or white meat;
- Dairy products;
- Nuts;
- Legumes.
3. Don't skip breakfast
Unlike serotonin and melatonin, dopamine is a neuromediator secreted in the morning.
To increase the level of dopamine in the body, it is recommended to take a breakfast rich in proteins. Indeed, tyrosine and phenylalanine are basic elements of the protein.
Simply eating eggs, cottage cheese, chicken or any other protein-rich food in the morning will help you produce dopamine.
4. Control your omega-3 intake
Research conducted by Canadian researchers has shown that a link between natural dopamine and omega-3.
Thus, a deficit in omega-3 fatty acids would be responsible for a decrease in the level of dopamine.
Again, regular consumption of foods rich in omega-3 would increase its dopamine. This is notably the case:
- Salmon;
- Tuna;
- From the lawyer;
- Certain oils (rapeseed, flax, etc.);
- Nuts and almonds.
If your diet does not allow you to meet your daily needs, you should know that there are supplements to achieve this.
5. Be physically active
In addition to the importance of your food on dopamine, you should also practice a physical activity regular.
Sporting activity is an excellent way to secrete natural dopamine and to fight against the harmful effects of a deficiency. This is the conclusion of several scientific studies on the subject, the results of which have been compiled in a meta-analysis in 2021.
Dopamine and sport are intimately linked. It is a real virtuous circle The more you move, the more dopamine you release in your brain. The more dopamine you release, the more motivated you'll feel to push yourself and achieve your goals.
The strength trainingRunning, hiking and swimming are some of the best activities for producing dopamine.
If you suffer from a lack of dopamine, the best natural treatment is to motivate yourself to work out !
Would you like to follow a bodybuilding program to reach your goals?
Conclusion
You now know how to naturally boost dopamine. As you can see, this happiness hormone plays an important role in the reward circuit. To produce enough of it, it is important to eat a healthy and balanced diet and to practice regular physical activity.
