Sharing these 5 foods to help boost serotonin seemed appropriate, given that it is Mental Health Awareness Month.

What is Serotonin?

Here are some things about serotonin you might not have known:

1. Serotonin is involved in the regulation of mood and anxiety, low brain serotonin levels may contribute to increased anxiety and depression. 
2. There are four major hormones of “happiness.” They include: dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphin.
3. 90% of serotonin is located in the gut, and it is important for gut motility.

What is Tryptophan?

Tryptophan is an essential amino acid found in many protein-based foods and dietary proteins including meats, dairy, fruits, and seeds.

It is a precursor of serotonin synthesis, but must be obtained through the diet because it cannot be synthesized by the body. In other words, tryptophan converts to serotonin in the brain, but that must be achieved through my second pillar, diet.

Therefore, the idea would be that we would enjoy more tryptophan foods in order to boost serotonin.

In one study, participants consuming higher levels of tryptophan (>10 mg/kg body weight/d) had significantly less depression and irritability and decreased anxiety than when they consumed lower levels of tryptophan.

That said, other studies say the correlation is still too weak to proclaim anything definitely. And yet, the below 5 foods are, in general, healthy all around. In other words, for most of you they will be a “win” situation, maybe a win-win.

5 Foods to Help Boost Serotonin

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Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin seeds are especially high in tryptophan and can be roasted for a delicious snack.

100g of pumpkin seeds contain almost 600 mg tryptophan.

Blue Spirulina

Bet you didn’t guess this one?! Spirulina is a type of blue-green algae that is rich in protein, vitamins, minerals, and carotenoids, antioxidants that can help protect cells from damage.

It contains nutrients, including B complex vitamins, beta-carotene, vitamin E, manganese, zinc, copper, iron, selenium, and gamma linolenic acid (an essential fatty acid).

Additionally, it has about 929mg of tryptophan per 100 gram serving. This algae contains contains almost 5x the amount of tryptophan as turkey!

Eggs

Yolks are extremely rich in tryptophan and tyrosine, choline, biotin, omega-3 fatty acids, and other nutrients that are major contributors to the health benefits and antioxidant properties of eggs.

In 100g of egg there is 167mg tryptophan.

Note: cage-free, organic provides the highest quality.

Turkey

Yes, of course you knew this one would be included.

Tryptophan is great for sleep and we all know that after a big Thanksgiving turkey meal, plenty of naps are necessary. So that’s not just a complete myth (also, you’re tired for many other reasons than just the turkey).

Note: pasture-raised, organic provides the highest quality. A turkey breast will give you about 110% DV tryptophan.

Wild Salmon

I won’t lie. I believe that, no matter what, salmon is one of the healthiest foods on the planet.

It always makes the list of healthiest fats, among many other things. And it’s known for helping with sleep and mood due to the tryptophan and high-quality omega-3’s.

A 4oz serving of salmon contains approximately 250-400 mg of tryptophan.

And because I really believe in all things “more Omega,” we came out with our own Omega-3 supplement called – you guessed it — More Omega.

Serotonin Supplement

Lastly, products like CBD also seem to help boost Serotonin.

Exреrtѕ bеlіеvе thаt CBD’s роtеntіаl benefits fоr depression are rеlаtеd tо іtѕ роѕіtіvе еffесt on ѕеrоtоnіn receptors in thе brаіn.

Lоw ѕеrоtоnіn lеvеlѕ аrе lіkеlу соnnесtеd tо dерrеѕѕіоn. CBD dоеѕn’t nесеѕѕаrіlу bооѕt ѕеrоtоnіn lеvеlѕ, but іt mау аffесt hоw уоur brаіn’ѕ chemical rесерtоrѕ respond tо thе ѕеrоtоnіn thаt’ѕ аlrеаdу іn your ѕуѕtеm.

I talk more about CBD via the Endocannabinoid System HERE.

How Much Tryptophan Per Day?

The recommended daily intake for tryptophan is 4mg per kilogram of body weight or 1.8mg per pound.

So a person weighing 70kg (~154 pounds) should consume around 280mg of tryptophan per day.

Sources: HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Ways to Incorporate the 5 Foods to Help Boost Serotonin

So how can you incorporate these foods into your diet?

How to Eat Pumpkin Seeds

1. Incorporate pumpkin seeds into your diet:
   1. Low FODMAP Seed Cycling Energy Balls
   2. Try the brand new, low-FODMAP, Vegan Protein Powder that contains pumpkin seeds as one of the three ingredients: Perfect Plant Protein HERE. (GUTSY10 at checkout to save 10%)

Spirulina

1. Incorporate spirulina into your diet:
   1. Grab the powder HERE, and toss it into a smoothie. (GUTSY10 at checkout to save 10%)
   2. Use that same powder, make a green juice, and stir the Spirulina powder in at the end.

Eggs

1. Incorporate eggs into your diet:
   1. Gluten and Dairy-Free Almond Poppy Seed Sheet Cake Recipe
   2. Veggie Pad Thai

Turkey

1. Incorporate turkey into your diet:
   1. Baked Breakfast Turkey Patties
   2. On-the-Go Turkey Breakfast Muffins (found on page 70 in The Leaky Gut Meal Plan)

Wild Salmon

1. Incorporate wild salmon into your diet:
   1. Wild Salmon, Roasted Beets and Apples
   2. Salmon Patty (from page 111 in The Leaky Gut Meal Plan)

So, grab something with a lot of tryptophan and spike that mood. Well, hopefully!

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:

1. Gut and Psychology Syndrome
2. Immune Boosting Gut Health Support
3. The Gut-Brain Connection

Xox,
SKH