7 ways to increase dopamine, focus and motivation
Do you find it difficult to get through the day? Like your energy levels crash, or you can’t finish things once you get started? Do you get easily distracted or find it difficult to make decisions? Do you find yourself feeling flat?
If you answered yes to any of these, you may have a deficiency in dopamine and need to increase dopamine levels.
What is Dopamine?
Dopamine is often thought of as the pleasure chemical, but dopamine is actually the main neurotransmitter that Is responsible for motivation, focus and drive.
It also gives you that sense of satisfaction when you accomplish a task, which is important in motivation and consistency.
Dopamine can be thought of as the motivation molecule, it gives you the attention span, follow through and focus to be productive and the ability to experience pleasure.
A lack of dopamine is associated with:
Exhaustion/fatigue
Memory issues/forgetfulness
Difficulty concentrating
Brain fog
Lack of motivation
Sugar cravings
Lack of quality sleep
Mood fluctuation
If you experience any of these things, it’s important to understand that you can naturally, sustainably and healthily increase dopamine levels.
There are also quick ‘hits’ that give you dopamine rushes like caffeine, sugar, nicotine that give you a quick boost, but end up in decreased dopamine production in the long-term.
7 ways to naturally increase dopamine
Eat foods rich in L-Tyrosine. Dopamine is made from the amino acid l-tyrosine which is commonly found in protein-rich foods.
Eating a diet high in l-tyrosine can help ensure that you’ve got the basic building blocks needed for dopamine synthesis. Foods such as almonds, bananas, avocados, eggs, beans, fish, and chicken.
Intermittent fasting improves various metabolic features known to be important for brain health. Fasting also increases levels of a brain hormone called BDNF (brain derived neurotrophic factor). Low levels of BDNF leads to difficulties learning new things, depression and mood swings. Intermittent fasting is NOT restrictive eating, meaning you can eat what you want/need during ‘feeding’ times. It’s a structured schedule of eating. Most common is the 16:8 structure. 16 hours fasting with an 8 hour eating window. Most of your fasting can be done whilst you sleep! Please note, intermittent fasting is not recommended for people who are underweight, at risk of malnutrition or suffering from an eating disorder.
Sleep 😴 Getting adequate sleep is one of the most important things you can do for your brain health and performance. Research has found that dopamine plays a bigger role in sleep regulation than previously believed. It controls the production of the sleep hormone melatonin. Lack of sleep may reduce the number of dopamine receptors. Even one night of sleep deprivation results in the down-regulation of dopamine receptors.
Cold Exposure. Take a cold shower. If you’re not up for that, at least end your shower with a cold blast. Taking a shower with 14°C water can increase dopamine substantially, up to 530%.
Exercise. Daily exercise is one of the best things you can do for your brain. Exercise boosts production of new brain cells, slows down brain cell ageing, and improves the flow of nutrients to the brain. It can also increase your levels of dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.
Touch and Social Connection. Your skin has receptors that are sensitive to touch, specifically calming and pleasurable touch that increases dopamine levels. A therapeutic massage increases dopamine by 31% while reducing the stress hormone cortisol by an equivalent amount. Hugging also activates beneficial brain chemical including dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin. Other activities like petting your animal and positive social interactionswith others also increases dopamine levels.
Music 🎶 Listening to music can be a fun way to stimulate dopamine release in your brain. Several brain imaging studies have found that listening to music increases activity in the reward and pleasure areas of the brain, which are rich with dopamine receptors.