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Bananas Chocolate and Exercise Increase Serotonin to Combat Depression
(01/31/09) Depression affects everyone at one time or another. There is an inordinate amount of medications prescribed to combat it. But a remedy may be found in your kitchen and your exercise outfit.
January 31, 2009--    Story posted by FitcomHealth.com    Serotonin is in the scientific news lately, not so much for it's effects on human mental states, but for its effect on grasshoppers. It appears that high levels of the brain chemical serotonin can morph a friendly solitary grasshopper into a brown swarming locust - in as little as 3 hours.

This finding will surely precipitate a lot of research into the biological control of serotonin in insects, animals, and humans. And we need to learn a lot more about this powerful mood affecting brain chemical which effects the functioning of over 40 million of our brain cells.
bananas
Although not the highest in tryptophan, bananas are a carbohydrate that can feed vital tryptophan to the brain for the synthesis of serotonin which can help with depression and blue moods.
It is believed that low levels of serotonin, or decrease in serotonin receptors in the brain as we age are responsible for onset of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Most notable, low levels of serotonin can cause depression, sometimes severe depression.

So, a healthy lifestyle that fosters an abundant level of serotonin will go far to keep you in a good mood. Here are some activities and adjustments to your everyday activities to combat depression and the blues.

Regular Exercise

Exercise boosts Serotonin in your body and brain. It can be as effective a treatment for depression as antidepressant medication or psychotherapy. New research conducted at the University of Texas at Austin found that just 40 minutes of regular exercise can have an immediate effect on mood.
Eating the Right Foods The body can utilize an amino acid and convert it to serotonin in the brain. That amino acid is tryptophan. However, there is a trick. Because tryptophan is an amino acid, a building block of protein, it is found in, well, natural proteins and some carbohydrates.

A high protein meal will actually block the absorption of tryptophan in the brain. So the trick is to have carbohydrates that are high in tryptophan for ease of entry to the brain and the subsequent rise in serotonin.

What are these carbohydrates that contain tryptophan? They may be in your kitchen already: bananas, oats, cottage cheese, and, thank God, chocolate.

So, if you're feeling blue, take a jog, have a banana and some dark chocolate and the clouds may clear.

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by Richard Harris
carbohydrates and tryptophan
it is misleading to say that some carbohydrates caontain tryptophan. as stated in the article, tryptophan is an amino acid, and is therefore completely different from a carbohydrate. there are some carbohydrate rich foods that also contain amino acids and proteins, but they are not part of the structure of those carbohydrates. the reason why carbohydrates 'increase' tryptophan levels is that other amino acids compete with tryptophan for uptake in the brain. carbohydrates cause other amino acids to be taken up by other areas of the body, leaving tryptophan free to be taken up by the brain. this means that carbohydrate consuption can increase serotonin levels by making tryptophan more readily available for conversion in the brain. some carbohydrates have a greater effect than others (chocolate potentially being one) however, suggesting to eat more chocolate as a way out of depression, is not to be recommended......
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