A neurotransmitter imbalance causes psychological problems

Dopamine makes you a happy person

A lot of dopamine, or the right amount, makes you a happy person. You have a lot of energy, and you are good at manifesting yourself in your life and career. You know what you want, and you can achieve it. In addition, you are able to make good and quick decisions. This makes it an important substance in the expression of your character. Dopamine is released during activities you enjoy. So, it is also clear that an imbalance in neurotransmitters can cause psychological complaints.

Melatonin regulates sleep and biorhythms

Melatonin regulates our sleep and biorhythms and insulin regulates our blood sugars. At dusk, the production of melatonin starts. This is a very important hormone for good sleep and your biorhythm. Melatonin is also largely produced in the intestines. It is also a good antioxidant, especially for the intestines, and suppresses inflammation there. When someone has intestinal problems, sleep problems arise at the same time.

Insulin

Insulin controls the blood sugar and makes sure the cells absorb the glucose. Binging on fast digesting carbohydrates and sugar can greatly increase the amount of insulin in the blood. Due to the large amount of insulin, the cells become insensitive to it. This is a situation that causes insulin resistance and is the precursor to diabetes. The glucose that no longer ends up in the cell will be stored by the body in your fat. Do you know someone with a relatively slim body and a fat belly? This is in-fat stored insulin, which is observed as visceral fat in the abdominal wall. These fats cannot be broken down with a normal carbohydrate-rich diet.

Insulin is also active in the brain and plays an important role in memory function. In addition, it is anti-inflammatory. If you have insulin resistance, you also get memory problems and neuroinflammation for that reason. Do you know the feeling of sudden fatigue in your head and that you suddenly see less clearly? Or the feeling that you have cotton wool in your head? Then you literally have too little glucose in the brain. Type 3 diabetes is a fairly new term and another name for Alzheimer’s disease!

So to stay healthy, it is very important that your diet no longer consists of fast digesting carbohydrates and sugars. It is very wise to eat low-carb or ketogenic food together with intermittent fasting. But you will read more about that in another article.

Cholecystokinin (CCK) determines our appetite

Cholecystokinin produced in the small intestine indicates that you are full. It is the most common brain hormone and plays a major role in eating disorders. It also affects your mood and anxiety disorders. For the purposes of this article, we have listed the most important brain hormones and neurotransmitters. However, there are many more. The list is simply too long for an article of this type to cover. The key idea here is to establish the relationship between the gut and the brain.

Endorfins

The brain works with a reward system in the form of endorphins. This is the happiness-inducing substance that is released after you finish a run, for example. Endorphins also suppress pain, and you often hear athletes talk about the point that they no longer feel pain simply by carrying on. This is the moment when the endorphins take over and relieve the pain. Endorphins, however, can be blocked in their effect by exorphins from food. They mimic the action of endorphins, but the effect is unfortunately much less. In addition, they block the release of the body’s own endorphins.

Exorphins

When eating exorphin-rich food, the substance dopamine is also released, and thus one can develop an addiction to sugar- and fat-rich food (exorphin-rich). Exorphin addiction manifests itself in the excessive consumption of wheat, gluten, sugar, cheese, all milk products, soy and spinach, but also alcohol and using drugs. Think about a pizza, it contains gluten, wheat and cheese (at the very least), so an overload of exorphins. Cookies, cakes, pies and other treats contain dairy products, wheat, gluten and sugar. After eating this overload of exorphins, you feel very good for a while, only to become tired and depressed again. This feeling makes you eat more exorphin-rich food. In the US, the term “exorphin junkie” is already commonplace.

Physical and emotional problems

Exorphins also hinder communication between nerve cells and cause many problems, including fatigue, memory loss, addiction, lack of focus and/or depression. ADHD patients, for example, have an overload of exorphins in their brains

This also has to do with the gut microbiome because the DPP-IV enzyme is made by the microbiome. This enzyme is meant to render the exorphins in food harmless. Unfortunately, this does not work sufficiently when the intestinal microbiome does not function properly. It all creates a full vicious circle, and it is clear that an imbalance in neurotransmitters can cause psychological and physical problems.

So, these problems can be solved, and it is actually nice to read that you are in control and can do a lot yourself. All you have to do is make the decision to change your eating patterns and under supervision and to take some supplements.