
If a lot of dopamine is produced, you feel a sense of pleasure and great motivation. But sometimes its amount is insufficient in the body, which causes opposite feelings. So, the things you can do to increase dopamine in a natural way are:
- sleep the daily norm;
- use supplements for dopamine;
- consume a sufficient amount of protein;
- do sports regularly;
- meditate;
- listen to your favorite music.
Dopamine can be obtained from anything. It doesn’t matter whether it’s physical activity, supplements, or music. The main thing is that you enjoy it and feel a surge of strength. The hormone of happiness is vital in our body. It improves mood and cognitive functions and contributes to the good functioning of the nervous system. However, if you lead a bad lifestyle, smoke, eat poorly, and so on, dopamine can stop producing. It leads to low productivity, a bad mood, and even depression. Therefore, eating healthy food and sports activities is essential to increase dopamine in the body.
Reasons Why You Need To Increase Dopamine
There are many reasons for low dopamine. And the most common are things we neglect in everyday life. The main ones are lack of sleep, obesity, abuse of narcotic substances, and excessive consumption of harmful food. At first glance, nothing is wrong with this, but each problem dramatically impacts your health. For example:
1. Harmful Food
Eating harmful products is not only bad for your appearance, but also lowers dopamine. Therefore, avoiding consuming too fatty foods, an excessive amount of sweets, and food with low fiber content is crucial. Such products have a terrible effect on the human brain. As a result, increasing dopamine naturally after them is so difficult.
2. Lack Of Sleep
When people do not sleep enough, they feel tired and less energetic daily. It is what indicates a decrease in dopamine.
3. Obesity
Obesity is the reason not only for developing many diseases but also for a decrease in dopamine. Like sleep deprivation, obesity can lead to a reduction of D2 receptors.
As you can see, there are reasons that cause low dopamine. Therefore, the main thing is to pay attention to these causes and try to solve them as soon as possible.
Increasing Dopamine Naturally: Top 8 Ways
The internal state of a person depends on the amount of dopamine. So, keeping its balance and monitoring its level is very important. For example, if the body has enough of this neurotransmitter, a person feels happy and in a good mood. And if a person has a dopamine deficiency, they will experience a decline in strength. Therefore, to prevent its decrease, keep a list of natural ways to increase dopamine:
1. Use Natural Supplements

The nervous system is responsible for the production of dopamine and the regulation of its level. There are various ways of increasing dopamine, but the best is natural. It doesn’t impair the nervous system and doesn’t harm the stomach. In addition, it fully ensures a healthy state of the nervous system. Therefore, it is essential to take natural supplements to increase dopamine and do it regularly. Here are examples of supplements that are useful for the production of the hormone of happiness:
Supplements | What do they do? |
Liquid supplements | Liquid supplements saturate with all the necessary vitamins and minerals to activate dopamine production. They are in the form of drops which contain many adaptogens. Therefore, their nutritional composition can improve mental well-being and provide a happy mind. |
Protein | It’s a very effective natural way to increase dopamine because protein depends on food intake. When we eat foods containing many proteins, we provide our bodies with amino acids like tyrosine. When entering our body, it can turn into dopamine. Therefore, consuming food such as beef, eggs, and legumes is essential to increase dopamine. |
Ginseng | Ginseng can improve brain function, including mood, behavior and memory. Specific components of ginseng, such as ginsenosides, are responsible for increasing neurotransmitters in the brain. Also, it has beneficial effects on mental health, including cognitive function and attention. |
Curcumin | You can increase dopamine in the body with the help of the active ingredient turmeric. You can consume curcumin in capsules, tea, extract, and powder. It is believed to have an antidepressant effect because it increases dopamine secretion. |
Food supplement | The use of food supplements is suitable for the production of dopamine. Their natural composition, which includes adaptogens, provides the body with vitamins and, in this way, increases dopamine. |
2. Meditate

Meditation is a way to clear your thoughts and focus on your inner world. In addition, it helps improve your mental and physical health, If you do it correctly:
- You can do it by sitting, standing, or walking, and it requires regular practice;
- Such an activity that increases dopamine must be carried out in a quiet place where you feel comfortable;
- You should concentrate only on your thoughts. It promotes faster dopamine production and helps to concentrate on the process better.
Researchers claim that meditation promotes the stimulation of dopamine by 64%. The people who meditated for an hour were compared with those who rested in silence. And the results were better in those who meditated.
Consequently, we can conclude that meditation significantly improves mood and motivation with regular practice over a long period of time. If you find it difficult to focus on your thoughts, you can listen to special meditation videos or podcasts. Increasing dopamine naturally in this way, you will not only receive the hormone of happiness but also cleanse negative energy from your mind.
3. Get Enough Sleep

It is important to sleep enough hours to increase dopamine naturally. When you don’t get enough sleep, the dopamine receptors in your body can be adversely affected. Because of this, a person becomes very sluggish and feels a decrease in their working capacity. It happens because dopamine decreases and suppresses all our productivity. Therefore:
- It is recommended to get enough sleep to restore the dopamine level. It not only affects the production of the hormone of happiness but also affects your health;
- The risk of various mental disorders and other diseases decreases when you pay attention to your sleep. So, it’s one of the best natural ways to increase dopamine;
- If you find it difficult to adjust your daily routine, write down when you fall asleep and wake up. It will help you focus on the competitive goal and make it easier to get used to your schedule.
The main rule is to pay attention to sleep even if you have important things to do. After all, sleep protects us from health problems and can contribute to the rapid production of dopamine.
4. Take Probiotics

The fact is that our intestines and brain are closely connected. The intestine contains many nerve cells, which produce signaling molecules of neurotransmitters, including dopamine.
Thus, some types of bacteria entering the intensite can produce dopamine, which affects our mood and behavior. With a sufficiently large consumption of bacterial strains, symptoms of anxiety and depression can decrease.
Therefore, probiotics contribute to improved mood in humans and even animals. However, more research is needed to determine the exact role of dopamine in this process.
5. Listen To Your Favorite Music

Listening to our favorite tunes helps the body produce the pleasure hormone – dopamine. It is one of the most accessible natural ways to increase dopamine:
- When we hear our favorite song, we enjoy it and put ourselves in a positive mood. It happens because emotional associations arise in the human brain when listening to a melody;
- Thus, each musical composition evokes a particular emotion. However, this emotion must be positive. The more pleasant melody sounds we hear, the better new neural connections form on which our cognitive abilities depend;
- In addition, certain brain parts activate when a person listens to their favorite sound combinations. These parts are responsible for recognizing images, predicting and perceiving emotions. At the same time, the parts of the brain interact with each other, and a person receives aesthetic pleasure.
So, listen to your favorite music when you are stressed, anxious, or nervous. It is precisely what increases dopamine and helps you relax and get the dose of dopamine you need.
6. Do Sports

Exercise is one of the best activities for the brain and body. During sports, the level of endorphins increases. Mood improvement can be observed after just 10 minutes of physical activity. For example, you can run long-distance at an average pace. Although we need more inspiration and strength to do sports initially, each session becomes more exciting and effective. Therefore, activities that increase dopamine, including running, swimming, dancing, or other forms of sport, will help increase motivation and productivity:
- Training our muscles and feeling physical fatigue stimulates a rapid influx of dopamine into the body. This way, sport improves our physical and psychological state;
- Some doctors even assure that people who regularly play sports are more productive and satisfied with life than those who do not.
And for this, going to the gym or doing strength exercises for hours is unnecessary. Twenty minutes a day is enough to activate the nervous system and produce endorphins. Even a quick walk in the fresh air can provide you with the hormone of happiness.
7. Spend More Time On Hobbies

If a person has a hobby, they feel pleasure during its performance. It indicates increasing dopamine naturally. So, it causes a good mood and motivation to continue doing what is pleasant for us.
Therefore, paying attention to your hobbies and doing it regularly is crucial. You should include dancing, aerobics, drawing, going out with friends, and anything else you like in your plans.
In addition, do what pleases you from time to time. Then, you will notice how your dopamine has increased significantly after your favorite activities. It will manifest in productivity, inspiration, good brain activity, and positive emotions.
8. Consume Foods That Raise Dopamine

What we eat affects both the body and the brain. Therefore, it is essential to eat food that can help increase the release of dopamine in the brain. Such products include:
Bananas
This product is a source of tyrosine. Its regular use makes the body saturated with the necessary amino acids, B vitamins, and potassium. They positively affect the work of the nervous system, the condition of the heart, and blood vessels.
Seafood
All seafood, sea, and river fish are a source of L-tyrosine. It triggers the synthesis of dopamine in the body.
Beet
Beets contain vitamins of groups E and C. They act as antioxidants in the body, protecting against the destruction and damage of brain cells responsible for producing dopamine. Therefore, beets can be an excellent natural way to increase dopamine.
Green Tea
Green tea is included in the list of the best products contributing to dopamine production. Its composition consists of the amino acid L-theanine, which also participates in synthesizing neurotransmitters by the hypothalamus. Therefore, regular consumption of tea can improve the emotional state.
Coffee, alcohol, and sweets can also significantly boost dopamine levels. But all these foods work temporarily. So, as soon as their effect approaches, dopamine decreases to its former value. Therefore, it is necessary to use healthy products that do not reduce dopamine even with constant consumption. If you don’t like healthy food, then use supplements for dopamine.
Summary
As a rule, the body independently regulates the level of the neurotransmitter. But some medical conditions, as well as diet and lifestyle choices, can lower its level. Therefore, it is crucial to keep dopamine at an average level. Then your motivation and cognitive functions do not decrease and warn you against the onset of stress. It doesn’t matter if you do it with proper nutrition or supplements. The main thing is that you do it naturally.
FAQ
Symptoms of dopamine deficiency can be different. Milder symptoms manifest in drowsiness, a bad mood, and a feeling of sweaty fatigue. If dopamine levels are very low, symptoms can include hand tremors, loss of coordination, and seizures.
It depends on the human body. If people have chronic diseases or specific health problems, dopamine can take longer to be absorbed. But on average, doctors say it will take three months to restore dopamine fully.
The reason for a decrease in dopamine is everyday things that we ignore. These include stress, lack of sleep, constant anxiety, drug abuse, smoking, and various mental illnesses. There are also cases when dopamine decreases due to kidney problems.
Yes. A person’s mental health changes when the brain receives a large amount of dopamine, especially after certain addictions or diseases. They experience aggression, hallucinations, depression, and a bad mood.
When your body has excessive dopamine, it can lead to its habituation, that’s, addiction. Then such problems as mental disorders, stress, anxiety, and nervousness appear. It can also lead to problems with aggression and cause constant negativity.