dr. Lisa Silvani More and more people feel tired easily these days. Some occur after the Covid-19 started while others already have it long before the pandemic happened. There are many reasons why people can feel tired easily. Some could have autoimmune disease, while others might already in an aging process, which explain the energy deteroration in their body.
Lots of people want and need to boost their energy. And there are many ways to do this. Some are even available for general public as energy booster foods, drinks, supplements and even drugs. Although, not many research has proven the long term efficacy of these products, more and more people consume it in the hope to bring more energy throughout their day.
While other people take energy products, some have a more different approach on how to get by through the day. Some use techinques that increase the level of Dopamine, a neurtransmitter that exist in the body naturally that helps to give a sense of energy. So what is Dopamine?
Dopamine is one type of neurotransmitter that produced by areas of the brain, substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area, which has many functions in the brains and body. Dopamine plays essential roles in the rewards system, which affect how we see competition. Everytime we engage in a rewarding experience, dopamin will reinforce the felling of pleasure which why we like it when we win or good at something or receiving appreciation for something that we do. Dopamine also affect motivation, attention, mood and memory.
Dopamine is so important, that many of these well known chronic diseases are the product of diminished dopamine production.
- Parkinson’s disease. Characterized by tremors, people with parkinson’s disease have less dopamine because the production is diminished.
- ADHD. Kids and audlts with ADHD has difficulties in responding to rewards changes since they have lower levels of dopamines than others. This is why they usually appear inattentive and sometimes impulsive.
- Addiction. One of the reason why people get into addiction is because they have low level of dopamine produced in their body. This is why any substance that increase rewarding or pleasure feelings can be addicting for them because it replace dopamine’s functions of feeling good.
When someone is experiencing dopamine deficiency, they could have some of these symptoms:
- Difficulty sleeping
- Low energy
- Loss of balance
- Anxiety
- Mood swings
- Low sex drive
- Tremors
- Muscle cramps
- Emotionally numb
Knowing the full benefits of having dopamine might get you wonder on how to get more dopamine in the body. But, just like everything else, an excess of dopamine is not good, it can be even detrimental to the body. When you have excess dopamine in the body, you can experiences these symptoms:
- Energized
- Aggresive
- Impulsive
- Unable to sleep
So, in short, we need dopamine to be motivated, happy and live our life full of energy. But, when you have it too much, it can give the opposite of what we want. A balance level of dopamin will help you to be energetic but relax enough to stay focus and calm during the day. While excess dopamine will give you the feeling of euphoria and run around like there is no tomorrow and leave you feeling more tired at the end of the day.
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