Dopamine Supplements

What are Dopamine Supplements?

Dopamine supplements aren’t like regular supplements.  Why is that?  Well, the main reason is because of how complex a chemical dopamine is.  When you take a supplement, your digestive tract breaks it down into its simplest form, then absorbs it for use.  Ordinarily, supplements are fairly simple compounds, things like vitamins and minerals.  Iron, for example, isn’t complex at all and can’t be broken down any further.  It’s an element, so it’s already in its simplest form.  But dopamine is different.  Dopamine is quite a bit more complex, with a chemical structure of:

C6H3(OH)2-CH2-CH2-NH2

That’s a pretty complex molecule, one that’s very easily broken down by the digestive tract.  If a person were to consume pure dopamine in supplement form, the digestive tract would break down all of the different chemical components into their base forms and the dopamine itself would never make it into their blood stream.  This makes it a bit tricky to boost dopamine levels in the body through supplements.  In fact, there are really only two ways of boosting levels of dopamine in the body.  One is intravenous injection, which is basically a shot of dopamine and not very feasible for the general public.  The second is to give the body the right building blocks for producing its own dopamine naturally.  This website is dedicated to the second option and all of the products listed on this site are different ways of encouraging the body to produce more dopamine and other vital neurotransmitters.

Dopamine supplements don’t put dopamine right into your system, but rather, they encourage the body to produce more dopamine itself.  In the world of chemical compounds, there are things called precursors, which are compounds which lead to the production of more complex chemicals.  For complex neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin, there are a few precursors which lead to the production of more serotonin and dopamine.  These are generally specific amino acids that are directly used by the body in the production of dopamine.  Other dopamine supplements however, try and improve the health of the particular organs inside the body that produce neurotransmitters.  This is another route of encouraging the body to produce more natural dopamine.  Both kinds of dopamine supplements help the body to produce more of what it’s lacking, and while they won’t directly put dopamine into your system, they’ll be beneficial over the long run.

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Dopamine Supplements — L-Tyrosine Precursor

L-Tyrosine is an amino acid precursor to dopamine, making it one of the most effective dopamine supplements out there.  Beyond just converting into dopamine in the body, L-Tyrosine is also involved in the production of many other chemicals and proteins that are vital to the body’s normal function.  Just for a recap, if you haven’t read the other posts, a precursor is a building block that the body can use to make more complex chemicals.  The reason why you need to take precursors instead of just taking dopamine itself is because dopamine is a complex chemical and if you were to take it in pill form, your digestive system would break it down into simpler components and it would never reach your bloodstream as actual dopamine.

Instead, we take the precursors to dopamine, which are amino acids like L-Tyrosine and L-Dopa, which we covered in the last review.  This brand of N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine is especially effective because it’s more bio-available than most forms of L-Tyrosine and therefore more easily absorbed by the digestive tract.  If you’re suffering from a dopamine deficiency and feel like you need to try dopamine supplements, then this is a great place to start.  Amino acids don’t come with side effects and they’re useful for many different functions in the body.  Not only will L-Tyrosine help in the production of more dopamine, it will help in the production of many other vital chemicals and proteins that you might also be somewhat deficient in.

Other Benefits

A great thing about Acetyl L-Tyrosine is that it has so many other benefits to the body.  Beyond just making dopamine, Acetyl L-Tyrosine also is involved in the synthesis of Thyroid hormones.  This makes it an especially valuable amino acid for boosting thyroid function and stabilizing it.  In addition to this, Acetyl L-Tyrosine has also been shown to be very effective at boosting focus, mental clarity, and helping with depression.  It has also been shown to have benefits on persons who suffer from ADD.  All in all, it’s just a very beneficial compound.

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Dopamine Supplements — Dopa Mucuna

Dopa Mucuna from Now Supplements contains 15% L-Dopa, which is the main ingredient in this supplement. L-Dopa is a naturally occurring compound found in certain herbs and foods.  L-Dopa is a precursor to a lot of the body’s neurotransmitter, and especially dopamine.  Why do you need a precursor?  Why can’t you just take dopamine directly?  If you’ve read some of the other posts, you’ll know that dopamine supplements can’t be taken like many other vitamins and minerals can.  Dopamine is a very complex brain chemical, a neurotransmitter, and must be synthesized within the body.  If a person were to take the compound dopamine in a capsule, when it reached the stomach, the digestive tract would break the dopamine down into its base components, and the dopamine would never enter the bloodstream intact.

That’s where precursor chemicals like L-Dopa come in.  Giving your body precursors like L-Dopa is one of the best ways to encourage the body to build more dopamine on its own.  Poor dieting is one of the biggest causes of dopamine deficiency in the modern age.  The body just doesn’t have enough building blocks for all of the complex chemicals it needs to build.  So many of the more complex brain chemicals suffer and the body isn’t able to produce them in full supply.  That’s why it’s very important to give your body as many building blocks as it needs.

L-Dopa is especially nice because it’s a precursor to the neurotransmitter norepinephrine as well, making it useful for more than just dopamine.  The other reason why I like this specific brand of Mucuna Pruriens is because they specify the exact amount of L-Dopa in their formula.  They promise that the supplement is at least 15% L-Dopa.  That’s important because it’s easy to get away with having a very low percentage of L-Dopa in a supplement and still labeling it as a Mucuna Pruriens, L-Dopa supplement.  Now Supplements guarantees a pretty high level of L-Dopa in their formula.  It’s good to deal with supplement brands that are upfront about their ingredients.  If you’re looking for a good dopamine supplement, then this is a great way to go.  It’s on a huge sale right now too, which is always nice.

Dopamine Supplement Mood Support on Sale Here

Dopamine Supplements through Mood Support

Dopamine supplements aren’t like normal supplements.  Since dopamine is a very complex brain chemical, it can’t just be taken in supplement form like Selenium or Iron.  If a person were to take a capsule filled with dopamine, when it got to the stomach, the stomach would break the dopamine down into its simpler amino acids and other base chemicals, and it would never enter the bloodstream as dopamine.  That’s why, when looking for a dopamine supplement, you have to get a little bit creative.  I like to go for a supplement like the one pictured up top, an overall mood support formula.

The reason why I like this as a dopamine supplement is because it both gives you the amino acid precursors to build complex brain chemicals, while at the same time seeking to eliminate the root cause of most dopamine deficiency, which is stress.  Mood support has powerful herbal extracts that support the stress organs, like the adrenal gland, and seek to allow the body to develop a better resistance to stress.  So not only are you getting the building blocks for complex brain chemicals, you’re also doing something about the root problem as well.  It’s like attacking a dopamine deficiency from multiple angles, and that’s always helpful.

If you’re just interested in boosting your dopamine levels and aren’t interested in herbal extracts and other things, our next few reviews will have dopamine supplements that are closer to what you’re after.  You still won’t be able to take dopamine directly, but there are a lot of precursor elements that give the body everything it needs for an ample dopamine supply, and encourage the body to make full use of them to build brain chemicals.

Dopamine Deficiency from Drinking Alcohol Socially

Alcohol is one of the biggest causes of dopamine deficiency, especially social drinking.  Though alcoholics experience dopamine deficiency as well, people who party a few times a week are far more at risk of developing a dopamine deficiency, surprisingly enough.  Here’s why.  Alcoholics generally drink alone.  It doesn’t excite them much because it’s more of a habit than anything else.  But when a social drinker at a party starts to hit the bottle, dopamine is released more heavily, which is one of the main reasons why people have so much fun while drinking socially.  The combination of alcohol plus being at a social function causes lots of dopamine to be released.  This isn’t a problem if done only occasionally.  But people that do this a couple of nights a week run the risk of developing a dopamine deficiency.  Why is that?

Generally, during a night of social drinking, a person will also get themselves into another negative situation — lack of sleep.  Most people that party a few times a week, don’t generally get a whole lot of sleep, which puts them in further risk of developing a dopamine deficiency.  And the sleep they do get after a night of drinking isn’t worth a huge amount.  So while they’re releasing lots of dopamine into their systems, they aren’t able to recoup their supply because they aren’t getting enough sleep and they keep drinking socially, which further causes a drain.  Having low levels of dopamine and other neurotransmitters is one of the precursors to:

• Depression
• Lack of Motivation
• Addiction

You might be surprised by the last point, that dopamine deficiency can lead to addiction.  But studies have shown that persons with low levels of dopamine have more addictive behaviors than they otherwise would.  This can create a dangerous situation because people who drink socially a couple of times a week and don’t get enough sleep are at even more of a risk of developing an alcohol addiction.  If this is you, then you ought to consider cutting back on the frequency of your going out drinking.  Cutting back to once a week is probably a good idea.  And if you’re wanting to help your body rebuild its supplies of dopamine, you might want to check out the recommended product on the right.  It’ll not only help you rebuild your supply of dopamine, it’ll also help you build up your other neurotransmitters as well, which are probably also in decline.