Food, mood and serotonin
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Did you know...
You will have experienced a change of mood linked to food at least once. Think of the sense of pleasure and wellbeing when you smell a freshly baked chocolate cake, or the bad mood that follows you around while you are on a strict diet. It is completely normal: in fact, food and mood are connected.
Serotonin in particular is one of the links between food and mood.
It has in fact been observed that its levels change at different times of day: they are low during the post-absorptive period, rise when the arrival of food is anticipated and peak during the meal, in particular in response to carbohydrates*.
Serotonin is derived from the amino acid tryptophan, taken in with the diet, and tryptophan levels in the blood vary with the amount of carbohydrate in the diet. Drugs that increase serotonin levels in the brain are powerful appetite suppressants.
Abnormalities in the regulation of brain serotonin are thought to be one of the main factors causing eating disorders. For example,anorexia nervosa, characterised by deliberately keeping body weight at an excessively low level, or bulimia nervosa, characterised by frequent binge eating often accompanied by self-induced vomiting, are often accompanied by depression, a serious mood disorder associated with reduced serotonin levels in the brain. As well as causing low mood, reduced serotonin levels decrease the feeling of fullness.
For this reason, antidepressant drugs that work by raising serotonin levels in the brain (e.g. Prozac) are also effective in treating many patients suffering from bulimia nervosa.
*from: "Neuroscienze. Esplorando il cervello".
You will have experienced a change of mood linked to food at least once. Think of the sense of pleasure and wellbeing when you smell a freshly baked chocolate cake, or the bad mood that follows you around while you are on a strict diet. It is completely normal: in fact, food and mood are connected.
Serotonin in particular is one of the links between food and mood.
It has in fact been observed that its levels change at different times of day: they are low during the post-absorptive period, rise when the arrival of food is anticipated and peak during the meal, in particular in response to carbohydrates*.
Serotonin is derived from the amino acid tryptophan, taken in with the diet, and tryptophan levels in the blood vary with the amount of carbohydrate in the diet. Drugs that increase serotonin levels in the brain are powerful appetite suppressants.
Abnormalities in the regulation of brain serotonin are thought to be one of the main factors causing eating disorders. For example,anorexia nervosa, characterised by deliberately keeping body weight at an excessively low level, or bulimia nervosa, characterised by frequent binge eating often accompanied by self-induced vomiting, are often accompanied by depression, a serious mood disorder associated with reduced serotonin levels in the brain. As well as causing low mood, reduced serotonin levels decrease the feeling of fullness.
For this reason, antidepressant drugs that work by raising serotonin levels in the brain (e.g. Prozac) are also effective in treating many patients suffering from bulimia nervosa.
*from: "Neuroscienze. Esplorando il cervello".
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