serotonin

No summary available for this substance.

Serotonin

Serotonin, also known as 5-hydroxytryptamine, is a naturally occurring chemical in the body that works as a neurotransmitter. It's derived from the amino acid tryptophan and is believed to help regulate mood and social behavior, appetite and digestion, sleep, memory, and sexual desire and function.

Category
Neurotransmitter
Molecular Formula
C10H12N2O
Mechanism of Action
Serotonin is produced in the brain and the intestines. The majority of the body's serotonin, between 80-90%, can be found in the gastrointestinal tract. It regulates mood and behavior by transmitting signals between nerve cells in the brain, while it also regulates the smooth muscles in the intestines.
Evidence Grade
A

Other Names

  • 5-hydroxytryptamine
  • 5-HT

Primary Benefits

  • Mood regulation
  • Regulation of intestinal movements
  • Control of appetite
  • Regulates sleep
  • Memory enhancement

Recommended Dosage

Min Not applicable
Max Not applicable
Typical Not applicable

Side Effects

  • Nausea
  • Diarrhea
  • Headache
  • Sleep disturbances

Precautions

  • Serotonin syndrome when taken with certain drugs
  • Pregnant and breastfeeding women should consult doctor

Interactions

  • Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)
  • Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
  • Serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs)
  • Certain pain medications

Key References

  • Mozos I, Stoian D, Caraba A, Malainer C, Horbańczuk JO, Atanasov AG. L-tryptophan in Neuropsychiatric Disorders: A Review. Int J Mol Sci. 2018;19(12):3857. doi:10.3390/ijms19123857
  • Berger M, Gray JA, Roth BL. The expanded biology of serotonin. Annu Rev Med. 2009;60:355-66. doi: 10.1146/annurev.med.60.042307.110802
Female-Specific Exercise & Nutrition for Health, Performance & Longevity | Dr. Stacy Sims
Optimizing Women's Wellness Through Nutrition, Exercise, and Hormone Health 1:38:33 0
“you're also getting a better serotonin production from the gut because we have 95% of our serotonin produced from the gut”

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Peptide & Hormone Therapies for Health, Performance & Longevity | Dr. Craig Koniver
Exploring Peptides, Hormones, and Therapies for Health and Wellness 1:48:39 0
“there's the you know a mild MAOI inhibitor which is monamine oxidase inhibitor yeah which going to allow things like serotonin to work a little bit longer in that synaptic Clift um you know and you've expounded way better than I can about serotonin and dop me and how those work but um there is a cognitive enhancement from it for sure it's very real and we have a lot of people using it and love it it also seems to be an antiviral you know you get this again that's probably through the mitochondria making your mitochondria more efficient it's a prescription drug it's a prescription drug but there's there's now and I don't totally understand it there's now strictly over-the-counter neutral supplement options that are methylene blue for sure anyone can go online and buy it for sure trust me now now there there are going to be a few and and you talked about turning your mouth blue if you take a liquid form right uh and we'll do that sometimes in the office when we're doing other treatments we'll give a big dose of methylene blue to kind of help fuel kind of quickly make a…”

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Why Exercise Intensity Matters for Longevity | CrossFit for Health 2024
The Power of Exercise: Boost Longevity, Health, and Wellness 0:30 0
“your brain function during exercise but it's also increasing things like norepinephrine which is involved in focus and attention serotonin and there have been studies showing that even 10 minutes of a high-intensity interval training workout can improve cognition improve mood”

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NMN, NR, Resveratrol, Metformin & Other Longevity Molecules | Lifespan with Dr. David Sinclair #4
Exploring Longevity Molecules and Health Benefits for Lifespan Extension 43:26 0
“these are fisetin and quercetin. And both in addition to being serotonin activators potentially also seemed to have this other property to them that is making them sort of like a hot number now.”

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Bruce Ames on Triage Theory, Longevity Vitamins & Micronutrients
Understanding Nutritional Essentials for Optimal Health and Longevity 0:33 0
“Most recently, Bruce and I have co-authored two papers together, one that was published last February on the role vitamin D plays in serotonin production and how this relates to autism.”

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Sleep, Daylight Anchoring, and Effects on Memory & Obesity with Dan Pardi
Understanding the Connection Between Sleep, Light, and Health Outcomes 53:41 0
“again, B6 affects the conversion of tryptophan into serotonin, which then gets converted into melatonin, and magnesium affects the conversion of serotonin into melatonin, and it's a GABA agonist.”

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Rhonda Patrick at Orthomolecular Medicine Congress in Bussum, Netherlands (Keynote Oct. 3rd, 2015)
Optimizing Health Through Micronutrients: Key Role in Disease Prevention 23:02 0
“the gene that encodes for the enzyme tryptophan hydroxylase which is the rate limiting enzyme in the conversion of tryptophan into serotonin has a vitamin D response element in it”

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Rhonda Patrick at Orthomolecular Medicine Congress in Bussum, Netherlands (Keynote Oct. 3rd, 2015)
Optimizing Health Through Micronutrients: Key Role in Disease Prevention 24:33 0
“too much serotonin in the gut is involved in inflammation in the gut”

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Rhonda Patrick at Orthomolecular Medicine Congress in Bussum, Netherlands (Keynote Oct. 3rd, 2015)
Optimizing Health Through Micronutrients: Key Role in Disease Prevention 27:34 0
“serotonin does much more it's also what's called a brain morphen so during early brain development serotonin is required to shape the wire and the structure of the developing brain”

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Rhonda Patrick at Orthomolecular Medicine Congress in Bussum, Netherlands (Keynote Oct. 3rd, 2015)
Optimizing Health Through Micronutrients: Key Role in Disease Prevention 29:11 0
“it's possible that if a mother is deficient in vitamin D and she's carrying a female child there's a backup system because that estrogen is able to activate the same gene that vitamin D activates but if it's a male fetus they don't have that backup system and they may be more susceptible to having the low serotonin which would then affect the brain development and um possibly lead to autistic like behaviors”

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Rhonda Patrick at Orthomolecular Medicine Congress in Bussum, Netherlands (Keynote Oct. 3rd, 2015)
Optimizing Health Through Micronutrients: Key Role in Disease Prevention 34:33 0
“another study recently that elaborates on my first study and talks about the role of vitamin D in producing serotonin in the brain and activating the enzyme in the brain and also how omega-3 fatty acids specifically the Marine omega-3 fatty acids icosapent anuic acid EPA and doah hexenoic acid DHA also regulate the serotonin system and how this is relevant for brain function and brain dysfunction”

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Rhonda Patrick at Orthomolecular Medicine Congress in Bussum, Netherlands (Keynote Oct. 3rd, 2015)
Optimizing Health Through Micronutrients: Key Role in Disease Prevention 37:47 0
“in addition to vitamin D omega-3 the Marine omega-3 fatty acids also regulate serotonin function so tryptophan gets converted into serotonin by the enzyme tph2 which is What vitamin D regulates”

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Rhonda Patrick at Orthomolecular Medicine Congress in Bussum, Netherlands (Keynote Oct. 3rd, 2015)
Optimizing Health Through Micronutrients: Key Role in Disease Prevention 38:49 0
“icosapent enoic acid the Marine fatty acid EPA stops the production of E2 series prostaglandins and because it dampens that production of E2 series progins it allows serotonin to be released from the presynaptic neuron”

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Rhonda Patrick at Orthomolecular Medicine Congress in Bussum, Netherlands (Keynote Oct. 3rd, 2015)
Optimizing Health Through Micronutrients: Key Role in Disease Prevention 40:13 0
“DHA deficiency also changes the serotonin system by altering the function of Serotonin”

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Rhonda Patrick at Orthomolecular Medicine Congress in Bussum, Netherlands (Keynote Oct. 3rd, 2015)
Optimizing Health Through Micronutrients: Key Role in Disease Prevention 51:10 0
“Inflammations happening all these molecules they get into the brain and that messes up the serotonin system and messes up other neurotransmitters not just serotonin, dopamine as well.”

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Wim Hof (the Iceman) on Defeating Extreme Cold & Attenuating the Immune Response
Enhancing Health Through Natural Methods and Breathing Techniques Benefits 45:58 0
“Melatonin, serotonin, the hormone production, etc.”

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You’re Eating Too Much Sugar! – You May Never Eat It Again After Watching This | Dr. Robert Lustig
Impacts of Sugar Consumption on Health and Chronic Diseases Prevention 1:08:11 0
“when we took the fiber out of the food to process it we are now depriving our bacteria of the food they need to be able to live in symbiosis with us and so those bacteria the good bacteria are dead the bad bacteria have taken over and the bad bacteria is sending all sorts of bad signals actually suppressing serotonin generation in in the intestine thereby reducing the retrograde transport of serotonin back up into the nucleus tract to solitarius and that's called depression.”

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Simple Fixes For A Good Night’s Rest – Shawn Stevenson (4K)
Improving sleep quality through lifestyle choices and health awareness tips 1:04:54 0
“You can have the best sleep routine if you're not providing your body with those raw materials those building blocks to help with the conversion of Serotonin into melatonin which serotonin is the prerequisite for making melatonin by the way that all has to do most of your serotonin is in your gut.”

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Debunking The Internet’s Biggest Health Myths – Dr Karan Rajan
Holistic Insights on Gut Health, Nutrition, Sleep, and Well-being 15:58 0
“your gut has you know produces lots of Serotonin you know 80% or more serotonin is produced in your gut but that serotonin doesn't cross the blood-brain barrier so that serotonin produced in the gut doesn't directly influence your mood.”

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Supercharge Your VO2 Max & Protect Your Heart – Dr Andy Galpin
Maximize Longevity Through Lifestyle Choices and Optimal Health Strategies 2:07:25 0
“pretty active I'm like great what you need is another 75 grams of carbohydrate at dinner like what all we did was that insulin went back up sex hormone Bing globin went back down testosterone went right back up slept completely through the night instantaneously basically always and guess what happens to serotonin melatonin they go right back in normal cortisol curve is perfect”

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How America’s Healthcare System Keeps You Dependent – Calley Means
Health, Environment, Lifestyle: Preventing Disease Through Nutrition and Exercise. 49:26 0
“spraying herbicides and pesticides all over children's food might be bad for their microbiome which produces 95% of their serotonin regulates almost every single hormone and is completely under threat”

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The Truth About Microplastics – Dr Rhonda Patrick
Understanding Microplastics and Toxin Exposure in Everyday Health and Environment 1:48:39 0
“glucose what it's doing when you when you have a constant intake of glucose and that glucose let's say you're not exercising enough to have that glucose get get disposed into your muscle which is really where you want it right you want it to go get taken up into your muscle exercise really helps with that when you exercise you cause a lot of glucose Transporters to come up to your muscle which opens up the gates to allow glucose in you want it to go to your muscle instead of your adipose tissue if that doesn't happen if you're not exercising enough the glucose will stay around in your bloodstream and what happens is yes there's an insulin response and all that metabolic stuff but there's also something that happens that that's called the mailer reaction and it's where glucose reacts with lipids it reacts with um DNA in your body it reacts with proteins and damages them and when it reacts with proteins like for example collagen lining your your pericardium surrounding your heart your myocardium surrounding your heart lining your blood vessels it causes the collagen to become stiff it changes the properties of the protein…”

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The Truth About Microplastics – Dr Rhonda Patrick
Understanding Microplastics and Toxin Exposure in Everyday Health and Environment 1:30:43 0
“when you compared it and they then ranked all of the different modes of exercise I think one of the things especially to do with uh dancing that you have is this sort of inherently pro-social intimate collaborative partner-based thing that's going on which is probably doing all sorts of stuff that's oxytocin that's serotonin as well suppressing like there'll be a ton of things going on right”

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DO THIS First Thing In The Morning To BOOST YOUR BRAIN & Increase Lifespan! | Dr. Daniel Amen
Boost Brain Health, Optimize Hydration, Nutrition, Mental Wellness, & More 16:24 0
“well on her scan she has sleepy frontal lobes her frontal lobes were not as active and prozacy absolutely wrong drug for her because serotonin drugs serotonin is an inhibitory neurotransmitter if you have a busy brain calms it down if you have a sleepy brain it drops it too much and can disinhibit you”

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Exercise & Nutrition Scientist: The Truth About Exercise On Your Period! Take These 4 Supplements!
Optimizing Women's Health and Performance Through Physiological Understanding 53:41 0
“the ketogenic diet and the high fat intake that comes with it significantly decreases that gut microbiome diversity which reduces the body's ability to synthesize vitamins to produce serotonin to have this conversation between the gut and the Brain”

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How Does Stress Affect Aging: Science-Backed Guide for Longevity | Dr Sharon Bergquist | EP #365
Optimizing Stress for Health: Benefits, Risks, and Practical Recommendations 44:50 0
“The biochemical response that's released is different than a pure fight-or-flight type threat-based response. When we have stressors that are so meaningful that they are essentially worth enduring the stress, the biochemical profile releases hormones like dopamine which is the reward hormone, serotonin which some dub the happy hormone, oxytocin if it's contributing to a greater good, which helps us with bonding and connecting to our partners and the people we care about.”

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Brain Expert: These Common Habits SHRINK Your Brain – Alzheimer’s, Fatigue & Lost Joy | Daniel Amen
How Everyday Habits Impact Brain Health and Mental Well-being 1:22:29 0
“women have 52% less serotonin than men, which highlights their vulnerability to depression”

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Dr. Robert Lustig: How Sugar & Processed Foods Impact Your Health
Understanding the Complex Relationship Between Nutrition and Metabolic Health 2:47:44 0
“comes in who's obese or slightly overweight right it's like I don't know what to do I'm trying to eat better exercise or a person comes in and says hey i' I've had a really hard time getting that last 20 9 PBS off for so many years will you prescribing those zic so the short answer is number one I'm retired so I'm not prescribing anything but let's let's let's go with there the data show that gp1 analoges like um semaglutide and now tepati which is uh Lily's version uh Manjaro is the diabetes version Z bound is the Obesity version the same way that OIC is the diabetes version for um uh novonordisk and woi is the Obesity version so they're all glp1 they're all G gp1 analog they synthesized in a lab it looks like glp1 smells like glp1 acts like G1 when injected tepati the uh Lily one actually has a dual function it uh binds to the Gip receptor so it might have double duty and the data show that it's actually even slightly more effective at Weight Loss than the Nova Nordisk version so we'll be seeing a shift in terms of uh…”

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Dr. Rhonda Patrick: Micronutrients for Health & Longevity | Huberman Lab Podcast #70
Optimizing Health and Longevity Through Nutrients and Lifestyle Choices 1:13:10 0
“And DHA plays a role in that. And so, for example, in animal studies, if you make an animal deficient in DHA, their serotonin receptors, dopamine receptors, they're affected because the structure of them is affected through the fluidity of the membrane.”

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The Most Important Daily Habits For Health & Longevity – Dr Rhonda Patrick (4K)
Essential Omega-3 for Health, Longevity, and Disease Prevention Strategies 1:24:51 0
“one high-intensity exercise does it it's been shown serotonin goes up it goes up because again your lactate is increasing the serotonin but it also goes up because Branch chain amino acids which you're getting when you're eating protein they compete with tryptophan tryptophan is a precursor it has to get into the brain and they compete for transport into the brain with those branch chain amino acids and tryptophan is a precursor for serotonin”

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The Most Important Daily Habits For Health & Longevity – Dr Rhonda Patrick (4K)
Essential Omega-3 for Health, Longevity, and Disease Prevention Strategies 1:24:51 0
“Branch chain amino acids which you're getting when you're eating protein they compete with tryptophan tryptophan is a precursor it has to get into the brain and they compete for transport into the brain with those branch chain amino acids and tryptophan is a precursor for serotonin”

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The Most Important Daily Habits For Health & Longevity – Dr Rhonda Patrick (4K)
Essential Omega-3 for Health, Longevity, and Disease Prevention Strategies 2:09:50 0
“I try to get a lot of vigorous intensity exercise in so that would be 80% max heart rate and um the reason for that is because I've been pretty convinced that if you are not an athlete doing more than 10 hours a week or 10 or more right of you know endurance training so if you're if you're not that person um I think that it's more beneficial the data suggests it's more beneficial to engage the majority of the time in more vigorous intensity exercise versus what's zone two training right so like a lower intensity or I guess it's more moderate intensity the talk test kind of exercise right where you're breathy but you can still have a conversation which I do like doing those as well particular when I'm having a conversation with someone on a run it's nice I enjoy it but um I do also go harder um I do a lot of high-intensity interval training and um I think that the there's there's evidence for that uh if you are going harder and you're getting that heart rate up to 80% max heart rate you're increasing that lactate and we've talked about…”

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