Sophrosyne newsletter

The Dopamine Diet

The World's Most Valuable Skill

The world’s most valuable skill is holding attention.

But the hyperconnected, digital age we find ourselves in, hinders our ability to successfully do it.

We spend most hours (and usually a ton of money) artificially stimulated, all the while failing to realize that this erodes our ability to practice holding attention - the world's most valuable skill. I speak this from personal experience, not from a place of authority.

So, over the past few years, I've taken a deep dive into sustainable attention-holding practices.

For instance, I meditated every day for 9 months straight. But it was mildly effective. So, I sought alternative solutions.

(stats from my Headspace App)

I bought courses on mastering attention. But they ended up being snake-oil salesmen. So again, I went back to the drawing board.

It was getting to the point where nothing I experimented with seemed effective at improving my attention-holding ability.

This was a frustrating time of my life.

Finally, I stumbled across this extremely interesting neurotransmitter - Dopamine.

Dopamine caught my attention because it's involved in sustained attention (pun intended).

There's a reason that people with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are prescribed drugs that flood their brand with Dopamine.

So, I took deep dives into the basic functions of Dopamine, and the immense power healthy Dopamine levels have on attention-holding and the general cognitive environment.

This newsletter will not be a Dopamine masterclass, because I'd need an entire month to write something like that.

Instead, this newsletter will detail strategic dietary choices that optimize for healthy Dopamine production - diet being something we have a fair amount of control over.

So without further ado, these are some smart dietary choices I'd make for healthy Dopamine production.

The Dopamine Diet

L-Tyrosine Rich Foods

Understanding which foods contain high quantities of L-Tyrosine is important when trying to optimize your diet for Dopamine production.

This is because L-Tyrosine is an important amino acid and a precursor for Dopamine synthesis.

Anytime you increase Dopamine precursors, you will inevitably increase Dopamine levels subsequently.

(below is the cascade of enzymes involved in the synthesis of Dopamine)

This photo might appear complicated on the surface, but all it shows are the amino acids and the enzymes that lead to the synthesis of Dopamine (L-Phenylalanine gets converted to L-Tyrosine by the Phenylalanine Hydroxylase enzyme, and so on and so forth).

L-Tyrosine Rich Food inclusions:

Skirt Steak (beef)
Lean Pork Chops
Fresh Salmon
Beef Liver

2. L-Phenylalanine Rich Foods

L-Phenylalanine is a Dopamine precursor that appears before L-Tyrosine. Again, it's one of the building blocks of Dopamine. Foods with high quantities of L-Tyrosine also tend to have high quantities of L-Phenylalanine.

Again, this picture may appear confusing but it's another version of the above picture.

L-Phenylalanine Rich Food inclusions:

Tuna
Skirt Steak
Milk
Sweet Potato
Bananas

3. B-Vitamin Rich Foods

There are specific B Vitamins that are cofactors in the synthesis of Dopamine.

Vitamin B1

Vitamin B1, otherwise known as Thiamine, has been shown to increase basal Dopamine levels and be a useful treatment for Parkinson's disease.

Food inclusions: legumes (don't go overboard as gut issues can arise), beef liver, nuts, and salmon.

Vitamin B6

Vitamin B6, otherwise known as Pyridoxine, has Dopamine-enhancing properties.

Food inclusions: chicken breast, beef liver, and avocado.

Vitamin B9

Vitamin B9, otherwise known as Folate, is crucial for the proper production of Dopamine. Folate deficiency is linked to depression.

Food inclusions: spinach, avocado, and nuts.

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12, otherwise known as Cobalamin, is a direct cofactor in the synthesis of Dopamine.

Food inclusions: oysters, mackerel, and beef liver.

4. Other Specific Dietary Inclusions

These foods have been shown to acutely spike Dopamine:

Dark Chocolate

Chocolate, and more specifically Dark Chocolate has been shown to increase basal Dopamine levels by 1.5 times.
Dark Chocolate contains L-Tyrosine, which you now know is one of Dopamine's direct precursors.

Maca

Unlike Chocolate which directly spikes Dopamine, Maca Root is slightly less understood.
Despite this, it has still been shown to activate the dopaminergic system in mice.

Velvet Beans

Velvet beans contain a large quantity of Levodopa (L-DOPA) - an amino acid that is Dopamine's direct precursor. Do you remember the cascade of events that lead to Dopamine production?
L-Phenylalanine → L-Tyrosine → L-DOPA → Dopamine. Velvet beans contain large amounts of L-DOPA.

5. Specific Dietary Exclusions

Finally, get rid of these:

Junk/fast food
Constantly eating (try to avoid snacking during the day)
The attitude that you need 3-4 meals per day (intermittent fasting has positive impacts on Dopamine)

Dietary Non-Negotiables

Liver, Salmon, Mackerel, Avocado, Eggs, Nuts, Bananas, Skirt Steak & Pork Chops.

(a standard meal for me)

Synopsis

Thank you for your time if you've gotten this far brother. I very much appreciate it.

This dietary Dopamine framework completely changed the way I approach eating.

I wish I had discovered it sooner…

In this newsletter, you have learned about Dopamine precursors, such as L-Tyrosine, L-Phenylalanine, and L-DOPA. Furthermore, the specific foods that contain high quantities of these precursors.

Including these foods in your diet will ensure healthy Dopamine production.

The beautiful thing about targetting Dopamine precursor and B-Vitamin-rich foods is that there's overlap between them. Hopefully, you've noticed this.

But, I should mention that this dietary framework will be made redundant if you don't optimize for a Dopamine-friendly lifestyle.

So, make sure to exclude Dopamine jackhammers from your life; porn, constant screen stimulation, excessive caffeine/stimulant intake, and music 24/7.

I wish you well on your journey brother.

And remember...

MORE life. LESS entropy.

Let's ascend.

PS, my Twitter DMs are always open if you have any questions.