Have you been feeling anxious or depressed lately? Well, there are several reasons for this, and one of them could be low norepinephrine levels. Chronic stress, sleep problems, and nutritional issues can all contribute to these conditions.
Many people suffer from low levels of norepinephrine, which can affect quality of life and lead to anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, stress disorders, and symptoms of depression.
In this article, we will examine how to increase norepinephrine levels. We also show you how to tune it. Let's begin!
What is norepinephrine? That makes?
The chemical messenger that alerts your body when you're experiencing a stressful situation is a hormone called norepinephrine, which is stored in your neurons and adrenal tissue. This natural chemical is also responsible for transmitting signals between nerve cells. When you are under emotional stress, norepinephrine is released into your blood vessel and activates adrenaline to respond to the conditions causing your stress. Activate your fight or flight response.
Essentially, norepinephrine is primarily responsible for your body's response to stress. It has a variety of functions such as increasing arousal, reaction time, and alertness. It can also affect your mood and ability to concentrate. In addition, norepinephrine works in tandem with adrenaline to regulate blood flow, increase blood sugar levels, and fuel the body.
It can lead to mental health issues like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), low blood pressure, and depression when it's at low levels. Therefore, experiencing depressive episodes is not always the result of sadness or grief.
Alternatively, there may be too much norepinephrine in your body. The causes are chronic stress, obesity, tumors and some other diseases. Abnormal levels of norepinephrine can cause severe headaches, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeats, and excessive sweating.
How is norepinephrine related to low blood pressure?
Low levels of norepinephrine can lead to low blood pressure. This medical condition is called hypotension and it can cause dizziness or fainting. It can also cause extreme conditions like brain or heart damage.
Emergency situations may arise that warrant intravenous transfer of norepinephrine into the body. For example, norepinephrine can be administered intravenously when hypotension is causing septic or neurogenic shock. Septic shock can cause inflammation throughout the body. Neurogenic shock, on the other hand, can disrupt nerve signals throughout the body. A spinal cord injury sometimes causes the latter condition.
What is the connection between norepinephrine and depression?
Low levels of norepinephrine can also trigger depression.1] symptoms. Depressive disorder can drastically change your mood, actions, and thoughts. One minute you're happy and the next you're feeling down. Well, one of the main causes is norepinephrine deficiency.
Your body needs increased serotonin and norepinephrine production, and you can get it from reputable serotonin and norepinephrine inhibitors (SNRIs). You can also get serotonin from foods like dairy, salmon, nuts, turkey, and many others. Alternatively, your doctor may prescribe tricyclic antidepressants.
However, drugs that increase norepinephrine and serotonin levels in the body tend to have some unwanted side effects. Some of them include:
- Called
- weight gain
- sedation
- Blurred vision
- dry mouth
Side effects aside, these antidepressants are powerful enough to increase your body's production of these essential chemicals.
How Does Norepinephrine Deficiency Affect ADHD?
Did you know that low norepinephrine levels also contribute to attention deficit disorder?2]? The same applies to dopamine levels. They also impair cognitive function, and when these two chemicals are low in the body, you may have a hard time concentrating, planning, problem-solving, or even understanding why people act.
Some common medications used to treat ADHD include the following:
- methylphenidate
- Dextroanfetamina
- amphetamine
- Atomoxetine
How to increase norepinephrine?
The role of serotonin and norepinephrine is reflected when your body is subjected to emotional stress. Some of the natural ways to increase levels of these chemicals are by introducing stress into your body.
Here are eleven different ways to induce natural norepinephrine surges:
- exercises
Regular physical exercise is one of the natural ways to keep your body in shape. It improves the function and health of the human brain and also solves a number of diseases. For example, according to a study conducted at Duke University, regular exercise has been shown to be as effective as other medications at relieving depression.
The study results indicate a dramatic reduction in depressive symptoms when research patients stopped taking prescription medication for depression without interrupting their regular exercise routine.
Any aerobic exercise can also increase your adrenaline rush, and this is a suitable treatment plan for depressive disorder.
The clinical explanation is that exercise increases galanin production in the brain. Galanin is a peptide neurotransmitter that controls the body's production of norepinephrine. The more regulated the chemical levels in your body are, the better your mental health will be.
- Amino Acid Supplements
Folic acid, vitamins B6, B3, C, iron and copper are essential for regulating the production of norepinephrine in the human body. If you feel disconnected, unfocused, or depressed, you may be consuming large amounts of these nutrients. Your norepinephrine levels will increase significantly.
Supplements like L-Tyrosine and L-Phenylalanine are also great for efficient norepinephrine production. If you suffer from anxiety depression, you can combine antidepressants with supplements, but it's best to trust a doctor to prescribe these medications. However, if you have bipolar disorder, be sure to mention it when you fill out your prescription.
- dietary options
Poor diet [3] sometimes contributes to low levels of norepinephrine in the body. The amino acid tyrosine is essential for the production of norepinephrine. So when you eat foods high in tyrosine, you reduce the chances that you are deficient in norepinephrine. Some of these diets include:
Proteins like:
- low-fat meat
- Low fat dairy products
- Owner
- leaves
- Polo
- wild game
- pork meat
- beans
- cold water fish
Foods like:
- pumpkin seeds
- Avocados
- almonds
- bananas
- hart
- Sesame together
- Cafeteria
Coffee is highly addictive due to the caffeine it contains. In addition, it can lead to increased levels of norepinephrine and sometimes contributes to its addictive nature as well.
As we mentioned earlier, bursts of norepinephrine can trigger adrenaline in your body. It can be exhilarating at times, which explains why so many adrenaline junkies love coffee.
While coffee can be addictive, it's also a great treatment plan that can balance your neurotransmitter levels. Therefore, if you suffer from depressive and anxiety disorders, you can drink a cup of coffee every day. It has also been clinically shown to be excellent at controlling multiple sclerosis.
- chewing gum and nicotine patches
If you have low norepinephrine levels, you may benefit from the effects of nicotine patches and gum on smokers. The effects of these treatments on mild cognitive impairment and ADHD have been studied with positive results.
- Fast
Fasting means putting stress on the body. Basically, you are depriving your body of food, sleep, or physical needs. Fasting is usually short-term and causes an increase in stress levels in the body. Exposing your body to stress can trigger the production of norepinephrine.
- exposure to cold
Exposure to extreme cold can also trigger neurotransmitters in your body. Your body is under significant stress to regulate its temperature when exposed to cold, which can have the desired effect of increasing norepinephrine levels.
However, it is best to use this treatment plan with caution. You don't want to expose yourself to too much cold and then trigger another condition.
- Herbs
Herbs are also effective in increasing the levels of norepinephrine in our body. Some of them include:
- Green tea extracts
- Ginkgo Biloba
- Resveratrol
- curcumin
- Mucuna Juckreiz
These herbs are also good for your immune system.
- sleep more
Dopamine neurotransmitters are produced when you sleep. On the other hand, sleep deprivation leads to low production of norepinephrine and dopamine. Therefore, in order to regulate the activity of norepinephrine and dopamine in your body, it is better to get enough sleep. It is also an excellent solution to some other health problems.
- Eat foods high in dopamine
Foods like chocolate, eggs, nuts, and omega-3 rich foods are excellent sources of dopamine. High consumption of them can provide your body with necessary levels of dopamine and norepinephrine.
- Music
According to peer-reviewed sources [4] Listening to uplifting music can also cause your levels of norepinephrine and serotonin to rise significantly, relieving depression and mood disorders.
In summary
Norepinephrine is an essential chemical in the body. When it's too low, it can cause health problems like panic disorders, anxiety disorders, a drastic drop in blood pressure, and a range of depressive symptoms. It shouldn't be too loud either.
In this article, we examine different uses of norepinephrine. We also share 11 tips on how to increase your norepinephrine and dopamine levels naturally.
If you're experiencing any of the symptoms of low norepinephrine, you can try one or two of the tips above.
We will be happy to answer any further questions you may have.