scent_junkies

I've just been Googling... I don't tend to keep bookmarks or ayhnnitg like that so I couldn't point you at specific sites. But to give you some tips: gingko biloba is something I'd already been taking for mental alertness problems ("brain fog"), but I cut out recently when my improved sleep levels and serotonin balancing seemed to make it moot. It turns out it has a positive effect for dopamine uptake, which kind of matches my recent experiences where I've been feeling *great* but my emotional drive is even lower.Green tea. I know, it's like a cliche. It's such a cliche that I've never actually considered looking into its benefits in a serious way. Well, it has caffeine, obviously (though caffeine from tea seems more manageable than a soda habit, because freshly prepared tea must be premeditated), but it also encourages dopamine uptake. I'm not drinking actual green tea because I am such a caffeine fiend, I don't want to fall back into the habit. Instead I'm taking an herbal supplement of "green tea extract". L-DOPA is a substance that's available in prescription form for treating anxiety disorders (critically low dopamine = severe anxiety), but also available in herbal extract form. It's the precursor to dopamine in the brain - ingest L-DOPA, end up with more dopamine. As such it is far more potent than the previous substances, which only help your brain do more with the dopamine it has. I have not taken it, though I plan on doing some personal trials with it. Apparently weightlifters and athletes take it to get mentally pumped up, it can magnify aggressive tendencies. So I suggest treading carefully. I'm going to check it out because all my emotions have felt so muted lately. The other caveat is that the body will adjust to an excess of dopamine, so it's not something that should be taken every day.I'd suggest Googling these things and checking them out for yourself, though, as this is all roughly paraphrased from my memory of my own research. Just some things to start with.