Too little vitamin B3 enhances serotonine (sic) deficiency.
[*] Vitamin B3 deficiency commonly comes with serotonine deficiency, for both substances are composed of tryptophan. If sufficient B3 is available, no tryptophan needs to be transformed into B3, leaving more tryptophan to be transformed into serotonine. Like meat and nuts, raw salmon, tuna and mackerel are loaded with B3.
'Happy' and 'sleepy foods' improve both serotonine and vitamin B3 production.
'Happy-' and 'Sleepy-food'
The body actually doesn't need much tryptophan to compose serotonine. And yet you can consume lots of protein containing lots of tryptophan, with serotonine production remaining far too low. Simply because protein also contains amino acids inhibiting serotonine production, like leucine and phenylalanine in particular. Optimizing serotonine metabolism therefore is not about consuming protein containing much tryptophan, but about consuming protein containing relatively more tryptophan than leucine and phenylalanine. Consuming such proteins improves serotonine metabolism, allowing you to feel happy, and sleep well.
Great 'happy-' and 'sleepy-foods' are fruits like dried dates, figs, papaya, banana, strawberries, sweet cherries, orange, mango, pineapple, grapefruit and hazelnuts, combined with fresh raw egg yolk (because of the cholesterol), alternated with fresh raw salmon (because of the vitamin B3).
Of course the best 'happy-foods' are easy to digest and should be consumed raw.
Mushrooms and potato crisps are best 'happy'-munch-food (crisps combine well with egg yolk and avocado), but consuming mushrooms can cause gripes.
Why are these foods 'happy-' and 'sleepy-foods'?
Because these foods are high in tryptophan and low in leucine and phenylalanine. (and contain cholesterol, fats and sugars when combined)
To know what foods can improve your sleep and happiness, you have to look at their SPF. 'SPF' = 'Serotonine-Production Factor' = tryptophan / (phenylalanine + leucine).
For example: if the SPF of a certain food-protein is 50%, this protein contains exactly as much tryptophan as the average of phenylalanine and leucine, strongly improving serotonine production. All foods with a SPF below 10%, more or less inhibit serotonine production. Whether these low-SPF foods actually do inhibit serotonine production, depends on how much protein they contain.
To enhance serotonine production, you should consume as little low-SPF foods, especially when containing much protein. (avocado doesn't) So, consuming corn flakes for breakfast, bread for lunch, and pasta with lobster or horsemeat for dinner, is an extremely bad idea;
Code:
[b]SPF* - Food[/b]
95% - edible boletus
43% - date, dried
32% - papaya **
32% - chanterelle
29% - banana
22% - strawberries
21% - sweet cherries
17% - mango **
17% - cashew nut
16% - pineapple **
16% - grapefruit
15% - fig, dried
14% - hazelnut
14% - carrots
13% - potato crisps
13% - orange
12% - guava **
12% - mushroom
12% - crawfish
12% - egg yolk
12% - apricot **
11% - oyster mushroom
11% - wheat whole meal bread
11% - peach
11% - tomato
11% - oriental sesame
10% - sunflower seed
10% - chicken breast
10% - salmon
10% - mackerel
10% - beef, muscles only
10% - goose
10% - rolled oats
10% - green peas, canned
10% - Brazil nut
9% - walnut
9% - peanut
9% - tuna
9% - turkey, young
9% - Soya bean
9% - crisp bread
9% - mandarins
9% - cow’s milk
8% - apple
8% - lamb, muscles only
8% - rice
8% - white bread
8% - coconut
8% - Lamb’s lettuce
8% - quark, fresh cheese
7% - lentil
7% - avocado
7% - cheddar cheese
7% - yogurt
6% - almond
6% - bread rolls
6% - oyster
6% - white beans
6% - rye bread
5% - horsemeat
5% - pasta made with eggs
5% - lobster
4% - shredded wheat bread
3% - sweet corn
3% - corn flakes
Warning: Besides tryptophan, 'happy foods' like papaya, banana and pineapple also contain lots of serotonine, which you cannot utilize as serotonine in the brain. If you are not used to eating much of theses (sic) fruits, your body needs time to produce more enzymes decomposing the serotonine from these fruits. So, if you are not used to eating much of these fruits, increase consumption gradually to enable enzyme production keeping up with serotonine consumption. If you don't, exogenous serotonine is not decomposed sufficiently, and can harden heart-muscles, causing mild heart pains.
Code:
* Amino acid contents have been taken from:
Souci, S.W. et al, Food Composition and Nutrition Tabels (sic),
Medpharm Scientific Publishers Stuttgart.
** Amino acid contents have been taken from:
The USDA Nutrient Database at: [url=http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl]www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl[/url]
© 2000 Copyright Artists Cooperative Groove Union U.A.
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