Opioids Modulating natural endorphin release...

[Doktah]

Hi all. Not entirely sure which board this goes in, so I apologize in advance if I am incorrect lol.

So my question is simple; How could I increase the amount of endorphins that are released post-exercise? I have been reading about D-Phenylalanine and it's effect of inhibiting the break-down of endorphins, but is it possible to supplement certain nutrients/amino-acids/etc to maximize the natural release itself? How does diet play into this?

This has greatly caught my interest recently. I am an ex-opioid abuser, and now go to the gym every day as one of my personal endeavors to stay clean. I believe that a good half of my love for the gym is due to it's massive endorphin release, and... that pretty much brings us here. I would like to get the most bang out of that natural buck, so to speak

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Do you have any links discussing Phenylalanine inhibiting the break-down of endorphins? This is very interesting to me.

Despite the vernacular term "endorphin rush", endorphins may just be some of the many chemicals that contribute to the "high" one gets from exercising, other neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, epinephrine, endocannabinoids, and so on are probably involved too.

Possibly more so - one study, for example, found that runners given naloxone or naltrexone still got the runner's high, implying that endorphins couldn't be responsible for it, however a different study found that:

Reductions in opioid receptor availability were identified preferentially in prefrontal and limbic/paralimbic brain structures. The level of euphoria was significantly increased after running and was inversely correlated with opioid binding in prefrontal/orbitofrontal cortices, the anterior cingulate cortex, bilateral insula, parainsular cortex, and temporoparietal regions. These findings support the “opioid theory” of the runner's high and suggest region-specific effects in frontolimbic brain areas that are involved in the processing of affective states and mood.

So I think it's not well understood. I do think any supplements/foods/etc can boost or build happy chemicals should help. Things to rebuild your opioid receptors like amino acids and proteins would be good too. An exercise high is also affected by the type and duration of the exercise.

If you Google terms like "increase endorphin release" or similar you will find lots of suggestions.

 

[Ryan D.]

The high resulting from exercise is often debated in terms of it's underlying cause. There is certainly increased endorphin activity but i believe that it has been suggested that the substance responsible for this increase is PEA (phenethylamine) - increasing the activity of PEA through inhibition of MAO (specifically the B sub-type) would certainly seem a likely way of increasing the high from exercise - and probably would more specifically increase endorphin activity.
Wikipedia has a list of such substances - how they would work with exercise not sure - i am a little dubious on the whole about MAOI (having dabbled myself).
THere are of cause (as stated above) other substances that are modulated by exercise that would perhaps be easier to affect
I am curious as to how dosing a large quantity of tryptophan prior to exercise might affect my mood.
Google 'Biopsychiatry' - they are attempting manufacture of 'enkephalinase inhibitors' but i think they are in the early phases of this development.

 

[Doktah]

SwimmingDancer: Here is a link: http://www.med.nyu.edu/content?ChunkIID=21664. It seems that there is a lot of evidence pointing either way about D-Phenylalanine, and it is not well understood at this point... However, just the fact that it has been postulated in the first place leaves me hopeful enough to conduct my own personal trials. Also, being an ex-opioid abuser, I can recognize that euphoria from a mile away, and I get the EXACT same itch and pro-social effects from working out as I do from even heroin. That is a very interesting fact regarding the naloxone, and proves that we really don't know much at all about "runners high".

Ryan D: Interesting you have mentioned PEA; there are a growing number of pre workout supplements using this in place of caffeine, and people seem to love it... although, they have to use massive doses to get any effect without the use of an MAOI (which I think is sketchy business to be playing with personally). Regarding the tryptophan, I really don't know how that would effect me... I would imagine that I'd be more tired during the workout, but pre-loading tryptophan and perhaps L-Dopa could possibly increase the net release of neurotransmitters post workout... hmm.

I really want to look into these experimental enkephalinase inhibitors now... I feel like they could have the most potential as an effective anti-depressant/anxiety treatment to date. Correct me if I am wrong, but wouldn't MAOI medications like Nardil effect the levels of endorphins as well? Maybe that is partly why Nardil is hailed as the king of social anxiety treatment (disregarding benzos)... I am very intrigued now!