In this episode 27 protocols
▶ 4:16 Cold Water Exposure Behaviors “And this cold water exposure done correctly really can help people achieve that state of mind through these increases in dopamine that last a very long time. For most people, getting into 60-degree water or 50-degree water, or, you know, 50 degrees water if you're acclimated and comfortable with it, you know, 40 degree water or 45 degree water can have tremendously beneficial results on your neuromodulator systems, including dopamine.” ▷ 45:21 Journal or Practice Appreciation for an Activity Behaviors “But what's been found over and over again is that if people journal about something or they practice some form of appreciation for something, or they think of some aspect of something that they enjoy, the amount of dopamine that that behavior will evoke tends to go up.” ▷ 45:43 Avoid Rewarding Yourself After Effort Behaviors “However, I will caution you against saying to yourself, I hate exercise, or I hate studying, or I hate this person, but I love the reward I give myself afterward. Later, we're going to talk about how rewards given afterward, actually make the situation worse.” ▷ 49:12 Avoid Layering Multiple Dopamine-Spiking Activities Behaviors “What you'll find as we talk about dopamine schedules is that layering together multiple things, substances and activities that lead to big increases in dopamine actually can create pretty severe issues with motivation and energy right after those experiences and even a couple of days later.” ▷ 49:32 Use Pre-Workout Stimulants Only Occasionally Behaviors “So I'm not saying that people shouldn't take the occasional pre-workout if that's your thing or drink a cup of coffee or two before working out now and again. Some people really enjoy that. I certainly do that every once in a while, but if you do it too often, what you'll find is that your capacity to release dopamine and your level of motivation and drive and energy overall will take a serious hit.” ▷ 1:05:58 30-Day Fast From Phone, Video Games, and Social Media Behaviors “He decided actually after seeing that episode with Anna to do a 30 day complete fast from phone, from video games and from social media of all kinds. He's now at day 29.” ▷ 1:07:26 Reduce Addictive Behaviors Through Cold Turkey or Tapering Behaviors “So for anyone that's experienced a real drop in baseline who has addictive tendencies, whether or not their behaviors or substances, that is always going to be the path forward is going to be either cold turkey or through some sort of tapering to limit interactions with the, what would otherwise be the dopamine evoking behavior or substance.” ▷ 1:08:45 Use Intermittent Reward Schedules Behaviors “And the key lies in intermittent release of dopamine. The real key is to not expect or chase high levels of dopamine release every time we engage in these activities.” ▷ 1:17:31 Do Not Bring Your Phone Into Workouts Behaviors “So at least for this calendar year, I've made a rule for myself, which is I don't allow my phone into my workouts at all.” ▷ 1:19:45 Avoid Using Stimulants Every Time You Study or Work Out Behaviors “For this very same reason, I caution people against using stimulants every time they study or every time they work out or every time that they do anything that they would like to continue to enjoy and be motivated at.” ▷ 1:20:01 Use Caffeine as an Exception to Other Stimulants Supplements “There's one exception, which is caffeine, because as I mentioned before, if you like caffeine, that actually could be a good thing for your dopamine system because it does upregulate these D2, D3 receptors.” ▷ 1:22:10 Avoid Chronic Dopamine Spiking Behaviors “And chronically trying to spike your dopamine in order to enhance your motivation, focus, and drive will absolutely undermine your motivation, focus, and drive in the long run.” ▷ 1:23:56 Yerba Mate Diet “But if one were going to consume caffeine, you might consider consuming that caffeine in the form of yerba mate both for sake of upregulating dopamine receptors and getting more of a dopamine increase, and of course, for the stimulant of caffeine, if that's what you're seeking. And in addition to that, because yerba mate does appear to have some sort of neuroprotective and in particular, dopamine neuron protective properties.” ▷ 1:47:39 Learn to Derive Reward From Effort Itself Behaviors “Learn to spike your dopamine from effort itself. One straightforward example of learning to attach dopamine to effort and strain, as opposed to a process or a reward that naturally evokes dopamine release is so-called intermittent fasting.” ▷ 1:47:43 Intermittent Fasting Behaviors “One straightforward example of learning to attach dopamine to effort and strain, as opposed to a process or a reward that naturally evokes dopamine release is so-called intermittent fasting. I know this is very popular nowadays.” ▷ 1:52:55 Use Positive Self-Talk to Reinforce Beneficial Behaviors Behaviors “So telling yourself that exercise or fasting or studying or listening better, or any kind of behavior is good for you will actually reinforce the extent to which it is good for you at a chemical level.” ▷ 1:55:10 Avoid Highly Palatable Foods for 2 Days Diet “And all it takes is a short period of time, even just days, two days or so, of not consuming any highly palatable foods, and suddenly broccoli with just a little bit of seasoning tastes delicious to you, all right?” ▷ 1:55:37 Avoid Pornography Behaviors “Now that you understand how your previous level of dopamine, relates to your current level of dopamine... it should become obvious why things like pornography, not just the accessibility of pornography, but the intensity of pornography, can negatively shape real world romantic and sexual interactions.” ▷ 1:56:59 Wellbutrin Supplements “Good example of this would be the drug Welbutrin, also called buprenorphine, which increases dopamine and norepinephrine. Welbutrin buprenorphine was developed as an alternative treatment for depression because some people who take the so-called SSRI, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which as the name suggests, increased serotonin, suffer from serotonin related side effects.” ▷ 1:58:42 Mucuna Pruriens Supplements “The two most common ones that are directly within the dopamine pathway are mucunipurines, which is actually a velvety bean whose contents are L-DOPA. Meaning, if you take it, you will experience very large increases in dopamine. Those increases are transient and very, very intense.” ▷ 2:02:10 L-Tyrosine Supplements “L-tyrosine is typically taken in capsule form or powder form anywhere from 500 to 750 to 1,000 milligrams. It is a potent stimulus for increasing dopamine, and the timescale for increasing dopamine is about 30 to 45 minutes after ingestion, dopamine levels start to peak.” ▷ 2:06:31 Dim the Lights at Night Behaviors “I've talked before about how viewing bright, bright lights between the hours of 10 PM and 4 AM has been shown... to reduce levels of dopamine for several days after that light exposure. So dim the lights at night.” ▷ 2:06:49 Avoid Melatonin Supplements “If you can avoid exogenous melatonin, meaning if you don't have to take melatonin and you can find a better alternative, that would be a good idea if you want to maintain healthy levels of dopamine.” ▷ 2:07:02 PEA Supplements “Now, there is one compound that you are all familiar with, and you've probably actually taken without realizing it, that increases dopamine, and that's something called PEA for phenylethylamine, technically beta-phenylethylamine.” ▷ 2:07:43 Alpha-GPC Supplements “And I will take 500 milligrams of PEA and I'll take 300 milligrams of alpha-GPC. That's something that I personally do.” ▷ 2:08:20 Huperzine A Supplements “One of the lesser talked about compounds that's out there, but that's gaining popularity for increasing dopamine and as a so-called nootropic is something called Hooperzine A. Hooperzine A is a compound sold over the counter... that can increase acetylcholine transmission... and leads to increases in dopamine in the medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus.” ▷ 2:12:16 Pursue Quality Healthy Social Interactions Behaviors “So the take-home message there is quite simple. Engage in, pursue quality, healthy social interactions.”