Serotonin is a "feel good" neurotransmitter. It calms you, controls your appetite and allows you to sleep restfully. Your brain creates it from the amino acid tryptophan, so when you eat foods rich in tryptophan, you give your brain a boost toward optimal serotonin production. Tryptophan is commonly found in protein, but protein can conversely slow down serotonin if you eat too much of it. To increase your serotonin levels through your diet, the key is to eat a balance of carbohydrates and proteins.
Meat and Poultry
Turkey is an excellent source of tryptophan, and red meat and chicken are rich in this amino acid as well. But if you focus exclusively on these high-protein foods, you might actually block their tryptophan content from reaching brain. Protein is also an ample source of another amino acid, tyrosine, which produces dopamine. Dopamine is the opposite of serotonin and perks you up. Tyrosine and tryptophan take the same pathway to your brain, and only one of them can make the journey at a time. If you give your body an overabundance of tyrosine, that may get to your brain first and trigger dopamine production instead of serotonin.
Seafood
Fish that are high in omega-3 fatty acids also tend to be high in tryptophan. These include mackerel, sardines, salmon, herring and fresh tuna, although canned tuna does not have the same impact.
Fruits and Vegetables
Almost all fruits and vegetables will contribute to serotonin production, but bananas have high levels of tryptophan and offer the added advantage of minimal protein content. Leafy green vegetables, spinach, broccoli and cauliflower are all good vegetable choices. Grapefruit, cantaloupe, kiwi and pineapple contain tryptophan amino acids as well.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates make an important contribution to the production of serotonin because they can reduce the impact of tyrosine when you combine them with protein sources. Grains in particular produce a slow increase in your insulin level that helps to impede the process of most amino acids to the brain, with the exception of tryptophan. Grains act to clear the pathway to your brain so tryptophan can get through. If you get tryptophan from turkey, which also contains tyrosine, and you combine that with tryptophan from whole grain products, you effectively get a double dose of tryptophan along with other properties that prevent the tyrosine content of the turkey from getting to your brain first. All complex carbohydrates work in a similar way to help produce serotonin rather than dopamine.
