Dopamine Smoothie (to increase dopamine naturally!)

What’s better than a fresh and delicious dopamine smoothie to lift your spirits? It’s healthy, easy to make and will buzz you up with dopamine in no time. Try it out – recipe below! 

What is Dopamine? 

Dopamine is basically the ‘feel good’ hormone. 

It plays a big role in how we feel pleasure, reward and motivation. 

Dopamine is also involved in memory, attention, thinking, mental clarity and even bodily movements. 

You can tell when you don’t have optimal levels of dopamine in your body because you’ll experience symptoms like: 

When dopamine is produced in high amounts, it increases feeling of pleasure and reward. 

This enables us to feel good about the everyday activities we do so we can increase our productivity and get things done well. 

That’s why it’s crucial to have the right amounts of dopamine in your body! 

The first way to get your body to produce dopamine is to eat foods that increase dopamine naturally:

Foods that increase Dopamine Naturally

The stomach is called the second brain because it is involved in producing many hormones including – you guess it right – dopamine! 

Some of the foods that contain dopamine-boosting nutrients include: 

• Bananas
• Apples 
• Citrus fruits 
• Fermented foods like kefir, pickled veggies &sauerkraut
• Yogurt 
• Chocolate 
• Turmeric powder 
• Eggs 
• Spinach
• Nuts like walnuts, cashews & almonds
• Seeds such as flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds & sunflower seeds 

Read more: Top 10 Foods that Increase Serotonin and Dopamine Naturally

How to Make a Dopamine Smoothie

Okay, let’s get on with the dopamine smoothie recipe:

What you Need 

• 2 cups pineapple 
• 1 cup spinach
• 1 orange 
• 1 banana 
• 1 red apple 
• ½ cup filtered water
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder 
• ¼ tsp black pepper powder 
• High speed blender
• Drinking glass & straw

Note: The reason why I’m adding black pepper powder (only a pinch) is because it makes turmeric bioavailable for the body. Without it, turmeric is not well-absorbed by the body which renders it useless. Don’t worry you won’t taste it at all in the smoothie!

Directions 

1. Start by prepping your fresh produce for blending! Thoroughly wash your pineapple, spinach, orange and red apple using warm water to remove any dirt. 
2. Now ready your pineapple for the blender by cutting it in half. Store the other half in the fridge. Remove the tough skin and cut the half pineapple into chunks that make two cups. 
3. Next, peel the orange and banana and chop them into chunks that can be easily fit into your blender. 
4. It’s now time to start adding your ingredients into the blender! Pack one cup of spinach leaves, 2 cups of pineapple, the chunks of orange, banana and apple into the blender. 
5. Add ¼ tsp each of turmeric and black pepper powders. 
6. Finally, pour in ½ cup of filtered water. 
7. Blend everything together in your high-speed blender until fully smooth and lump-less. 
8. Your dopamine smoothie is ready to drink! 
9. Pour into a glass and slurp up immediately! 

Other Ways to Boost Dopamine Naturally 

• Top 5 Nuts to Boost Dopamine and Serotonin
• 7 Uplifting Teas that increase Dopamine

I do hope you try this dopamine smoothie out! It’s amazing and lifts your mood up almost instantly!