Serotonin

Personal notes, not medical advice.

Serotonin at proper levels, or else depression and anger. It shapes perception. It is also a gate to sleep quality, because melatonin is made from it. L-tryptophan is the precursor — lamb, beef, turkey, chicken, almonds, hazelnuts.

Acetylcholine sits with REM sleep, temperature regulation, and the long game against Alzheimer’s. If it runs low: tired all day, poor REM. Food first: L-carnitine and choline in beef, lamb, kidney, liver, wild salmon. Raw egg yolks show up in the notes; pills are the weaker path.

GABA helps new neurons, calms the whole nervous system, and is a soothing rub for the inner labrador. Glutamine is the precursor — beef, lamb, chicken, turkey.

A fat brain is a smart brain. A diet high in healthy fat can lower inflammation and speed energy production. Fat moves cortisol less than carbs or protein. The body is 15–20% fat; the brain is mostly fat. Cholesterol is not the enemy. HDL, the denser lipoprotein, helps clear LDL from the blood and matters more for the brain: healthy myelin lives there — roughly 80% of that HDL story.

Coconut oil is a short-chain path into that fat economy. Fat should stay stable. Oxygen drives chemistry; that chemistry can damage fats. Damaged fats, built into membranes, work less well and throw free radicals. The body prefers saturated fats for membranes when it can, leaving less room for oxidation, and keeps the more fragile omega-3s for the work membranes must do. Next-most stable: monounsaturated fats. Unsaturated fats are the least stable and the most inflammatory — and the brain still needs some of them. Omega-3 and omega-6 are both essential.