WHY YOU DON’T WANT TO ELEVATE SEROTONIN
Yup, you read that right, and I know most of you are thinking “but it’s a happy hormone!”
No friends, we got it all wrong
.
Serotonin has been shown to be higher in women, and the notion is that it works similarly to estrogen by slowing the metabolism. It actually has been connected to individuals suffering with depression, which ironically enough women suffer more from. Having this chemical elevated seems to blunt our ability to experience pleasure, where as other neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, have been shown to coincide with motivation
.
But what could cause elevated serotonin levels? Of the many things, high l-tryptophan, which can be caused from an elevated cortisol response, particularly tryptophan hydroxylase mRNA, an enzyme that synthesizes serotonin.
In fact, in some animal studies, it has been shown that hibernating animals enter a state of stress as a defense mechanism to protect themselves from the harsh winters. What occurs is that their body starts producing more serotonin to lower temperature, decreasing thyroid function and their metabolic rate, thus retaining more fat
.
Remember, a slower metabolism can affect many aspects of our health-particularly our reproductive hormones and how we utilize and uptake energy. If our metabolic process slows down, we are at risk of experiencing gut issues, a lower immune system, less energy, blood sugar dysregulation, thyroid problems and more
.
Ironically, elevated serotonin reduces our ability to remove an excess of serotonin from the brain, which is usually done through a transporter called serotonin transporter (SERT). More production of SERT, less serotonin accumulated in the brain. If we’re not producing adequate SERT, there have been patterns in which one becomes insulin resistant and the liver has trouble processing through things- despite proper energy intake.
This isn’t good because our metabolism, which is dependent on active thyroid hormone, relies on our liver to synthesize most inactive thyroid hormone to active!

❗Note: This isn’t to say serotonin is bad, we NEED it, but an excess can be metabolically damaging.

IS HIGH SEROTONIN LINKED TO HIGH ESTROGEN?
Yup, it can be.
❗
Serotonin connected diseases has been shown to have a connection to estrogenic influenced issues like depression, migraines, IBS, eating disorders, and even histamine issues. These diseases all have in common a sex-dimorphic prevalence, meaning women tend to suffer with them most commonly. The co-occurrence between these serotonin-linked diseases suggests that they have common physiopathological mechanisms. In most serotonin-linked diseases (except for anorexia nervosa), a decrease in the serotonergic tone is observed and estrogens are thought to contribute to the improvement of symptoms by stimulating the serotonergic system. However, despite the improvement at first, the long term effects have been shown to lead to metabolic issues as mentioned in yesterday’s post.
➡️
According to Dr.Ray Peat, these two chemicals work simultaneously, and if one goes up, there is a likely chance the other will increase
.
“These are probably primarily energy disorders, relating to cellular respiration and thyroid function. Liver disease and brain disease, e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, are both much more common in women than in men, and serotonin and estrogen strongly affect the energetic processes in these organs. Liver disease can increase the brain’s exposure to serotonin, ammonia, and histamine. It isn’t just a coincidence that these three amines occur together and are neurotoxic; they are all stress-related substances, with natural roles in signaling and regulation”
❗REMEMBER YOUR LIVER HAS TO CONVERT INACTIVE THYROID HORMONE TO ACTIVE
“Estrogen activates mast cells to release histamine and serotonin, and activated mast cells can produce brain edema and demyelination”
.
“Increased serotonin interferes with the consolidation of learning. Hypothermia has a similar effect. Since estrogen increases serotonergia, and decreases body temperature, these effects help to explain the long-observed interference of estrogen with learning.”
.
This, in short, hypothesizes that serotonin, like estrogen, inhibits ATP production.