Can You Actually Put Dopamine In Your Morning Coffee?
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If you're a habitual coffee drinker, you would probably be willing to argue that coffee makes you feel good. It's a rich, hot, completely customizable beverage that can bring you from half-asleep to seizing the day after just a few sips of a perfect cup prepared just the way you like it. You probably know exactly how much creamer and sugar you prefer, but you might not know about some useful ingredients that are said to improve the quality of your day.
One of those ingredients is a supplement called dopa mucuna. Dopa mucuna, which can easily be found for sale on major retailers like Amazon, is derived from mucuna pruriens beans, which are supposed to aid in treating male infertility, nervous disorders, and a low sex drive (via National Center for Biotechnology Information). More recently, the over-the-counter drug has been applauded for its ability to increase dopamine levels and, simply put, make you feel good.
Reddit has been atwitter with users singing its praises, with one commenter saying, "mucuna pruriens (L-Dopa) makes me feel so good that it's scary," (via Inside Hook). The adaptogenic supplement can be found in capsule form for easy ingestion or in powdered form, which adaptogen company Moon Juice recommends mixing into your morning coffee.
Do mucuna pruriens actually increase dopamine?
Can a little bit of the magic dopamine supplement that wellness enthusiasts are currently raving about help boost your mood? The short answer is that it's worth a try. The long answer is that the potential benefits are endless, and there are tons of ways you might see an improvement in your overall health and wellness once you incorporate dopa mucuna into your everyday routine.
According to the product description on Amazon for Double Wood Supplements mucuna, the supplement contains L-Dopa, which acts as a first step in the brain's dopamine production. Healthy dopamine production plays a major role in mental health, as it supports attention span, mood, motivation, and numerous other things that contribute to a greater quality of life. (via WebMD). Rather than acting as a dopamine supplement, mucuna pruriens help your body with the natural process that needs to occur in order to maintain healthy dopamine levels (via Inside Hook).
So, while it's not necessarily the same as dumping pure dopamine into your morning cup of joe, you can add something to your coffee that can potentially make you feel really good. Reddit user nora123supernova says, "I recommend taking dopa mucuna (you can find it on Amazon) like an hour before you want to work out, on a mostly empty stomach. It contains the basic building blocks your brain needs for making dopamine."
Is it safe?
Fans of the supplement swear by its potency, but you might still have some questions before you're ready to give it a try for yourself. If you're wondering if adding the dopamine-increasing supplement to your daily coffee is safe, the answer is probably. Like any drug, you should always consult a medical professional before you add a mucuna pruriens supplement to your health and wellness regime (via Inside Hook). If you've been thinking about weaning yourself off of your SSRIs, the option of incorporating the supposedly magic supplement into your routine is definitely worth discussing with your psychiatrist.
One important thing to note is that, as with anything that increases dopamine production, your body may start to need more and more over time in order to produce dopamine. Dopamine isn't what makes you happy, but rather what sends messages to your brain that allows it to interpret things as pleasure-inducing. Be sure to stick with a professional throughout your journey and note any physical or mental changes that strike you as alarming. Putting dopamine in your morning coffee definitely isn't too good to be true with this supplement, but it doesn't come without caution.