Give it a thumb 
The Brain , Fig, Walnut, Dopamine Connection
Yesterday, while reading the Asia Times on line, I read Turkey gets a rise out of figs simply because I had bought a bunch of figs, at the local market. The article stated, that the Turks call the combination of figs and walnuts, Turkish Viagra.
When I read something like this, I begin to ponder over the biochemical reactions of the foods within the body and my intuition suspected that the combination of figs and walnuts must increase the brain's dopamine levels, in some way. A little research revealed that I was exactly correct.
Why is this significant to our purpose of trimming the waistline and enhancing cognitive abilities?... First, a little background mythology is in order. Scholars believe that the real "apple" of the tree of knowledge referred to in Genesis was a fig, and there's a reason Adam and Eve are always wearing fig leaves. Romans made it sacred to Bacchus, the god of wine, and their juicy plumpness was said to be the favorite snack of that vamp, Cleopatra. Walnuts are rich in zinc, tyrosine and arginine (an amino acid found in seminal fluid, which has been proven to increase blood flow to the genitals). Tyrosine and arginine are precursors to dopamine.
Dopamine is an essential neuro-chemical for brain function and deficiency causes many symptoms, which many of you will recognize. In Europe, one can not get dopamine without a doctor's prescription and I intended to decribe nutrional means of increasing dopamine levels, in the future.
Dopamine deficiency signs/symptoms:
- Physically fatigued easily
- Sleep too much and trouble getting out of bed
- Reduced ability to feel pleasure
- Flat, bored, apathetic
- Low drive, motivation & enthusiasm
- Depressed
- Difficulty getting through a task even when interesting to me
- Procrastinator/little urgency
- Shy/introvert
- Mentally fatigued easily
- Difficulty paying attention and concentrating
- Slow thinker and/or slow to learn new ideas
- Put on weight easily
- Crave uppers (e.g. caffeine/sugar/nicotine/diet soft drinks/cocaine/amphetamines)
- Use these improve energy/motivation/mood
- Prone to addictions (e.g. alcohol)/addictive personality
- Light headedness
- Reduced libido and/or impotence
- Family history of depression/alcoholism/ADD
Dopamine levels may be low due to a combination of genetic or age related reasons. Dopamine can be raised effectively using either nutrient based therapies or medications. Dopamine is synthesized form the amino acids tyrosine and argenine.
Factors which reduce dopamine levels:
- Chronic stress
- Inadequate sleep
- Hypothyroidism
- Lead, arsenic and cadmium exposure
- Under-methylation
- Precursor deficiency
- Magnesium, iron, zinc & vitamins B3/B6/C/D deficiency
- Excess copper levels
- Genetic dopamine receptor abnormalities
- Chronic opioid, alcohol & marijuana use
- Adrenal insufficiency
- Glutathione deficiency
- Parkinson's Disease
- Influenza
- Estrogen deficiency
- Human growth hormone deficiency
Do I need to tell you to go out and buy some figs and walnuts??
Required reading for this weekend is 'SENILITY AND THE BRAIN CELLS', which is from a discussion between J Krishnamurti and quantum theorist, Professor David Bohm.