The Big Picture: How Your Brain Chemicals Work Together

Your brain and body are powered by a complex mix of neurotransmitters, hormones, and chemical messengers that influence how you feel, think, sleep, and move.

 

Think of it like a symphony — each chemical plays a different instrument, and together they create the rhythm of your day. These chemicals don’t work alone. They are deeply connected and influence each other at every step.

 

Let’s explore the most important ones — and how your nutrients, genes, stress levels, and cannabinoids affect them.

🌿 Serotonin: Calm, Connection & Mood

• Made from the amino acid tryptophan
  
• Helps with mood, relaxation, digestion, and social connection
  
• Later turns into melatonin (sleep hormone)
  
• Needs vitamin B6, magnesium, iron, zinc, and BH4 to work properly
  
  

🔄 Low serotonin = low mood, anxiety, trouble sleeping

🌙 Melatonin: Sleep & Body Clock

• Made from serotonin
  
• Regulates your sleep-wake cycle (circadian rhythm)
  
• Needs SAMe and the ASMT enzyme
  
  

🌙 Melatonin helps you fall asleep and stay asleep

 

⚡ Dopamine: Motivation, Focus & Reward

• Made from tyrosine (an amino acid)
  
• Drives motivation, pleasure, learning, and drive
  
• Later turns into noradrenaline and adrenaline
  
  

Needs:
→ Vitamin B6, C, iron, copper, magnesium, and BH4

 

⚠️ Low dopamine = brain fog, low motivation, depression

 

🧠 Adrenaline: Energy & Stress Response

• Comes from dopamine
  
• Helps you stay alert, focused, and energized in stressful moments
  
• Needs vitamin C, copper, SAMe, and the PNMT enzyme
  
  

🛑 Too much adrenaline = wired & anxious. Too little = flat & tired

 

🚦 Glutamate: The Brain’s Gas Pedal

• Main stimulating neurotransmitter
  
• Needed for thinking, memory, and learning
  
• Made from glutamine, with help from magnesium and manganese
  
  

⚠️ Too much glutamate = overstimulation, anxiety, and brain inflammation

 

🧘 GABA: The Brain’s Brake Pedal

• Made from glutamate (your brain needs to convert it!)
  
• Helps you calm down, sleep, and relax
  
• Needs vitamin B6 and zinc
  
  

🌿 Supported by calming herbs like lemon balm and rosmarinic acid

 

🔄 Low GABA = tension, restlessness, trouble switching off

🌿 Cannabinoids: The Master Regulator

• Your body makes natural cannabinoids (like anandamide)
  
• The endocannabinoid system (ECS) keeps everything in balance
  
• Helps regulate mood, sleep, stress, inflammation, pain, and more
  
• CBD (from hemp) supports this system by keeping anandamide levels up
  
  

🧠 Think of cannabinoids as the thermostat of your brain and body

💊 Opioids: Natural Pain Relief & Bonding

• Your body makes endorphins (natural opioids)
  
• These help reduce pain, create feelings of connection, and increase pleasure
  
• Influence both dopamine and serotonin
  
  

👐 Boosted by movement, touch, music, and laughing

 

🧬 What Affects These Brain Chemicals?