Hello and welcome to the Nutrition Diva podcast on your host, Monica Reinagel.

Nutrition Diva listener Leila writes,

Recently, I've been reading a bit about El Dopa in foods and supplements.

There's also something called the dopamine diet.

However, I'm struggling to make sense of the information.

Can dopamine really boost your mood or is this just another fad?

Leila, I think the reason you may be struggling to make sense of this information

is that a lot of what's circulating around the internet about diet and dopamine

doesn't actually make a lot of sense.

Let's start with the idea that foods or supplements that provide El Dopa could improve your mood.

One of Dopa means primary functions in the brain is to help coordinate and control

our muscle movements.

The tremors and jerky movements that are typical of Parkinson's disease, for example,

are caused by low dopamine production in the brain.

A drug called Leva Dopa or El Dopa can help reduce Parkinson's symptoms by increasing dopamine

levels in the brain. A natural form of El Dopa is also found in a tropical legume called the

Velvet Bean. In fact, extracts from the Velvet Bean have been used in traditional

Ayurvedic medicine to treat Parkinson's disease. However, I would not recommend adding

Velvet Beans or El Dopa supplements to your diet in an effort to raise your dopamine levels.

For one thing, El Dopa, whether it's coming from the Velvet Bean or from a lab,

can be neurotoxic and cause significant side effects.

Now, the Dopamine Diet, which is a popular book by British chef Tom Carriage,

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