NaturalPedia > Anatomy > Neurotransmitters

Quotes about Neurotransmitters from the world's top natural health / natural living authors

 Email this page to a friend   |  Click here for FREE email alerts

page 1 of 21 | Next ->

"Biochemical Background The baseline levels of neurotransmitters measured in the initial urine directly reflect reservoir levels of neurotransmitters in the brain. The lower the urinary amount, the more deficient a person is in brain neurotransmitters. With the addition of neurotransmitter enhancing compounds, referred to as neurotransmitter precursor therapy, levels of serotonin and dopamine measured in the urine are expected to rise. This rise would indicate increased brain synthesis of the serotonin and dopamine." - Cheryle Hart, M.D., and Mary Kay Grossman, RD, The Feel-Good Diet (Get the book.)

"There are four ways the heart communicates with the brain: neuro-logically (the transmission of nerve impulses), biochemically (hormones and neurotransmitters), biophysically (pressure waves), and energetically (electromagnetic field interactions). There are 40,000 nerve cells in the heart as well as neurotransmitters such as noradrenaline and dopamine (known emotional mediators), that the heart synthesizes and releases. "With every beat of the heart, a burst of neural activity is relayed to the brain," Martin explains. " - Pam Montgomery, Plant Spirit Healing: A Guide to Working with Plant Consciousness (Get the book.)

"Most antidepressants work by helping make certain natural chemicals called neurotransmitters (serotonin, norepinephrine) more accessible to the brain. neurotransmitters are necessary for normal brain function as well as the control of mood. Some people find that taking an antidepressant during the first few months of therapy is just the extra lift they need to get them back on track, and then they stop the medication. This was the strategy Rosemary used to help beat her clinical depression." - Steven V. Joyal, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Diabetes: An Innovative Program to Prevent, Treat, and Beat This Controllable Disease (Get the book.)

"Nearly every brain-regulating chemical found in your brain is also found in your gut's brain—including both hormones and neurotransmitters. In fact, the vast majority of serotonin, one of the better-known neurotransmitters in the body, is made in the gut, not the brain. Dr. Gershon points out that our brain and gut mirror each other so much that both have natural ninety-minute "sleep cycles." In the brain, slow-wave sleep is interrupted by periods of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, during which dreams occur. The gut has corresponding ninety-minute cycles of slow-wave muscle contractions." - Frank Lipman, Mollie Doyle, Spent: Revive: Stop Feeling Spent and Feel Great Again (Get the book.)

"Drugs that block uptake of the neurotransmitters by the transporter result in an increase in the neurotransmitters in the synapses, which is believed to account for at least part of the reason these drugs work. Many of the antidepressant drugs block the serotonin transporter, the norepinephrine transporter, or a combination of the two. The original drugs, the tricyclics, had a more general effect on blockage of neurotransmitter uptake. EARLY TREATMENT The first medication found to work for the treatment of depression was discovered by accident." - J. Douglas Bremner, Before You Take that Pill: Why the Drug Industry May Be Bad for Your Health (Get the book.)

"Principal Functions of the B Vitamins Energy production from carbohydrates, fats, and protein Synthesis of neurotransmitters Conversion of amino acids Synthesis of fatty acids and hormones Antioxidant protection The vitamin B complex is vital for the synthesis of fatty acids. The B vitamins help us make cholesterol and also help us control cholesterol. They are needed for the synthesis of phospholipids in the all-important cell membrane. They are also needed to synthesize steroid hormones such as melatonin, the sleep hormone." - Dr. Steve Blake, Vitamins and Minerals Demystified (Get the book.)

"Relatively short-term, low-dose animal studies involving clinical doses of stimulants demonstrate lasting and probably permanent abnormalities in brain neurotransmitters.18 WITHDRAWING CHILDREN FROM STIMULANTS ALTHOUGH SOME CHILDREN "crash" in an ominous fashion when abruptly removed from long-term treatment, many times I've gradually withdrawn children from these medications with little or no change in their outlook or behavior. The parents and child alike had been afraid that the drug was necessary, when in fact it was never missed once it was stopped." - Peter Breggin, Medication Madness: A Psychiatrist Exposes the Dangers of Mood-Altering Medications (Get the book.) "LITHIUM DOLDRUMS MOOD STABILIZERS LIKE LITHIUM and Depakote have an impact on neurotransmitters different from the antipsychotic drugs, but they have similar if less intense effects. Because they cannot be used like the antipsychotic drugs to abruptly subdue the individual, they are reserved for the long-term control of so-called bipolar disorder. Nowadays they are given to many children and adults who have but the faintest signs of a maniclike problem, such as irritability and mild mood swings in adults or temper tantrums in children. Lithium was the original mood stabilizer." - Peter Breggin, Medication Madness: A Psychiatrist Exposes the Dangers of Mood-Altering Medications (Get the book.) "Beyond the neurotransmitters, our brain functions are affected by assorted other kinds of support cells, many chemicals such as sodium and potassium, and various hormones. The overall brain activity generates electrical fields that reflect and influence brain function in ways no one can yet grasp. We don't even understand the operating system of the brain—how it organizes and runs itself. Each brain is more complex than the entire physical universe of stars, galaxies, black holes, gravity, and electromagnetic fields." - Peter Breggin, Medication Madness: A Psychiatrist Exposes the Dangers of Mood-Altering Medications (Get the book.)

"Iron does play a role in the synthesis of dopamine and possibly other neurotransmitters within the brain. It is likely that the ADHD boys required extra iron due to biochemical needs that are different from the boys without a diagnosis of ADHD. The extra iron probably helped with the synthesis of important neurotransmitters, which favorably impacted behavior. In restless leg syndrome and excessive menstrual bleeding, improvements from iron supplementation will occur, especially when the serum iron or ferritin levels were low prior to treatment." - Abram Hoffer, PhD, MD, FRCP(C) and Dr. Jonathan Prousjy, DPHE, DSC, ND, FRSH, Naturopathic Nutrition: A Guide to Nutrient-rich Food & Nutritional Supplements for Optimum Health (Get the book.)

"Neurotransmitters send messages to trillions of neurons across the synapses of the brain. Although there are hundreds of these naturally produced chemicals, there are several prominent neurotransmitters that regulate our thoughts, feelings and actions. Adrenaline controls the "fight or flight" response, giving us the ability to take action in an emergency. Serotonin controls mood and is the primary target of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) commonly used to treat depression." - Craig Pepin-Donat, The Big Fat Health and Fitness Lie (Get the book.)

"We don't know exactly how all the neurotransmitters work together to cause or affect depression in all its many forms, but we do suspect that low levels of serotonin play a big part in what people experience as depression. It's not for nothing that serotonin is known as the "feel good" neurotransmitter. Without enough of it we don't do very well. The most popular pharmaceutical antidepressants— Prozac, Zoloft, Lexapro, etc.—belong to a class called serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)." - Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S., The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth about What Treatments Work and Why (Get the book.) "It's possible that the antidepressant effect of 5-HTP may be related to a combined effect on serotonin and other neurotransmitters.) Regardless of its effect on other brain chemicals, supplemental 5-HTP surely increases serotonin, and because of that, has a calming, relaxing effect on brain chemistry. It's used for mild and moderate depression and it also may help you sleep better. Why? Because at night, serotonin converts into melatonin (see page 63), which is important for a great night's sleep." - Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S., The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth about What Treatments Work and Why (Get the book.)

"Nutrition was discussed in terms of calories or "exchanges" without any connection to hormones or neurotransmitters, which are made from proteins and are carefully regulated by our vitamins and minerals. Physical signs that people noticed about themselves, such as their tongue coating or the quality of their skin, nails, and hair, were largely overlooked. 1 So after leaving medical school, I deferred my internship for a year and traveled to India and Sri Lanka, where I worked alongside Ayurvedic doctors, herbalists, and homeopaths." - Phuli Cohan, The Natural Hormone Makeover: 10 Steps to Rejuvenate Your Health and Rediscover Your Inner Glow (Get the book.)

"I pointed out the absurdity of attributing a complex human phenomenon like depression to any specific or even several neurotransmitters when there are two hundred or more interacting with one another and with myriad other brain mechanisms—some known and most undiscovered—that facilitate chemical and electrical communication inside the brain. Once again, psychiatry has just barely begun to catch up with scientific reality." - Peter Breggin, Medication Madness: A Psychiatrist Exposes the Dangers of Mood-Altering Medications (Get the book.)

"The synthesis of neurotransmitters. (d) All of the above. 2. The best cooking method to preserve all of the B vitamins is: (a) Boiling. (b) Steaming. (c) Microwave cooking. (d) Deep frying. 3. Pyridoxine is: (a) Vitamin Br (b) Vitamin B3. (c) Vitamin B6. (d) Vitamin B12. 4. Niacin in the form of nicotinic acid, when taken in large doses, can cause: (a) Lowered energy production. (b) Loss of weight. (c) Flushing of skin. (d) Higher total blood cholesterol. 5. The B vitamins that can be made by bacteria in the large intestines: (a) Biotin. (b) Vitamin B12." - Dr. Steve Blake, Vitamins and Minerals Demystified (Get the book.)

"After that, all subsequent drugs were 'copycats' of the originals—and all of them regulating only those same four neurotransmitters. There have not been any new radically different paradigms of drug action that have been developed." Indeed, while by 1997 one hundred drugs had been designed to treat schizophrenia, all of them resembled the original, Thorazine, in their mechanism of action.98 "So," I asked Dr." - Charles Barber, Comfortably Numb: How Psychiatry Is Medicating a Nation (Get the book.)

"Estrogen enhances the production of serotonin and other neurotransmitters in our brain, which promote sleep, lift your mood, and enhance your sexual drive. The adrenal hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is our most abundant hormone. DHEA is also very important for sleep. It enhances our deepest phase of sleep and the REM (rapid eye movement) phase. During REM sleep you dream, and what is more important, you replenish the brain chemicals that control mood and create memories from the day's events. Without enough DHEA, your sleep will feel too light and you will not have many dreams." - Phuli Cohan, The Natural Hormone Makeover: 10 Steps to Rejuvenate Your Health and Rediscover Your Inner Glow (Get the book.) "So if you are having bad sleep, know that your body probably isn't making enough growth hormone or restoring neurotransmitters optimally. Most people start to notice a deterioration in the quality of their sleep in their mid-forties. Certainly by age fifty, most notice that their sleep is more easily disturbed, less dream-filled, and not as refreshing as it used to be. Lifestyles with a lot of late-night activities, bright night lights, late meals, and excess caffeine and alcohol further deplete our dwindling middle-aged melatonin reserves and worsen our sleep problems." - Phuli Cohan, The Natural Hormone Makeover: 10 Steps to Rejuvenate Your Health and Rediscover Your Inner Glow (Get the book.)

"Iron is also required by enzymes involved in synthesizing collagen, neurotransmitters, and hormones. Iron Transports and Stores Oxygen Hemoglobin and myoglobin are proteins that transport and store oxygen. Heme is a compound found in both of these proteins. Hemoglobin is composed of four units; each unit has a protein chain and a heme group. Myoglobin has one protein chain and one heme group. Heme is a compound that has iron in the center, as seen in Figure 11-1. Hemoglobin is the most important protein found in red blood cells. About two-thirds of the iron in the body (about 2." - Dr. Steve Blake, Vitamins and Minerals Demystified (Get the book.)

"This lost ability translates into degrees of reduced physiological function that medical science is now beginning to recognize and quantify, even down to the level of hormones, neurotransmitters, and neuropeptides. Among the leaders in laughter research is Lee Berk, of Loma Linda University in California. In one study, Berk divided in half a group of cardiac patients who had suffered a heart attack. Both groups received conventional rehabilitation care, but the members in one group also watched a humorous video or sitcom of their choice on a daily basis." - Stephen Sinatra, M.D. and James C., M.D. Roberts, Reverse Heart Disease Now: Stop Deadly Cardiovascular Plaque Before It's Too Late (Get the book.)

"These three nutrients are needed to process estrogen and to make melatonin and other neurotransmitters, such as SAMe (S-adenosyl methionine) or GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid). Oral estrogen and birth control pills lower these vitamin levels. I recommend using a B complex (100 mg/day). If you prefer to take them separately, the usual dose for B6 is 50 mg twice daily. There is an activated form of vitamin B6 called P5P (pyridoxal-5-phosphate), which can be easier for your body to utilize. For folic acid, the usual dose is 0.8 to 2 mg a day." - Phuli Cohan, The Natural Hormone Makeover: 10 Steps to Rejuvenate Your Health and Rediscover Your Inner Glow (Get the book.)

"The interaction between neurotransmitters, neurophysiology, the body's steroids, circadian systems, mood, and behavior plus plants and nutrients from nature may remain scientifically elusive, but, to the credit of women, we have instinctually come upon safe and effective natural solutions. One of the significant benefits of treating PMS naturally is that it serves as a touchstone to motivate women to make lifestyle changes that have a positive cascade effect on their general health. Nutrition Women who have PMS typically have dietary habits that are worse than the standard American diet." - Tori Hudson, N.D., Women's Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine: Alternative Therapies and Integrative Medicine for Total Health and Wellness (Get the book.)

"And although the neurons that produce them account for only 1 percent of the brain's hundred billion cells, these neurotransmitters wield powerful influence. They might instruct a neuron to make more glutamate, or they might make the neuron more efficient or alter the sensitivity of its receptors. They can override other signals coming into the synapse, thus lowering the "noise" in the brain, or, conversely, amplify those signals." - John J. Ratey, MD, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain (Get the book.) "It was already known that exercise increases levels of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine—important neurotransmitters that traffic in thoughts and emotions. You've probably heard of serotonin, and maybe you know that a lack of it is associated with depression, but even many psychiatrists I meet don't know the rest. They don't know that toxic levels of stress erode the connections between the billions of nerve cells in the brain or that chronic depression shrinks certain areas of the brain." - John J. Ratey, MD, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain (Get the book.) "About 80 percent of the signaling in the brain is carried out by two neurotransmitters that balance each other's effect: gluta-mate stirs up activity to begin the signaling cascade, and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) clamps down on activity. When glutamate delivers a signal between two neurons that haven't spoken before, the activity primes the pump. The more often the connection is activated, the stronger the attraction becomes, which is what neu-roscientists mean when they talk about binding. As the saying goes, neurons that fire together wire together." - John J. Ratey, MD, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain (Get the book.) "His pioneering work led to the monoamine hypothesis, which holds that depression is caused by a deficit of these three neurotransmitters. Most of our treatments and research since then has been about trying to reverse that deficit. THE NEW BUZZ In 1970, fresh out of college, I landed a job at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center and walked right into this sea change happening in psychiatry. Schildkraut was a mentor to me, and I was lucky enough to have a firsthand look at the scientific inquiry into the biological theory of mood disorders." - John J. Ratey, MD, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain (Get the book.)

"The lymphocytes have receptors—places where other substances can attach to them—for neurotransmitters. neurotransmitters can influence lymphocytes, or else lymphocytes would not need to have a place for them. According to one hypothesis, during visualization, neurotransmitters travel from the brain—where we make images—to the lymphocytes. The information brought by the neurotransmitters then increases either the activity or the maturation of lymphocytes, or both. This hypothesis explains why there are more lymphocytes in the blood after visualization." - Berkeley Holistic Health Center and Shepherd Bliss, The New Holistic Health Handbook: Living Well in a New Age (Get the book.)

page 1 of 21 | Next ->

FAIR USE NOTICE: The research quoted here is provided under the protection of Fair Use provisions and published by the 501(c)3 non-profit Consumer Wellness Center for the purposes of public comment and education. Authors / publishers may submit books for consideration of inclusion here.

TERMS OF USE: Read full terms of use. Citations of text from NaturalPedia must include: 1) Full credit to the original author and book title. 2) Secondary credit to the Natural News Naturalpedia as a research resource and a link to www.NaturalPedia.com

This unique compilation of research is copyright (c) 2008, 2009 by the non-profit Consumer Wellness Center.

ABOUT THE CREATOR OF NATURALPEDIA: Mike Adams, the creator of NaturalPedia, is the editor of NaturalNews.com, the internet's top natural health news site, creator of the Honest Food Guide (www.HonestFoodGuide.org), a free downloadable consumer food guide based on natural health principles, author of Grocery Warning, The 7 Laws of Nutrition, Natural Health Solutions, and many other books available at www.TruthPublishing.com, creator of the earth-friendly EcoLEDs company (www.EcoLEDs.com) that manufactures energy-efficient LED lighting products, founder of Arial Software (www.ArialSoftware.com), a permission e-mail technology company, creator of the CounterThink Cartoon series (www.NaturalNews.com/index-cartoons.html) and author of over 1,500 articles, interviews, special reports and reference guides available at www.NaturalNews.com. Adams' personal philosophy and health statistics are available at www.HealthRanger.org.