Digestive Enzymes = Dopamine / Feel Good?

Supplements and Nutrition
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So a short story here before I’ll get to my main point / question. For as long as I remember my poops have been not great. Turds floating and semi solid. Not diarrhea or enough to figure something was off. I chalked it up to me drinking 1.5-2 gallons of water a day. I’ve always had semi lethargy but assumed it was due to me not sleeping great at night. Not anything that caffeine or pre workout wouldn’t fix. Also feel I have some anhedonia or just indifference.

Recently i decided to up my protein intake to 3 protein shakes a day (consistent in for 1 whey + 1 casein). Soon after I had days where I would have rancid farts smelling like I had drank a 12 pack of old Milwaukee and ate 3 day old Taco Bell.

This leads me to my post here. So something clicked in my head and thought maybe I have digestive problems. I had heard of digestive enzymes but never looked into them. So I was at sprouts and decided to grab a bottle.

So yesterday I do my normal routine of protein shake and pre workout. I popped one of those bad boys and usually like to relax and wait for that sweet caffeine to kick in. This time was different because I got this bout of dopamine hit I have never felt before. Like the kind of feeling when you get your first kiss from a girl you been working for so long. My music sounded amazing. I went on to crush my workout.

I didn’t think much of it but AGAIN I took one prior to my evening shake and 30 minutes later boom I feel like I just snorted a crushed up adderall (or what I’ve been told I wouldn’t know personally wink wink).

Im not a scientist but I’m either losing my mind in a good way or I’ve suffered from poor digestion damn near all my life. My theory is if the digestive enzymes are helping my absorb protein better I am getting Tyrosine that converts to L-Dopa that is Dopamine. Or maybe my body is finally absorbing nutrients and it’s simply thanking me. I read majority of dopamine is in the gut.

One last thing is I took a poop this morning. Solid, sunk and barely had to wipe.

This is all anecdotal but I’m crossing my fingers I found something that works for me. Thanks for reading.

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100%. The gut-brain axis is massive.

I’ve tried digestive enzymes in the past but never felt they did anything. Maybe I should give them another go. My mood and energy definitely fluctuates depending on how well things are moving.

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So after taking those a bit i didnt get that dopamine hit like i did before. However, I think my stomach has been jacked so much that first sign of relief hit me good. Since ive been taking them I have been way less gassy. Also I switched my protein powder to a pure protein and no flavor. The kind I was using had sucralose in it and I had been drinking a sugar free monster every day with sucralose. I was reading how sucralose can destroy the gut microbiome.

Since ive made these changes I am feeling much better and my poops are looking much healthier.

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I too drink unflavoured. Sweeteners cause a lot of people problems. You may also find it worth trying a whey isolate as they for the most part remove all of the lactose present in whey concentrate which is also a struggle for many. A majority percentage are lactose intolerant without realizing. If you think you’re sorted though, no bother.