Dopamine Detox: Reset Your Brain’s Reward System for Better Focus and Motivation

Today, I'm gonna be examining how to do a dopamine detox.

And this is really important for balancing your hormones and for really breaking through mental health barriers, physical health barriers. We don't realize how some of the habits we have on a daily basis create mind issues that then create issues within our bodies, whether it be hypothyroidism, whether it be depression, anxiety, autoimmune disorders, and a number of other conditions.

So today, I'll be going through How to do a dopamine detox.

Also, make sure to subscribe to the channel and hit the notification bell so you don't miss a single episode. So first off, what is dopamine? Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that helps control pleasure, motivation, reward, and even things like movement in our bodies. And it plays a crucial role in how we experience pleasure and motivation.

Also, it influences learning, memory, and even regulation of our mood. Now, dopamine also has a big impact on our health from a positive standpoint. It enhances motivation, focus, even coordination, supports mood regulation and reward-seeking behavior. That's the key thing. When you think about dopamine, it emphasizes and encourages reward-seeking behavior.

Now, it might be a real reward that can actually be good for our life, or it might be something that we are psychologically not even aware of. Now, some of the negative impacts of dopamine or having too much dopamine could be high dopamine levels can lead to impulsive behaviors and an increased risk of addiction.

Also, low dopamine levels are associated with depression, Parkinson's disease, and some forms of attention deficit disorders. Now, the reality is this: most people have excessive dopamine due to modern lifestyle changes, including excessive screen time and instant gratification. From social media.

You know, whenever you get that like or you see the amount of likes you get on social media, if you had a good post, that sort of is something within your system to where you get a hit of dopamine. It makes you feel good about yourself. And a very similar thing happens when maybe someone tells you, hey, you've done a good job. And that's not all bad, right? Sometimes that dopamine can be great.

But when you sit there and become addicted to that feeling around dopamine, it can actually have negative— it can have a negative impact on your health. Historically, I wanna mention as well, dopamine levels were more balanced due to a slower-paced life, slower-paced activities, less exposure to constant digital stimulation. And there is a link between dopamine and mental health.

Recent studies link high dopamine activity to mental health conditions like anxiety, addiction, and increased stress. And research also shows how dopamine-related medications can influence motivation by altering how the brain perceives effort versus reward. So what I encourage a lot of patients to do and a lot of people I work with to do is to go through doing a dopamine detox.

By the way, one of the greatest examples of somebody who is addicted to dopamine is somebody that's gambling, somebody that sits at a slot machine. I remember I've only been to Vegas actually at this point one time.

It's kind of surprising.

I've only been, it was for a seminar, but When I went, I remember at the seminar, you had to walk through the casino in order to get to the conference I was at. And I remember seeing a woman sitting there with an oxygen mask on in a wheelchair, and she sat there like this doing the slot machine. And I remember walking out hours later. I don't know if it was 3 or 4 hours later.

This was after, I think I went in around 8:00 AM, came out around lunch. And the woman was still there doing the same thing. I don't think she had moved the whole time for 4 hours. And I thought, she's a zombie. This device has literally sucked her in and has her addicted. And she was addicted to that dopamine hit.

And you may not think of yourself as that woman with the oxygen mask in the wheelchair addicted to something in that same way, but if you're sitting there on social media, TikTok, Instagram, whatever your social platform is, and you'll sit there for an hour straight just sucked in and you liking buttons and doing this, you know, to where you are just focused on hitting that button or getting a like yourself or liking things.

You're that person.

You're in that exact same situation. You are addicted to dopamine.

So what I would encourage you to do is, is do a dopamine detox.

This involves avoiding activities that trigger excessive dopamine release, such as screen time, junk food, social media. And also, I'm gonna give you some things to replace it with that release other hormones that you need, like more oxytocin and serotonin and other neurotransmitters that are important for brain health, which lead to better body health.

So here's the purpose of doing a dopamine detox: to reset the brain's reward system and reduce the reliance on constant dopamine hits. And the benefits of doing dopamine detox is it helps clear mental clutter, allowing for better focus. It increases your true motivation.

It reduces the reliance on these quick dopamine hits, which, by the way, dopamine hits, it's more of a temporary, it's a short-term thing. You're looking for something right now versus with other things, you can think more about your future and being more purpose-driven with your life.

So doing a dopamine detox will help you with that, doing more meaningful, tasks, things that to help you live a more meaningful life. Also, it supports emotional regulation. This balances emotions by minimizing the highs and the lows associated with these frequent dopamine spikes.

And when doing a dopamine detox, the goal is to reduce or eliminate activities that provide immediate high-reward stimuli, which can desensitize the brain's dopamine receptors and reduce overall motivation and focus.

You know, I see this with a lot of kids today.

It's like, you know, like our daughter, um, She said this in the car this past weekend. She said, I'm bored. And both Chelsea and I said, good. It's good to be bored sometimes. It's good to just be able to sit and look out your window and look at the grass and look at the cows and the horses and the things we're driving by. And so, that's good.

Okay?

We don't want her addicted where she has to have constant stimulation all of the time. So here are the key activities that should typically be eliminated or drastically reduced during a dopamine detox. I recommend doing at least one day Okay, full on.

But taking a weekend, starting off with a Saturday, Sunday, doing a full dopamine detox is typically the best I've seen for most people is taking the weekends and doing these dopamine detoxes. So here are the things you wanna stay away from. Number 1, social media and internet browsing.

Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok provide instant gratification through likes, comments, and endless scrolling. And I would also say those platforms are worse than something like a YouTube Where YouTube, maybe you're watching something and you are maybe learning something, okay? But still, that's another one.

But I would say social platforms and media browsing are one that you want to stay away from when you're doing a dopamine detox. Number 2, video games. Gaming can provide constant stream of dopamine hits through reward achievements and rapid stimulation. Number 3, binge-watching TV and even YouTube.

Streaming services and platforms Platforms with autoplay features offer easy access to long uninterrupted sessions of content consumption.

Okay.

And at the very least, you wanna stay away from social media and video games. But I also would include binge watching TV or YouTube. Number 4, junk food and sugary snacks. Yes, those give you a dopamine spike. Processed foods and sugar can create dopamine spikes similar to addictive substances. So cutting these out of your diet can help also those cravings. And those cravings you have.

And then when you have that sugar and you get that satisfaction or that fast food, that's connected to dopamine.

If you've been doing everything right, eating clean, exercising, but somehow you're still not feeling your best, your energy's dragging, your memory is slipping, and it's frustrating because you know there's more to your potential. Well, what if the issue isn't just in your routine, but it's deep down inside your cells?

You know, you're investing in the best supplements, working out regularly, and sticking to a clean diet. But if your cells are stuck in what's called cell danger response, all the hard work might not be paying off as it should. Think of your cells like a house under renovation. You can bring in the highest quality materials like the best supplements and clean foods.

But if the workers inside the house are on lockdown because of a storm, Nothing gets done. The materials just pile up unused. That's what happens when your cells are in CDR. They can't fully use the good stuff you're giving them. Getting out of CDR, the cell danger response, is the key to unlocking your body's full potential.

When your cells are no longer in protective mode, they can finally use the nutrients, hormones, and energy you're working hard to give them. Working so hard to provide. That's when everything starts to click. Your energy improves, your workouts become more efficient, and you start to feel like yourself again.

Go to beyondbloodwork.com to learn how to break free from cell danger response and make the effort pay off. And you want to replace this junk food with organic meat, lots of vegetables, and things like fruit is fine as well. It's okay to get some natural sugar from an apple or or a bowl of blueberries, that's absolutely fine. Number 4, pornography and excessive sexual stimulation.

These activities can overstimulate dopamine receptors, leading to the desensitization of your— many of your neurotransmitters over time. It makes you numb. This is why pornography addiction is one of the most devastating and damaging things you can do to your neurological health, to your character, and other things. Number 6, alcohol and drugs.

Any substance that alters brain chemistry can artificially elevate dopamine, contributing to dependency on external stimuli for pleasure. Now listen, coffee is a low-grade— I'm not going to take coffee from everybody. If you're doing a little bit of green tea or a little bit of coffee once a day, that's fine.

But if you're drinking coffee first thing in the morning, late morning, right after lunch, again in the evening, and you're doing a lot of coffee, then I would back down as well when you're doing a dope, dope dopamine detox. I'd back down to 1, maximum 2 a day, and not overdo the caffeine as well. But you absolutely want to stay away from any form of alcohol or drugs.

And here's number 7: compulsion, online shopping, or gambling. The instant reward and dopamine rush associated with buying things or gambling should be avoided during a dopamine detox. And by avoiding these activities, the brain can reset its dopamine sensitivity, potentially improving focus, Motivation and the enjoyment of just everyday tasks. You can enjoy eating real food.

You can enjoy just sitting outside and looking at nature. Enjoy connecting with a loved one to where all of a sudden you're not on your phone again in the middle of a conversation with them. This, by the way, I want to say this, a dopamine detox, one, it is so healthy to do, even if it's just 1 day a week or 2 days a week.

But to a degree, we're better off With most of these things, being off of them almost all day, every day. Now, again, a little bit for learning's sake, being on something like YouTube or, or a little bit of screen time where you're learning and growing or laughing because you're watching something funny, that's good and fine. That can be scheduled in generally.

But most of these things that we're talking about that stimulate dopamine, they're unhealthy behaviors that also degrade your character. Now, I want to share with you what you want to replace all the dopamine with. You want to have hormonal stimulation. You want to, at some points, have a high, but you can do it with other hormones. Number 1 here, like oxytocin.

Now, oxytocin is known as the love hormone. Okay? Oxytocin has its greatest level of release when a mother Is nursing a newborn, an infant. Okay. And if any mom— it's funny, I was at my sister's with my wife. We had the kids playing there, and my sister just stopped nursing. And she said, I really miss nursing. And then I saw Chelsea like nod.

And the reason why that she said that is she's missing that Oxytocin, of that, that, that actual hormonal stimulation of feeling really connected with someone else. And so oxytocin is released in highest levels typically with physical touch. Okay? It's a mother nursing, nursing a newborn. It's a husband and wife in the confines of marriage, having intercourse.

It's hugging, it's cuddling, it's holding hands. That's when that hormone oxytocin is released. And that's the big difference between something like pornography and actual, actual sex within the confines of marriage is, is that, uh, you know, one thing is, is not real and you're getting dopamine.

The other thing is real, as real as anything, and it's going to— you're going to be releasing oxytocin. Um, and so it's very, very powerful, um, in that way. And so again, and if, and, you know, I'm thinking about a friend of mine who's a big hugger, and it's great. It's like, you know, every time I see him it's a big hug and oxytocin's released. And so hug more. Let me ask you this.

You, you, there are probably some people listening or watching to this and you maybe haven't had a hug all week. That's not healthy. You should be getting hugs every single day. Okay? And so it, because it releases oxytocin. And so that's the first thing. Now here's the, here's another thing that releases oxytocin.

Um, Spending quality time with friends, with family, with partners, engaging in meaningful conversations or activities with your friend, family, partners, that releases oxytocin.

So, if you're going out to a dinner or a lunch or a breakfast and you're having a deep meaningful conversation with somebody, when you are doing fun activities, I just got done this morning playing pickleball with a couple good friends of mine. And, that was a fun activity of sort of male bonding and connecting, which was fun.

Yeah.

And so it's quality time together. Actually, when I get home today, we just got a swing set for my daughter. I'm really excited. And so I'm going to be able to go and play with her on that and have fun doing an activity with her. Oxytocin will be released in that way because this is— it's a form of bonding and connecting with other humans. Petting animals. Okay.

Spending time with your dog or your cat increases oxytocin and strengthens the bond with your pet. Okay. Cuddling up on the couch with your pet or Riding a horse. Okay. But in fact, one of the things I wanna mention, when my mom had cancer, we were very focused on helping her heal using food as medicine, right?

So we did vegetable juicing, we did wild salmon, we did berries, we did turmeric and reishi mushroom. We did all those things. But I also knew the power of helping her detox dopamine and do everything we could to build oxytocin. And so So, one of the things she loved when she was a kid was riding horses.

And there's actually some amazing research around this, around horse therapy and animal therapy. And it typically is most connected to spending time with dogs and with horses. But my mom went and she started riding horses again and just spending time in the stable petting horses and brushing them. And it was so healing to her because of oxytocin.

Oxytocin is not only the love hormone, it's a healing hormone in most cases. Yeah. In fact, in Chinese medicine, they talk about something called the Three Treasures, and the most profound and powerful of the Three Treasures is called Shen, and that essentially is tied to spiritual healing, which is tied to the hormone oxytocin. So it's also there's also a spiritual component to it.

If you've ever spent time in a church or a synagogue where you are worshipping God and spending time in praise and gratitude, part of that thing that you're feeling during that time and connecting with the divine is. Oxytocin being released. There's actually other neurotransmitters as well, but that's one in particular.

It's that bonding, that closeness experience that you're going to find probably mostly through praise, uh, when, when we're talking about religion and spirituality. And then acts of kindness, volunteering, helping others, giving gifts to others. Have you ever given a gift to somebody and they just loved it? They were so excited about it. Okay, that— or you've received that gift in return.

Okay.

That's, that's oxytocin that you're feeling. And you want to do everything you can to detoxify dopamine and do activities that start creating more oxytocin within your system because it's healing to your spirit, to your mind, and to your body. Number 2 is serotonin. Serotonin is known as the mood stabilizing hormone, and healthy activities release serotonin.

Now, one of the biggest things that starts to release oxytocin is exposure to sunlight, spending time in natural sunlight helps the body also produce vitamin D, which then supports serotonin production. So vitamin D and serotonin oftentimes go hand in hand. Typically about 15 to 30 minutes daily, uh, is the minimal needed in order to create the, the correct amount of vitamin D and serotonin.

So spending time— sunlight helps with serotonin release. Another one here is exercise. Regular physical exercise, and this could be aerobic like running or cycling or swimming. Those are probably the biggest producers of serotonin. But in addition, tennis or pickleball or weight training or CrossFit or rock climbing, whatever it is, those also are very, very helpful at creating serotonin as well.

But it's typically physical activity, getting your blood moving, cardiovascular more than anything will help your body release serotonin. In fact, you've probably heard of having a runner's high. Okay, you went for a run or you did some sort of cardio for about 20-30 minutes, got a good sweat on, and at the end you, you just felt really good.

That's that serotonin being released by within your system. And then a few other things— mindfulness and meditation. Practicing mindfulness or meditation can increase serotonin by promoting a sense of calm and well-being.

I mentioned earlier that praise and worship is oxytocin, Connecting with the divine in that way, but also spending time in meditation and doing— actually, there's certain movements like tai chi and qigong, and those sort of movements also can help with that. And then gratitude journaling is another big one, can also help with some serotonin release. Number 3 are endorphins.

These are natural painkillers. And so, where serotonin is released with running, So are endorphins as well as part of that runner's high. In fact, sorry to correct myself earlier, serotonin is typically not the runner's high hormone. It is actually endorphins. Okay, endorphins are the runner's high hormone.

You're going to get that with more cardiovascular activity, running especially, high-intensity interval training, weight training as well. These stimulate endorphins. Now, now, one of the biggest things that releases endorphins is laughter. Watching a funny movie or spending time with people who make you laugh can trigger endorphins release.

By the way, I wanna mention exercise itself helps you release it twofold, endorphins and serotonin. And if you're playing something where you're bonding with other people, again, I, I mentioned because it's such a popular sport today, like pickleball, but you're doing something like that, you're sometimes releasing all 3 of those hormones at once, giving high fives on the court.

Is very, very healing. In fact, this is why racket sports like tennis and pickleball, of all sports, increase the lifespan the most, because you're getting actually bonding. It's also good for hand-eye coordination, but there's a little bit of cardiovascular endurance and strength involved as well. Very good for the body.

Also, there are some foods that support endorphin release, such as dark chocolate and coffee. Okay, right? Who doesn't love dark chocolate and coffee? Those are the two. Foods, probably of all foods, that are going to stimulate the highest level of endorphin release. Okay, so if you want to help endorphins, have a nice cup of espresso or a cappuccino with a, with a little square of dark chocolate.

Okay, very good for those endorphins. And then, and then also different types of, um, therapies that are related to touch, like massage therapy. Okay, reflexology, um, even chiropractic adjustments, acupuncture. These forms of therapy— massage is probably higher on the list because it's so much physical touch and movement of blood involved as well.

But getting a massage helps reduce tension, which also increases endorphin production, which can improve mood and reduce pain as well. So again, chiropractic adjustments, massage therapy, those sort of things can also help release endorphins in the brain. Number 4 is GABA. Now, this is a hormone that's related to Um, overall neurological health.

And, uh, things like, uh, barre classes, yoga classes, um, Pilates, these sort of classes where you're also doing deep breathing exercises is very good for GABA release. I mentioned meditation earlier. This is also good for GABA. And certain herbal teas like chamomile, um, valerian root, Uh, CBD oil also supports GABA release within the body.

And so these are some of the best for helping heal your brain and body. And these activities not only promote the release of specific hormones, but they also contribute to overall mental health and physical well-being, providing natural ways to balance mood, reduce stress, enhance connection. Um, I want to dive into a little bit more here about doing your dopamine detox.

Okay.

There is a great study on this. A study found that dopamine detoxing helps participants feel more focused and less anxious within 2 weeks. Okay? You are gonna see the results very quickly. And in fact, this study was on 2 weeks. I've noticed that if I do it for 2 days, I feel radically different.

If I just take a weekend and I say, I'm not gonna be on my phone, I'm gonna spend zero time on the computer. I'm not gonna watch. Maybe I, maybe even if you, it's okay. Maybe watch an hour of TV total. That's fine.

But generally speaking, I stay away from all computer, phone, all that, and I just spend time outdoors with my family, connecting, focusing on things like oxytocin and serotonin release. If I do that, man, come around after a couple days, I feel different. I'm more rested, I'm more mentally strong, I think more clearly. I'm healthier in body, mind, and spirit.

Here are the biggest people that might benefit from dopamine detoxing. The biggest thing is people with high screen time and then people with addictive behaviors. Okay? If you spend a lot of time on the screen, which you can check this on your phone, if you have a phone, it will tell you, at least mine, I have an iPhone, it will tell me my average screen time for that week. Okay?

And if you have over, well, it's hard. Listen, everybody's job is different, but really, if you're on social more than an hour a day, it's probably too much. Okay?

Yeah.

But you, you really need to look at and try and reduce your screen time. Okay? People who spend excessive time on social media, gaming, and other dopamine-stimulating activities may benefit from reducing these behaviors the most. But I think everyone should do it across the board. Listen, I think it's like 99% of people, okay?

Or maybe it's at least 90% of people have way too much screen time, way too much for their physical In mental health. And so I think all of us, including myself, and by the way, I think I spend a lot less time on social media and on devices than probably most people, but I still see physical health benefits when I do a dopamine detox myself. People will really notice.

I mean, you're gonna really notice a difference with this in terms of clear thinking, motivation, more purpose-driven, uh, just, just connecting with others. One thing I'd recommend you do is take your phone and put it in a box somewhere. And say, I'm not gonna be on my phone for the next 8 hours. So just stay off it completely.

Dopamine detoxing, it helps you also rediscover pleasure in the simpler things in life, more natural activities like reading, spending time outdoors, or socializing with people face to face. And I wanna encourage you, schedule to do things to help with that. The dopamine detox schedule, going on a walk. With your family. Schedule a date day or night or breakfast, going to brunch with family.

Schedule some time going to the park, you know, schedule time to just sit and read and relax and do things that you used to love to do before you had this addiction to dopamine in screen time. Now, here are the people who may not benefit from dopamine detoxing. Number 1, people with Parkinson's disease, people who actually have have diagnosed medical conditions of low dopamine.

For people with conditions involving dopamine deficiencies, again, you maybe you cut down some and you try and focus on some of these others, but you don't cut it out completely. But generally speaking, outside of that group, everyone can benefit from doing a dopamine detox. By the way, the term dopamine detox, I think it's often misunderstood and it's a little bit of a catchphrase.

I don't, I don't necessarily listen. You need dopamine and dopamine is good, but the activities that we get addicted to that tend to stimulate dopamine in the, not in the way that it was meant to be, those are unhealthy. Okay. And I would say just generally, you know, don't obsess about this, but just do your best to say, I'm gonna cut these activities out for a day or 2 days.

And I do think Saturday and Sundays are some of the best days to cut out and just get in a regular habit of doing a dopamine detox every weekend as much as possible is going to go a long way. And even if you could just do one day a week, it could be Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, but pick a day and do a dopamine detox.

And I'd love to hear from you if you've ever done a dopamine detox and the results you've seen. You can go on Instagram and let me know, hey, you know, have you done a dopamine detox? What are the benefits you've seen? Or let me know on YouTube. Please comment.

I'd love to hear if you have done one Or if you are going to start doing dopamine detoxes with me on the weekends on a regular basis, or at least try it one time. And let me, let me tell you the biggest thing you'll feel when you do a dopamine detox for one day. You'll be blown away at how much you're all of a sudden you are. It's like a magnet.

Your phone and screens are like a magnet trying to pull. It's a tractor beam trying to pull you in. Okay? And that's what you're feeling, that addiction happening right there. It's just like a craving for something. And notice it and say, you know what, that's gonna decrease over time and I'm getting healthier. Recognize that craving I'm having, that's okay. That means I needed to do this bad.

Okay? Realize that and then just go replace it with something else. Look out in nature, read a book, connect with the person that's sitting right in front of you. Okay? This is gonna help your life so much. Overcome anxiety, overcome depression. Increase your purpose in life, increase oxytocin, and actually have real meaningful connections in relationships. Again, remember, dopamine is essential.

It's vital for our mental and physical health, but balance is key. It's got to be balanced out with serotonin and endorphins and oxytocin. Dopamine detoxing is an incredibly useful tool for regaining control over your habits and your mental health. And doing these mindful practices is so healing. Everything from walking to exercise to reading to Having a conversation.

I truly believe if you just do a dopamine detox 1 to 2 days a week, it can radically change your life. I wanna say, hey, thanks so much for tuning in here to my podcast, the Dr. Josh Axe Show, where each and every week I dive deep into the science and the principles behind how to grow in body, mind, spirit, and take your health and your life to the next level.

Make sure to subscribe, to like, and to share this episode. By the way, every time that you share this, You allow me to bring on more high-profile guests. Okay? Whether it be a Carrie Underwood or a John Delony or some of the amazing other people we've had on the show. So thank all of you. I just wanna say thanks to everybody who has been sharing this. Thank to all the subscribers out there.

We are changing lives together. Thanks so much for being a part, and I can't wait to see you on the next episode.