Have you ever wondered why? Who doesn’t want to keep their relationship on fire? If you just need a little kindling (or a barrel gasoline!) in your love life, let’s go over the ingredients to your body’s own love elixir and fun ways to ignite their power. That feeling that typically is at its highest at the beginning of a romantic relationship is due to adrenaline and cortisol. Being love struck activates something called the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis. Your brain-adrenal communication gets turned on, flooding your body with these hormones of intensity. Dopamine—your pleasure hormone—saying “love is a drug” isn’t that far off. When you are in love your brain releases dopamine into your bloodstream triggering an intense rush of pleasure. Dopamine has the same effect on the brain as cocaine! The euphoria felt from this neurotransmitter is why relationships can be addicting and keep you coming back for more. This dip in serotonin1 almost identically resembles people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)! About a year into the relationship serotonin starts to rise again (i.e., you start to notice all their annoying habits). Studies have even shown that the rush of this hormone actually increases monogamy in couples! Have you ever had “butterflies in your stomach” being with your amore? That’s due to our friend oxy as well. No wonder your gut is referred to as the “second brain.” Bonding + adaptogens = winning. A cutting-edge nutrition deep dive taught by 20+ top health & wellness experts
