doing a dopamine fast or detox has become more and more popular over the years what was originally
considered to be purely pseudoscience is now considered to be a somewhat valid tool that
can be used to re-establish Baseline dopamine levels which is great if you are struggling with
motivation today I want to rank the many things that you could avoid during a fast the S tier
is for things that everyone should avoid during their fast the eighth here is for things that most
people should avoid the beat here is for things that only some people should avoid and finally
we have the do not do tier which is reserved for things that you should not avoid during your fast
with that being said let's Jump Right In First up on our list we have social media this is the
biggest time sync in our day-to-day lives outside of work in fact the poll was conducted which found
that over a third of young adults spend more than eight hours per day on social media not only that
but many of the social media apps especially Tick Tock are designed to make our brains release as
much dopamine as possible over a long period of time they do this by making their algorithm
randomly rewarding basically they put in content that they know you won't like just to make the
dopamine High stronger when you do find a video you do like this is the same psychological trick
that casinos use when designing their games to make them more addictive so yes this goes
high up in the S tier you should be avoiding all social media during a dopamine fast except for
maybe some Messenger apps needed for work next up we have gaming gaming is quickly becoming the most
popular form of entertainment in the world it is one of the biggest time sinks and it's also one
of the most stimulating a study conducted in 1998 found that gaming increases dopamine levels by up
to 100 during play so it's safe to say that it's something you should be avoiding during a dopamine
fast especially if you are someone who already spends a lot of time every day playing games which
is why I'm placing it into the S tier then we have drinking water it's important to remember that
technically everything you do releases dopamine so it's actually impossible to come completely
avoid it for an entire day which is why I think it's a bit extreme when people try to avoid water
on the day of the fast I would not suggest anyone going to 24 hour water fast as it is risky to go
through the entire day without any water your brain function will most likely suffer so any
reflection work you planned on doing might get impeded your self-control would also decrease as
you are put under the additional stress of being thirsty all day which can make it hard to stick
to the rest of the things you are trying to avoid so I'm putting this into the do not do tier do not
avoid water during a dopamine fast which actually brings us to the next thing on our list eating
junk food which includes drinking soda and other sweetened beverages as well as any processed foods
most of these types of foods have a ton of added sugars in them when you consume sugar your brain
releases a huge amount of dopamine it's even been compared to the spike seen from drug use on top of
that fast foods are designed to make you want to eat more and more companies split test hundreds
of little things from the way they cook the fries to the amount of salt they put on to maximize the
amount of dopamine their food releases to make you want to go back for more the next time you feel
hungry so this is definitely something I'd put into the S tier next up we have socializing now
although hanging out with people does release a good amount of dopamine I think this is something
that is perfectly healthy to do even during a dopamine fast especially in our modern day
Society where the majority of us are probably not getting enough social interaction to begin with
personally I would put this into the Beats here it is something you could do if you are someone who
hangs out with people all the time for hours on end every day but if that's not you and you only
speak with people for less than an hour a day I don't think it really makes sense to avoid them
just for this reason next up we have smoking which includes tobacco Vapes and weed all three of these
activities spike your dopamine levels especially vaping you see vaping is much more accessible than
smoking so you can do it anywhere at any time which causes people to do it all day without
even thinking about it this can lead to long-term issues with one's dopamine receptors a study found
that smokers have 15 to 20 percent less capacity for dopamine production compared to people who
don't smoke at all so I'm placing this into the S tier definitely avoid smoking during your fast
next up we have working out now your body does get flooded with a bunch of feel-good hormones
and chemicals including dopamine while you work out but I think it's fine because the majority
of us are not getting enough physical activity to begin with if your goal is to increase your
levels of motivation and energy then while doing a dopamine detox can be helpful regularly working
out is probably even more helpful overall I would put this into the Beats here it is something that
you probably should do during your fast but the key is to make sure you are working out without
listening to music or using your phone because doing any form of multitasking increases the
amount of dopamine released drastically next up we have eating normal healthy food now eating food
does release dopamine before and during the meal personally I do avoid food during my dopamine fast
but I am also someone who has done multiple Day food fast before so not eating food for just one
day isn't crazy at all for me if you've never gone a day without food before I would suggest
you speak with your family doctor do some research and try it out on its own away from the dopamine
fast as it is something that you have to get used to mentally personally I would put this in the low
a tier it is something that has a whole lot of benefits outside of the dopamine aspect and you
can always opt for something less extreme such as eating just one meal instead of three like
you usually do then we have watching shows which includes binge watching things on Netflix and
Anime now depending on what you're watching the dopamine levels released will differ vastly binge
watching an entire season of an exciting TV show will stimulate you much more than watching a slow
paced documentary about nature overall I would place this into the AIDS here it is something that
everyone should avoid during their fast but if you're really looking to learn something specific
on that day you could watch an educational episode but probably not more than one or two episodes now
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topic at hand next we have drinking alcohol now getting drunk releases a ton of dopamine it's fun
and all especially when socializing but if you're trying to reset your Baseline dopamine levels you
definitely should avoid it which is why I'm placing it into the s tier fun fact alcohol
increases dopamine levels in men much more than women next we have reading fiction if you spend
all day reading fiction novels or stories online then yeah you probably should avoid reading more
fiction during a dopamine fast and this is because the fact that you enjoy it means that a lot more
dopamine is being released before and during the activity so overall I would put this into the AIDS
here on the other hand we have reading non-fiction this is technically less stimulating than reading
fiction but there are people out there who genuinely enjoy reading nonfiction if this is you
then just like with fiction I do think you should avoid it for the dopamine fast overall I would put
it into the AIDS here as well if you enjoy it and the beads here if it's not something you really do
also one important thing to note is that reading a physical book has been shown to release less
dopamine than reading something online because when you are reading things online there's a bunch
of stuff that you can click on a bunch of other articles links ads things like that all of which
causes is more dopamine for being released as compared to sitting down and focusing on a single
subject like you would while reading a non-fiction book so if you want to read during your fast make
it a physical book next up we have listening to music this does release a ton of dopamine
especially if it's the type of music that you like but I think it really depends on what type
of person you are if you're someone who listens to music a lot all day every day then yes you
probably would benefit by taking a break during your dopamine fast if you're someone who doesn't
really listen to music like that I think it's fine to listen to a few songs while going on a walk or
doing some chores during the fast so overall I would put this into the B tier next up we
have drinking coffee which is a tricky one you see caffeine has multiple effects on dopamine it slows
down the rate of dopamine reabsorption similar to how cocaine works but at the same time according
to Andrew huberman ingesting about 100 milligrams of caffeine every day increases the amount of
dopamine receptors that you have which in the long term can be good for motivation personally my take
is this if you are someone who drinks caffeine every day to the point where avoiding it for a
single day may give you withdrawal symptoms I'd say that it's okay to drink it during the dopamine
fast because you don't want to spend the whole day irritable and tired if however you are not that
addicted to caffeine I would suggest you avoid it during the fast because of the fact that it
does spike your dopamine levels by quite a lot so overall I would put it into the lower a tier next
up we have work I would put this into the Do Not avoid tear the reason you are probably doing the
dopamine fast to begin with is because you want to improve your focus and feel more motivated so that
you can get more work done so doing work during a dopamine fast will force your mind to look at
work as one of the only stimulating things you have available which sort of trains your mind
to enjoy it a bit more then we have listening to a podcast this is similar to reading now if
it's an entertaining podcast I would put it into the a tier but if it's an educational podcast I
would put it into the Beats here and only if you are focusing on the podcast and not multitasking
because multitasking essentially Stacks different sources of dopamine on top of each other then we
have playing with yourself which includes watching naughty videos online and doing the deed you know
what I'm talking about I think we all know that this is one of the most stimulating things out
there other than drugs and the fact that most people do this for extended periods of time
makes it really bad for your Baseline dopamine because the exposure is so strong and for so long
so of course this goes into the S tier the High s tier no question then we got planning or writing
I actually think that this is something that most people should be doing during their dopamine fast
because most people never do this when you are on a fast you suddenly have a lot of free time and it
is okay to fill some of that time with activities that will get you closer to where you want to be
in life so sitting down for an hour and reflecting on your life planning out exactly what you want to
do the next day and things like this is usually a good idea I know there are some people out there
that excessively plan and never do anything about it if that's you then maybe don't spend so much
time on this but if you're like most other people I think it's a good idea so overall I'm putting it
into the B tier then we have a hobby something like playing in instruments drawing dancing or
playing a sport it's up to you whether or not you want to avoid these during your dopamine
fast because the fact that you enjoy these things does mean that they release a lot of dopamine for
you but if getting better at your hobby is one of the goals you have then it doesn't hurt to
spend some time on it overall I would put this into the high beats here I personally do spend
spend an hour or two dancing every time I go on a dopamine fast because for me the fast is much more
about getting away from technology than anything else then we have thinking about the past now I
think this is something that you inevitably will do throughout the day if you do a dopamine fast
it's not really something you can avoid now of course you don't want to be replaying bad
memories as a way to pass time during the fast because every time you replay a bad memory it
becomes easier to recall the negative implications and beliefs tied to that memory become stronger
what you do want to do is think about some good moments from the past or reflect on some mistakes
you've made and think about what lessons can be learned this is something that you can pair up
with writing in fact I suggest you do write and reflect on your life during a dopamine
fast overall I would put this into the Beats here as I do think it's something you should
be doing during your fast but only for a bit in a similar light we have daydreaming now there
are two types of daydreaming here there's the fantasy one where you are dreaming about stuff
that is impossible such as becoming a superhero and saving the world those I would say you should
avoid the other form which is daydreaming about where you'll be in the near future if you stick
to good habits and get your stuff together that form of daydreaming I would say is okay and just
like we're thinking about the past I do think you should pair this up with some sort of writing you
should write about what this ideal future looks and feels like this will motivate you to take
action the following day so overall I would put this into the Beats here then we have gambling
this is a clear s tier gambling of any sort spikes dopamine widely I don't think there's much else to
say about that so next up we have the cold shower so interestingly enough taking a cold shower does
release a lot of dopamine along with a bunch of other feel good chemicals personally I would
take a cold shower because it jolts me awake for the rest of the day so I would put this into the
Beats here you could avoid it if you want but I think it's fine because it's a one-time thing
and it's a great way to start today it fills you with energy to take on all the stuff you want to
do for the rest of the day and finally we have meditation I would definitely recommend that you
meditate for two reasons the first is to train your ability to appreciate the present moment
we turn to things like social media and other sources of dopamine because we are unable to
find pleasure from just existing in the moment but I can assure you that it's possible you sort of
just have to train this ability to appreciate the things and Sensations that are happening around
you and meditating during a dopamine fast can help you get a taste of that the second reason
I recommend meditation is because it trains your ability to focus which is one of the things that
people are trying to get from dopamine fast in general overall I would put this into the
do not do tier as it is something you definitely should do during your dopamine fast I hope this
video was helpful for those of you about to take on a dopamine fast or detox let me know in the
comments down below if you decided to do one and how it went besides that guys stay tuned