Dopamine Drop

Dopamine, ADHD & Your Gut: How to Boost Motivation Naturally

Waking up tired, hitting that mid-afternoon slump — if only a power nap could fix it. You sit spinning in your chair, staring at your to-do list, knowing what needs to be done but unable to start. Tasks pile up, motivation slips away, and even though you want to exercise, you just can’t seem to make it happen.

Focus feels like a moving target. ♣️ Wine o’clock can’t get here fast enough. Is it Friday yet?

Sound familiar?

Dopamine Drop!

For many women in their 30s through 60s, these struggles are often blamed on hormones, menopause, or adrenal fatigue. And while those can play a role, there’s another piece of the puzzle that rarely gets talked about: dopamine.

Dopamine is your brain’s “motivation and reward” chemical. When levels are low, it’s not about laziness or lack of willpower — your brain simply doesn’t have the fuel it needs to drive focus, energy, and follow-through.

And here’s the kicker: your gut health has everything to do with how well your brain can make and use dopamine.

Symptoms of Low Dopamine:

• Chronic fatigue – waking up tired, dragging through the day, and relying on caffeine or sugar for quick boosts.

• Low motivation – knowing what you want to do but struggling to start or finish tasks.

• Lack of pleasure or drive – hobbies, exercise, or even social time feel like “too much effort.”

• Cravings for quick rewards – constant pull toward sugar, alcohol, scrolling, or shopping for a dopamine “hit.”

• Difficulty with consistency – starting routines or healthy habits but not being able to sustain them.

The Gut Brian Axis: Who's Really in Charge?

Have you heard about the Gut–Brain Axis? 🤯 Believe it or not, your brain isn’t the one calling all the shots. The real “control center” lives in your gut — specifically your small and large intestines.

Here’s how it works: your gut and brain are constantly talking through the vagus nerve. This superhighway of communication sends signals from your gut to your brain about energy, mood, cravings, and motivation. In fact, your gut often sends more instructions to the brain than the brain sends back!

When your gut microbes are thriving, they make and regulate the very chemicals your brain needs to function — neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin, and GABA. These messengers control how motivated, calm, and focused you feel.

Key Gut Bacteria That Support Dopamine

• Akkermansia – strengthens the gut lining, improves balance in the microbiome, and is linked to healthier dopamine receptor sensitivity. It also plays a powerful role in blood sugar balance and supporting the hormone GLP-1, which influences appetite and metabolism. (Read more about this amazing bacteria here)

• Faecalibacterium – produces butyrate (a short-chain fatty acid, SCFA) that fuels brain cells and helps dopamine pathways work more efficiently.

• Roseburia – another strong butyrate producer that improves communication between the gut and brain.

• Lactobacillus – directly produces dopamine and serotonin precursors, supporting mood, focus, and resilience.

• Bifidobacterium – regulates neurotransmitters and calms the nervous system while feeding dopamine pathways.

When these bacteria are too low, dopamine production and signaling take a hit. And that’s when the symptoms creep in — fatigue, low motivation, cravings, lack of pleasure, or difficulty sticking with routines. Sometimes, you may even feel all of them at once.

The ADHD Connection- ADHD = low dopamine signaling.

Think about your phone battery. You plug it in every night to recharge, right?

But what happens when you’re out and about — streaming videos, scrolling social media, using GPS? The battery drains twice as fast.

Dopamine works the same way. For those of us who are dopamine-sensitive, like many women with ADHD tendencies, our “battery” runs down quicker. We need to recharge more often to stay focused and energized.

Personally, I find I need to “plug in” about every 3 hours, depending on the day and the task — whether it’s seeing reflexology clients, cooking, or computer work. On heavy computer days, my dopamine battery drains fast, and I hit the afternoon slump hard. On cooking days, I stay charged longer — but by the evening, my levels can crash quickly.

But here’s the twist: supporting the gut is one of the most powerful ways to recharge the dopamine battery.

Women, Hold On Tight! 🚀

What if losing weight and keeping it off isn’t really about a “slow metabolism”?
What if the bloating, disrupted digestion, and exhaustion aren’t the root problems at all — but symptoms of something deeper that’s been missed for years?

For me, that “something” was Hypo-ADHD.

It often hides in plain sight with subtle patterns like:

• Skipping meals or grazing all day

• Struggling to keep routines consistent

• Intense cravings for sugar and sweets (cookies, cake, ice cream)

• Using alcohol, caffeine, or salty/crunchy snacks (chips, fries) as quick pick-me-ups

• Procrastination and low follow-through

Enter the Sabotage Cycle 🔄

It starts with passive sabotage — little choices or coping strategies that feel harmless in the moment. But over time, they slip into self-sabotage:

• Low energy

• Fatigue

• Lack of motivation

• The endless cycle of wanting to do everything but feeling stuck doing nothing

Sound familiar?

Why This Matters for Women

Too many women go undiagnosed until perimenopause or menopause magnifies the symptoms. Hormonal shifts turn what used to be “manageable quirks” into overwhelming challenges.

This is why I believe this work is so important. Because once you name it, you can finally change it.

When we support the gut, restore balance to dopamine pathways, and break the sabotage cycle, everything shifts — energy, weight, mood, focus, and confidence.

All Is Not Lost 💡

Here’s the good news: most women don’t need heavy medications that disrupt the gut microbiome. By starting with natural strategies, you can begin to restore balance and fuel your dopamine pathways.

5 Natural Ways to Boost Dopamine

1. Nutrition 🥦
Eat foods rich in tyrosine (pumpkin seeds, lentils, quinoa), resistant starch (cooled potatoes, oats, legumes), colorful polyphenols (berries, pomegranate, cacao), and leafy greens to supply the raw materials your brain needs.

2. Gut Health 🦠
Feed your SCFA-producing bacteria (Faecalibacterium, Roseburia, Akkermansia) with fiber, resistant starch, and prebiotics. Add probiotics to repopulate beneficial strains like Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.

3. Lifestyle ☀️
Move your body daily (walks, dancing, resistance training), get morning sunlight to reset circadian rhythm, and add novelty — try a new recipe, journal, or learn something that excites you.

4. Supplements 💊
Probiotics, methylated B-complex, and fulvic minerals help fill in the gaps and restore dopamine production and signaling.

5. Mindset & Joy ✨
Build reward loops by celebrating small wins, keep a journal to track your progress, and intentionally add joy to your day — even tiny moments retrain your brain’s dopamine pathways.

✨ Takeaway: You are not broken. By feeding your gut and fueling your brain, you can rebuild dopamine naturally — and with it, your energy, focus, and motivation.

🌟 Ready to Break the Cycle?
If you’re tired of running on empty, battling afternoon slumps, and watching your motivation slip away, know this: you’re not broken, and you don’t have to do it alone. By supporting your gut and naturally boosting dopamine, you can reset your energy, focus, and confidence — and finally feel like yourself again.

👉 Let’s take the first step together. Book your discovery call with me today, or join my upcoming Shred to Shine Reset, where we’ll rebuild your gut health, balance dopamine, and create sustainable habits that stick. Your best energy, clarity, and motivation are waiting for you.