Four key chemicals that govern your life — and expert tips on how to optimise them
Neuroscientist TJ Power: "You feel bad after hours on TikTok because it’s an activity that releases dopamine quickly, leading to a high.But when dopamine levels rise fast, they have to drop an equal amount before they rebalance. That’s what makes the comedown so bad."
January is a hopeful month when many resolve to make positive changes to make their lives happier and healthier. If you’re currently trying to do this, a new book by the neuroscientist TJ Power could provide you with the extra push you need to achieve your goals.
could be read as the 27-year-old’s personal manifesto for life. He used to drink, smoke and watch a lot of porn. But a mindfulness class made him realise the toll these habits were taking on him.
“Sitting in the quiet, my body told me loudly and clearly that I wasn’t happy or well,” says Power. “I eventually decided to use what I knew about neuroscience to come up with a solution to this problem.”
That solution is maximising his DOSE, the acronym he uses for the four chemicals — dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins. His book explains the role these chemicals play in our body, how they make us feel, and what we can do to optimise their positive effects.
“The actions outlined in my book have made my life immeasurably better,” says Power.
“I work harder and concentrate better. I have stronger relationships. My energy is high. I sleep well and have excellent health. It’s the polar opposite of how I used to feel.”
During covid, Power began telling his story to schools and organisations online. What he had to say resonated with people and since then, he has shared the simple steps we can all take to harness our DOSE with more than 50,000 people.
He goes into even greater detail in his book, which begins by describing how our DOSE has been impacted by the way we live today.
“We used to spend 85% of our lives outside and now we only spend 7% of our time there,” he says. “We don’t get enough sunshine. We don’t move enough. We eat more processed food and our phones distract us from connecting with those around us. This confuses our bodies and results in a chemical imbalance. The way to rebalance these chemicals is by bringing the healthy habits that sustained our ancestors into our modern lives.”
The first chemical Power looks at is dopamine, which drives our motivation. For most of human history, it was released into our system when we engaged in effortful activity. It rose when we were engrossed in hard tasks and peaked when we achieved our goals. This was so we would be rewarded for undertaking challenging tasks that maximised our chances of survival.
The trouble is that modern-day humans have discovered ways of releasing dopamine without effort. For example, dopamine floods through our brains and bodies when we scroll social media.
“You feel bad after hours on TikTok because it’s an activity that releases dopamine quickly, leading to a high,” says Power. “But when dopamine levels rise fast, they have to drop an equal amount before they rebalance. That’s what makes the comedown so bad.” Like the rest of us, Power used to repeatedly spike and crash his dopamine through activities like watching porn, eating sugary foods and drinking alcohol. It caused him to feel lethargic and depressed.
The biggest change was cutting back on his phone use. In the book, he urges everyone not to check their phone in the morning until they have engaged in an activity that requires some form of cognitive or physical effort first.
“It’ll set you up for the day by optimising your focus and drive,” he says.
Oxytocin is the relationship chemical that drives us to connect with one another. Being low in it makes us feel lonely, isolated and lacking in confidence.
But there are simple solutions. One is strengthening your social connections. According to the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which began in 1938 and continues to this day, people with close relationships live longer and have greater cognitive function in later life.
So how can we build our connections? Power urges us to put our phones away when we’re in company, to listen actively when people speak rather than formulating what we are going to say next and to ask questions.
Self-criticism and unfavourable comparison to others can deplete oxytocin. This is a big problem in a world where we contrast our lives to the curated lives we are presented with on social media. Power counters this with gratitude.
“Instead of focusing on what we don’t have, gratitude trains our minds to consider what we do have,” he says. “Over time, this replaces the critical voice in our heads with one that’s kinder and more loving. It also leads to an increase in oxytocin.”
Serotonin is the chemical that affects our mood and energy levels and it’s mostly produced in our gut. This is why Power devotes a chapter of his book to the importance of a gut-healthy diet that’s high in fruit, vegetables and protein and low in ultra-processed food.
“We all know how good we feel after a nutritious meal,” he says. “We also know that even though it might feel great to eat fast food, it doesn’t always feel so great afterwards. That’s our bodies telling us we need to eat the natural foods we’ve eaten for thousands of years.” We can still have some treats though. “Life’s not about being perfect, but trying to be healthy most of the time,” says Power.
Other things we can do to promote serotonin is cut our alcohol intake, prioritise our sleep and spend more time outdoors.
Studies prove that not getting enough sunlight affects our mental health. Research published in 2022 looked at data from 85,000 people and found that seeking light during the day and avoiding it at night improved psychological wellbeing.
The E in DOSE is for endorphins, chemicals that can help us navigate stress by calming our bodies and our brains.
Power would like for everyone’s reaction to stress to be to try to raise their endorphins immediately. Because endorphins are released by hard physical exertion, the best way of doing this is through exercise.
“Find the forms of exercise that you enjoy,” he says. “Start with short sessions and build up gradually. You’ll make your body progressively stronger and you’ll boost endorphins in the process.” Other methods include taking warm baths and saunas, singing to music and trying to bring more laughter into your life. Several studies, including international research from 2021, have found that laughter reduces stress and anxiety.
There’s a lot in this book. In fact, there’s so much that it could easily seem overwhelming. But by breaking it into simple steps, advising us to start with the actions that will be most impactful for us and building from there, Power makes it seem achievable.
He also recommends stacking, which you to achieve several DOSE actions at once. He gives the example of going on a hike with friends, bringing healthy food to eat and a speaker so you listen to music while you eat.
“Sunlight, nature, good food, social connections, music and physical activity, you’ve stacked the ultimate DOSE experience right there.” Some of you might still be reluctant to follow Power’s advice. He empathises as he knows how hard it is to push ourselves beyond our comfort zones. But the way to get past this is to do what he did in his mindfulness class: listen to our bodies.
“The body constantly sends us messages,” he says. “If we stop to connect with how we are feeling, we will see how our decisions are impacting our motivation, relationships, energy and mood. Our bodies will always tell us what we need.”
- is published by Harper Collins and is currently on sale from €16.99
