@TomHendricksMusea

1 year ago

For many years I've tried to find out a basic reason why we and almost all creatures need to sleep. So taking a break from physics ... Suggestion that a key part of the need for sleep is the body's need to make serotonin, which it does in a symbiotic relationship with gut bacteria in the large intestine. Suggestion that we sleep to first produce serotonin, then to draw it into the body through the extraction of water in the large intestine. Though it can be synthesized, there seems to be a major difference in the health benefits from the microbiome made serotonin, and the artificially made serotonin. Here's some notes on both how important serotonin is and how widespread it is in all living things. Besides mammals, serotonin is found in all bilateral animals including worms and insects,[19] as well as in fungi and in plants.[20] Serotonin's presence in insect venoms and plant spines serves to cause pain, which is a side-effect of serotonin injection.[21][22] Serotonin is produced by pathogenic amoebae, and its effect in the human gut is diarrhea.[23] Its widespread presence in many seeds and fruits may serve to stimulate the digestive tract into expelling the seeds.[24] Gut bacteria manufacture about 95 percent of the body's supply of serotonin, which influences both mood and GI activity. Serotonin was shown to exert functions in innate as well as adaptive immunity. Serotonin stimulates monocytes (23) and lymphocytes (24) and hence influences the secretion of cytokines. Vascular smooth muscle cells respond to serotonin by synthesizing interleukin (IL)-6, a possibly atherogenic mechanism (25) Serotonin is a neurotransmitter than has been identified across all forms of life. In recent years the presence and function of serotonin in plants (phytoserotonin) is becoming an increasingly active area of research. Serotonin has been found to function as a plant growth regulator, and a stress defense molecule.May 24, 2017 Although serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) was discovered 60 years ago (1), the study of serotonin and its receptors continues to yield new biological insights of medical relevance in virtually all major organ systems, including the cardiovascular, pulmonary, gastrointestinal (GI), and genitourinary systems as well as the central nervous system (CNS) (2). Serotonin is made from the essential amino acid tryptophan. An essential amino acid means it can’t be made by your body. It has to be obtained from the foods you eat.

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