Stressed? Top Signs You're Low in Oxytocin
In a Nutshell
Oxytocin acts as a volume control for social survival and reproduction signals rather than a general "love hormone," amplifying attention to important social cues like a baby's cry while helping shut off stress. Low oxytocin causes emotional numbness and prolonged anxiety, and is reduced by alcohol, opioids, childhood trauma, poor sleep, or hypothalamic tumors. Key ways to raise oxytocin include regular affection, face-to-face bonding, sex, pets, sleep, and especially supplementing L. reuteri, which boosts oxytocin via the vagus nerve while also improving dopamine/serotonin function, lowering cortisol, and enhancing reward and social behavior.
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Oxytocin is a hormone produced by the hypothalamus in the brain. It plays roles in breastfeeding and pregnancy. Contrary to popular understanding, oxytocin functions as a volume control amplifier rather than a love potion or love hormone. It specifically amplifies and creates focus on matters related to social survival and reproduction, not general matters.
Oxytocin amplifies or turns up the volume on things that matter, such as relating to a baby or partner. When stress increases, oxytocin also increases and helps eventually turn off that stress.
Oxytocin exists in two environments: one related to safety and trusting people, and another when threatened by certain things or when competition is involved. Oxytocin helps identify safety signals versus unsafe signals with other people.
A baby's cry demonstrates oxytocin's function. A mother hears a baby's cry and immediately associates it with something very important for survival. She gets out of bed to check on the baby. Without sufficient oxytocin, the mother would not consider the crying important enough to respond. Oxytocin filters out noise and hyper-focuses attention on matters that matter, increasing attention and creating an impulse to feed, protect, support, or seek help.
- Emotionally distant or numb, feeling flat with other people
- Stress lingers way too long or anxiety occurs for no real reason
- Alcohol
- Opioids
- Childhood abuse
- Neglect
- No sleep
- Tumor on the hypothalamus
- Regular affection for others
- Face-to-face bonding
- Sex
- Pets
- High-quality sleep
- L. reuteri (a microbe)
L. reuteri sends a signal up the vagus nerve into the hypothalamus and helps the hypothalamus make more oxytocin. L. reuteri creates additional effects beyond increasing oxytocin. It increases BH4, the cofactor for dopamine and serotonin neurotransmitters that influence social behavior and help people be more social. L. reuteri also lowers cortisol, reduces stress, improves muscle building ability, enhances sleep, and improves gut health. It restores baseline reward, which is significant because dopamine causes pursuit of things and is involved in addictions. L. reuteri brings up reward, enabling pleasure and helping with addictions.
Due to antibiotics or never being breastfed, people may lack L. reuteri in their guts. The video recommends watching an interview with Dr. William Davis discussing this microbe and how to restore it to increase oxytocin levels.
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