Neurotransmitter
Dopamine, serotonin, GABA precursors + B6/iron cofactors
This is the assembly line for the brain's chemical messengers — dopamine and norepinephrine from tyrosine, serotonin from tryptophan, GABA and glycine for inhibition. The amino acids are the raw material, but the conversions are cofactor-gated: vitamin B6 catalyzes the final decarboxylation steps for most monoamines, iron runs the rate-limiting hydroxylase enzymes, and the methylation B-vitamins (B9, B12) keep the supporting chemistry running. Iron deficiency in particular throttles dopamine synthesis, which is why it so often shows up as low motivation and poor focus before anemia ever appears.
How your supplements + diet feed this pathway right now — the cofactors driving it, where the gaps are, and your own lab readouts.
The load-bearing nutrients — if these are deficient, this pathway slows down. Click any to see daily targets, food sources, and supplements that supply it.
Nutrients that contribute to this pathway but aren’t the single load-bearing inputs.
Lab markers that report on how well this pathway is running. When one of these is out of range, this pathway is often where the upstream issue lives.
Save a lab session under My Journey → Biomarkers to see your own values for these.
Pathways that share a load-bearing cofactor with this one.