In this short dialogue, the presenter introduces a mnemonic called “Stack 10,” an alphabetic list of ten tryptophan‑rich foods—Salmon, Turkey, Avocado, Chicken, Chickpeas, Kidney beans, Tempeh, Tofu, Eggs, and Nuts—designed to naturally raise serotonin levels. The speaker frames serotonin as a “gravity‑management” substance that helps the body resist the constant pull of gravity. Beyond diet, the conversation highlights three lifestyle levers that also boost serotonin: exposure to sunlight, regular exercise, and adequate sleep. Sleep is described with a vivid gravity metaphor: when we lie down, gravity’s pull eases, allowing blood to flow upward and flush amyloid from the brain, which may reduce the risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease. The talk also links poor hydration, high sodium, insufficient sleep, and lack of exercise to increased cognitive decline risk, emphasizing a holistic approach to maintaining serotonin and brain health.
Chapters
Well, I call it stack 10.
Stack 10?
S-T-A-C-K.
Okay.
T-E-N.
Okay.
And you already got the T because you said turkey.
Okay.
So what is stack 10? These are 10 foods. That's why I say 10 that I stack in my diet to try and boost serotonin levels naturally.
Okay.
And we talked already about how serotonin is this gravity management substance. That's how I think about it. And so what are the foods? The S is salmon, okay? The T is turkey, okay? A is avocado. C is chicken and chickpeas, okay? And then K is kidney beans. And then the T is like tempeh, tofu, eggs, E, and nuts, N. So it turns out all those foods, what they have in common is they have a lot of tryptophan. Which is the raw fuel that your body will convert into serotonin, which then allows you to stand up to the force of gravity.
And so you just make sure you get a kind of variety of the stack 10 in your diet every week? Yeah, yeah. And then you exercise and, and sleep.
And there are other ways to boost serotonin. Sunlight. We get back to being out— so outside sunlight naturally boosts serotonin levels. Sleep. By the way, when you sleep at night, gravity is no longer working against you, and your blood flushes up in your brain, flushes out amyloid. Sleep can, for example, reduce risk of cognitive decline. Alzheimer's disease may in fact be a consequence of not having enough fluid in your body, having too high of sodium levels in your body, not sleeping enough, not getting enough exercise. All of those things. Every one of them is associated with cognitive decline.
What do you mean when you're sleeping, gravity's not working against you?
So all day long, as Rep right now, you're pumping up, pumping down. You've got 5 liters of blood, which is a lot, moving all up and down, sloshing through your body, right? Yeah. And you got to get it up. You got to get it down. When you lie down at night, you finally give everything a rest. It's like the shores of the ocean kind of coming up onto the sand, and it's very sort of washing up into your brain. And there's some theories that in part we, like, we fall asleep, in quotes, right? We fall to sleep. We fall asleep. We fall down. Gravity is no longer working, and the pumps and tubes get that brain reperfused overnight. And that's part of what we're doing by recharging the body is giving ourselves a gravity break.
