How to Boost Oxytocin for Social Intelligence and Love

This is the second post in a two-part series about oxytocin. If you don't know what oxytocin does to your behavior or your experiences, please read this post first.

In a nutshell, you can boost oxytocin by doing more of the following:

1. Yoga
2. Music
3. Social Interactions
4. Nootropics

Let's go deeper into my experiences and the science of each of them.

Yoga

“The study supported the role of add-on yoga therapy in management of schizophrenia and demonstrated an improvement in endogenous plasma oxytocin levels in schizophrenia patients receiving yoga therapy.” [1]

When I’ve completed an hour-long yoga session, I feel love.

Based on my experience with oxytocin nasal spray (read more below), I believe I get a boost in oxytocin after one hour of yoga.

Music

There’s surprisingly little research on the connection between oxytocin and music.

This study on 20 people showed an increase in oxytocin following exposure to soothing music:

“Listening to music during bed rest after open-heart surgery has some effects on the relaxation system as regards s-oxytocin and subjective relaxations levels. This effect seems to have a causal relation from the psychological (music makes patients relaxed) to the physical (oxytocin release).” [2]

Social Interactions

Sex and orgasms

When you have removed social inhibitions and start to connect with people deeply, some sex and orgasms may occur. These are the ultimate oxytocin-boosters.

“Plasma OT levels increased during sexual arousal in both women and men and were significantly higher during orgasm/ejaculation than during prior baseline testing.” [3]

“Values of oxytocin 1 min after orgasm were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than baseline levels.” [4]

Hugs

My experience tells me that hugs are a great oxytocin-booster. I couldn’t find any scientific studies on this, but the trustworthy popular science magazine Psychology Today says the following:

“When people hug or kiss a loved one, oxytocin levels increase; hence, oxytocin is often called “the cuddle hormone” or “the love hormone.” [5]

Massage

Massage is another form of social connection that has been found to increase oxytocin.

“This study is the first using a large sample of mixed gender that demonstrates that massage increases OT and decreases ACTH, NO, and BE. These findings may help explain the mechanisms through which social connections reduce morbidity and mortality.” [6]

Inhibitions prevent oxytocin release

If you cannot get into a state of performance and well-being in social interactions, your problem is completely psychological, which entails it is completely biochemical. Direct interventions in your biochemistry, for example by using nootropics, may help you in social interactions [7]. But you may need therapy, it is impossible for me to say.

We at Nootralize suggest you get your sleep, exercise, nutrition, and mindfulness right before experimenting with nootropics.

Nootropics

I use SelfHacked and Examine to get a quick overview of a compound and find studies on it. Do your own research before using any substance.

Oxytocin nasal spray

Science: Very little research is available on oxytocin nasal spray and it should, therefore, be very carefully approached.

“We investigated the efficacy, tolerability and safety of oxytocin treatment in young children with autism using a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover, clinical trial. […] Compared with placebo, oxytocin led to significant improvements on the primary outcome of caregiver-rated social responsiveness. Overall, nasal spray was well tolerated …” [8]

Oxytocin Essential Reads

Why Playing With Dogs Is So Good for Kids

How Oxytocin Affects Our Relationships

Regarding self-administration of oxytocin against autism, Sue Carter, a neuroscientist at Indiana University, Bloomington says the following to Forbes magazine in an interview:

“We do not understand how the hormone works yet, or have enough information about what happens when it’s given repeatedly,’ Carter says. ‘This is not a molecule that people should be self-administering or playing with.” [12]

My assessment is that oxytocin nasal spray has a low risk for addiction and that there’s only a high risk for side-effects.

My use: For the purpose of self-knowledge, I ordered some oxytocin nasal spray and tried one spray once.

I did everything I could to get the most rewards (for my goal of self-knowledge), with the least risks for side-effects.

I found several anecdotes online of people having used more than one spray without side-effects, including Joe Cohen, the founder of SelfHacked, a biohacker I believe knows what he’s doing.

The spray gave me an incredible sensitivity to emotional information in the facial expressions of other people. It had an anxiolytic effect on me. The side-effects were brain fog and slightly impaired cognition for about two days.

I will probably never use it again, but it has helped me connect deeper with people forever, by giving me a sense for what the potential is in terms of reading social cues. It has also helped me identify if other interventions raise oxytocin.

L. Reuteri probiotic

Science: L. Reuteri can help you maintain healthy levels of oxytocin. [9]

“[…] we find that Lactobacillus reuteri enhances wound-healing properties through up-regulation of the neuropeptide hormone oxytocin, a factor integral in social bonding and reproduction, by a vagus nerve-mediated pathway.” [10]

Most of the research has been done in rats, and it is ambiguous which strain increases oxytocin most reliably.

“Ingestion of L. reuteri ATCC 6475 in rats has been noted to increase social grooming as well as serum oxytocin, both of which are linked in many species.” [11]

My assessment is that L. Reuteri has no risk for addiction and that there’s only a low risk for side-effects.

My use: I (believe I) felt a clear increase in oxytocin the first day using: 2.5 billion Colony Forming Units at time of manufacture Lactobacillus Reuteri (NCIMB 30242).

This, in contrast with oxytocin nasal spray, had positive effects on my cognitive functions. It was slightly anxiolytic, anti-depressant, and motivating me to interact socially.

I’ve written more about my use of L. Reuteri below.

My oxytocin situation

I haven’t had my rs53576 SNP tested.

I can feel love on a daily basis and do not get a lot of benefits from the relatively risky interventions for increasing oxytocin, such as L. Reuteri and nasal spray.

For this reason, I do not currently include them in my daily nootropic stack.

However, if I ever feel like my emotions are blunted and I’m having a hard time reading social cues, which happened to me when I used Bacopa Monnieri, I know that I can use L. Reuteri as a tool to combat the negative experiences of such biochemical states.

I will probably not use oxytocin nasal spray ever again because of the cognitive impairment that I experienced following consumption, and because of the lack of research. At one spray, it was too potent for me to feel like it has use cases in my current life situation.

What should you do?

I do not think you should experiment with oxytocin nasal spray due to the limited amount of research and the side-effects I experienced.

What nootropics you should use depends on why you want to use nootropics.

You will get 80 percent of the results with 20 percent of the effort with oxytocin experimentation if you try L. Reuteri. Then see how you feel when you have high levels of oxytocin, and consider whether you’re probably low in oxytocin when not using L. Reuteri. Always do your own research before using any substance.

If you think you’re low in oxytocin, consider exposing yourself more to social interactions, hugs, yoga, and music.

If you do these things and still have a hard time feeling love and read emotional cues, you may want to continue using L. Reuteri. If this doesn’t solve your problems and you’ve nailed the basics of biohacking; sleep, exercise, nutrition, and mindfulness, find a doctor.

You deserve to feel love.

This blog post is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

This blog post was originally published at Nootralize.