“Feeling Depressed, Overweight, Difficulty Sleeping…Take a Pill!…”

That’s right I said go take a pill. Before you get upset with me let me explain…

If you watch any TV at all or listen to the radio or read a magazine you’ve been bombarded with ads regarding these conditions. And the tag line is usually “see your physician.” They have even become so bold as to tell you to ask for your prescription by name!

So if you’re depressed…see you doctor and ask for our antidepressant medication.

 

Overweight? See you doctor and ask for “the name of our latest and greatest anti-obesity pill.”

Suffering from insomnia? Our little sleepy time fairies and butterflies remind you to ask your physician for our name brand sleep aid.

What you may not have noticed is there is a link between all 3 of these conditions and the drugs that are peddled to “cure” them.

Each of these conditions involve low levels of serotonin in the brain. Lowered serotonin levels have been directly linked to depression, obesity and insomnia. This is particularly true for the aging population. Researchers have found significant drops in serotonin levels in people over the age of 50.

But why do we have less serotonin? Our stores of serotonin come from the diet in the form of tryptophan. Our bodies break tryptophan, an amino acid, down to make serotonin. If our diets are lacking in tryptophan, which many are, then we will have less serotonin produced.

The other factor leading to lowered serotonin levels is the fact that other biochemicals in the body degrade or destroy tryptophan and prevent us from creating serotonin. These chemicals are the same chemicals produced by the immuno-nervous system in response to trauma or infection. They produce inflammation. As we age, many people overproduce these pro-inflammatory chemicals and have too many of them circulating in our blood, which causes us to have lowered serotonin levels.

Seems like an easy fix. Take tryptophan supplements right? Not so fast. Until recently you couldn’t buy pharmacy grade tryptophan. Why? Because the FDA banned it’s sale in 1989 citing safety dangers.

There probably were some safety issues because of certain labs employing inferior standards that allowed tainted products into the supply chain, but the wholesale ban on importation of tryptophan made it difficult to come by. Coincidentally (nor not) pharmaceutical companies started pumping out all kinds of prescription drugs that increased serotonin levels.

And since that time conditions like depression, obesity and insomnia have become endemic in this country. Am I saying the drug companies blocked inexpensive over the counter tryptophan so they could make billions off of serotonin enhancing drugs? No. At least there’s no direct proof. But sure makes you wonder.

But now that the FDA has finally decided to reverse themselves and allow this naturally occurring amino acid back into the marketplace, we’ll see the results.

Hopefully word will spread throughout the natural and alternative medicine worlds that there is an alternative to expensive and dangerous drugs for depression, obesity and insomnia.

Caution: if you are taking an MAO inhibitor antidepressant such as Nardil®, Parnate® or Marplan® you probably should not take tryptophan. Although incidences are rare, the combination of tryptophan and an MAO inhibitor medication could lead to serotonin syndrome marked by agitation, restlessness, shivering, shaking, mental confusion, muscle cramps, increased reflexes, racing heart and alteration of blood pressure. The symptoms are reversible after discontinuing the tryptophan and there are no cited cases of death or permanent injury. If you are taking other antidepressants that are selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors or SSRI’s such as Prozac®, Lexapro®, Zoloft® or Paxil®, there is a concern that serotonin syndrome could result. 

If you are considering getting off of an antidepressant to try a more natural approach, you should consult a physician who is willing to consider alternative methods and have them guide you in slowly weaning off of the prescription drug first. You cannot simply stop taking these drugs “cold turkey.” It could lead to severe health complications. Once off of them, try implementing a pure tryptophan supplement to your daily vitamin regime.

Dosages:
For better sleep: Loading dose of 3,000 mg per day split into 3-1,000 mg doses for 1 week. Then maintain with about 1,000mg per day. If needed you can increase to 3,000 mg per day in split doses, but try lower levels first.

For mood enhancement: Loading dose of  3,000 mg per day split into 3-1,000 mg doses for 1 week. Then maintain with about 3,000mg per day in split doses. If needed you can increase to 4,000 mg per day in split doses, but again try lower levels first.

For maintaining body weight: Loading dose of 3,000 mg per day split into 3-1,000 mg doses for 1 week. Then maintain with about 2,000-3,000 mg per day in split doses. If needed you can increase to 4,000 mg per day in split doses, but try lower levels first.

Enhance the effects of tryptophan by also supplementing with Omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3’s prevent tryptophan degradation by pro-inflammatory chemicals.

If you are suffering from depression, obesity or insomnia and would like to consider a natural alternative to expensive and dangerous drugs, give tryptophan supplementation serious consideration.

Here’s an exceptional product: pure tryptophan  plus a patent-pending formula that protects tryptophan from excessive degradation.

To your abundant health,

P.S. As part of a comprehensive approach to natural health, consider EFT or Emotional Freedom Technique to unblock hidden negative scripts inside your brain that prevent you from achieving optimal health and that keep you depressed, sluggish, sick or overweight.