5-HTP is an amino acid that occurs in the body. The body makes 5-HTP from tryptothan (an essential amino acid) and coverts it to serotonin, an important neurotransmitter. 5-HTP supplements help raise serotonin levels in the brain, which may have a positive effect on many body functions.
5-HTP may be helpful in treating a wide variety of conditions related to low serotonin levels. Studies suggest it as effective as some antidepressant drugs in treating mild to moderate depression, with patients reporting improvements in mood, anxiety, insomnia, and physical symptoms.
5-HTP may also benefit fibromyalgia patients. The primary cause of fibromyalgic pain is believed to come from low serotonin levels. 5-HTP has been shown to increase tolerance to pain, improve the quality of sleep, and relieve anxiety and depression associated with fibromyalgia.
Many health experts recommend between 50-100 milligrams of 5-HTP per day for most conditions. Certain conditions may require higher doses; however, make sure to consult with your health practitioner before taking more than 100 milligrams per day.
5-HTP is extracted from the seeds of griffonia simplicifolia, an African plant. The extract is purified and sold in individual supplements, or as part of a multivitamin. Dietary supplements of 5-HTP should be manufactured to a purity level of at least 99%.
5-HTP is the immediate precursor of serotonin. A lack of 5-HTP can lead to lowered serotonin levels and associated conditions such as depression, increased anxiety, moodiness and sleep disorders.
5-HTP can cause mild nausea and flatulence. If you have high blood pressure or diabetes; are pregnant or nursing; and are taking antidepressant drugs or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), make sure to consult your health care provider first. 5-HTP should also not be given to children or adolescents.
References
Chronic pain afflicts over 20% of the adult population. Sadly, most MDs have essentially no education in treating pain, beyond offering a few toxic medications. Then they tend to steer people with pain away from those health practitioners who are trained. This puts the acupuncture community on the front lines for addressing this epidemic.
When the body is going through a stressful event, the sympathetic system is activated. This activation will help the body with a life-threatening situation. If this state is activated for prolonged periods of time, it starts to consume energy. These traumatic events that generate stressors in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) will eventually become internalized.
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One of the things that makes acupuncture so difficult to measure is that the medicine actually does contain some esoteric aspects. There have been numerous studies that demonstrate the neurochemical reasoning behind why acupuncture points stimulate the autonomic nervous system to enact change However, not all the benefits of TCM can easily be measured by randomized, controlled trials. But does that make them fundamentally and definitively untrue?
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