Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Tryptophan anyone?

Ok so I was reading this article in this magazine from the Sunflower market called "Can't stop eating?" it is very interesting and talks about some supplemental support that will help in aiding you with addictive eating. (which I so think is me!) One of them it talks about is tryptophan. I recognized the name as being in a diet drug that had some problems. But the research I'm doing looks like it is really very safe and not only that but addresses all of the issues I've been having. It is suppose to improve sleep, relieve depression, and obsessing over food. I read in one of the articles that it is being used in the treatment of SAD.
Clinical research has shown mixed results with respect to tryptophan's effectiveness as a sleep aid, especially in normal patients[20][21][22] and for a growing variety of other conditions typically associated with low serotonin levels or activity in the brain[23] such as premenstrual dysphoric disorder [24] and seasonal affective disorder.[25][26] In particular, tryptophan has been showing considerable promise as an antidepressant alone,[27] and as an "augmenter" of antidepressant drugs.[27][28] However, the reliability of these clinical trials has been questioned.[29][30]

Here are a couple of links that I found interesting. http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tnam ... t&dbid=103 http://www.healthandnutrition.co.uk/articles/depression.htm Anyone have any experience or knowledge of this? It list a few other supplements that are suppose to help also, but this one hits everything. One of the others is fish oil which is suppose to help fight depression also. I used to take it and then stopped. Maybe I'll go back to that too. And last but not least...exercise of course should help...something I've been sorely lacking of late....gee do you think I've been doing anything good for myself? Something is going to change...it's got to!

2 comments:

Calyx Meredith said...

I only know about tryptophan from eating turkey at Thanksgiving :D so I'm not much help there, but I have just started taking Omega-3 fish oil capsules and trying to eat according to Zone Diet guidelines. I have serious food issues and this is the best/easiest way for me to eat. I feel great. (Don't know why I stopped doing it 13 years ago when I first tried it!) Good luck with your research and on finding a solution that works for you!!

Sara said...

I'm not really big on supplements and pills. So I'm no help!