I'm doing some research into the "why" of under-production of tryptophan (and therefore serotonin). I wanted to post some links as I found interesting articles.

http://www.thorne.com/altmedrev/.fulltext/3/4/271.html

http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/94/10/5308

http://www.explorepub.com/articles/nutrition2.ht

For your research, I suggest the book Depression-free Naturally, 7 weeks to eliminating anxiety, despair, fatigue and anger from your life. by Joan Mathews Larson. The book discusses the many physical causes of depression, such as hypoglycemia, caffeine, adrenal exhaustion, low and high histamine levels, and then the author recommends different vitamins and amino acids as a cure. I found the book very helpful. However, I do disagree with the author about 5htp, she believes it is not safe, and I have been taking it for over 2 years with great success and no problems.

Great articles! Yes, if you have depression you should try 5-HTP a converted from of Tryptophan.


Per one of the studies above:

"In addition, biochemical studies show 5-HTP is closely involved in depressive disorders.

"The first large clinical trial using 5-HTP in depression was conducted by Sano in 1972. Using an open trial design, a total of 107 patients with endogenous unipolar or bipolar depression were given daily oral dosages of 5-HTP from 50 to 300 mg . Significant improvement was observed in 74 of the patients (69%), and no significant side effects were reported. The response rate in most of these patients was quite rapid (less than two weeks).11

"The issue of speed of response was subsequently addressed in a study of 59 patients with eight different types of depression. 5-HTP was administered orally in dosages from 150 to 300 mg daily for a period of three weeks. Thirteen patients (22%) were markedly improved, and another 27 patients (45.8%) showed moderate improvement. Of these 40 patients who improved, 20 (50%) began to show improvement within three days, and 32 patients (80%) improved within two weeks of beginning treatment with 5-HTP. 15 In contrast to many conventional antidepressants which may take 4 weeks or longer to achieve therapeutic response in most patients, those taking 5-HTP appear to have a significantly more rapid response."