This is a question I received from a stressed out mom in my community. She has identified when she craves sugar and the emotion connected to her cravings. Now she has questions about how to trial and use amino acids to stop her cravings, get her energy back and feel emotionally stable:
I know I am an emotional eater, I know I eat sugar as a reward and I do find myself craving it when I am fatigued. I also seem to crave it after a very savory meal; especially one with garlic. What is THAT about?! Do you have clients on more than one amino acid?!
I have been a caregiver for my son (multiple disabilities) for 30 years; he has uncontrolled seizures and my husband has PTSD. It is a stressful household.
This is what I shared with her about the brain chemical imbalances and amino acids:
- Many of my clients need more than one amino acid but it’s best to trial one at a time. When I hear my client say they eat sugar as a reward we immediately consider a trial of DPA (d-phenylalanine) especially if they are also overly emotional/weepy and also have physical pain.
- When I hear my client say “I do find myself craving sugar when I am fatigued” we consider low catecholamines and a trial of tyrosine especially if they also have poor focus, low motivation and a flat mood. If the fatigue is caused by low blood sugar this can cause fatigue, irritability/crankiness and anxiety and a trial of glutamine may be a better option. If the DPA helps the emotional-reward-eating after a week or two, then we may do a trial of tyrosine and/or glutamine (one at a time) and use them in addition to the DPA.
- When I hear “sugar cravings after a savory meal” we consider low serotonin and a trial of tryptophan if it’s after lunch or dinner. Serotonin dips in the afternoon and evening triggering this type of craving. With low serotonin we also see worry, anxiety, depression, anger, PMS, insomnia and irritability. Let’s assume the DPA helps and the tyrosine helps with the fatigue, then we’d consider a trial of tryptophan and add that.
So yes I do have many clients needing more than one amino acid! But we always trial one at a time and find a good baseline before adding the next one or doing a new trial if the first one didn’t give expected results.
With regards to which amino acid trial to do first, I always ask my client which area is causing the most problem or distress in your life and we start there. Since she mentioned emotional eating and then fatigue and then cravings after a savory meal, this sequence may be best for her. But addressing the fatigue with tyrosine first may be a better approach for someone else.
With regards to cravings after a savory meal we also look into how much protein and healthy fats the client has in that meal. I don’t know why garlic would be a trigger other than it’s possibly stirring up candida. Candida is also a big factor when it comes to sugar cravings, fatigue and feeling sad/emotional so we would also possibly need to address this too.
Adrenal and sleep support is also key and I recommend this resource for additional caregiver support for her – The psychological trauma of coronavirus – nutritional support for doctors, nurses and their loved ones.
For her husband’s PTSD I recommend this resource – PTSD from 3 tours in Afghanistan: Can GABA help with the anxiety?
For her son’s seizures I recommend this paper, Ketogenic Diet and Epilepsy: What We Know So Far, and working with a practitioner who could offer consultation and guidance on a ketogenic diet. Another useful resource is this one – Use of Cannabidiol in the Treatment of Epilepsy: Efficacy and Security in Clinical Trials.
If you suspect low levels of any any of the neurotransmitters and are new to using the amino acids and do not have my book I highly recommend getting it and reading it before jumping in to taking supplements: The Antianxiety Food Solution – How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood, and End Cravings.
There is a complete chapter on the amino acids and one for pyroluria, plus information on real whole food, sugar and blood sugar, gluten, digestion and much more. If you’re not a reader there is now also an audible version.
Here is the Amino Acids Mood Questionnaire from The Antianxiety Food Solution and additional information on Anxiety and targeted individual amino acid supplements: a summary
Please also read and follow these Amino Acid Precautions.
This lists The Antianxiety Food Solution Amino Acid and Pyroluria Supplements that I use with my individual clients and those in my group programs. You’ll find DPA, tyrosine and tryptophan listed here.
Please share your emotional eating and sugar craving success story if you have one using DPA.
And let us know if tyrosine helps with your fatigue and low-energy driven sugar cravings?
And does tryptophan help your afternoon and evening sugar cravings?
Feel free to post your questions here too.
So what form does the tryptophan take? Turkey? Where do you get amino acids? How so you know if the supplement is a good quality?
Gina
These are all amino acid supplements. I link to my online supplement store on the blog above – these are good quality professional-grade supplements that I use with clients. Here is the link again https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/amino-acids-pyroluria-supplements/
Since you are new to amino acids, I do recommend my book “The Antianxiety Food Solution” and reading other blogs on this site too.
And we never want to forget the basics of real whole quality food, quality animal protein, eating for blood sugar balance, no gluten/sugar/caffeine, gut health, adrenal support, toxins etc. The amino acids are just one part of all this.
Hi Trudy
Which brand of tyrosine do you recommend?
Thank you
Jane
Jane
I link to my online supplement store on the blog above – and you’ll find some tyrosine products there. Here is the link again https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/amino-acids-pyroluria-supplements/
Hi Trudy
I notice you recommend Progressive Labs tyrosine, but it’s not N acetyl tyrosine with B6 included, do you think L Tyrosine ( straight up) gets better results?
Thank you
Jane
Hi Trudy, I recently tried tryptophan for my insomnia. It started 9.5 months ago after weaning off of three depression medications. I have literally tried everything, including four sleeping pills. I started at 500 mg. That did not help. Jumped to 1000 mg. That did not help. I then jumped to 1500 mg. My depression got much worse so I stopped. I have read that one can take up to 5 grams of tryptophan. I’m sort of afraid to try 2000 mg because of the depression. Any thoughts?
PS – Don’t know about the sugar craving. I quit cold turkey four years ago.
Gary
Too much of any amino acid can cause adverse symptoms and pushing through and going higher is not recommended especially when depression gets worse. When tryptophan doesn’t work for insomnia then we look for other root causes – low GABA, low melatonin, EMFs, gluten issues, low blood sugar, SIBO, oxalates, high cortisol, parasites, Lyme, metals and even consider the residual effects of psychiatric medications (and work on detox and mitochondrial support)
What brand(s) of DPA do you recommend, and how much/often? Thanks!
Karen
I find the Lidtke Endorphigen product to be a great source of DPA. Typical starting dose is 500mg two or 3 x a day and increasing based on symptom resolution. I do recommend my book “The Antianxiety Food Solution” and reading other blogs on this site too.
I link to my online supplement store on the blog above. Here is the link again https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/amino-acids-pyroluria-supplements/
Ppl with sugar cravings may have Candida overgrowth. Many ppl do w/o knowing. I did (b/c chemo therapy for cancer killed the good bacteria in my gut which led to the bad one, Candida, to grow out of proportion). I tried the Candida Diet several times but always failed after a few days when the sugar cravings got the best out of me. Until one day I was listening to an online webinar where a female medical doctor was saying that she advises her alcohol patients to put some L-glutamine powder (buy on amazon) under their tongue and let it melt. It stops sugar and alcohol cravings. When I started using the powder I could finally follow the Candida Diet, even switch to Paleo diet for good (cut out grains, dairy, sugar, alcohol, fruits except berries which are low in sugar, beans). Then I did a 7 (seven) day water fast (only water, but I did take my prescription meds) to get rid of the Candida white coating on my tongue. Success! (I do not recommend a 7 day water fast unless you watch yt videos with medical doctors explaining how to do it, so you don’t harm yourself!)
I forgot to mention that Candida feeds on sugar and sends signals to the brain that it wants more food, that’s where sugar cravings come from.
Yvonne
Yes, folks with sugar cravings may have candida and they may not know it. Thanks for sharing your success story with glutamine and candida post chemo. Glutamine is a favorite amino acid for sugar cravings and alcohol cravings/addiction too. I have all my clients open the amino acids on to the tongue for the quickest and best effects – glad this worked so well for you too!
When I’m working with someone with sugar cravings and emotional symptoms we always start with the amino acids because they offer such quick relief if brain chemical imbalances are the root cause – and they offer hope. Then we start to address candida and other issues that may also be factors.
I agree that a water fast should be medically supervised.
Not all. I had a full microbiome analysis twice. Strep overgrowth yes, no candida. I have a full blown sugar/carb junk food addiction. Different bacteria can cause similar symptoms.
Hello Trudy,
Great website
I suffer from anxiety disorder and have found meditation daily to be a big help could you forward this idea onto that woman who seems rather stressed with her disabled son my heart goes out to her. I have heard that meditation is supposed to be good for PSTD i dont have that i have high anxiety disorder which has been helped with meditation. It might be alright for her husband to do..
Regards,
Fe
Thanks for sharing this and your kindness. I’ve shared this blog with her so she’ll hopefully see your message. Meditation is a wonderful tool to use in addition to nutrition for raising GABA and serotonin levels and this (or other mind-body approaches like yoga or EFT or getting out in nature) are always part of my recommendations.
What do you do for a client who is sensitive to -amines? Phenylalamine, tyramine, tyrosine, what’s a girl to do?
Hi Trudy
I am wondering if strep overgrowth and estrogen dominance is enough to cause severe depression. I’m really suffering and have tried the amino acids with no success. I’m assuming it’s because of my hormone imbalance. I have a high score on the pyroluria questionnaire (about 21) and have started taking b6 and zinc but am worried because blood results say I am low in both zinc and copper. I don’t want to further drive down copper. Should I try supplementing with just b6 to be safe? I find dream recall slightly improves when I take it but I only own a low dose supplement (25mg). My functional medicine doctor currently has me on antibiotics for the strep but I’m afraid there are things they may be missing. I have forced myself onto a whole foods/low carb diet to assist in the elimination of strep. I have avoidant personality disorder which is linked to social phobia but instead of anxiety the emotion I most often experience (in fact almost constantly) is shame. When I am in contact with anyone other than immediate family I shut down and dissociate. I feel inferior and judged no matter what I say or do. I have had to quit my job and rarely leave the house now. Interacting with others is so painful I now avoid it at all costs when I used to try so hard and stress myself immensely to keep socialising. I just couldn’t keep it up. Could social problems this severe still be caused by pyroluria or might it be a combination of that and other things?
Thanks so much, I hope you see my message.
How do I get help stopping my cravings?
Dear Trudy, in your NL from 01.07.2020 “Amino acids for anxiety & insomnia” you state that “I start with an overview on how we can use amino acids for reducing anxiety and improving sleep and how this has a ripple down effect for improving energy (…).” I don’t understand exactly what you mean. To my notion “ripple down effect” is going downwards and “improving energy” is going upwards. Or is the ripple effect not relating to “energy” but to anxiety and insomnia?
Michael
I could have said ripple up effect i.e. when you are not anxious and sleeping well you wake refreshed and have more energy! Sorry to confuse you!
Trudy, I have heard your lectures at past IMMH conferences on GABA. I am wondering if you have information on GABA and epilepsy–benefits and contraindications……specifically for a teenager with h/o grand mal seizures that surfaced around puberty and is choosing to be medication free. I understand the relevance of benzodiazepines on the GABA receptor in managing seizures, and was wondering about the data to support using GABA amino acids instead. Thank you for any feedback!!
Brenda Griffin, PMHNP
Brenda
I have not worked with any one who is having grand mal seizures. This paper mentions “One study reported a reduction in the amount of seizures in epileptic patients who were administered a very high dose of GABA (0.8 g/kg daily; Tower, 1960). However, this result was found only in four out of twelve patients. Additionally, the patients in whom the administration of GABA did have an effect were children below the age of 15.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4594160/ They do also talk about the BBB but I don’t feel that is a factor and GABA would be something I could consider. We also always look at what meds work, the mechanisms and how we can extrapolate to comparable amino acids/nutrients. It’s clearly more challenging with grand mal seizures due to the seriousness of them.
I would also check out Eric Braverman’s book “The Healing Nutrients Within” – he writes about GABA and seizures.
And I’m sure you’re aware of all the work on keto and CBD for seizures.