You’ve heard me talking about using targeted individual amino acids with my clients but what do we really mean by targeted and individual?
- “Targeted” means the amino acids are very specific for a person who may have anxiety, or low mood, or feelings of negativity or worry or overwhelm or experience emotional eating.
- The big focus is that they’re targeted to a person’s “individual” needs. We each have our own unique biochemistry and therefore our needs are different. There is no one-size fits all.
- There is another aspect to “individual” amino acids – it means they are not part of a combination product but are standalone amino acids such as tryptophan, 5-HTP, GABA, tyrosine, glutamine and DLPA. This allows them to be easily titrated up or down as needed based on your individual needs. There is one combination product I really like and use a lot and that is GABA Calm (it has GABA, tyrosine and glycine). Here are the brands I like.
- These targeted individual amino acids work really well and are very powerful when you figure out the right amino acids you need. I have all my clients complete the Amino Acid Questionnaire and we start our trials based on this.
- These targeted individual amino acids also work well when you take them in the correct amounts – doing a trial and starting low is the best way to do this. Most people can start with the typical starting amount. For example, 500mg tryptophan is typical to start with and I like to start my clients on 125mg GABA. However, if you’re very sensitive, you may be what we call a “pixie dust” person and may need a few dabs to start.
- These targeted individual amino acids also work best when you take them at the right time. Different amino acids are more effective at certain times: like tryptophan/5-HTP later in the day; tyrosine earlier; and GABA, glutamine and DPA throughout the day.
You may have changed your diet to a real whole foods diet, you may be on medications for anxiety or depression, and maybe you’re not getting results or maybe you’re experiencing side-effects from the meds.
Even though you’ve quit coffee and sodas you still feel anxious and overwhelmed and you still stress-eat. You just know intuitively that you’ve got to get to the root cause of the problem.
Maybe you’ve removed gluten, sugar and other carbs but you still feel deprived. You still feel like you need that reward or treat. Maybe the addictive nature of gluten/sugar/carbs is getting the better of you still can’t quit and there’s something missing.
When there’s this “something that’s missing”, this is when you would consider targeted individual amino acids. We are figuring out if you’ve got this deficiency, and then we are supplementing short-term, for 3 to 12 months, to raise your levels so you can start to feel good, calm, happy and motivated again, with no more cravings.
Please be aware that not everyone benefits from individual amino acids. They only work if you have a deficiency and actually need them. If you don’t need them they won’t make any difference or they may even make you feel worse. For example, if you don’t need tryptophan and take it (or even if you take too much) you may feel more anxious and more emotional. This can happen even if you score high on the low serotonin section of the Amino Acid questionnaire. There are many other causes of anxiety: low blood sugar, not enough protein in the diet, food sensitivities, poor gut health/low levels of good bacteria, parasites, candida, caffeine and/or sugar consumption, high cortisol and many more. I share the 60+ causes here.
If you do have a deficiency and do find the correct combination of targeted individual amino acids you will amazed at the results and like me, you will soon be calling them the amazing amino acids.
Please do share if you’ve experienced benefits from the amazing amino acids (targeted and individual of course). If you’ve been using them for awhile you may find some answers to your common questions here: Amino acids for anxiety – which ones and for how long? And here is a blog called Troubleshooting when you are not getting results.
If this is all new to you please share how you score on the Amino Acid Questionnaire.
If this all sounds intriguing and also a little overwhelming, stay tuned for the launch of The Amazing Aminos for Anxiety homestudy group program that will be starting in September. This homestudy group program will provide guidance with using each of the targeted individual amino acids. You’re welcome to sign up here to be notified when we have details about the start date and more.