everywomanover29 blog

Food, Mood and Women's Health – Be your healthiest, look and feel great!

tryptophan

Sleep improvement: Oral intake of GABA and Apocynum venetum leaf extract

By Trudy Scott 17 Comments

sleep-improvement

I’ve blogged about the Sleep promoting effects of combined GABA and 5-HTP. There is another combination of nutrients that has been shown to help with sleep: GABA and the herb Apocynum venetum leaf extract.

In this 2015 paper: The Improvement of Sleep by Oral Intake of GABA and Apocynum venetum Leaf Extract

The electroencephalogram (EEG) test revealed that oral administration of GABA (100 mg) and [Apocynum venetum Leaf Extract] AVLE (50 mg) had beneficial effects on sleep.

In this study they found that GABA helps people to fall asleep quickly and Apocynum venetum Leaf Extract induces deep sleep, and that they work well when taken together.

The authors conclude that both GABA and Apocynum venetum leaf extract:

can be regarded as safe and appropriate for daily intake in order to improve the quality of sleep.

Earlier this year I heard Dr. Peter Bongiorno present at the Integrative Healthcare Symposium and one of the herbs he covered was Apocynum venetum leaf extract for depression. Since this was new to me, I invited him to share about this herb on the recent Anxiety Summit: Serotonin and anxiety: tryptophan, 5-HTP, serotonin syndrome and medication tapers

I also briefly mentioned the above GABA/Apocynum venetum leaf extract study in my talk on the recent Anxiety Summit – GABA: Blood brain barrier controversy, concerns, best forms and how to do a trial for eliminating anxiety

I find that many of my clients with anxiety also have sleep problems and GABA is often helpful if their sleep issues are related to low GABA levels, often manifesting as physical tension.

One of the signs of low serotonin, in addition to anxiety and worry, is insomnia and I find tryptophan (and sometimes 5-HTP) to be very helpful for many clients too. I’ll often have someone use both GABA and tryptophan (or GABA and 5-HTP) and the combination seems to be a good one.

I have not yet used Apocynum venetum leaf extract alone with clients or in combination with GABA and look forward to learning more. Have you have tried it alone or in combination with GABA? Have you used it with clients?

Tryptophan for PMS: premenstrual dysphoria, mood swings, tension, and irritability

By Trudy Scott 65 Comments

tryptophan for pms

In a study published in 1999, A placebo-controlled clinical trial of L-tryptophan in premenstrual dysphoria, tryptophan was found to reduce symptoms of PMS when used in the luteal phase or second half of the cycle (i.e. after ovulation):

37 patients with premenstrual dysphoric disorder were treated with L-tryptophan 6 g per day, and 34 were given placebo. The treatments were administered under double-blind conditions for 17 days, from the time of ovulation to the third day of menstruation, during three consecutive menstrual cycles.

They looked at dysphoria, which is defined as a state of unease or generalized dissatisfaction with life, plus mood swings, tension (and anxiety), and irritability and they found a 34.5% reduction of symptoms with tryptophan compared to 10.4% with placebo.

The paper concludes:

that these results suggest that increasing serotonin synthesis during the late luteal phase of the menstrual cycle has a beneficial effect in patients with premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

Let me share what I see with the women with PMS that I work with:

  • This is very typical when I’m working with someone with PMS and anxiety and other mood symptoms. It typically takes 2 to 3 cycles for an amino acid like tryptophan to have an impact on PMS itself. But it does typically start to work right away on the less severe anxiety and mood symptoms that may also be a factor during the rest of the month.
  • I don’t start with 6g per day of the tryptophan but rather have each person do the amino acid questionnaire, review the precautions and do a trial of tryptophan, increasing as needed to find the optimal amount for their needs (you can read more about this here on anxiety and the amino acid overview
  • We often find that adding GABA helps too, as this supports progesterone production
  • Many anxious women I work with also have pyroluria or signs of low zinc and low vitamin B6 and adding these nutrients, together with evening primrose oil, provide additional hormonal support (and help with the social anxiety).
  • Other factors to consider with PMS: low total cholesterol (as cholesterol is needed to make hormones), gluten issues, adrenal function and blood sugar control, gut health and the microbiome, and liver support
  • And finally, we can’t forget diet and need to switch to eating a real whole foods diet free from sugar, gluten and caffeine. Coffee and chocolate in the second half of the cycle can be especially problematic for many women

Together with the tryptophan and the above approaches (if needed as we are all so different), it’s not unreasonable to get the reduction of symptoms from 34.5% (as seen with the tryptophan) down to 100%. It breaks my heart when I hear women think they have to live with PMS symptoms when they don’t have to!

Additional resources when you are new to using tryptophan, GABA, and other amino acids as supplements

As always, I use the symptoms questionnaire to figure out if low serotonin or low GABA or other neurotransmitter imbalances may be an issue.

If you suspect low levels of any of the neurotransmitters and do not yet have my book, The Antianxiety Food Solution – How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood, and End Cravings, I highly recommend getting it and reading it before jumping in and using amino acids on your own so you are knowledgeable. And be sure to share it with the practitioner/health team you or your loved one is working with.

There is an entire chapter on the amino acids and they are discussed throughout the book in the sections on gut health, gluten, blood sugar control (this is covered in an entire chapter too), sugar cravings, anxiety and mood issues.

The book doesn’t include product names (per the publisher’s request) so this blog, The Antianxiety Food Solution Amino Acid and Pyroluria Supplements, lists the amino acids that I use with my individual clients and those in my group programs.

If, after reading this blog and my book, you don’t feel comfortable figuring things out on your own (i.e. doing the symptoms questionnaire and respective amino acids trials), a good place to get help is the GABA QuickStart Program (if you have low GABA symptoms). This is a paid online/virtual group program where you get my guidance and community support.

If you are a practitioner, join us in The Balancing Neurotransmitters: the Fundamentals program. This is also a paid online/virtual program with an opportunity to interact with me and other practitioners who are also using the amino acids.

Wrapping up and your feedback

Have you used tryptophan for PMS? Do you take it all month or just in the 2nd half of your cycle? What about other changes that have helped: GABA or liver support or quitting caffeine? Or something else?  Please share.

The Anxiety Summit – Tryptophan for anxiety, depression and insomnia: why quality is key and the critical co-factors

By Trudy Scott 64 Comments

Ron Sturtz_Anxiety4

Ron Sturtz, Owner/President, Lidtke Technologies, was interviewed on the Anxiety Summit by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.

Tryptophan for anxiety, depression and insomnia: why quality is key and the critical co-factors

  • The benefits of tryptophan for anxiety/mood/insomnia and why Trudy only recommends Lidtke
  • Tryptophan history and why safety and quality is key
  • Concerns about neurotoxic quinolinic acid
  • Tryptophan 500mg, kids chewable, Tryptophan Complete, and tryptophan for pets
  • Why use lysine, vitamin B3, B6/P5P, folate and curcumin with tryptophan
  • Other serotonin co-factors and 5-HTP
  • Client feedback and how to use these amino acids

In part 1 we start by discussing the history, the controversy in 1990 over contaminated L-tryptophan,  the impurities that lead to the EMS outbreak and why Lidtke has “been fanatical about purity and safety” since then:

the main [impurity] was EBT  [1,1′-ethylidene-bis-L-tryptophan] and that was the one that they suspected was the most heavily implicated.  They never could identify exactly which ones were toxic or in combination.  It could be like numbers one, two and five in combination were deadly or two and six in combination more deadly or maybe just six alone was deadly.  They never were able to determine that because they never found an animal model to use in research because when they would feed the rats or any other kind of animal, lab animal they had samples of this known toxic tryptophan, none of them responded the way humans do.  They have a very different gut flora and metabolism and they never responded the same so they weren’t about to use humans in any of these clinical trials so they never really could tell which of those six were the worst, but they strongly suspected that EBT was the worst

Ron covers how glyphosate/Roundup is contributing to low serotonin levels:

…the food crops  absorb the chemical, they still soak it up and then they’re sent to market and you buy them and you cook them and you eat then and then you soak it up.  Well, you don’t produce tryptophan or phenylalanine, but your gut bacteria to do.  And preferentially the beneficial gut bacteria tend to be killed by the glyphosates.  So when that happens the pathogenic bacteria tend to dominate.  And then when that happens when they grow kind of out of control then even more tryptophan is used up by the macrophages, which then attack the pathogens.

If you’d like to read more about this we covered this is much more detail in these interviews:

In part 2 Ron reviews the serotonin biochemistry:

lidtke image serotonin biochemistry
Serotonin Biochemistry – Ron Sturtz from Lidtke Technologies

And we discuss the Tryptophan Complete product, the ingredients and rationale for including P5P, lysine, curcumin, folic acid and niacinamide. This is my feedback on the product:

the Tryptophan Complete is one that I’m not as familiar with as the 500 milligram Tryptophan.  I’ve been using the 500 milligram with my clients for over ten years.  The Tryptophan Complete is just a new one that’s sort of come on my radar and I started looking into it and I actually posted something on Facebook a few months ago and then did a blog post to get feedback from people [see below]. And I’ve had some promising feedback.  I’ve had one person say “I’ve used the Tryptophan Complete and liked it a lot better than the 500 milligrams.  It gave me a much deeper state of relaxation and a way more solid sleep.”  She used that, got benefits then tried the 500 and now has decided to go back to the Complete.  So she feels that the addition of the other ingredients really helped for her body chemistry.  I did have someone else say that she can’t do P5P at all.  It makes her agitated.  So for people who have individual reactions to any of the ingredients then you would go with the 500 milligrams.

Here is my blog: Tryptophan 500mg or Tryptophan Complete (by Lidtke)?

And my supplements blog that lists Lidtke tryptophan products (500mg tryptophan, Tryptophan Complete and Tryptophan 100mg chewable), other amino acid products and pyroluria products I recommend: The Antianxiety Food Solution Amino Acid and Pyroluria Supplements

You can also find the amino acid questionnaire (which lists the low serotonin symptoms) and amino acid precautions on the above blog.

Here is some of the research:

Lidtke is kindly offering 15% off all Lidtke products through the end of June  – use coupon code anxietysummit

If you are not already registered for the Anxiety Summit you can get live access to the speakers of the day here: www.theAnxietySummit.com

Missed this interview or can’t listen live? Or want this and the other great interviews for your learning library? Purchase the MP3s or MP3s + transcripts and listen when it suits you.

You can find your purchasing options here.: Anxiety Summit Season 1, Anxiety Summit Season 2, Anxiety Summit Season 3, and Anxiety Summit Season 4.

The Anxiety Summit – Serotonin and anxiety: tryptophan, 5-HTP, serotonin syndrome and medication tapers

By Trudy Scott 64 Comments

Peter Bongiorno_Anxiety4

Dr. Peter Bongiorno, ND, author of Holistic Therapies for Anxiety and Depression, is interviewed on the Anxiety Summit by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.

Serotonin and anxiety: tryptophan, 5-HTP, serotonin syndrome and medication tapers

  • What is the serotonin hypothesis and serotonin syndrome
  • Concerns about tryptophan and kynurenine and neurotoxic quinolinic acid
  • When to use tryptophan and when to use 5-HTP
  • Working with a prescribing doctor to do a SSRI (and benzo) taper
  • John’s Wort, saffron and venetron for anxiety and depression
  • Hydrotherapy and hugs

Here are some snippets from our interview:

Here are some gems from our interview:

As far as St. John’s Wort I would honestly put that in a different category because St. John’s Wort is not just another type of serotonin enhancer or SSRI.  It has many, many other activities.  It supports the thyroid.  It really helps digestion.  It’s a good anti-inflammatory.  It calms the nervous system.  And it also supports other neurotransmitters too.  So to me St. John’s Wort is more like a beautiful food that has these very pleiotropic effects and really helps the whole body kind of cope and gain resilience.  Years ago St. John’s Wort was originally used to ward off evil spirits in olden times.  And so it has a tremendous history of supporting people with mood and especially people who are very fatigued in the process and they can’t cope and they have no resilience.  So I think St. John’s Wort is definitely more than just a serotonin enhancer.

We also cover carnitine:

One of the things I like to check is something called carnitine which is an amino acid which plays a role in how energy is carried in the body.  And many women get much depleted in carnitine as they move through pregnancy through the trimesters.  And that’s actually quite safe to take during pregnancy and I’ve seen that be very, very helpful in women with mood issues either during pregnancy or postpartum.  And there are plenty of studies that show the safety of carnitine.  So that’s one of the things I definitely like to look at along with taking some magnesium which is also safe during pregnancy.

We discuss medication tapers of SSRIs:

And the weaning process would have to be different for everyone.  Some patients who have been on some of these mood altering medications for many years you can’t just wean off quickly.  You have to go exceedingly slow.  And depending on how they do then we can support their brain and their body with more nutrients to help that process go as easily as possible and minimize any kind of withdrawal effect.  The body will tell us what to do as we go along.  But again the most important thing is that we really establish all the basics and that they’re in the healthiest place possible.  Because if those aren’t there, if a patient just gets off the medication and we haven’t really done anything to change the underlying reasons why they got to the place where they had the mood issue.  In most cases they’re going to go back there again.

Here are two of Dr. Bongiorno’s books:

How Come They’re Happy and I’m Not – The Complete Natural Program for Healing Depression for Good

peter bongiorno how come they're happy and I'm not

Holistic Solutions for Anxiety & Depression in Therapy: Combining Natural Remedies with Conventional Care

peter bongiorno holistic solutions for anxiety and depression

And his most recent book: Put Anxiety Behind You

put-anxiety-behind-you

Here is his digital gift: 10 Ways to Balance Serotonin Naturally http://www.drpeterbongiorno.com/serotonin/

If you are not already registered for the Anxiety Summit you can get live access to the speakers of the day here: www.theAnxietySummit.com

Missed this interview or can’t listen live? Or want this and the other great interviews for your learning library? Purchase the MP3s or MP3s + transcripts and listen when it suits you.

You can find your purchasing options here.: Anxiety Summit Season 1, Anxiety Summit Season 2, Anxiety Summit Season 3, and Anxiety Summit Season 4.

Mental Health Month: anxiety, nutrition, gluten, GABA, leptin and fluoroquinolones

By Trudy Scott 21 Comments

egg-asparagus-salad

Since 1949, Mental Health America and affiliates across the country have led the observance of May is Mental Health Month by reaching millions of people both online and locally. They share this:

This year’s theme for Mental Health Month is – Life with a Mental Illness – and calls on individuals to share what life with a mental illness feels like for them in words, pictures and video by tagging their social media posts with #mentalillnessfeelslike (or submitting to MHA anonymously). Posts are being collected and displayed at mentalhealthamerica.net/feelslike.

I love that they say that spreading the word that mental health issues like anxiety, depression, bipolar and other disorders is something everyone should care about.

I’d love to educate and inspire many of those individuals who have already posted on social media using #mentalillnessfeelslike and have yet to find a solution. There are so many of them and it’s heart-breaking. You can go to mentalhealthamerica.net/feelslike now and see what is being said.

Here are a few examples:

Severe anxiety feels like you are lost in a big city where no one else can speak your language and you are trying to get home.. #mentalillnessfeelslike

#anxietyfeelslike #mentalillnessfeelslike a never ending battle to keep worry from creeping in to your every thought. Trying to be present

Anxiety Attack #mentalillnessfeelslike: I’m swirling in a cyclone while also being constructed by a Boa

#MentalIllnessFeelsLike Worrying About Passing This Semester Causing Your Anxiety To Mess Up More Although Your Anxiety Put You Here

And this profound quote by MentallyAbnormallyNormal (you can find her here on Facebook)

mentally-abnormally-normal-meme

I encourage you to participate if it feels ok to you. I’d especially love you to share how nutrition and nutrients like GABA, tryptophan, zinc, vitamin B12, and/or vitamin D have helped you. You can also respond directly to the posts others have made.

Here are some links to my prior blog posts on some of the many nutritional (and biomedical) approaches so feel free to also share some of this information and use it if you’re still on your healing journey to overcome anxiety, panic attacks, OCD, insomnia and other mood problems:

I’ll be adding to this last blog during season 4 of The Anxiety Summit which runs June 6th – 16th. As I continue to interview experts I learn more about the myriad of possible underlying causes of anxiety:

For some of my clients, eliminating anxiety (and other mood disorders) can be as simple as switching to a real whole foods diet, eating to balance blood sugar, quitting sugar/gluten/caffeine and adding some key nutrients like zinc and vitamin D. Many benefit immensely when using targeted individual amino acids like GABA and tryptophan. And some need to dig deeper to find the root cause of the anxiety.

But let’s always keep looking for that root cause or causes – find YOUR root cause/s – and address it/them.

My heart goes out to you if you are still suffering and still seeking a solution (and to everyone tagging themselves with #mentalillnessfeelslike and #anxietyfeelslike).

I say let’s aims to change this to the past tense so instead of #mentalillnessfeelslike let’s get to #mentalillnessfeltlike. Or how about #anxietyfeltlike or even #nutritionfixedmyanxiety ?

It truly is possible with food and nutrients! Do you agree? What has worked for you? Feel free to share in the comments and tag yourself on social media.

And do join us on The Anxiety Summit next month and share this during the Mental Health Month of May.

 

Tryptophan for anxiety, sleep and mood: in Put Anxiety Behind You

By Trudy Scott 98 Comments

put-anxiety-behind-you

Tryptophan is an amino acid I use with clients all the time. If you have the low serotonin symptoms of anxiety, worry, depression, insomnia, PMS, TMJ, anger issues, winter blues and afternoon/evening cravings, tryptophan can provide relief very quickly, provided you use a quality tryptophan product and find the right amount for your unique needs. I do a trial of each amino acid with my clients.

Dr. Peter Bongiorno, ND, a doctor of naturopathic medicine, also uses tryptophan with his patients. Here is an excerpt on tryptophan from his newest book Put Anxiety Behind You: The Complete Drug-Free Program:

Tryptophan (sometimes referred to as L-tryptophan) is a naturally derived amino acid that serves as a precursor to the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is needed to help you stay asleep. Low levels of tryptophan contribute to generalized anxiety and panic attacks. Back in the early 1990s, a laboratory I was associated with at Yale University performed “tryptophan depletion studies” and which volunteers who were already prone to anxiety were put on a tryptophan-free diet. Within days, these people were extremely anxious, panicky and unstable – and they had lots of trouble staying asleep.

I usually give people 500 – 1,000 mg of tryptophan at bedtime, but I may dose up to 2,500 mg. Take tryptophan at bedtime with a slice of simple carbohydrate (like an apple slice) – the carbohydrate will increase insulin levels and insulin will promote tryptophan absorption in the brain. In my clinic I use a supplement called Tryptophan Calmplete, which includes B vitamins.

Although most conventional psychiatrists are afraid to mix natural medicines like tryptophan with conventional medications studies suggest that they can be safely combined. One eight-week randomized controlled trial of thirty patients with major depression combined 20 mg of Prozac (an SSRI medication) with 2,000 mg of tryptophan as daily treatment for major depressive disorder. This study demonstrated that combining tryptophan and an SSRI improved mood and helped patients stay asleep.

If you look up tryptophan on websites like WebMD, they are going to tell you that tryptophan is unsafe. The reason for this is because in the early 1990s there was an incident of Eosinophilia Myalgia Syndrome, a condition contracted by thirty people who most unfortunately got sick (and some died) after ingesting tryptophan supplements. This tragic event occurred because the company making the supplement had no quality controls, and allowed the introduction of bacteria. These deaths had nothing to do with tryptophan itself. My sense is that the folks behind conventional websites WebMD, who should be doing their homework, let these ideas persist on purpose. The drug companies who advertise with these websites then benefit from continuing the misinformation. I have taken tryptophan myself, have used it with family members and countless patients with absolutely no problem save for the side benefit of better sleep and mood.

This book is an excellent resource for anxiety, where addressing nutritional imbalances with a supplement such as tryptophan is part of the bigger picture of addressing sleep, doing thought work and mind-body work, balancing hormones and blood sugar, exercising, adopting a healthy real foods diet, and making sure you have a healthy digestive system.

He uses the analogy of a stool – when one of the legs or supports is weak, your health suffers.

put-anxiety-behind-you-fig1

I’m a research-geek and love to be able to look at the studies so my only negative comment about the book is that all the studies mentioned in the text are not listed in the references and studies that are listed in the references are not numbered so they can be easily found in the text.

His other book Holistic Solutions for Anxiety and Depression: Combining Natural Remedies with Conventional Care is also excellent and is geared to therapists and other practitioners. You can read my review of that book here.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Bongiorno on The Anxiety Summit (season 3) – our topic: Serotonin and Anxiety, Happiness, Digestion and our Hormones. And I’m excited to share that he’ll be speaking on Season 4 of the Anxiety Summit. We’ll be taking a deeper dive into serotonin and tryptophan.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Bongiorno in person and hearing him present at the New York City Integrative Healthcare Symposium earlier this year.  

peter-trudy

Dr. Bongiorno is co-director of Inner Source Natural Health and Acupuncture in New York City. President of the New York Association of Naturopathic Physicians, he is a contributor to numerous blogs and online magazines, including DrOz.com and Sharecare.com, and is regularly interviewed as a natural medicine expert on national television and radio.

Dr. Bongiorno has been kind enough to offer a copy of Put Anxiety Behind You: The Complete Drug-Free Program as a giveaway. We’ll do a drawing and select one lucky reader and announce the winner next Friday. If you’d like to be entered in to the drawing simply comment below and share:

  • why you’d like to win the book
  • if you’ve used tryptophan and what results you saw/see
  • which section you’re most excited about reading and why (just go to the Amazon preview via this link and check out the table of contents and sections of the book)
  • which holistic approaches you already use personally or if you’re a practitioner, what you have used with your anxious patients/clients

5/12/16 UPDATE: Thanks for participating and commenting – the winner is Liz. We’ll contact you to get a mailing address and get a copy of the book to you! Enjoy it! 

If you missed out I encourage you to still check out the table of contents (with the look inside Amazon feature) and get the book if it feels like a fit for you. Check out the comments below to be inspired further.

Please share your feedback (and questions you may have) in the comments section below.