L-Tryptophan
L-Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that is found in many foods and is also available as a dietary supplement. It is used for a variety of conditions, including insomnia, sleep apnea, depression, anxiety, facial pain, premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), smoking cessation, bruxism, ADHD, Tourette’s syndrome, and to improve mood in healthy people with sleep problems.
Here are some benefits of L-Tryptophan:
- Treating sleep disorders: Taking L-Tryptophan might decrease the amount of time it takes to fall asleep and improve mood in healthy people with sleep problems. There is also some evidence that taking L-Tryptophan might decrease episodes in some people who periodically stop breathing during sleep.
- Reducing food intake: In a controlled trial, increasing doses of L-Tryptophan from 1 gram to 2 grams to three grams before meals resulted in progressively fewer calories and carbohydrates being consumed during the meal.
The recommended dosage of L-Tryptophan varies depending on the condition being treated. Trials using amounts above 6 grams per day of L-Tryptophan have often found no benefit for depression, suggesting that 3 to 6 grams per day is optimum. However, it is important to note that L-Tryptophan supplements are possibly safe when taken for up to 3 weeks.
L-Tryptophan can cause some side effects such as drowsiness, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, blurry vision, and others. There isn’t enough reliable information to know if L-tryptophan is safe when taken for more than 3 weeks. In 1989, L-tryptophan was linked to cases of a neurological condition called eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS). But these cases might be due to contamination. About 95% of all EMS cases have been traced to L-tryptophan produced by a single manufacturer in Japan.
There are several case studies regarding the benefits of L-Tryptophan. Some of the earliest studies found modest mood-lowering effects following acute tryptophan depletion in samples of healthy young men. In another study, a combination of 45 mg DL-tryptophan (a synthetic variation of L-tryptophan) per pound of body weight (a relatively high dose) with zimelidine, a drug with a similar action to sertraline, did not cause side effects in another trial.
