Читать книгу The Mood Cure: Take Charge of Your Emotions in 24 Hours Using Food and Supplements - Julia Ross - Страница 48

The almost instant solution to most low-serotonin problems is an inexpensive nutrient supplement made from an African bean. It can be found in most health food stores. It’s 5-HTP (5-hydroxy trytophan). Your body can make its own 5-HTP to convert into serotonin, but there’s one catch: It must have enough tryptophan on hand from food to make it out of, and chances are it doesn’t. If you take a 5-HTP supplement, though, your serotonin production will no longer be dependent on the tryptophan you may or may not get in food. That means that you can quickly yet naturally replenish your serotonin stores and begin to feel the return of your true emotional self in minutes.

Although 5-HTP has been studied and used extensively in Japan and Europe since before 1980, our clinic began using it only when it became available in the United States in 1997. Since then, we have seen hundreds of almost instant transformations in mood as a direct result of its use.

As an antidepressant, 5-HTP is so effective that it has repeatedly matched or outperformed many of the most established antidepressant drugs, including Prozac, without the negative side effects so often associated with these drugs. In a 1980 study of ninety-nine patients who had been deeply depressed for an average of nine years, almost half achieved complete recovery, while others experienced significant improvement after being given 5-HTP supplements. The study’s author, Dr. J. J. Van Hiele, had this to say about the benefits of 5-HTP: “I have never in 20 years used an agent which: (1) was effective so quickly; (2) restored the patients so completely to the persons they had been and their partners had known; [and] (3) was so entirely without side effects.”¹²

Numerous other studies also attest to 5-HTP’s remarkable safety and effectiveness, even when compared to prescription antidepressants:

The manufacturer of Prozac, Eli Lilly, recently conducted a study combining 5-HTP with Prozac. Serotonin activity was increased 150 percent on Prozac alone. It was increased 615 percent after 5-HTP was added.

In studies comparing 5-HTP with Luvox, a potent antidepressant drug similar to Prozac but more popular in Europe, (1) 5-HTP improved 68 percent of depressed patients as compared to 62 percent of those on Luvox;¹³ (2) both 5-HTP and Luvox improved depression levels about 50 percent, but 5-HTP had an 11 percent lower failure rate than Luvox.¹⁴

In another study, 5-HTP eliminated anxiety symptoms in 58 percent of patients as opposed to 48 percent on Luvox.¹⁵

In terms of side effects, serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like Prozac and Zoloft cause sexual dysfunction in 50–75 percent of users, while 5-HTP studies show no sexual dysfunction and few other side effects.¹⁶,¹⁷ In one study, 5-HTP had fewer side effects than the placebo!

My staff and I have been amazed at how quickly 5-HTP can lift the spirits of clients who had been depressed for so long that they had forgotten what it was like to be cheerful and optimistic. Within a day or two after starting their 5-HTP, they typically report that their feelings of anxiety and negativity have evaporated, that their sleep has improved, and that their self-esteem has been restored. Amazingly, we have seen these 5-HTP transformations take place before our very eyes, in as little as ten minutes. We have watched as surly teens turned into friendly humans, cranky adults turned into comedians, and shy, self-conscious people turned into real charmers.

One of my favorite 5-HTP success stories was told to me by Lynne, a driven, accomplished, and edgy advertising executive who came to see me after she’d been terminated from her job owing to a company merger. Although she initially came because of depression over her job loss, after we’d talked for a while, she realized that she had actually been living under a dark cloud for almost as long as she could remember. Lynne realized that even during the height of her professional success she had not felt good about her accomplishments and was too concerned with the negative possibilities in her life to focus on the positive realities. Like other dark-cloud types, Lynne also stayed up late at night, either worrying or working on projects. As a result, she’d wake up tired and drink several cups of coffee to get going, which further depleted her precious serotonin stores. The only time Lynne smiled easily was when she mentioned tennis, which she played almost daily after work and on weekends. (And a good thing, too, since exercise raises serotonin levels.)

Within minutes of talking to Lynne, it was obvious that she was a perfect candidate for 5-HTP. In addition to suggesting 5-HTP in the afternoon and at bedtime, our staff advised her to eat more protein and take the basic supplements. A week later, when Lynne came back into the office, she was a different person. The previously worried, irritable woman was now smiling and joking. I wasn’t surprised to hear that she was also getting to sleep earlier and waking up so alert that she didn’t need her coffee. Three weeks later, she reported that her mood and sleep were still great, but that another totally unexpected benefit had kicked in. Her tennis game had improved so much that she found herself winning against higher-ranked opponents because she was so much more relaxed and rested. No mean feat at 56! After a few months, Lynne found that she no longer needed her 5-HTP. All of the benefits she’d received by using it were holding, despite the fact that she still had no regular job.

About 85 percent of our dark-cloud clients who have tried 5-HTP, like Lynne, have experienced a remarkable improvement in mood and outlook. The odds of it helping you are overwhelmingly in your favor. However, 5-HTP doesn’t work for everyone. If you don’t feel better after a week on up to 300 milligrams a day of 5-HTP, you can use one of the other super-serotonin-elevating remedies that I discuss next.