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5HTP Herbal Supplement

What is 5-HTP?
5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) is an amino acid that is the intermediate step between tryptophan and the important brain chemical serotonin. There is a massive amount of evidence that suggests that low serotonin levels are a common consequence of modern living. The lifestyle and dietary practices of many people living in this stress-filled era results in lowered levels of serotonin within the brain. As a result, many people are overweight, crave sugar and other carbohydrates, experience bouts of depression, get frequent headaches, and have vague muscle aches and pain. All of these maladies are correctable by raising brain serotonin levels. The primary therapeutic applications for 5-HTP are low serotonin states as listed in Table 1.
Table 1. Conditions associated with low serotonin levels helped by 5-HTP

Depression
Obesity
Carbohydrate craving
Bulimia
Insomnia
Narcolepsy
Sleep apnea
Migraine headaches
Tension headaches
Chronic daily headaches
Premenstrual syndrome
Fibromyalgia

Although 5-HTP may be relatively new to the United States health food industry, it has been available through pharmacies for several years and has been intensely researched for the past three decades. It has been available in several European countries as a medicine since the 1970s.

What is the best way to take 5-HTP?
For depression, weight loss, headaches, and fibromyalgia the dosage should be started at 50 mg three times per day. If the response is inadequate after two weeks, increase the dosage to 100 mg three times per day. This recommendation will greatly reduce the mild symptoms of nausea often experienced during the first few weeks of 5-HTP therapy. Using enteric-coated capsules or tablets (pills prepared in a manner so that they will not dissolve in the stomach) significantly reduces the likelihood of nausea. Because 5-HTP does not rely on the same transport vehicle as L-tryptophan, it can also be taken with food. But, if you are taking 5-HTP for weight loss I recommend taking it 20 minutes before meals.

For insomnia, I recommend 100 to 300 mg thirty to forty-five minutes before retiring. Start with the lower dose for at least three days before increasing dosage.

I stole this info from www.5HTP.com, if you want more info, or wanna buy some, I reccomend this site as they stock 10 different brands of 5-HTP and will more than happily ship it to you. I have no problems with getting it into the country, and have never had my packages opened by customs. The maximum you can buy at once is 3 months supply. Average price is around $19 US.

For those unfortunate souls who live in WA, if you don't have friends who can act as a re-router for you, then give bananas a go. but I'm talking monkey quantities.
Bananas habour a form of 5-HTP, althought nowhere near the reccommended 50mg dose. But hey, every little bit helps.

Good news is, they are testing this stuff for introduction into Australia, and sometime in the next 3 years you'll be able to saunter into your local chemist and stock up. Unfortunatley for WA'ers, I don't believe this applies to you, seeing as the state laws there barely permit you to have panadol.

I hope this has been of use to some of you.
=)