RE: Re: sleep/turkey/tryptophan - 5HTP

[Guest guest]

Be careful about taking 5HTP. It has the potential to produce seratonin outside

the brain (l-tryptophan does not), which may cause heart valve damage. My

exposure to this came from the Life Extension Foundation, who was alterted to

this by a Dr. . Apparently Dr. considers the widespread use

of 5HTP to be like a time-bomb waiting to go off when the first cases of

irreversible heart valve defects appear.

Based on this, I decided to avoid 5HTP.

http://www.lef.org/magazine/hotlines3.html

and

http://smart-drugs.net/ias-tryptophan-article.htm

toward the bottom of the page:

" when 5HTP is swallowed, large amounts of 5HTP may be picked up by these

intestinal serotonergic neurons and quickly converted to serotonin, leading to

hyperactivity of these nerves.

This in turn may lead to nausea, vomiting, cramping, constipation and/ or

diarrhea, and indeed, the research published on 5HTP since the 1970's has

consistently shown various forms of intestinal discomfort to be the main side

effect of 5HTP use.

--Jo

> -----Original Message-----

> From: alexmatul [mailto:alrmatul@...]

> Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2002 10:54 AM

>

> Subject: [ ] Re: sleep/turkey/tryptophan

>

>

> Hi Francesca,

>

> Have you ever considered to supplement with 5-htp?

> You might want to check out these sites:

>

> http://www.raysahelian.com/5-htp.html

> (this one mentions among the benefits: better sleep and a decrease in

> appetite)

>

> http://www.ceri.com/rev-sero.htm

>

> Beyond a century sells it.

>

> Ciao,

> .

>

>

> > The last couple of night I had great restful unmedicated sleeps

> lasting 7-8

> > hours! Could it be because turkey was on our dinner menu? I

> remember that

> > turkey has high amounts of tryptophan (precursor to seratonin?)

> which aids

> > sleep. I know there are other foods (milk?) which contain high

> amounts of

> > this. Since my prescription pills aren't even working anymore

> (and natural

> > foods are so much better than pills) I'm delighted if this will

> continue to

> > work for me.

> >

> > Anyone have a good website so I can brush up on this information?

> I'm

> > prepared to keep a supply of cooked turkey in my freezer if need

> be, if

> > that's what it takes for a good night's sleep.

>