dietary-supplements

Jarrow Formulas, 5-HTP, 50 mg, 90 Veggie Caps

SKU/UPC : 790011150442

Product Code : JF5044

Package Details : 90 Capsules

Serving Size : 1

Serving per Container : This bottle will last for 90 Days

Price(र) : 2910.00

Ships in 2 weeks

Quantity :

Description:

• Supports Serotonin Synthesis
• Dietary Supplement
• 5-Hydroxytryptophan Capsules
• May Be Useful In Promoting Mental Health (as a precursor to serotonin)
• Melatonin Precursor: May Promote Sleep.

Jarrow formulas 5-HTP (5-Hydroxytryptophan) is an extract of Griffonia simplicifolia seeds from coastal West Africa and is verified to be free of the "peak X" contaminant. Purity is assured by HPLC.  5-HTP is the direct metabolic precursor of serotonin and is important for the protection of melatonin.

Gain emotional balance and learn to smile again with 5-HTP, the direct metabolic precursor of serotonin, commonly called the "happy" hormone. 5-HTP is also important for the production of melatonin, another important hormone that helps us enjoy restful sleep. Jarrow Formulas 5-HTP (5-Hydroxytryptophan) is an extract of Griffonia simplicifolia seeds from coastal West Africa.

 


Suggested Use:

Take 1 capsule per day on an empty stomach, or as directed by your qualified health care consultant.

 

Supplement Facts:

Serving Size: 1 Capsule

 

Amount Per Capsule

% DV

5-HTP (5-Hydroxytryptophan)

50 mg

*

* Daily Value not established

 

Other Ingredients:

Cellulose, magnesium stearate (vegetable source) and silicon dioxide. Capsule consists of gelatin.

No wheat, no gluten, no soybeans, no dairy, no egg, no fish/shellfish, no peanuts/tree nuts.

 

Warnings:

Keep out of the reach of children.

If you have a medical condition, are pregnant, lactating, or trying to conceive, are under the age of 18, or are taking medications (especially SSRI's, MAOs, or sedatives), consult your healthcare practitioner before using this product.


Q.What is 5-HTP?
A. 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) is a metabolite (a substance produced by metabolism) of the amino acid tryptophan. You may know tryptophan as the substance in turkey that makes you feel like taking a nap after Thanksgiving dinner. 5-HTP is a direct precursor of the important inhibitory neurotransmitter serotonin, which is secreted in response to mood or emotion swings. Serotonin soothes and calms and brings about feelings of contentment. It is also the precursor to the antioxidant and sleep enhancer called melatonin, which is produced in the pineal gland by the conversion of serotonin.

 

Q.What advantages does 5-HTP have over L-tryptophan?
A.There are many advantages of 5-HTP over L-tryptophan. First of all, because it is one step closer to serotonin it is more effective. 5-HTP is also inherently safer. Although L-tryptophan is safe if properly prepared and free of the contaminants linked to a severe allergic reaction known as eosinophilia myalgia syndrome (EMS), 5-HTP is a much better choice from a therapeutic and safety perspective. Most commercially available 5-HTP is isolated from a natural source – a seed from an African plant (Griffonia simplicifolia).

 

Q.Has 5-HTP been studied in the treatment of depression?
A.There is excellent documentation that 5-HTP is an effective antidepressant agent. 5-HTP often produces very good results in patients who are unresponsive to standard antidepressant drugs. One of the more impressive studies involved 99 patients described as suffering from “therapy resistant” depression. These patients had not responded to any previous therapy including all available antidepressant drugs as well as electroconvulsive therapy. These therapy resistant patients received 5-HTP at dosages averaging 200 mg daily but ranging from 50 to 600 mg per day. Complete recovery was seen in 43 of the 99 patients and significant improvement was noted in 8 more. Such significant improvement in patients suffering from long-standing, unresponsive depression is quite impressive prompting the author of another study to state “5-HTP merits a place in the front of the ranks of the antidepressants instead of being used as a last resort.

 

Q.Are there any studies where 5-HTP was compared directly to antidepressant drugs?
A.Yes, there are several. 5-HTP is equal to or better than standard antidepressant drugs and the side effects are much less severe. The study with the most significance was one that compared to fluvoxamine, a “selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor” like Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft. In the study, subjects received either 5-HTP (100 mg) or fluvoxamine (50 mg) three times daily for 6 weeks. 3 The percentage decrease in overall depression scores was slightly better in the 5-HTP group (60.7% vs. 56.1%). More patients responded to 5-HTP than fluvoxamine and 5-HTP was quicker acting than the fluvoxamine.
The real advantage of 5-HTP in this study was the low rate of side effect. Here is how the physicians described the differences among the two groups:
“Whereas the two treatment groups did not differ significantly in the number of patients sustaining adverse events, the interaction between the degree of severity and the type of medication was highly significant: fluvoxamine predominantly produced moderate to severe, oxitriptan [5-HTP] primarily mild forms of adverse effects.”
The most common side effects with 5-HTP were nausea, heartburn, and gastrointestinal problems (flatulence, feelings of fullness, and rumbling sensations). These side effects were rated as being very mild to mild. In contrast, most of the side effects experienced in the fluvoxamine group were of moderate to severe intensity.
Using 5-HTP in 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.

 

Q.What effect does 5-HTP have on weight loss?
A.As far back as 1975, researchers demonstrated that administering 5-HTP) to rats that were bred to overeat and be obese resulted in significant reduction in food intake. It turns out that these rats have decreased activity of the enzyme that converts tryptophan to 5-HTP and subsequently to serotonin. In other words, these rats are fat as a result of a genetically determined low level of activity of the enzyme that starts the manufacture of serotonin from tryptophan. As a result, these rats never get the message to stop eating until they have consumed far greater amounts of food than normal rats. There is much circumstantial evidence that many humansare genetically predisposed to obesity. This predisposition may involve the same mechanism as that observed in rats genetically predisposed to obesity. In other words, many people may be predisposed to being overweight because they have a decreased conversion of tryptophan to 5-HTP and, as a result, decreased serotonin levels. By providing preformed 5-HTP, this genetic defect is bypassed and more serotonin is manufactured. 5-HTP literally turns off hunger. The early animal studies that used 5-HTP as a weight loss aid have been followed by a series of four human clinical studies of overweight women, conducted at the University of Rome. The first study showed that 5-HTP was able to reduce caloric intake and promote weight loss despite the fact that the women made no conscious effort to lose weight. The average amount of weight loss during the five-week period of 5-HTP supplementation was a little more than 3 pounds.

 

Q.How does 5-HTP compare with melatonin in the treatment of insomnia?
A.5-HTP may prove to be better than melatonin. Several clinical studies have shown 5-HTP to produce good results in promoting and maintaining sleep in normal subjects as well as those experiencing insomnia. One of the key benefits with 5-HTP in the treatment of insomnia, is its ability to increase sleep quality.

 

Q.How does 5-HTP benefit headache sufferers?
A.Because chronic headache sufferers have low levels of serotonin in their tissues, some researchers refer to migraine and chronic headaches as a “low serotonin syndrome.” There have been several clinical studies with 5-HTP in headaches, both migraine and tension headaches, that have showed excellent results. In particular, the use of 5-HTP in the prevention of migraine headache offers considerable advantages over drug therapy. Although a number of drugs have been shown to be useful in the prevention of migraine headaches, all of them carry significant side effects. In contrast, 5-HTP is very safe.

 

Q.What is fibromyalgia and how does 5-HTP help?
A.Fibromyalgia is a recently recognized disorder regarded as a common cause of chronic musculoskeletal pain and fatigue. The history of the development of 5-HTP as an effective treatment for fibromyalgia began with studies on the drug fenclonine. This drug blocks the enzyme which converts tryptophan to 5-HTP and as result blocks serotonin production. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, it was thought that increased serotonin formation may promote migraine headaches (the opposite of what was later proved, i.e., increasing serotonin levels reduce migraine headache occurrence). The researchers discovered that providing headache sufferers with fenclonine resulted in very severe muscle pain. This effect was exactly opposite of what was expected, but led to some important advances in the understanding of fibromyalgia--a way to induce its severe symptoms of (as well as symptoms nearly identical to EMS, the condition caused by contaminated L-tryptophan). The researchers also discovered that migraine sufferers reacted to the drug much more than non-headache sufferers. In fact, in most normal subjects fenclonine produced no fibromyalgia. These occurrences highlight just how sensitive migraine sufferers are to low serotonin levels. Migraine headaches and fibromyalgia share a common feature: both are low serotonin syndromes. After over 25 years of research, one of the lead researchers has stated that “In our experience, as well as in that of other pain specialists, 5-HTP can largely improve the painful picture of primary fibromyalgia.” Double-blind studies support this contention.

 

Q.What is the best way to take 5-HTP?
A.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 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.

 

Q.What about using 5-HTP with antidepressant drugs?
A.Although 5-HTP has been shown to work very well with antidepressant drugs in clinical trials, my recommendation is that if you are taking a prescription antidepressant drug, DO NOT take 5-HTP until you consult with your doctor. It is possible for serotonin levels to get too high. The result is a condition known as the “serotonin syndrome,” which is characterized by confusion, fever, shivering, sweating, diarrhea, and muscle spasms. That being said, with your doctor’s supervision, 5-HTP can be used in conjunction with antidepressant drugs. The typical dosage schedule is to begin with a dosage of 5-HTP at 50 mg three times daily; after one month, the dosage of the antidepressant drug can be cut in half. If satisfactory response is achieved after the next month, increase the dosage of 5-HTP to 100 mg three times daily and discontinue the medication. Again, your physician must supervise any change in the dosage of your medication.

 

Q.Wasn’t the drug Redux, which raises serotonin levels, taken off the market because it caused damage to the heart valves due to elevated blood serotonin levels? Is there a risk with 5-HTP doing the same?
A.In September 1997, the popular weight loss drug Redux and its chemical cousin fenfluramine, part of the “fen-phen” combination, were taken off the market based on a study showing that these drugs may have caused permanent damage to heart valves in as many as one-third of the people who took them. There is no evidence that 5-HTP produces these effects. Unlike Redux, 5-HTP does not raise blood serotonin levels to a significant degree nor does it block reuptake of serotonin. The point here is that 5-HTP does not disrupt the normal process of serotonin release, reabsorbtion, and elimination from the body. 5-HTP is not a synthetic drug; it is an amino acid produced naturally by your body’s metabolism.

 

Q.Is 5-HTP safe for long term use?
A.Yes, but to be on the safe side I recommend that long-term continual use of 5-HTP be monitored by regular (every six months) eosinophil determination. This determination is part of a standard laboratory blood test known as a complete blood count (CBC).
Do not use 5-HTP during pregnancy or lactation.
Do not use 5-HTP in Parkinson’s disease.
Do not use 5-HTP if you have sceleroderma (linked to a defect in tryptophan metabolism).

 

Q.Are there any drug interactions?
A.Again, because 5-HTP is the direct precursor to serotonin, it should not be used by individuals taking antidepressant drugs without close medical supervision. 5-HTP may antagonize the effects of drugs used in migraine headaches like methysergide and cyproheptadine.

 

Q. What about carbidopa and vitamin B6?
A.The drug carbidopa blocks the conversion of 5-HTP to serotonin from occurring outside the brain. This effect initially was thought to be desirable and the combination of 5-HTP and carbidopa was used in several studies. However, studies using 5-HTP alone (i.e., without carbidopa) were shown to produce even better results, especially in relieving depression. Vitamin B6 is required for the conversion of 5-HTP to serotonin. Some “experts” advise against taking 5-HTP at the same time with vitamin B6 while others recommend taking the two simultaneously. The bottom line is that there is no evidence that taking vitamin B6 with 5-HTP increases the conversion of 5-HTP to serotonin in the blood (an undesirable effect) while there is evidence that lack of vitamin B6 will definitely reduce brain serotonin manufacture. My recommendation is that adequate B6 stores are achieved by taking a high potency multiple vitamin and mineral formula.


IT WORKS!  (11/04/2012)  
This is really a GREAT stuff. I love all of Jarrow's products and now sleep AMAZINGLY!!!