The Role of Amino Acidsin Our Well-being

Depression-Free, Naturally
by Joan Mathews Larson, Ph.D.

(Page 5 of 5)

The eighties brought another explosion of exciting nutrient knowledge. Thanks to researchers like Eric Braverman, M.D., and Richard Wurtman, M.D., amino acids emerged as powerful tools for psychiatry because they convert to, or are our, brain neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters create the chemical language of the brain, enabling it to function, to have memory, emotions, thoughts, feel-ings. They stimulate the mind, control depression, produce sleep, and create energy, excitement, and all manner of human responses.

I know this must seem somewhat complex, but it's important to take in the full meaning of that statement. These natural brain substances are creating sanity and well-being. And now, in many cases, the levels of these substances in our bodies can be measured by lab tests and supplemented as needed.

The impact of amino acid research on psychiatry should be monumental. But once again they have the misfortune of being created by Nature, not man; drug companies cannot patent and sell them at exorbitant prices. So there is little monetary reward for researchers who pursue the secrets of amino acids.

Natural Substances vs. Drugs: Politics For Profit?

The emphasis today seems to be on creating artificial drugs that mimic amino acids. For people who are depressed because of too little serotonin, the rush to artificially duplicate the work of the amino acid tryptophan, which converts into serotonin, has resulted in many SSRI-type* drugs that fail to increase serotonin but do play with it in the brain. What the SSRI drugs do is hot-wire the serotonin's neurotransmitter firing mechanism to artificially speed up the pumping of serotonin into the brain. In addition, they block serotonin from being reabsorbed back into the neurotransmitters, as it was designed to do. This results in serotonin accumulating within the brain, artificially creating what humans generally create naturally — that is, enough serotonin to avoid depression. The human body normally does this by supplying enough of the natural amino acid tryptophan, which then converts to serotonin, fully loading all our serotonin neurotransmitters. This is nature's design. Unfortunately, it is almost always true that our firing mechanism works fine, but there is just very little serotonin to fire in certain brains. (And many SSRI drugs can't increase the amount.) What depletes it? Ongoing stress, genetics, poor nutrition, alcohol, and drugs shortchange our natural supply of tryptophan to serotonin. And studies have correlated the depletion of tryptophan, and the decreased ratio between tryptophan and other amino acids, with suicide, depression, and even violence.

SSRI drugs cannot make serotonin. Nor can they supply serotonin. They can only play with the brain's uptake mechanisms — even though it is almost always true that the mechanism that fires serotonin into the brain is undamaged.

Taking SSRI drugs can lead to a myriad of unfortunate results, including severe agitation, violence, and suicide (such results were made public in hearings conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in September 1991). To better understand the SSRI drugs and their possible effects, I recommend Talking Back to Prozac by Peter Breggin, M.D. (St. Martin's Press, 1994). Dr. Breggin suggests another sinister outcome as a result of ongoing use of these antidepressants: To overcome an SSRI-induced glut of serotonin, the brain compensates by down-regulating, or shutting down, excess serotonin receptors. Dr. Breggin documents animal studies that show the numbers of receptors drastically diminished. The most likely explanation is that they have died off, but no one really knows if these serotonin receptor losses are permanent. Drug companies will not undertake this testing — undoubtedly because a finding of irreversible receptor loss could generate a rash of class action lawsuits.

* Serotonin-stimulating receptor inhibitors; for example, Paxil, Prozac, and Zoloft.

The choice American consumers might have had to relieve depression was a $12 bottle of L-tryptophan capsules or a $200-a-month

Prozac-type drug. But very shortly before Prozac made its debut, the FDA removed tryptophan from the U.S. market — because a limited supply of tryptophan had been contaminated by its manufacturer, Showa-Denka. While the rest of the world can still readily buy tryptophan, in the United States it has remained available only by prescription and is only dispensed from a few pharmacies in certain cities. The cost has increased to close to $55 per bottle as of this writing — plus your doctor's visit.*

This is an example of politics played for profit. It also sheds light on why you may have little awareness of what science really knows about the natural chemicals creating your emotions. The good news is that we can measure our amino acid levels with lab testing — and once we attain a proper balance, we will experience huge improvements in terms of our emotional contentment.

Discovering the Chemistry of Emotions and Behavior

To sum up, many dedicated researchers have been burning the midnight oil for you. You'll get to know their work and apply their findings to your own problems in the pages ahead. While we all live with a neurosis or two, some are serious enough to interfere with our happiness. In Seven Weeks to Emotional Healing I'll help you to identify the clues that point to chemistry, not personality, as the cause of your emotional woes. The actual studies and the formulas we have tested at the Health Recovery Center are in the chapters ahead. You will soon have the tools you need to help yourself back into balance so that you are emotionally content, extremely well-balanced, and full of energy and vigor.

* A supposedly "safe" form of tryptophan, 5HTP, is now available over the counter, but while 5HTP raises the serotonin levels in the body, little is admitted to the brain unless another drug, carbidopa, accompanies it. (In Europe, 5HTP is used with carbidopa.) And too much serotonin around the heart will do the same damage as we saw with fen-phen (fenfluramine, diet pills), which raised serotonin levels in the body, causing serious heart damage and death! Warning: Use tryptophan, not 5HTP, to be safe.

Excerpted from Depression-Free, Naturally by Joan Mathews Larson, Ph.D.. Excerpted by permission of Wellspring/Ballantine, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

About the Author

Dr. Joan Mathews Larson is the author of the national bestseller Seven Weeks to Sobriety. She holds a doctorate in nutrition and is the founder and executive director of the highly esteemed Health Recovery Center in Minneapolis. It was the loss of her seventeen-year-old son to suicide that fueled her search for more effective solutions to emotional healing. Her clinic has now successfully treated several thousand people over a twenty-year period. She lives in Minneapolis.