Amino acids?

[james1321]

I read somewhere that certain amino acids help anxiety, is this true? If so what ones.
Cheers

[jessed03]

This is true James. I don't think it is true for everyone though. My opinion of anxiety, is it is often due to a chemical inbalance, and that is due to Serotonin being out of balance.

The big question a person has to ask themselves, is why is your Serotonin out of balance? Are you deficient in vitamins/minerals? Is your thinking 'faulty'? Do you psyche yourself up, causing the body to react? Is it genetic? Is something in the body faulty, i.e thyroid, or certain neurotransmitters? etc etc.

For some people, their neurotransmitters aren't as efficient as they could be. Perhaps they've made dietary changes or they dont eat so well, and they arent getting what they need to fuel that efficiency from food. Perhaps they just naturally aren't very efficient and it isn't the persons fault. Amino acids have a strong role to play in assisting neuro-function, they're like building blocks that the brain and body use.

Taking supplments to help neuro-function does help some, but it's usually those who had a problem with them to begin with, such as slight deficiences in certain amino acids. For instance, I don't eat gluten, it makes me sick, my diet has been pretty poor for a few years until I figured out how to eat healthily. I figured I could be low. I started to supplement with L-Theanine, and 5HTP (A months supply is around £20, $30ish) and I begun to feel very different in a little bit of time.

Some neurotransmitters are believed to be influenced when taking anti-depressants, hence people changing tablets, yet seeing different results. A good psychiatrist will be able to guess which areas of your brain arent functioning, and offer a drug therapy to treat that, of course thats not everyones cup of tea, and sometimes we try to find the causes ourselves, and rectify them without drugs a lot of the time.

In my opinion 5HTP and L-Theanine (as they are very very hard to get from diet alone) are the best combination. But thats my opinion :). I find they hit the areas most anxiety sufferers are bothered by. They improve my mood say, 30%, and I don't even suffer anxiety anymore.

But they won't be relevant for everyone, for instance, google 5-Htp. Some people say it is life changing, others say it's useless. It seems totally split down the middle. It seems it works for some. It did for me. But it may not for you.

There are certain tests you can take to test your amino profile, but it's way cheaper to buy a few supplements and test for yourself, if thats something you wish to do.

I find L-Theanine, Magnesium, Krill oil, 5000mg Vitamin D, and 5-HTP improve my mood by 50%. But of course, all of our bodies are deficient, or respond to certain things differently. It would be impossible to give any advice, other than, if money isn't a problem, try the 4 things in bold that I've mention above. Vitamin D supplementation depends on your levels, but there are no reports of toxicity at therapeutic levels, so adding that in will cause no harm if you don't know what yours are. From my experience, they have the best strike rate.

Best of luck James, I do think if you have the finance, it is worth exploring, it's not hugely expensive to get 3 months worth of this stuff, but I know not everyone with anxiety is working or has savings to burn. There is a sticky at the top, in which the member had life changing results. Worth a gamble for a few dollars perhaps!

*Side Note: Be careful trying amino's if you're on anti-depressants, ask your doctor first, just incase*

[nf1234]

Yes very true. Amino acids as well as vitamins, minerals, and herbal supplements. I recommend the book The Mood Cure By Julia Ross. That thing is packed with self quizzes to show you what things you are probably low in based on your symptoms. It then tells you what to take and how to change your diet to correct those imbalances. If your skeptical just read the reviews on Amazon.