The Importance of 5-HTP

Do you ever wonder why you feel happy? Sad? Tired? Anxious? In addition to external stimuli, the various emotions you feel on a daily basis can be attributed to neurotransmitters. You've probably heard of some of them before - serotonin, melatonin, and more - but today we're going to talk about one of their very important precursors: 5-HTP. This important natural chemical that your body produces (you can also get it through diet) can have a pretty big effect on your daily emotions and your nightly sleep pattern. To learn all about how important 5 HTP is for feeling more relaxed and getting better sleep, keep reading.

5-HTP for Sleep and Mood Balance

5-HTP is important because is a precursor for two of the most influential neurotransmitters in your body: serotonin and melatonin. 5-HTP starts out as the base molecule that your brain uses to make more serotonin. It starts out as tryptophan, which is easy to obtain if you eat a healthy amount of protein. It's especially abundant in turkey meat, which is why so many people feel sleepy after a big, Thanksgiving meal.

But before 5-HTP becomes melatonin, it is first converted into serotonin. And in a lot of ways, health experts believe that supplementing with 5-HTP can help alleviate symptoms of depression. When 5-HTP crosses the blood-brain barrier and gets broken down into serotonin, it creates and abundance of these happy molecules similarly to prescription drugs like Prozac or Zoloft. But unlike these harsh prescription drugs, 5-HTP does not come with nearly as many dangerous side effects.

Once the lights go down and your body begins to wind down for the night, all of the extra serotonin in your brain gets converted into melatonin.This help send a signal to your brain that it's time to fall asleep for the day. But when you don't have enough melatonin you won't feel sleepy or relaxed once the sun goes down. This can contribute to a lot of people's sleepless nights.

How to Get More 5-HTP

For some people, getting enough 5-HTP into their system each day can be complicated. After all, it's completely impractical to eat a large turkey dinner every night before bed. Others may have dietary restrictions that prevent them from getting enough protein. That's why so many people resort to supplementing their 5-HTP requirements through natural botanical nutraceuticals.

Whether you're trying to be a vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, most 5-HTP supplements can still fit into your diet without causing any problems. There is an African climbing shrub known as Griffonia simplicifolia, and most 5 HTP supplement manufacturers extract it from this plant-based source. So if you're laying awake at night worried that your sleep supplement might be bad for your system, worry no more!

We hope you now have a better understanding of how 5-HTP can not only help alleviate your sleepless nights, but how it's good for your overall health in general. And if you're curious about which supplements we would recommend, go ahead and click here!