The Power of 5-HTP: Exploring the Health Benefits

The Power of 5-HTP: Exploring the Health Benefits

These days mood disorders like anxiety and depression are on the rise. Further, psychological stress is also causing other mental and physical health issues. High stress and mood issues also lead to sleep disturbances, a greater risk of metabolic disorders, and more.

Multiple ways exist to manage these mood issues, counter stress, and enhance sleep quality. The safer way to address these issues is through lifestyle interventions like exercise and nutrition therapy. Supplementing diet with 5-HTP is one of the safe ways to boost brain health, reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, and enhance sleep quality.

What Is 5-HTP?

5-HTP is quite a safe food supplement, as it is an amino acid precursor to serotonin. It means that the body utilizes it to produce more serotonin, one of the most important neurotransmitters affecting mood, learning, emotions, and sleep.

In the human body, 5-HTP is produced using tryptophan, one of the important amino acids in various proteins. However, it increasing the intake of 5-HTP is a more efficient way to boost serotonin production in the body. Higher serotonin production means better mood, higher stress resilience, and lesser risk of depression. It may also help enhance sleep quality1.

What are the Benefits of 5-HTP?

Serotonin is one of the most vital neurotransmitters controlling mood, sleep, digestion, sexual desire, and influencing some other body functions like wound healing. 5-HTP works by boosting serotonin production and thus have similar health benefits. Zenkgo Herbal Mood Plus Support is a better way to supplement 5-HTP intake.

May Aid in Reducing Obesity

Researchers are now increasingly realizing that obesity has much to do with increasing rates of mood disorders and sleep issues. People living with mood disorders are more likely to engage in binge eating, have altered food choices, and are less likely to engage in exercise.

Hence, new studies show that supplements like 5-HTP, which help boost brain health and mood, can also help improve body composition. Numerous studies are showing that regular use of 5-HTP is good for weight loss and managing obesity. It appears to work by influencing appetite centers in the brain and food choices2.

May Help with Stress and Depression

These days life is full of stress. Therefore, no surprise that the prevalence of more severe issues like depression is rising. Stress and depression are better managed without medications, especially in their early stages, and pharmacological therapy is reserved for more severe instances.

There could be many non-pharmacological means to reduce stress and depression, like exercise and practicing mindfulness. However, supplementing the diet with 5-HTP may significantly help boost mood and prevent or even manage these mood disorders.

There is strong evidence from multiple clinical studies that 5-HTP is among the most potent non-pharmacological means for managing depression. Studies suggest that it can help overcome depression in the majority of cases. Moreover, it is worth understanding that 5-HTP is also safe for use along with medications that primarily aim at boosting the brain’s serotonin levels3.

Could Potentially Improve Sleep Quality

One of the simplest ways to reduce the risk of chronic health issues like high blood pressure, obesity, bad cholesterol, and inflammatory conditions is by improving sleep quality and quantity. But the question remains, how to do that?

Perhaps, one of the best ways to enhance sleep quality is by doing physical exercise, improving sleep hygiene (like sleeping at fixed times and not using gadgets in the bed), and nutrition therapy.

What is good about 5-HTP is that it enhances sleep quality without causing drowsiness. It does alter sleep architecture and improves sleep quality more naturally. 5-HTP boosts melatonin production, reduces anxiety, normalizes various hormones, enhances circadian rhythm, and thus improves sleep4.

May Help Manage Symptoms of Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a complex and poorly understood medical condition causing chronic body aches and tenderness. It is a diagnosis of exclusion. People living with mood and sleep disorders are prone to the condition. Thus, studies suggest that 5-HTP may help by improving melatonin production and improving mood and sleep quality. It may also help by reducing the risk of depression and other mood disorders5.

The Bottom Line

5-HTP is an amino acid that boosts serotonin production in the body, thus naturally helping reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, improve sleep, and help counter issues like fibromyalgia. Though this amino acid is naturally present in some foods like seeds, and poultry, but the best way to get this amino acid is through supplements like Zenkgo Herbal Mood Plus Support. Since it not only contains 5-HTP but also many other ingredients known to counter stress and improve mood.

References

  1. Birdsall TC. 5-Hydroxytryptophan: a clinically-effective serotonin precursor. Altern Med Rev J Clin Ther. 1998;3(4):271-280.
  2. Evans C, Mekhail V, Curtis J, et al. The Effects of 5-HTP on Body Composition: An 8-Week Preliminary RCT. J Diet Suppl. 2023;20(4):621-630. doi:10.1080/19390211.2022.2076760
  3. Javelle F, Lampit A, Bloch W, Häussermann P, Johnson SL, Zimmer P. Effects of 5-hydroxytryptophan on distinct types of depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutr Rev. 2020;78(1):77-88. doi:10.1093/nutrit/nuz039
  4. Sutanto C, Heng CW, Gan AX, Wang X, Fam J, Kim JE. The Impact of 5-Hydroxytryptophan Supplementation on Sleep Quality of Older Adults in Singapore: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Curr Dev Nutr. 2021;5:372. doi:10.1093/cdn/nzab037_082
  5. Rathore FA, Afridi A. Is combination pharmacotherapy effective for management of fibromyalgia in adults? - A Cochrane Review summary with commentary. J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact. 2020;20(3):297-300.

 

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