Our bodies need proteins to function, and each protein is made up of 22 amino acids.  Some of those amino acids are produced by your body.  Others must be ingested from food or supplements.  Tryptophan is an essential amino acid. This means it cannot be created by our bodies and therefore must be consumed.

The Research

Many people have found tryptophan to be a safe and reasonably effective sleep aid, probably because it can also increase your brain’s levels of serotonin (a calming neurotransmitter when present in moderate levels) and/or melatonin (a sleep-inducing hormone secreted by the pineal gland in response to darkness or low light levels).

Clinical research tends to confirm that tryptophan is effective as a sleep aid and for a growing variety of other conditions typically associated with low serotonin levels or activity in the brain such as seasonal affective disorder (SAD).  In particular, tryptophan has been showing promise as an antidepressant alone, and as an “augmenter” of antidepressant drugs.  However, the reliability of these clinical trials has been questioned.

According to Life Extension magazine, the minimal dose of L-Tryptophan for effective treatment of insomnia may be at least 1,000 mg, and repeat administration of L-tryptophan may be required for chronic insomnia.    Doses as high as 3,000 mg daily are said to be safe.  Click here for a detailed article on insomnia from the magazine.

Food sources
Tryptophan is a routine constituent of most protein-based foods or dietary proteins. It is particularly plentiful in bananas, cacao, cottage cheese, chickpeas, dried dates, eggs, fish, mangoes, milk, oats, poultry, red meat, sesame, yogurt, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame, spirulina, and sunflower seeds.  It is also found in turkey at a level typical of poultry in general.

Use as a dietary supplement
For some time, L-tryptophan has been available in health food stores as a supplement to the above dietary sources.  Of course it’s also available online.  Life Extension is one of the resources.

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