Use Tryptophan to Boost Serotonin for Better Mental Health

Boosting serotonin levels with tryptophan can improve depression, anxiety, ADHD, and more. Learn how tryptophan supplements and foods can help. Every Thanksgiving, tryptophan gets its 15 minutes of fame as the amino acid in turkey that makes you tired. (Contrary to popular belief, it’s the massive amount of carbs you eat — not turkey — that’s responsible). Boost serotonin levels for improved mental health is a common goal, and using tryptophan is one method gaining attention for its potential benefits.

For the rest of the year, tryptophan is largely ignored, and that’s unfortunate …

Because tryptophan is an essential building block for serotonin, an important mood-boosting neurotransmitter.

Yet, due to a biological quirk, very little dietary tryptophan is available for serotonin synthesis.

For many people, this may not be a problem.

Depression, anxiety, ADHD, memory loss, indulge eating, and a host of other mental health issues correlate with a low level of tryptophan.

So a lack of bioavailable tryptophan could have a big impact on your life.

Read on to learn how to strategically use food and tryptophan supplements to optimize serotonin levels.

How Tryptophan Raises Serotonin Levels

Tryptophan, an essential amino acid, is necessary to synthesize serotonin, the neurotransmitter known as the “happy molecule.”

You can see the pathway of serotonin synthesis from tryptophan in the diagram below.

Serotonin plays a large role in mood, sleep, learning, and appetite control.

Many widely believe that depression stems from a low serotonin level.

The most popular antidepressant medications, such as Prozac and Zoloft, are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), believed to function by increasing the availability of serotonin in the brain.

If you want more serotonin, you can’t just pop a “serotonin pill” since serotonin molecules are too large to enter the brain.

But you can increase serotonin levels by instead providing more of its raw material in the form of tryptophan.

The Key Role of Tryptophan in 10 Mental Health Disorders

By increasing serotonin levels, tryptophan can improve the quality of life for people who have a surprising variety of brain-related and mental health issues. 

1. Tryptophan and Depression

Studies have found tryptophan to be as effective for depression as antidepressant drugs. 

This is an exciting discovery for the millions of people for whom antidepressants either don’t work or have unacceptable side effects.

Note: Do not mix SSRIs and tryptophan without talking to your doctor. When taken together, they can cause serious side effects.

2. Tryptophan and Anxiety

Researchers have found tryptophan to be beneficial in reducing general anxiety, social anxiety disorder, and panic attacks.

3. Tryptophan and ADHD

Both attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and serotonin imbalances associate with low levels of tryptophan.

Children with ADHD have blood levels of tryptophan 50% lower than average.

4. Tryptophan and Memory Loss

Low tryptophan levels can cause long-term memory loss and impair other cognitive functions. 

Research has found that tryptophan improves memory in both healthy adults and those with depression.

5. Tryptophan and PMS

Ladies, if your family tries to avoid you when it’s “that time of the month,” you might benefit from additional tryptophan.

Tryptophan can offer significant relief from premenstrual syndrome (PMS) symptoms such as mood swings and irritability. 

6. Tryptophan and Bipolar Disorder

By increasing serotonin levels, tryptophan supplements can alleviate the depression that accompanies bipolar disorder.

Tryptophan is not as effective as lithium and doesn’t help mania, so it won’t replace, but can support, conventional medical treatment.

Tryptophan can reduce symptoms of tardive dyskinesia, a common side effect of antipsychotic drugs. 

If you have bipolar disorder, seek the help of a medical professional before adding tryptophan to your supplement regimen.

7. Tryptophan and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Doctors sometimes prescribe SSRIs to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

When taken for OCD, tryptophan enhances the effects of SSRIs. 

Researchers have found tryptophan to be particularly helpful when taken with niacin and vitamin B6, which act as cofactors necessary for converting tryptophan into serotonin.

8. Tryptophan and Seasonal Affective Disorder

The conventional medical treatments for seasonal affective disorder (SAD) are cognitive behavioral therapy and/or light therapy.

But if these don’t help or are not conducive to your lifestyle, try taking tryptophan.

When tryptophan is taken either on its own or along with light therapy, it can reduce the symptoms of SAD. 

9. Tryptophan and Eating Disorders

Dieting causes low tryptophan and serotonin levels, especially in women.

This can lead to increased cravings and indulge eating since serotonin helps regulate appetite and food intake.

People with bulimia tend to have low serotonin levels.

Some suspect that low levels of tryptophan and serotonin may trigger indulge eating.

Tryptophan supplements, especially when taken with vitamin B6, can improve eating habits, feelings about eating, and mood. 

10. Tryptophan and Insomnia

Besides being the precursor to serotonin, tryptophan is also a building block of the sleep hormone melatonin.

Tryptophan can help you fall asleep faster, sleep longer, and wake less often in the night.

It can also produce significant improvements in obstructive sleep apnea.

Taking a tryptophan supplement at bedtime along with a small carbohydrate snack will improve its uptake into the brain.

The Dilemma of Increasing Serotonin With Tryptophan-Rich Foods

If you think you could benefit from more tryptophan, the next logical question is:

Should you try to get tryptophan from food or is it better to take a tryptophan supplement?

The best food sources of tryptophan are animal products — meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, and dairy. 

But there is a big problem with trying to increase your level of tryptophan from these foods.

“ Tryptophan is one of the rare cases where supplements work better than the naturally occurring tryptophan found in food.

These foods are also all high in protein, and paradoxically, both tryptophan and serotonin levels drop after eating a meal containing protein. 

This is because protein blocks the synthesis of tryptophan into serotonin.

The trick for working around this dilemma is actually quite simple though.

Strategic eating of carbohydrates alone (with no protein) at some meals allows tryptophan to enter the brain and boost serotonin levels.

There are a handful of relatively low-protein, tryptophan-rich foods that you can include in your diet, such as spinach and other green leafy vegetables, sea vegetables, soybeans, asparagus, mushrooms, and sunflower or sesame seeds. 

According to the International Journal of Tryptophan Research, the top food sources of tryptophan proven to actually enter the brain to synthesize serotonin are dairy products, poultry, tuna, and oatmeal. 

Why Supplemental Tryptophan Works Better Than Food

Tryptophan, the least common among all the amino acids in the body, is needed in abundance to perform a variety of functions.

Stress, insulin resistance, magnesium deficiency, vitamin B6 deficiency, and increasing age can affect our ability to turn tryptophan into serotonin. 

Even if you eat a lot of tryptophan foods, only a small amount — less than 1% — is available for serotonin synthesis in the brain.

For these reasons, tryptophan is one of the rare cases where tryptophan supplements work better than the tryptophan found in food. 

Tryptophan Supplement Safety, Side Effects, and Interactions

Tryptophan supplements were actually banned for some years following an incident in 1989 when a contaminated supplement batch caused thousands of side effects, including several fatalities. 

The ban lifted years ago, and over the past 25 years, thousands of studies have shown no safety issues with tryptophan supplementation.

It’s now well established that there is nothing inherently dangerous about tryptophan.

However, tryptophan supplementation is not right for everyone.

People with liver or kidney disease should avoid taking tryptophan, and researchers have not established its safety for pregnant women or nursing mothers.

The most common side effects of tryptophan supplements are digestive upset, loss of appetite, headache, and drowsiness.

Tryptophan should not be taken along with SSRIs or supplements that increase serotonin, such as 5-HTP or SAM-e (S-adenosylmethionine).

When taken together, these supplements can increase serotonin levels too much, causing a potentially serious condition known as serotonin syndrome.

Additionally, tryptophan should not be taken with sedating drugs (sleeping pills, benzodiazepines) or relaxing supplements (hops, kava, St. John’s wort, valerian).

Any of these combinations can cause excessive drowsiness.

Tryptophan is known to interact with more than 70 prescription drugs. 

If you are unsure whether any drugs or supplements you take should not be mixed with tryptophan, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.

In the meantime, check for interactions using one of these reputable online interaction checkers.

Tryptophan Supplement Dosage

There is no official recommended dosage for tryptophan and suggested doses vary widely, depending on the reason for taking it.

For example, a typical low dose is 60 mg, while a high dose of 8 to 12 grams is recommended for depression. 

Tryptophan is available either in capsules or as a loose bulk powder (which we recommend if you are taking large doses).

Most supplement manufacturers suggest a daily dose of 500 to 1,000 mg.

If you don’t know where to begin, we suggest starting with a low dose and then working your way up to a higher dose as needed and tolerated.

3 Ways Tryptophan Is Superior to 5-HTP

Another way to raise serotonin levels is with the mood-enhancing supplement 5-HTP.

You may recall from the chart at the beginning of this article that tryptophan is first broken down into 5-HTP and is then converted to serotonin.

But there are three compelling reasons that make supplemental tryptophan superior to 5-HTP:

• Tryptophan has proven to be beneficial for a long list of mental health concerns while 5-HTP’s purported benefits are more hype than substance.
•  5-HTP can have significant side effects and interactions and often loses its effectiveness when taken more than a few months.  
• Tryptophan, unlike 5-HTP, does not deplete other important brain chemicals.

This last drawback is a deal breaker.

5-HTP increases serotonin, but at a cost.

Over time, 5-HTP eventually depletes dopamine, another neurotransmitter that’s critical for good mood. 

This is why 5-HTP works for some people for a while, but then suddenly stops working.

Tryptophan, on the other hand, increases levels of dopamine, along with feel-good endorphins.

Recommended: Upgrading brain health is key to making your brain work better.

Brain supplement can help you:

• Improve your mental clarity and focus.
• Boost your memory and your ability to learn.
• Increase your capacity to think critically, solve problems, and make decisions.

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