Recovering/boosting serritoin?

I may be mistaken (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), but there are no foods that containg 5htp. The thing I believe you are talking about is L-tryptophan... L-tryptophan is the precursor to 5htp... Food that contains LT in the proteins -> 5-HTP -> serotonin

However, L-tryptophan is used by the body to make various proteins, and in people with low to moderate intakes of vitamin B3 (niacin/ niacinamide), tryptophan may be used by the liver to make B3. Thus, the brain typically receives less than 1% of ingested tryptophan.

So while eating the foods you mention may help, you really need to eat lots of it to achieve anywhere near the serotonin replenishing effects necessary. Sorry to hear it is so difficult for you to purchase 5htp. I did find an article stating that 5htp in Europe is marketed under the names Cincofarm and Tript-OH. Maybe you will have better luck locating those.

 

Probably you're right, I'm not a chemist and for me when reading L-tryptophan sounds the same as 5-hydroxytryptophan, despite it is not. Sorry if I've missleaded somebody, but the L-tryptophan which is in these foods works as precursor to 5-htp and then to serotonin too. I've had the same doubt about the amount of these foods to achieve some visible effect, obviously they will not work well for such heavy serotonin users like us, so we should use 5-htp in tablet form.

Thanks for the info, ChopperPilot, I'll search these names too and when it's done I'll report the result here.

 

http://ivy_league0.tripod.com/rhyme_of_the_ancient_wanderer/id39.html

says carbohydrates increase serotonin levels

 

I think we're dealing with 2 different things- "production" and "use"

Production meaning creating serotonin that can then be used by the brain. IE: Tryptophan and 5-htp are precursors to serotonin. They get converted into serotonin.

The article you posted discusses "increasing serotonin levels", and the way they are discussing it is not in increasing the available amount (production), but in increasing the amount your brain is using- IE: just like when you are rolling on E, your brain is flooded with it. So basically, they are comparing high carb foods with MDMA LOL...

 

o my bad, i didnt read the whole thing, just the part that says "Carbohydrate-rich meals often increase serotonin levels..."

 

5htp