About 46 million Americans between the ages of 15 and 34 suffer from some form of depression. One third of those suffer chronically. More than 100 million Americans are overweight. Billions of dollars are spent each year on drugs to help relieve these conditions. For their money, consumers get some help laced with side effects. A cheaper, safer and more effective alternative may be a natural ingredient that helps brain cells manufacture serotonin.
Serotain(TM), a product of Benchmark Botanicals, a division of Wayne, N.J.-based Triarco Industries, is a proprietary blend of Griffonia simplicifolia extract and other natural ingredients that contain 5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), which enhances endogenous serotonin levels. The most widely studied effects of serotonin, a neurotransmitter, have been on the central nervous system. According to Richard Borne, Ph.D., faculty at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, the functions of serotonin are numerous and appear to involve control of appetite, sleep, memory and learning, temperature regulation, mood, behavior (including sexual and hallucinogenic behavior), cardiovascular function, muscle contraction, endocrine regulation, and depression.
Serotain works differently than monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors that block serotonin inactivation, which increases serotonin indirectly and causes a cellular deficiency. MAO inhibitors, including Prozac and Zoloft, are also called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). SSRIs interfere with the brain's natural physiological regulatory system, in which cells slow down serotonin secretion. As a result, SSRI users can suffer side effects including dry mouth, reduced libido, heart palpitations, tremors and anxiety. Serotain has been shown to inhibit serotonin reuptake in bioassays, but it does so without causing a cellular deficiency. It does not inhibit monoamine oxidase and is, thereby, much safer. Instead, the ingredient increases the cell's production of serotonin to boost levels of the neurotransmitter.
Eating foods rich in tryptophan, which is necessary to make serotonin, may not provide the brain all it needs to produce additional serotonin. Moreover, both tryptophan and amino acids compete for limited access to the brain. Though the 5-HTP that comprises Serotain is related to tryptophan, its absorption is not affected by the presence of amino acids in the same way. Therefore, Serotain may be taken with tryptophan-rich foods.
Versus tryptophan, 5-HTP is more readily absorbed from an oral dose with about a 70percent bioavailability, and it easily crosses the brain barrier without a transport molecule. In the arena of safety, 5-HTP and Serotain consistently test negative for "peak X" at independent laboratories and was found negative in acute toxicity testing.
Serotain's primary ingredient, 5-HTP has been shown to be effective as a mood elevator and for treating the symptoms of clinical depression. In the 1970s and early 1980s, a research group in Europe conducted a number of studies involving 5-HTP and depression. According to Stephen Meyers, M.S., staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., the primary trial found reduced depressive symptoms in 60 percent of patients given 5-HTP (200-3,000 mg/day), while a placebo group showed no improvement. A contributor to the peer-reviewed medical journal Alternative Medicine Review, Meyers listed numerous additional trials that showed 5-HTP as an effective antidepressant:
? One double-blind study showed that 5HTP was more effective than a placebo and almost as effective as clomipramine (a tricyclic antidepressant).
? Seven open studies concluded that 55 percent of 350 patients were considered responders to 5-HTP, which was found to be effective in five of those seven studies.
? Researchers from Japan found that 50 to 300 mg/day of 5-HTP resulted in significant improvement in 69 percent of 100 depression patients without any significant side effects.
? Another Japanese study involved 50 to 100 mg of 5-HTP given to 59 patients who suffered mixed types of depression-unipolar, bipolar and other depressions ranging from moderate to severe. Twenty-two percent of the patients showed marked improvement, while 46 percent showed moderate improvement within two weeks.
5-HTP is also a potent agent for weight loss and appetite suppression, placing Serotain in a position to capitalize on the $33 billion US. market for weight loss products. Pharmaceuticals comprise a large part of this ever-growing market, but side effects associated with these drugs have created a suspicion among consumers.
Animal studies with 5-HTP in the 1970s were followed by a series of three clinical human trials conducted at the University of Rome's Internal Medicine Department. Led by Carlo Cangiano, the research showed that 5HTP could safely be used to treat obesity He found that 5-HTP led to decreased food intake and weight loss in obese patients. Additional study in Italy led to the discovery that 5-HTP helped patients reduce carbohydrate intake and caused them to feel full sooner than without 5-HTP.
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