NEUROLOGICAL NUTRITION - NEUROTRANSMITTERS

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NEUROLOGICAL NUTRITION:

GETTING THE BODY TO MANUFACTURER NEUROTRANSMITTERS

" The composition of each meal could have a direct effect

on the production of chemical signals in the brain. "

(The New York Times, January 9, 1979)

 

Rather than give a synthetic drug to block or mimic the body's chemical nerve

messengers (neurotransmitters), it is possible nutritionally to encourage the

body to make its own natural ones.

 

If we are what we eat, then our nerves also depend on what they are fed. Here

is tremendous potential for the alleviation of depression, anxiety, neuroses,

panic attacks and sleep disorders.

 

NOREPINEPHRINE

A depletion of the neurotransmitter called norepinephrine may result in poor

memory, loss of alertness, and clinical depression. The chain of chemical

events in the body resulting in this substance is:

 

L-phenylalanine (from protein foods) -> L-tyrosine (made in the liver) -> dopa

-> dopamine -> norepinephrine -> epinephrine

 

This process looks complex but actually is readily accomplished, particularly if

the body has plenty of Vitamin C. Since one's dietary supply of the first

ingredient, L-phenylalanine, is usually adequate, it is more likely to be a

shortage of Vitamin C that limits production of norepinephrine. Physicians

giving large doses of Vitamin C have had striking success in reversing

depression. It is a remarkably safe and inexpensive approach to try.

 

ACETYLCHOLINE

Acetylcholine is the end neurotransmitter of your parasympathetic nerve system.

This means that, among other things, it facilitates good digestion, deeper

breathing, and slower heart rate. You may perceive its effect as " relaxation. "

 

Your body will make its own acetylcholine from choline. Choline is available in

the diet as phosphatidyl choline, found in lecithin.

 

Lecithin is found in egg yolks and most soy products. Three tablespoons daily

of soya lecithin granules provide about five grams (5,000 milligrams) of

phosphatidyl choline. Long-term use of this amount is favorably mentioned in

The Lancet, February 9, 1980. Lecithin supplementation has no known harmful

effects whatsoever. In fact, your brain by dry weight is almost one-third

lecithin! How far can we go with this idea of simply feeding the brain what it

is made up of? In Geriatrics, July 1979, lecithin is considered as a therapy

to combat memory loss. Studies at MIT show increases in both choline and

acetylcholine in the brains of animals after just one lecithin meal!

Supplemental choline has even shown promise in treating Alzheimer's Disease.

(Today's Living, February, 1982)

 

Your body can make much of its own lecithin. Ample amounts of B-complex

vitamins, especially B-6 (pyridoxine) must be present for this to occur. B-6

deficiency is very common in Americans, and that " deficiency " is measured

against an already ridiculously low US RDA of only two milligrams. The amount

of B-6 needed for clinical effectiveness in, say, rabbits is the human dose

equivalent of 75 mg daily. That is over 35 times more than the RDA!

 

Really enormous doses of B-6 taken alone have produced temporary neurological

side effects. It usually takes between 2,000 and 5,000 mg daily for symptoms of

numbness or tingling in the extremities. Some side effects have been reported

as low as 500 mg daily, but these are very rare indeed. Therapeutic doses

between 100 and 500 milligrams daily are commonly prescribed by physicians for

PMS relief. A few hundred milligrams of individual B-6, especially if taken in

addition to the entire B-complex to ensure balance, is very safe indeed.

 

SEROTONIN

Plentiful serotonin can mean a good night's sleep, and freedom from anxiety

during the day. You cannot tell someone to relax unless they have the chemistry

to do it. It is safer to let the body make the molecules than to use

pharmaceuticals.

 

Your brain produces serotonin from the amino acid L-tryptophan. L-tryptophan is

one of the parts of protein essential to life. Chicken, nuts, beans, and dairy

products are everyday sources of this natural and necessary substance.

 

You used to be able to buy L-tryptophan as a supplement, but a batch was

contaminated at the point of manufacture and the FDA took all L-tryptophan off

the market. The contamination was traced and corrected, but the FDA has

continued to keep all L-tryptophan supplements off the shelves. There is

little, if any, justification for this continued unavailability of L-tryptophan

supplements, for it is put in liquid feedings for the elderly and is in all

infant formulas!

 

The good news is that your body can derive similar benefits from inexpensive,

readily-available Vitamin B-3, NIACIN.

 

L-tryptophan is broken down into niacin by a 60 to 1 ratio. That means you need

a lot of tryptophan to make a little niacin, and a lot of tryptophan is

difficult to come up with nowadays. It also means, however, that only a little

niacin (1/60th as much) can go a long way. Niacin does not make serotonin, but

rather appears to work by way of a parallel biochemical mechanism. One plus is

that the amount of niacin needed to help relax you for sleep is less than the

dose routinely given by cardiologists to lower serum cholesterol levels.

 

Body saturation of niacin is indicated by a warmness of the skin and blushing or

" flushing " sensation. At this point, most persons will also experience a

feeling of relaxation and ease. Unlike pharmaceutical tranquilizers, niacin

simply feeds the body what it needs to internally and naturally provide relief.

 

Niacin (or L-tryptophan) has also been effective in treating

obsessive-compulsive neurosis (Let's Live, September 1979) and even

schizophrenia. Drs. David Hawkins and Linus Pauling have written a 670 page

textbook on the subject entitled Orthomolecular Psychiatry (1973). This

comprehensive work is well worth your investigation.

 

 

 

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