something to think about
 

I ran across an interesting online book about the effects of amino acids on brain function at http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?re...=9620&page=292

It raised some issues that I hadn't thought about before. As I have mentioned before, I am a carnivore. Red meat I need. The book mentioned that amino acids cannot cross the BBB without transporters and that they must compete for them. Only so many seats on the train. The amiino acid tyrosine is of particular interest since it is the one that dopamine is made from.

These things caught my attention:
1- Not a whole heck of a lot is known about amino acid requirements in even a healthy population.
2- Competition for transporters can be fierce particularly under stress.

Now, if you remember, we are urged to avoid protein so that our precious sinemet can have those seats on the train. So, the raw material we so desperately need is left back at the station.

The question of sinemet addiction is a good one.

Isn't Sinemet an amino acid?

Rick, you might be interested in a book called "The Mood Cure" by Julia Ross. It was recommended to me by my naturopath.

Very briefly, it describes four "false moods" like depression, anxiety, the blahs etc., and describes the lack of serotonin, dopamine, and so on that causes them. And goes on to talk about the amino acids (protein building blocks) that these neuro-transmitters are made from, and how so many of us are lacking in them for various reasons. So if we're already short of dopamine, and then don't eat the substances that it's made from, we'd be really (unnecessarily) short.

I read this just before I went on holiday, and a few days of eating a lot more protein was making me feel a whole lot better. Then three weeks in Italy (with only a little protein every day) followed by a week of jet lag have undone any good. The next week should tell the tale.

another good book...
 

Food and Mood by Elizabeth Somer MA, RD.

Has alot of amino acid explanations in it. From I read it is tryptophan that
is mostly blocked at the BBB by other aminos. Tryptophan is precursor to
serotonin.

My edition is Second Edition with updated data.

It is easy to read and understand. (which in and of itself is not easy to do with this subject!;)

I think this could be really important.

With further re-reading of The Mood Cure: tyrosine (an amino acid) is the unique raw ingredient that is used to make dopamine which is used to make norepinephrine and adrenaline (the catecholamines). Together the three give you your sparkle and help you respond to stress. Without them, you're negative, anxious, sleepless and obsessive, apathetic, can't focus. Okay, I know we're all short of dopamine, but what if part of the lack is due to not enough protein? What if with more protein, we'd be working at the maximum we're capable of at that time. The book suggests taking tyrosine as a supplement, but there's more to it, so anyone interested in this should probably buy the book.

The book says that depression and anxiety can be caused by the lack of tryptophan, another amino acid. I've often thought that if I could get rid of the anxiety, I wouldn't mind this disease nearly as much. It recommended taking 5-HTP which is what tryptophan turns into before it turns into serotonin. I tried it and half an hour later was throwing up. That's when I decided to just eat more protein! And was feeling definitely better and sleeping better within a couple of days. As I mentioned in the previous post, I then went to Italy so won't be able to affirm that this works for another few days.

I'm not a chemist or nutritionist, so if the above information from the book
is incorrect, I hope someone with more knowledge will straighen this out.

some comments....
 

at the time those books were written, L-tryptophan was not available.

It has recently been cleared by the FDA and is now affordable.
I have a thread about it at the Vitamin forum on page 1.

Tyrosine is also found in dairy products.

Adding a couple of points
 

1- Be careful with the 5-HTP. I don't remeber the details, but I tried it a couple of years ago and put it in the "negative experience" category.

2- It might not be good to experiment with single amino acids since some of them help PWP and some hurt. Aspartame/aspartic acid, for example. Take an isolated one and the system is flooded. It might be wiser to take a mixture of the whole two dozen or so. That keeps any single one from predominating and keeps it in balance.

3- Some of you may remember a study from Brazil a couple of years ago using niacin for PD. One thing that stood out to me was the fact that the subjects who began the study ate a huge amount of beef. Something like two pounds a day if I remember right. Was it a subconscious self medicating with amino acids?