Neuological Nutrition

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Misty L. Trepke

http://www..com

 

Neurological Nutrition

 

http://www.doctoryourself.com/nerves.html

 

NEUROLOGICAL NUTRITION:

 

GETTING THE BODY TO MANUFACTURE 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.

 

 

REFERENCES:

(At this website, there is additional information in other posted

articles. You can return to the " home " page to see the index.)

 

Cheraskin, E., Ringsdorf, W. M. and Brecher, A. Psychodietetics

Bantam Books, 1974

 

Galenberg, A. " Tyrosine for the Treatment of Depression, " American

Journal of Psychiatry, 147:622, May, 1980

 

Growden, A. " Neurotransmitter Precursors in the Diet, " in Nutrition

and the Brain, Wurtman and Wurtman, Eds., 117-181, Raven Press, 1979

 

Hawkins, D. and Pauling, L. Orthomolecular Psychiatry: Treatment of

Schizophrenia W. H. Freeman, 1973

 

Hoffer, A. and Walker, M. Orthomolecular Nutrition, Keats, 1978

 

Huemer, R P. " Brain Food: Neurotransmitters Make You Think, " Let's

Live, December, 1981

 

Lilliston, L. Megavitamins, Fawcett Publications, 1975

 

Nutrition News, Vol 2, No. 9, 1979

 

Passwater, R. Supernutrition, Pocket Books, 1975

 

Pauling, L. How To Live Longer and Feel Better, W. H. Freeman, 1986

 

" Choline and Lecithin for a Better Memory, " Today's Living,

February, 1982

 

I have also written more on the specifics of employing niacin

therapeutically in my book DOCTOR YOURSELF: Natural Healing that

Works. (2003)

 

Copyright C 2003 and prior years Andrew W. Saul. Andrew Saul,

PhD Number 8 Van Buren Street, Holley, New York 14470. (585) 638-

5357.