Neurological Nutrition

[Guest guest]

hi all,

i dont know if you are talking about the drug nutriton,that is only

suppoussed to be used for the pain of shingels and seizures because phys

doctors

are using it for mood disorders,it can cause some people to become depressed

and sucidal which happened to me i am now in a class action suit,alison

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

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.