Amino acids

[belle99]

I'm starting this thread to engage others in a discussion about amino acid supplements (other than spirulina).

I was taking them for several months before starting PATHS. Over time I have changed up what I'm taking. For a while I took formulas and now I take certain amino acids singly.

I find that it makes a huge difference in my mood and physical energy level. I don't notice it right away if I stop taking them, but I will notice it about 2 or 3 weeks later.

Morning:
400 mg SAM-e
600 mg N-acetyl-tyrosine
300 mg L-glutamine
600 mg St. John's Wort (I know this is not an amino acid, but I like it)

Evening:
Vitamin D
1000 mg L-tryptophan

[Kevin]

Hi Belle99,

Do you take these in addition to spirulina, or is this all you are taking for amino acids?

It sure would be nice to not have to take those horse pills (spirulina) everyday!

[belle99]

There are also others I take occasionally, such as L-theanine.

I don't muscle test well for spirulina. I don't know if I am allergic to it, or what, so I have to get the neurotransmitter support from other supplements. I estimate that I am getting a lot more milligrams of total aminos this way, but I have an uncommonly high need for high levels of aminos. According to my doctor, most people do not need as much neurotransmitter support as I have discovered I need.

Nevertheless, PATHS is not kidding when they tell you to make sure you get enough neurotransmitter support, because when you're asking your brain literally millions of times to make new connections and fire off in new ways, well, that takes a lot of neurotransmitters. Also, my high-stress job seems to make me burn through all my inner resources at a fast rate. So I would take these aminos even if I were not on PATHS.

If the spirulina is working for you I wouldn't mess with that. I just happen to require a more aggressive approach. It was years of trial and error to get to the point where I discovered amino acids as the solution to my fatigue and mood issues, and then I have been taking them for a year and as I get better the types and amounts change.

This is where muscle testing is really important. For example, DLPA and Tyrosine both act on the stimulant neurotransmitters, and I'm not really sure how they are different because I'm not a chemist, but for some reason, I respond to Tyrosine and not DLPA.

It would be wasteful to try them all at once willy-nilly. I wouldn't go to the health food store amino acid aisle without having first gotten the idea of what categories of aminos are needed, and having somebody muscle test you for which ones you would actually benefit from.

My understanding is that spirulina gives a good blend of amino acids. That is why I take so many different ones instead of spirulina. A good book to learn some basics about amino acids is The Mood Cure by Julia Ross, although it is a bit out of date.

I also take the herb Rhodiola, which has a number of benefits on the brain and body that basically help a person deal with the mental and physical demands of stress.

[DeAnn]

I found I couldn't take the health food capsules at all. Super green foods in powder form tend to irritate my digestive system---go figure So, now I'm taking my amino acids via my homeopathic remedy company. That works really really well for me. I was getting worried that I wasn't getting enough.

[Kevin]

Bumping some good information!