GABA is a chemical that is made in the brain.
GABA is taken by mouth for relieving anxiety, improving mood, reducing symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), and treating attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It is also used for promoting lean muscle growth, burning fat, stabilizing blood pressure, and relieving pain.
GABA is used under the tongue for increasing the sense of well-being, relieving injuries, improving exercise tolerance, decreasing body fat, and increasing lean body weight.
How does it work?
GABA works by blocking brain signals (neurotransmissions). GABA not only induces relaxation but also reduces anxiety.
Sources:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16971751
L-tryptophan is an amino acid, a protein building block that can be found in many plant and animal proteins (turkey, shrimp). L-tryptophan is called an “essential” amino acid because the body can’t make it. It must be acquired from food.
Varying doses have been shown to significantly reduce sleep latency and increase subjective ratings of sleepiness in subjects with insomnia
L-tryptophan is used for insomnia, sleep apnea, depression, anxiety, facial pain, a severe form of premenstrual syndrome called premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), smoking cessation, grinding teeth during sleep (bruxism), attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Tourette's syndrome, and to improve athletic performance.
How does it work?
It is important for the development and function of many organs in the body. After absorbing L-tryptophan from food, our bodies convert it to 5-HTP (5-hyrdoxytryptophan), and then to serotonin. Serotonin is a hormone that transmits signals between nerve cells. It also causes blood vessels to narrow. Changes in the level of serotonin in the brain can alter mood.
Sources:
http://www.webmd.com/l-tryptophan
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4523676/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6764927
Melatonin is a hormone made by the pineal gland, a small gland in the brain. Melatonin helps control your sleep and wake cycles. Very small amounts of it are found in foods such as meats, grains, fruits, and vegetables.
Melatonin is a hormone found naturally in the body. Melatonin used as medicine is usually made synthetically in a laboratory. It is most commonly available in pill form, but melatonin is also available in forms that can be placed in the cheek or under the tongue. This allows the melatonin to be absorbed directly into the body.
People use melatonin to adjust the body’s internal clock. It is used for jet lag, for adjusting sleep-wake cycles in people whose daily work schedule changes (shift-work disorder), and for helping blind people establish a day and night cycle.
How does it work?
Your body has its own internal clock that controls your natural cycle of sleeping and waking hours. In part, your body clock controls how much melatonin your body makes. Normally, melatonin levels begin to rise in the mid- to late evening, remain high for most of the night, and then drop in the early morning hours.
Light affects how much melatonin your body produces. During the shorter days of the winter months, your body may produce melatonin either earlier or later in the day than usual. This change can lead to symptoms of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), or winter depression.
Natural melatonin levels slowly drop with age. Some older adults make very small amounts of it or none at all. Some people who have trouble sleeping have low levels of melatonin.
Sources:
http://www.webmd.com/melatonin
http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/melatonin
Valerian is an herb. Medicine is made from the root.
Valerian is most commonly used for sleep disorders, especially the inability to sleep (insomnia). It is frequently combined with hops, lemon balm, or other herbs that also cause drowsiness. Some people who are trying to withdraw from the use of “sleeping pills” use valerian to help them sleep after they have tapered the dose of the sleeping pill. There is some scientific evidence that valerian works for sleep disorders, although not all studies are conclusive.
Some research suggests that valerian does not relieve insomnia as fast as “sleeping pills.” Continuous use for several days, even up to four weeks, may be needed before an effect is noticeable.
Sources:
http://www.webmd.com/valerian-root
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17145239
L-theanine is an amino acid (a building block for proteins) found in green tea.
L-theanine may help relieve stress by inducing a relaxing effect without drowsiness and may also possess immunologic attributes.
Tea is known to be a rich source of flavonoid antioxidants. However tea also contains a unique amino acid, L-theanine that may modulate aspects of brain function in humans. Evidence from human electroencephalograph (EEG) studies show that it has a direct effect on the brain (Juneja et al. Trends in Food Science & Tech 1999;10;199-204). L-theanine significantly increases activity in the alpha frequency band which indicates that it relaxes the mind without inducing drowsiness.
How does it work?
L-theanine has a chemical structure very similar to glutamate, a naturally occurring amino acid in the body that helps transmit nerve impulses in the brain. Some of the effects of theanine appear to be similar to glutamate, and some effects seem to block glutamate.
Sources:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18296328
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22214254
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