5-HTP: The Natural Way to Boost Serotonin and Overcome Depression, Obesity, and Insomnia

Informative and thoughtful book. 5-HTP has helped me in the past year. I was on antidepressant meds for many years. I was able to detox from them and also from benzodiazepines with the aid of 5-HTP. However, I found that after being on it for months, I was still unable to sleep and I found out thattryptophan would be far better NOW Foods L-Tryptophan 500mg, 120 Vcaps  See my review. This has taken almost a year and I am still adjusting. I do not recommend doing this without help. It is very hard to find a Doctor who works with the supplements. Therapy is essential while doing this. I also read The Mood Cure by Julia Ross. If you are considering medication for depression, 5-HTP is safer and does not have withdrawl symptoms like conventional medicine. I am considering attempting to write a book about my experiences. Does anyone out there find this informatio helpful. I am not really interested in making a lot of money, just in getting the word out.

I am all for natural ways to relieve depression and other ailments. I have been a a number of different prescription antidepressants and hated the side effects. However, I found Dr. Murray's book rather troublesome. As someone else pointed out, he tends to get too clinical for the average layperson to understand, and the book does contain a number of inconsistencies. More troubling is that he recommends doses that are far too high! I spoke to a naturopathic physician and have seen articles stating that the daily intake of 5 HTP should not exceed 50 milligrams. Dr. Murray recommends far more than that. He also neglects to point out that people ideally should only take this with a doctor's supervision. This stuff is just as powerful as prescription antidepressants, and should not be taken lightly. Furthermore, Dr. Murray is very rigid in his philosophies. He insists that people must completely eliminate caffeine, alcohol, foods with sugar, etc. I realize consuming caffeinated beverages, booze and sugar to excess is a bad idea. But they're not harmful in moderation. To the contrary, numerous studies have concluded that consuming a glass of red wine per day actually has many health benefits. The same goes for green tea, which contains caffeine. Furthermore, the average person would be hard-pressed to completely eliminate these from their diets. Dr. Murray also insists that people must take literally dozens of supplements to facilitate the maximum effectiveness for 5 HTP. I can't imagine how the majority of people could swallow that many pills a day. Plus, the expense would be prohibitive. I do believe that this author has his heart in the right place. But I feel this book misses the mark in a lot of ways. And people should not take this without consulting with a trained medical professional.

As part of my continuing desire to learn more about natural medicine and wellness, I read Dr. Murray's book on 5-HTP. The basic premise of the book is that sarotonin levels regulate many of the body's moods and behavior patterns - such as sleep and appetite. With a sarotonin imbalance or deficiency, the individual is subject to depression, food cravings, insomnia and the like. 5-HTP is a compound that increases the production of serotonin in the body. The book discusses many uses of serotonin as it relates to many medical conditions, and also compares its effectiveness to many common drugs, like Prozac. It also discusses the foods you need to eat in order to boost 5-HTP intake without supplimentation.A decent book, and a reminder that a well balanced diet can do wonders for a body - and that there are alternative methods to traditional drugs in some cases. If you have an interest in naturopathy and natural wellness, this is a great read.

This book might have more brain chemistry material than some readers want, but I enjoyed learning how neurotransmitters work and WHY 5-HTP works better than serotonin uptake inhibitors, without their known side effects.This book reinforces how doctors in America are forced to suck up to big pharma and not give supplements their due. Europe recognizes the value of 5-HTP. So does Canada and New Zealand. But doctors in America will tell you it's "unstudied" so they aren't allowed to recommend it.This book is an easy read and makes its summary points at the end of every chapter. I recommend both this book and 5-HTP as a dietary supplement for depression, insomnia or as an appetite suppressant.

This is a very thorough and informative book on 5HTP. There's alot of info I wasn't aware of and because of it, I've begun to lose weight by following the advice in it. I'm surprised it is not touted as THE way to lose weight to give the bogus weight loss "systems" a run for their money. I like the fact that it lists studies, statistics, it's multiple uses and how it works. I didn't know it double dutied as a safe sleeping aid, for example and now use it as well for that purpose. It's too bad it gets swept under the rug for those that want to use a supplement as safe as 5HTP.

My mom struggles with mental health issues and obesity (in denial on the latter) and the people at the drug store recommended she try the supplement 5-HTP to see if it would help her. I saw this book and thought she could read up on it more and get some help. She said she found useful information in it regarding fibromyalgia and will give it to my sister, who suffers with that. Oh well.

Previously reviewers have mentioned some conflicting information which I did see, but this book has been invaluable for me because ithelped inspire me to continue to do research. I found that there are several more people that are researching and writing about subjectslike neurotransmitter replenishment with various amino acids. Someone in my family that has serious health issues is being helped greatly by this information. Thanks Doctor Murray.

I so appreciated his approach of explaining how this works and what other supplements can be taken safely with it. It can get technical in spots and for some this can be too much. Just skip over the technological spots and read on because there is plenty of helpful information for everyone. A great book you will want to keep.

An informative read, but written in 1998 there is a real need for a new edition of this book (the latest is a reprint). Consequently the quoted research is old and though possibly still valid more recent studies may have been done which may be worth considering.Current consensus seems to be that much lower doses of 5-HTP than those suggested in the book are effective. Also, recent writing recommends not taking St.John's Wort and 5-HTP together.About the only likely side effect of taking 5-HTP mentioned in the book is gastric upset but there can be a range of others.Also, the book focuses on users of 5-HTP in the US and an edition taking more of a World view would be good.Definitely a book worth reading if you are considering taking 5-HTP but it may also be a good idea to look to more recent research on the internet.

Brilliantly written book with everything you need to know about 5HTP.Wish I had read it a long time ago.I have been taking 5 HTP for a couple of months now and I have really noticed a big difference in my sleep, my depression and my weight. Thank You

I love this supplement but my hubby hated it made him feel sick but he takes st johns wort so I suggest you check out what you take with it as it might give you happy over load , I bought this book to help explain how and why it works x

Very detailed book but 5-HTP works for some but not others

A good buy and very informative. Sometimes goes into too much detail when all you need is more basic understanding and usage instructions. Would recommend.