The Connection Between Nutrients and Neurological Disorders

“If we give the body what it lacks and needs, I do believe we can drastically improve most health conditions and save lives.”

The rising incidence of various mental illnesses and neurological disorders, such as autism, tardive dyskinesia, ADHD, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, MS, epilepsy, and depression, has become a significant concern for many. Although these conditions have multiple causes, their growing prevalence prompts inquiries into possible contributing factors. Factors such as environmental influences, genetic predispositions, changes in diagnostic criteria, and evolving societal pressures are believed to play a role in the increasing rates of these disorders.

While detection and understanding of these conditions is better now, there remains an urgent need to investigate additional factors, mainly the root cause. Lifestyle choices, nutritional habits, and early intervention strategies are crucial areas for further exploration to help reduce and potentially reverse the burden of mental and neurological disorders. Particularly noteworthy is the role of the microbiome, where an imbalance in gut bacteria coupled with a poor diet, as we recently demonstrated with 73% of individuals consuming a highly processed diet, contributes significantly to the problem. Understanding these missing elements in our current approach to mental health and neurological well-being could lead to meaningful improvements in prevention, treatment, and support systems.

The discovery of the human microbiome’s size and complexity has led to a re-evaluation of health and disease concepts, including those affecting the CNS. Research shows bidirectional signaling between the brain and gut microbiome through neurocrine and endocrine mechanisms. Stress can alter gut microbiota, which in turn can influence emotional behavior and brain systems. These findings suggest that gut microbiome changes might contribute to brain diseases like autism, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain. Large-scale studies are underway to explore the gut microbiome’s impact on brain responses to emotional stimuli.

Parkinson’s disease has also been linked to dysfunction of the gastrointestinal system. According to research, the “entire gastrointestinal tract is affected in these patients, causing complications that range from oral issues, including drooling and swallowing problems, to delays in gastric emptying and constipation. Additionally, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and Helicobacter pylori infection affect motor fluctuations by interfering with the absorption of antiparkinsonian drugs.”[1]

 

L-Glycine

Glycine is the simplest nonessential amino acid and is probably the third major inhibitory neurotransmitter of the brain; glycine therapy readily passes the blood-brain barrier.

For a few decades now, there has been an understanding that glycine therapy is also useful in treating the negative symptoms of schizophrenia (depression, apathy etc.) as well as the so-called positive symptoms (such as hallucinations and delusions). Since negative symptoms usually have a larger impact on real-world function and the compounding of the illness, the benefits of glycine supplementation could be highly important in treating schizophrenia.

Besides schizophrenia glycine could be beneficial for other psychiatric, mood, and cognitive disorders, ranging from psychosis and depression through neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease and could be effectively used in treating brain injury or stroke.

Glycine is necessary for the central nervous system; it can help prevent epileptic seizures, since it inhibits neurotransmitters. It is also useful in the treatment of manic (bipolar) depression. In clinical studies, glycine enabled individuals experiencing acute manic attacks to feel calmer, and cessation of the manic episode occurred within one hour. Glycine is also effective for treatment of hyperactivity. Although having too much within the body can cause fatigue, the correct amount produces energy.

According to the studies, supplemental glycine seems to deliver benefits for daytime cognitive function due to its activity in the hippocampus, an area of the brain important for memory and learning. Changes to glycine levels in the brain correspond with improved attention, emotional memory, and intellectual learning memory.

Glycine could be used to improve the long-term blood sugar levels within individuals suffering from type 2 diabetes (T2D) as it helps reduce insulin dependency and for some, eliminate the need for insulin or help to reduce the daily amount. Insulin secretion is a complex and critical process, and is affected by circulating nutrients, neuronal inputs, and local signaling. When disrupted, it causes diabetes, including the most common form, type 2.

L-Tryptophan

L-Tryptophan is an essential amino acid used by the brain’s pineal gland to produce serotonin, a neurotransmitter critical for nerve impulse transmission. It helps combat depression and insomnia, stabilizes mood, and benefits neuropsychiatric disorders. Tryptophan supplementation aids in controlling hyperactivity in children, reducing stress, supporting heart health, suppressing appetite, and promoting growth hormone release. Adequate B6 is necessary for serotonin formation. Deficiency in tryptophan and magnesium may lead to coronary artery spasms or irregular heartbeats, and supplementation might reduce heart attacks.

It is a little-known fact that tryptophan helps to control Parkinson’s disease and other conditions. To be effective for certain conditions, tryptophan loading may be necessary. At Life Choice, due to our licensing we are restricted in our dosage to 220 mg capsule at one per day, we have added 50 mg of B6 (P5P) to cross the blood brain barrier.

When L-Tryptophan was unavailable from the marketplace, due to a manufacturing incident, and not the fault of tryptophan. It was believed that another precursor for serotonin would be a viable substitute. The health professional community and nutrient distributors who had supplied L-Tryptophan turned to 5-Hydroxy-L-Tryptophan (5-HTP) as the alternative supplement. In fact, 5-HTP has been an effective therapy for some, but it has been somewhat troubling as a therapeutic agent. The reason is because it bypasses the body and brain’s regulatory control mechanisms, 5-HTP may put patients at risk for the same heart-valve problems as the pharmaceutical diet drug Fen-Phen’. Both promote uncontrolled creation of serotonin.

L-Tryptophan can be readily converted to 5-HTP as needed, but excess 5-HTP cannot convert to tryptophan, 5-HTP is not as versatile as L-Tryptophan. Since research has shown that 5-HTP is poorly absorbed across the blood-brain barrier in patients having major depression, these individuals would more likely respond to treatment with L-Tryptophan rather than to 5-HTP. Even when tryptophan levels are normal, a deficiency of Pyridoxal-5-phosphate (P5P), (a bioavailable form of B6) will lower serotonin levels, and in the presence of P5P, brain serotonin levels are increased.

L-Tryptophan has been proven to be effective in neuroleptic-induced tardive dyskinesia as well. “Administration of the serotonin precursor L-tryptophan in a patient with neuroleptic-induced tardive dyskinesia, produced a dramatic reduction in the severity of the abnormal movements within 24 hours. This report supports our hypothesis that alterations in the function of serotoninergic neurotransmission are implicated in the pathophysiology of neuroleptic-induced tardive dyskinesia.”[2]

If pyridoxin B6 can make a difference with mental health, you can imagine the increased benefits when using 50 mg of P5P form in each L-Tryptophan capsule. “Tryptophan (Trp) plays a significant role in the human organism and serves as a precursor for a wide range of bioactive compounds, including major neurotransmitters. Research indicates that tryptophan might be deficient in subjects with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).” The results of the study showed that “Trp level in ASD subjects is critical and that intake of B vitamins and magnesium with diet might influence its metabolic homeostasis.”[3] Other studies have also proven the correlation between tryptophan levels and autism spectrum disorder and stated that “decreased tryptophan metabolism may alter brain development, neuroimmune activity and mitochondrial function. Our finding of decreased tryptophan metabolism appears to provide a unifying biochemical basis for ASDs and perhaps an initial step in the development of a diagnostic assay for ASDs.”[4]

When I was in clinical practice, I would give my MS patients injections of B12 (methylcobalamin), L-Glycine and L-Tryptophan with impressive results. Just remember, when taking both glycine and tryptophan, they should not be taken at the same time but at least 2 hours apart since they compete in the body for absorption.

For therapeutic amounts, I would suggest you order the book The Healing Nutrients Within by Eric Braverman, MD—you can order from Life Choice or from other online sources. It is a wonderful book with great insights on using amino acids in clinical practice for treating disease conditions, demonstrating the power of using fermented amino acids for therapeutic results. Why is this important? Because when using amino acids, one should only use those that have been produced using fermentation process and not chemical extraction as they are vegan and highly absorbable to the cellular level. Life Choice only produces fermented USP grade amino acids.

Life Choice products for supporting your health:

When essential trace minerals and water-soluble vitamins are missing from the diet, it can dramatically alter our biochemistry, which can be an underling cause of mental illness. In this case, suicidal thoughts can become a manifestation of brain circuitry gone out of balance from a nutritional deficiency; research is demonstrating that suicide may have biochemical underpinnings. B-vitamins such as thiamine or B6, zinc, vitamins C and D, healthy cholesterol, lithium, folate, calcium, magnesium and omega-3 fatty acids can all be helpful in mitigating mental health disorders including suicide when properly assessed. If we give the body what it lacks and needs, I do believe we can drastically improve most health conditions and save lives.

Additional Reading:

 

 

References:

[1] Fasano, Alfonso et al. 2015.

[2] Sandyk, R et al. 1988.

[3] Kałużna-Czaplińska, Joanna et al. 2017.

[4] Boccuto, Luigi et al. 2013.