Tryptophan is an essential amino acid your body needs for many body functions and plays an important role in achieving a good night's sleep. It is, however, challenging to consume enough tryptophan in a way that can actually be absorbed by the body effectively. Let's dive into some details!
The importance of tryptophan
Tryptophan is an essential building block for many body functions - it's used to create and maintain the body’s proteins, muscles, enzymes and neurotransmitters. After we eat tryptophan, the body converts some to 5-HTP and then into the neurotransmitter serotonin. Once serotonin has been produced from tryptophan in the body, it can be converted into another important molecule — melatonin. Melatonin helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle, and serotonin is believed to support regulation of appetite, sleep, mood and pain.
But what really makes tryptophan special? It can't be produced by the body itself, making dietary sources like chicken, eggs or dairy indispensable. With metabolism of Tryptophan comes additional goodness too; some gets converted into nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) which is why tryptophan is also considered a dietary source of niacin: a B vitamin that your body makes and uses to turn food into energy. It supports keeping your nervous system, skin and digestive system healthy.
Tryptophan rich foods
Now that we know why we should include food high in tryptophan in our diets, let’s have a look at what to eat!
Here is a list of tryptophan rich foods. The amount of tryptophan differs per food and portion size.
- Turkey: 3 ounces (85 grams) contains about 260 milligrams of tryptophan
- Chicken: 3 ounces (85 grams) contains about 150 milligrams of tryptophan
- Eggs: 1 large egg contains about 62 milligrams of tryptophan
- Cheese: 1 ounce (28 grams) of cheddar cheese contains about 40 milligrams of tryptophan
- Pumpkin seeds: 1 ounce (28 grams) contains about 438 milligrams of tryptophan
- Nuts : 1 ounce of cashew contains about 30-40 milligrams of tryptophan
- Soy products: 1/2 cup (4 ounces or 113 grams) of tofu contains about 56 milligrams of tryptophan
Just eating tryptophan rich foods is not enough
Back to some sciency stuff, because it's important to note that the body's ability to use tryptophan to make serotonin is affected by the presence of other amino acids in the diet, and by the overall protein intake. The main transporter for tryptophan to cross the blood brain barrier (BBB) is the large neutral amino-acid (LNAA) transport mechanism. This mechanism prioritizes LNAA’s and in order to maximize the transport of tryptophan it needs to be the dominant amino acid present. Let’s look at this another way:
The ability of the body to use tryptophan to make serotonin is affected by the presence of other amino acids in the diet because tryptophan has to compete with other amino acids to cross the BBB. The BBB is a semipermeable membrane that separates the brain and spinal cord from the rest of the body. Tryptophan is one of many amino acids that can cross the BBB, but it has to compete with other amino acids for transport via the LNAA transport mechanism.
When a person eats a meal that is high in protein, the level of other amino acids in the bloodstream increases. These other amino acids compete with tryptophan for transport across the BBB, making it less likely that tryptophan will be able to cross. This is why a meal that is high in protein can decrease the amount of tryptophan that reaches the brain, and subsequently decrease the amount of serotonin produced.
Overall protein intake can also affect the ability of tryptophan to make serotonin because when protein intake is high, it leads to increased breakdown of tryptophan in the body. This can decrease the amount of tryptophan available for the synthesis of serotonin, which can decrease the amount of serotonin produced.
Therefore, it is important to have a balanced diet that includes a moderate amount of protein and also contains foods that are rich in tryptophan to ensure that the body has enough tryptophan to make serotonin and maintain normal brain function.
Looking for an easy and effective way of getting enough tryptophan that can be absorbed by the body? Rack can help with that.
Rack uses only the best sources of Alpha-lactalbumin protein to reach our target of 1 gram of naturally occurring tryptophan per serving. In order to get to this level you would have to eat 12 ounces of Turkey, 21 ounces of Chicken or about 15 large eggs, and you would still be missing out on the tryptophan load because of the competition from the other amino acids present.
Choosing the right combination and amounts of foods to reach the optimal level of tryptophan to cross the BBB is complicated. We make it simple. We have done our homework and solved the riddle of hacking your body’s sleep promoting pathways. Our ingredient mix provides a ratio of tryptophan that allows for prioritized transport via the LNAA system through one easy nutritional intervention, and it tastes pretty good too!
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