by Dr. Oler, ND | Jul 8, 2014 | Amino Acid Therapy, Natural Remedies, Natural Weight Loss, Naturopathic Health |
There are many underlying metabolic imbalances that can prevent a person from losing weight. Some of them show obvious cause and effect, like an underactive thyroid that slows down the metabolism, making it very difficult to use food as fuel, which causes a person to pack o the pounds. Others, like neurotransmitter imbalances, exert their effects in more sinister and secretive ways. This often makes people feel they are powerless to do anything about them. Luckily, that isn’t the case. (more…)
by Dr. Oler, ND | Aug 27, 2013 | Amino Acid Therapy, Natural Remedies, Natural Weight Loss, Naturopathic Health
Almost everybody has tried to lose weight at some point in their lives. For the millions of Americans that are overweight or obese, trying to lose weight becomes a way of life. Unfortunately, several factors can block long term weight loss and make losing weight one of the most frustrating and painful experiences a person can have. Two of those blocks are hunger and cravings. Luckily, advances in science and brain chemistry have provided a solution to these problems that paves the way for effective weight loss. (more…)
by Dr. Oler, ND | Jul 23, 2013 | Amino Acid Therapy, Natural Remedies, Naturopathic Health
What this means to you
Part 1 of this series described how taking only 5-HTP can exacerbate neurotransmitter imbalance because of issues during the production of neurotransmitters. Part 2 described a similar problem that can occur during the degradation of neurotransmitters. The upshot is that if you take only 5-HTP, it will cause (a) decreased production and (b) increased degradation of all the catecholamines, including dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine. Since serotonin and the catecholamines work as a system, this creates greater imbalance in the system, which will eventually either make your original problems worse or create new ones. (more…)
by Dr. Oler, ND | Jul 16, 2013 | Amino Acid Therapy, Natural Remedies, Naturopathic Health
Problems with Neurotransmitter Degradation
In Part 1 of this series, we discussed why taking only 5-HTP can create further neurotransmitter imbalances because of completion/inhibition in the production of neurotransmitters. This post will cover an additional issue that occurs during the degradation of neurotransmitters that can lead to greater neurotransmitters dysfunction over time. (more…)
by Dr. Oler, ND | Jul 9, 2013 | Amino Acid Therapy, Natural Remedies, Naturopathic Health
Problems with Neurotransmitter Synthesis
We routinely have people come into the clinic wanting to address one or more disorders related to neurotransmitter imbalance. When we explain our approach of using amino acid therapy, occasionally we will hear something like “I’ve tried 5-HTP before, but it didn’t work” or “5-HTP makes me sleepy, hungry, tired, (insert symptom here)”. I explain to these people that what they have done by taking only 5-HTP is cause further imbalance in the system, which will not address their underlying neurotransmitter dysfunction and could make it worse. (more…)
by Dr. Oler, ND | May 21, 2013 | Amino Acid Therapy, Natural Remedies
I am often asked why we need to complete testing to help optimize neurotransmitter levels and if we need to do testing, how many tests will be necessary to achieve success. The answer to this question isn’t as straight forward as most people would like. Here’s why. (more…)
