Depressed and sleepless? Eat your way out with mood-boosting tryptophan

Here are the reasons you need to get tryptophan from food. Eat the right diet to improve sleep, prevent migraines and more!

Ever wondered whether you could eat your way out of a bad mood? You can. We naturally gravitate towards certain foods because they improve our mood and give us comfort. Be it a big bowl of dal khichdi or a bar of chocolate, comfort foods can make us feel better in a jiffy. But these foods are usually carb-heavy and add inches to your waistline. That's why long periods of stress puts you through the wringer and you begin the cycle of comfort eating and weight gain. The truth is that mood can be alleviated through foods, but comfort eating is not the solution.

What you need is tryptophan, a mood-enhancing amino acid present in some foods. This essential amino acid works towards improving your mood through its hormone balancing properties. When your body gets enough tryptophan through diet, your blues and jitters disappear and you start sleeping better than before. Some of the dietary sources of tryptophan include banana, game meat, spirulina, spinach, eggs, sesame seeds, fish, shrimp, crab, turkey, legumes and nuts and seeds. Here are three reasons why you need to have a diet rich in tryptophan.

1. Tryptophan regulates your mood

Your feel-good chemical serotonin credited with keeping you happy. The neurotransmitter works by transmitting impulses between nerve cells and promoting all-round happiness and well-being. Tryptophan is a precursor to serotonin, which means the former is an important ingredient in the production of the latter.¹ But since humans cannot synthesise tryptophan naturally, we need to derive it from our diet. Those who regularly undergo mood swings should benefit from eating tryptophan-rich foods.²

2. Tryptophan promotes good sleep

If you had enough of tossing and turning in bed, try eating a banana before bedtime since the fruit contains tryptophan. Evidence suggests that tryptophan has mild sleep-inducing effects. Melatonin, the neurohormone which promotes sleep is produced by serotonin, which in turn is produced by tryptophan. Studies also say that tryptophan supplementation can induce relaxation in people with sleep disorders like insomnia.³ Eat these foods to improve sleep quality.

3. Tryptophan helps prevent migraine attacks

People who get migraine attacks frequently should take a good look at their diet. Because a deficiency of tryptophan in the diet has been tied to nausea, headache and photophobia (bright lights can worsen migraine symptoms). Studies suggest that inadequacy of tryptophan causes a reduction in the synthesis of serotonin, which intensifies photophobia and other symptoms associated with migraine.⁴

References:

1. Jenkins, T. A., Nguyen, J. C. D., Polglaze, K. E., & Bertrand, P. P. (2016). Influence of Tryptophan and Serotonin on Mood and Cognition with a Possible Role of the Gut-Brain Axis. Nutrients, 8(1), 56. http://doi.org/10.3390/nu8010056

2.Lindseth, G., Helland, B., & Caspers, J. (2015). The Effects of Dietary Tryptophan on Affective Disorders. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 29(2), 102 107. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnu.2014.11.008

3.Hartmann, E. (1982). Effects of L-tryptophan on sleepiness and on sleep. Journal of psychiatric research, 17(2), 107-113.

4. Drummond, P. D. (2006). Tryptophan depletion increases nausea, headache and photophobia in migraine sufferers. Cephalalgia, 26(10), 1225-1233.

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