forgot, here's the website and more of the article

http://www.femhealth.com/5htp.html

here's the second half of the article (i posted too fast sorry)

Prior to menstruation many women crave sugar, salt, fatty foods - sugary foods are a big one," agrees Susan M. Lark, MD, a faculty member at Stanford University and author of Premenstrual Syndrome Self- Help Book: A Woman's Guide to Feeling Good All Month. "They eat the wrong foods; they eat oreos or an ice cream bar or chocolates. That just makes it worse." The result is a quick upswing in your blood-sugar level; followed by a rapid decline - and then you're hungry again.

It sounds counterintuitive, but foods can help relieve PMS cravings, says Lark. When PMS cravings strike, she suggests you fight back with grains and beans, or tuna on a piece of rye crisp or a rice cake.

"If you want to slow down absorption of the carbs, add a little oil like mayonnaise or almond butter," Lark says. "That will really cut your craving."

Since most women have problems meeting their nutritional needs through their diet, many experts recommend dietary supplements.

Lark highly recommends taking 50 to 100 mg, once or twice a day, of a dietary supplement containing 5-HTP (5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan), an amino acid that the body converts to serotonin, along with 25 to 100 mg a day of a vitamin B complex to stabilize blood Sugar and to help the 5-HTP conversion.

Considered a natural mood enhancer, 5-HTP is a supplement, not an FDA-approved medicine. It is derived from the seeds of the Griffonia simplicifolia, a West African medicinal plant.

Products with 5-HTP are used for help with insomnia, depression, obesity, weight loss, and in children with ADD - attention deficit disorder.

Many people may be predisposed to being overweight because they have a decreased conversion of tryptophan to 5-HTP and, as a result, decreased serotonin levels. By providing preformed 5-HTP, this genetic problem is bypassed and more serotonin is manufactured. 5-HTP literally turns off hunger and enables you to lose weight and maintain your weight loss without so much effort. If you are taking 5-HTP for weight loss, we recommend taking it 20 minutes before meals.


FH-50-1 5-HTP 100mg - 60 capsules $23.95

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