Stories tagged amino acid

Gambling addiction is a serious problem: Photo by MarkyBon via Flickr Creative Commons.A new study at the University of Minnesota has shown favorable signs that an amino acid, easily available as a health food supplement, may curb the pathological urge to gamble in some subjects.

“It looks very promising,” said Jon Grant, a University of Minnesota associate professor of psychiatry and the study’s principal investigator.

Twenty-seven subjects were administered increasing doses of the amino acid known as N-acetyl cysteine during the two-month trial. N-acetly cysteine acts on the chemical glutamate - often linked with reward in the brain – and is commonly sold under the name NAC at health food store. When it ended, 60 percent of the study’s subjects reported reduction in their urges to gamble.

Most of the participants from the original study then agreed to continue into a second phase that went for another six weeks. Phase two of the study, however, was a double-blinded, meaning neither subjects nor researchers knew who was in the control group.

That time around 83 percent of those who were given the supplement reported fewer urges to gamble, while more than 71 percent of those given placebos returned to gambling.

It was the first time a glutamate-modulating agent was used in treating gambling addiction. The results of Grant’s research will appear in the upcoming issue of Biological Psychiatry.

“This research could be encouraging for a lot of addictions,” he said.

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Tags : amino acid, health, addiction, mental health, gambling

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Thanksgiving is fast approaching and with it comes the opportunity to eat a lot of turkey. I've heard for years that the tryptophan in turkey meat makes you tired after a meal, and I've hauled out that knowledge in a Cliff Claven like fashion year after year.

Turkey.: A turkey.

Now I come to find out that it's not tryptophan that makes you sleepy, its serotonin. Tryptophan is an amino acid that helps the body produce niacin, a B-Vitamin, which helps produce serotonin, which makes you sleepy. However, according to nutritionists the tryptophan in turkey works best in an empty stomach — something most of us don't have on Thanksgiving, I certainly don't. After a large meal there are so many amino acids that the body is trying to use that the amount of tryptophan could even go down. Further, turkey does not have as much tryptophan as other foods such as beef or soy beans. Tryptophan is also found in chocolate, bananas, milk, peanuts and fish.

So why do I feel tired after a huge Thanksgiving meal? Probably because the meal is full of carbohydrates — potates, stuffing, breads, pies... The body has to work hard to digest all that food!

Neat. Now I have a great new Cliff Claven-ism to stun and amaze my family.

Tags : turkey, niacin, amino acid, thanksgiving, tryptophan, health, diet

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