Over the last newsletters we’ve talked about many behavioral skills and strategies to help ourselves sleep well naturally. Sometimes though, we do everything in our power to sleep well, but without success. At that time, other therapies are in order.

One of the options is supporting neurotransmitters with specific nutrients. Neurotransmitters are brain chemicals which help us sleep at times and be alert at others. Some of the ones we think of which promote sleep include serotonin, dopamine, GABA, histamine, glutamate, and norepinephrine.

In the clinic, neurotransmitter levels can be tested by doing urinary analysis. This test has been used by holistic physicians for the last 12 years.

When neurotransmitter levels are out of balance, the nutrients which are their building blocks can be used to increase their levels. These are primarily amino acids (parts of proteins) and the vitamins and minerals to help form the neurotransmitters. This can be a very effective treatment for people whose sleep hasn’t improved with other strategies.

Because this is a powerful therapy, it is not a treatment to try on your own. If you would like to try amino acid therapy for yourself, go to a licensed holistic healthcare provider. They will get a detailed history of your sleep problem and current medications, do testing as appropriate, then recommend the right combination of amino acids and other nutrients.