GABA Supplements - Real Or Not ?

[DMF]

How are GABA suppliments supposed to work, if, they can't do much iin terms of crossing the blood-brain-barrior?
I thought I'd give then a try for sleep/anxiety...

 

[SQu]

Sorry I can't answer that question anymore as I stopped it years ago but thought I'd mention why I stopped it - it caused my heart to race and other anxiety symptoms like being wired on too much coffee. Whether it was the gaba or some other ingredient I don't know, also it might be relevant that I was low carbing at the time and I'm sure my stress hormones were much too high. But having said that ,no other food or supplement ever did that, and if I have enough milk and sugar with coffee , I can have plenty with no wired feeling. So i think it was the gaba.

 

[haidut]

You don't need to take GABA as the supplement has questionable effectiveness. Instead, take taurine which is a very close GABA analog and has virtually the same effects, plus a few other very beneficial ones (heart and liver protective). Search Ray's website for taurine and you'll see what he has to say about it. Also search PubMed for "taurine GABA" and you'll see how close in action they are.
I have taken up to 30g of taurine for a month with no side effects except making me very drowsy, so make sure you take it at night.

 

[DMF]

Sueq - sorry you had such a bad time on it. Why did you try it ?

 

[dand]

30 grams of Taurine, lol!? I have played around with 3-5 grams a day or less. Do you mind opining on when 30 grams might be warranted!?

Thank you!

 

[haidut]

30 grams of Taurine, lol!? I have played around with 3-5 grams a day or less. Do you mind opining on when 30 grams might be warranted!?

Thank you!

The only human trial tat tried a dose that high was for heart failure. I did 30g based on animal studies showing after you take this dose for a month your taurine stores get replenished and last for up to 2 years afterwards with no other supplementation. Subsequently, I found studies showing that taurine benefits likely flatline beyond a dose of 2g daily for most parameters - i.e. electrolyte balance, blood pressure, GABA agonist, insulin sensitivity, etc. Then I also heard Peat say the optimal dose is probably 1g - 2g daily, so I have not done 30g ever since. This was circa 2011, so I was very early in my Peat experience and was trying all sort of crazy things Needless to say, unless a person has heart failure these days I would not recommend going beyond 3g daily.

 

[dand]

Haha, very nice :) I'll keep the dosage where I have it. Thank you.