L-Tryptophan is an essential amino acid, which means it cannot be synthesized by the human body and therefore must be part of the diet or supplementation. The best sources for tryptophan are high-protein foods such as oats, bananas, dried dates, dairy products, fish, many nuts, and poultry.

Tryptophan is critical in helping your body produce proteins for muscle, hair, and skin. Unfortunately, tryptophan is the least abundant amino acid in your diet. Even a person on a high-protein diet gets less than 1.5 grams of tryptophan a day. What's more, when you ingest tryptophan it undergoes degradation processes that dramatically reduces the amount actually available for conversion to serotonin in the brain. Some experts estimate that only 1% of the dietary tryptophan you take in reaches the brain. For some this is sufficient, but for others, low levels can adversely affect sleep, weight, and mood.

Tryptophan is a precursor for serotonin. Unlike other products that influence serotonin reuptake, L-tryptophan is a direct precursor that results in almost immediate increases in serotonin, which is one of the primary neurotransmitters involved with sleep and mood.

In those people with low serotonin levels, L-tryptophan has been shown to help establish and maintain healthy levels, which may help to improve mood9 and reduce tension. In those people with serotonin levels already within the normal range, L-tryptophan acts as a natural sleep aid, not only helping people fall asleep, but also helping them stay asleep throughout the night and wake without grogginess. For this reason, some experts believe tryptophan can be a safe and effective sleep aid when added to your diet as a supplement. Supplementing your diet with tryptophan, specifically TryptoPure®, may mean a more restful night's sleep, a brighter mood, and a host of other benefits.

Life Extension has selected TryptoPure® as its tryptophan of choice. TryptoPure® is the most trusted tryptophan available today. TryptoPure® is suitable for vegetarians, additive-free, solvent-free, 100% fermented, and GMP certified.

Life Extension has developed a patent-pending formula called Optimized TryptoPure® Plus that provides lysine, niacinamide, hops, ginger and rosemary extracts to protect tryptophan against excessive degradation in our aging bodies, thus sparing it for conversion into serotonin in the brain.

TryptoPure® is a registered trademark and AjiPure™ is a trademark of Ajinomoto Company, Inc. Perluxan™ is used by permission. Ursole is a trademark of Vitiva d.d., Slovenia.

• Take two to three capsules all at once before bedtime, or one capsule on an empty stomach before each meal, or as recommended by a healthcare practitioner.
• For maximum absorption take with a small amount of carbohydrate, such as diluted juice.
• Take separately from food or supplements containing protein or amino acids, especially arginine.

• Keep out of reach of children.
• Do not exceed recommended dose.
• Do not purchase if outer seal is broken or damaged.
• If you have a bad reaction to product discontinue use immediately.
• When using nutritional supplements, please consult with your physician if you are undergoing treatment for a medical condition or if you are pregnant or lactating.