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Article: At bedtime, try warm milk - not L-tryptophan
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- May 13, 1990
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright (null) Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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When we had trouble sleeping, mother would bring a cup of warm
milk, something grandma had given her for a good night's sleep. It
was not long before 20th century researchers found that an essential
amino acid in the milk, L-tryptophan, promoted sleep. From this
observation, the next step was to place L-tryptophan in a capsule and
market it.
The companies that marketed L-tryptophan for sleep and other
medical disorders were smart enough to know that the only way to
avoid all the safety studies required by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration was to call it a nutritional supplement - a catch-all
phrase allowing all sorts of vitamins and mineral preparations to be
marketed.
The amount ...