5-HTP Ingredients

You'll find 5-HTP supplements on the internet and in stores where supplements are sold. Common purported uses include alleviating chronic headaches, insomnia, premenstrual syndrome, attention-deficit disorder, depression, fibromyalgia and binge eating associated with obesity. Such supplements often contain additional ingredients. If you are interested in this supplement, check with a doctor before taking it.

5-hydroxytryptophan

The full name for 5-HTP is 5-hydroxytryptophan. This is a metabolite of the essential amino acid L-tryptophan. Your body converts L-tryptophan into serotonin. The tryptophan form 5-HTP is one step closer to becoming serotonin than L- tryptophan. Oral doses of 5-HTP are well absorbed in the human body. 5-HTP also easily crosses your blood-brain barrier to increase central nervous system serotonin synthesis, notes T.C. Birdsall in a 1998 study published in "Alternative Medicine Review."

Griffonia Simplicifolia

The dietary supplement 5-HTP is made from the seeds of an African plant called Griffonia simplicifolia. The seeds from this plant are extracted in factories in Germany, the United States and elsewhere. The extract emerges as pale brown crystals or a grey-white powder. These contain 95 percent to 98 percent 5-HTP. This may be mixed with vitamins, packed in capsules or mixed in with yerba mate or green tea.

Other Ingredients

5-HTP supplements often have filling agents or preservatives in them such as gelatin, rice flour, water and silicon dioxide. All of these ingredients are on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Generally Recognized as Safe list. Some supplements also contain magnesium stearate, a dietary form of the mineral magnesium. Magnesium is used by your body along with vitamins B-6 and niacin when it converts 5-HTP to serotonin.

Expert Insight

If you want to use 5-HTP in supplement form, it's important to discuss the idea with your doctor. Not all uses for 5-HTP are approved by the FDA, notes Drugs.com. This supplement should not be used in lieu of medication prescribed by your doctor. Also, you need to check with your doctor before trying it if you take medication because 5-HTP has drug interactions with numerous medications, including MAO inhibitors, Parkinson's disease medicine, antidepressants, prescription pain medicine and dextromethorphan. This ingredient also interacts with St. John's wort. Also avoid it if you are pregnant or breast feeding, advise the experts at Drugs.com. Side effects can include sun sensitivity, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, appetite loss, heartburn and flatulence. 5-HTP also may cause allergic reactions.