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For what it's worth, I've had some success treating my Long Covid symptoms with a specific form of Tryptophan found in Hydrolyzed Whey Protein (a standard bodyb

For what it's worth, I've had some success treating my Long Covid symptoms with a specific form of Tryptophan found in Hydrolyzed Whey Protein (a standard bodybuilding protein powder.) You can get it OTC from Amazon [1]. My symptoms are slightly different from yours but sound close enough. A recent study showed that persistent viral infection can block normal tryptophan receptors [2] which causes a diminished ability to synthesize serotonin, which it turns out is pretty essential for a lot of things including alertness & sleep, etc etc. The tryptophan found in hydrolyzed whey binds to a different receptor than normal dietary tryptophan, thereby allowing your body to reuptake it and produce serotonin as usual. (This is all in the study.) A word of warning: If you do this, take only a very small amount to start, maybe a quarter serving, because even though the body rate-limits serotonin production your tolerance will likely be extremely low from not having much for years. I didn't know this and I took a couple servings per day (after all, it's just protein powder right?) but by day two I was hypomanic which was unpleasant and it took about a week to return to normal. So start with maybe a quarter serving, wait a few days, and repeat until your serotonin normalizes. Also DON'T TAKE THIS if you're on any medication that interacts with serotonin such as an antidepressant, SSRI, MAOI, or what-have-you. I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice, just something that helped me after many years of difficulty. [1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002QZORGK https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002QZORGK [2] https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(23)01034-6 https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(23)01034-6

amavect 2y ago
I just read through the study. I corroborate your summary. > The tryptophan found in hydrolyzed whey binds to a different receptor than normal dietary tryptophan, thereby allowing your body to reuptake it and produce serotonin as usual. (This is all in the study.) Took me a bit to find the quote. > If tryptophan uptake was abrogated by poly(I:C) treatment, tryptophan supplementation should elevate serotonin levels even during viral inflammation. To corroborate this, we used a diet containing a glycine-tryptophan dipeptide, which bypasses the need for B0AT1 and enables tryptophan uptake via dipeptide transporters.33 This diet compensated for impaired uptake in poly(I:C)-treated mice and led to an increase in both tryptophan and serotonin levels in systemic circulation Now I need to ensure that whey protein contains some glycyl-L-tryptophan. The study used a lab rat diet "TD.210749" (unsearchable, maybe a custom diet) from Envigo/Inotiv. The citation used pure glycyl-L-tryptophan "G0144" from TCI Europe (~$100/g haha nope). I can't find anything on glycyl-L-tryptophan content in hydrolyzed whey (maybe you can help?), but found one on other tryptophan dipeptides, alanyl-tryptophan and tryptophanyl-tryptophan. The ACE receptor inhibition seems relevant, too. The PepT 1 protein appears to transport the dipeptides. "Selective release of ACE-inhibiting tryptophan-containing dipeptides from food proteins by enzymatic hydrolysis" Diana Lunow et al. - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-013-2014-x https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-013-2014-x I'll try this out for my early waking insomnia, mildly reduced energy, and digestive problems (started after I got Covid, almost exactly 2 years ago). I need to find one without artificial sweeteners (hate the taste). I'll report back in exactly 2 weeks (sets calendar).
- majkinetor 2y ago
  If its dipeptide transporter, seems like any dipeptide would do. Adding bromelain to mix might help.
  - amavect 2y ago
    Yeah, thinking about this a bit more, shouldn't stomach proteases break the protein sources into dipeptides? I found a few comments online arguing that hydrolyzing doesn't matter and may cost more. If that's true, then we should only care about the protein types of whey, especially the alpha-lactalbumin content (higher tryptophan). I think bromelain would only help people with reduced protease production, and it likely won't break apart hydrolyzed protein any further. Of course, theory requires a test, but I won't add bromelain to my hydrolyzed whey test.
    - majkinetor 2y ago
      Thats correct. Bromelain cant harm though, is cheap, hydrolization is certainly not perfect, and it has other positive effects on body such as anti inflammatory, pain reduction etc.
      - amavect 2y ago
        Can you share a few studies, please? I'd like a good theory for the effectiveness of bromelain, first.
        majkinetor 2y ago
        Its potency is measured in Gelatin Digesting Units (GDU), I think thats telling enough.
Mo3 2y ago
Aw, too bad I can't have whey because of my lactose intolerance. :(

amavect 2y ago

I just read through the study. I corroborate your summary. > The tryptophan found in hydrolyzed whey binds to a different receptor than normal dietary tryptophan, thereby allowing your body to reuptake it and produce serotonin as usual. (This is all in the study.) Took me a bit to find the quote. > If tryptophan uptake was abrogated by poly(I:C) treatment, tryptophan supplementation should elevate serotonin levels even during viral inflammation. To corroborate this, we used a diet containing a glycine-tryptophan dipeptide, which bypasses the need for B0AT1 and enables tryptophan uptake via dipeptide transporters.33 This diet compensated for impaired uptake in poly(I:C)-treated mice and led to an increase in both tryptophan and serotonin levels in systemic circulation Now I need to ensure that whey protein contains some glycyl-L-tryptophan. The study used a lab rat diet "TD.210749" (unsearchable, maybe a custom diet) from Envigo/Inotiv. The citation used pure glycyl-L-tryptophan "G0144" from TCI Europe (~$100/g haha nope). I can't find anything on glycyl-L-tryptophan content in hydrolyzed whey (maybe you can help?), but found one on other tryptophan dipeptides, alanyl-tryptophan and tryptophanyl-tryptophan. The ACE receptor inhibition seems relevant, too. The PepT 1 protein appears to transport the dipeptides. "Selective release of ACE-inhibiting tryptophan-containing dipeptides from food proteins by enzymatic hydrolysis" Diana Lunow et al. - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-013-2014-x https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-013-2014-x I'll try this out for my early waking insomnia, mildly reduced energy, and digestive problems (started after I got Covid, almost exactly 2 years ago). I need to find one without artificial sweeteners (hate the taste). I'll report back in exactly 2 weeks (sets calendar).

majkinetor 2y ago
If its dipeptide transporter, seems like any dipeptide would do. Adding bromelain to mix might help.
- amavect 2y ago
  Yeah, thinking about this a bit more, shouldn't stomach proteases break the protein sources into dipeptides? I found a few comments online arguing that hydrolyzing doesn't matter and may cost more. If that's true, then we should only care about the protein types of whey, especially the alpha-lactalbumin content (higher tryptophan). I think bromelain would only help people with reduced protease production, and it likely won't break apart hydrolyzed protein any further. Of course, theory requires a test, but I won't add bromelain to my hydrolyzed whey test.
  - majkinetor 2y ago
    Thats correct. Bromelain cant harm though, is cheap, hydrolization is certainly not perfect, and it has other positive effects on body such as anti inflammatory, pain reduction etc.
    - amavect 2y ago
      Can you share a few studies, please? I'd like a good theory for the effectiveness of bromelain, first.
      - majkinetor 2y ago
        Its potency is measured in Gelatin Digesting Units (GDU), I think thats telling enough.

Mo3 2y ago

Aw, too bad I can't have whey because of my lactose intolerance. :(