L-Tyrosine For Anxiety: Why it Works and How to Take It

L-Tyrosine has been gaining a lot of attention recently in anxiety support forums as a natural way to reduce stress, prevent panic attacks and increase social behavior.

This natural amino acid is observed to decrease symptoms of anxiety while improving mood and helping you to maintain a positive outlook.

Tyrosine is considered to be a non-essential amino acid, since the body is capable of producing this supplement from Phenylalanine.

Even though it is rare for a body to be deficient in Tyrosine, getting additional amounts of this nutrient in your diet or from supplements can increase levels of dopamine in the brain.

Not only can this alleviate signs of depression and other mood disorders, it also works to prevent anxiety and help treat cases of social anxiety.

What is the right way to use L-Tyrosine for Anxiety?

Tyrosine

Amino Acid

Motivation

Mental Focus

Mood

How It Works:

• Supports energy & motivation
• Promotes focus & mental clarity
• Improves mood & stress response

Dosage:

Between 500 - 2000 mg per day

Safety:

Rated Likely Safe

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L-Tyrosine Review

The amino acid L-Tyrosine can be found in food sources such as chicken, turkey, fish, soy and dairy products, peanuts, almonds, avocados, bananas, milk, cheese, yogurt, lima beans, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, etc.

If you do not get enough Tyrosine or Phenylalanine in your diet, it can result in deficiency.

Milder cases of L-Tyrosine deficiency may result in less activity of certain neurotransmitter systems in the brain.

Tyrosine is converted by dopaminergic neurons in the brain into levodopa which is a precursor to dopamine. This neurotransmitter is a major part of the pleasure, mood and reward regulation system of the brain.

Dopamine is further converted into catecholamines which control levels of excitement and arousal in the brain. Because of its wide-ranging effect on brain function, there are a number of clinical uses for Tyrosine supplements.

L-Tyrosine for Anxiety

Recently, L-Tyrosine has been promoted as an effective treatment for individuals who experience General Anxiety Disorder.

Users have found that taking a small dosage of this supplement every day can help them cope with their anxiety symptoms and counteract some of the negative effects of other anxiolytics like 5-HTP.

There are several different neurotransmitters at work when anxiety levels are high. One of these is the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate that is involved in much of our cognitive processing. Too much glutamate activity can cause over-stimulation and over-excitement of your neurons.

Not only is this linked to anxiety, it can also result in nerve damage due to excitotoxicity of your neural receptors. The neurotransmitter dopamine is observed to lessen signs of anxiety by limiting the amount of glutamate excitation that occurs in the brain.

L-Tyrosine influences the synthesis of a number of neurotransmitters and hormones within the brain that control stress levels. Since Tyrosine is known to increase dopamine levels in the brain, it is theorized that this is one of the mechanisms of action by which it is able to control anxiety symptoms.

Another pathway that Tyrosine interacts with is the norepinephrine communication circuit in the brain. Norepinephrine is a stress hormone that is also called noradrenaline. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, this hormone helps your neurons transmit signals effectively and dictates the bodily response to stress.

It is one of the neurotransmitters intimately involved in determining your mood, motivation level and how you generally feel. It has been postulated that impairments in the norepinephrine communication system in your brain can result in the increase of stress and anxiety levels.

If too much Norepinephrine is present in the synaptic cleft, it can quickly generate feelings of anxiety or in extreme cases a panic attack.

L-Tyrosine facilitates the reabsorption or reuptake of Norepinephrine back into the neurons so that your synaptic receptors are not over-exposed to this compound. This has the effect of preventing overreactions to external or internal stressors, allowing you to better deal with anxiety-inducing situations.

L-Tyrosine & Social Anxiety:

A number of individuals also report that L-Tyrosine supplementation is useful in combatting social anxiety. This is a condition marked by sometimes extreme anxiety when being thrust into unfamiliar social situations. In certain cases, this reaction can be caused by normal, everyday situations such as talking to a stranger over the phone or speaking to more than one person at a time.

Studies have found that Dopamine2 receptor activity tends to be lower in individuals with social phobias. Those suffering from social anxiety notice that keeping their Dopamine levels raised is one of the keys to being able to function in social settings. As we have seen above, L-Tyrosine is capable of increasing the levels the dopamine neurotransmitter in the brain.

Since this helps to support mood and feelings of well-being, it can be a very effective anxiety reducer in all of its different forms. Also, by potentially increasing the stimulation of D2 receptors, it may be possible to target the underlying neurological basis for social anxiety with Tyrosine.

Other Benefits Of L-Tyrosine:

Tyrosine is known to have a variety of additional benefits related to motivation, executive function, attention control, and clear-headedness. It can help you better focus at work or school and prevent some of the distractions that make it more likely for feelings of anxiousness to occur. Tyrosine is further observed to regulate levels of hormones that can affect your mood and susceptibility to anxiety.

Research has shown that constant fluctuations in hormones raise the probability of anxiety in women to twice that of men. The gradual drop in progesterone, which is the primary female sex hormone, tends to mark the onset of general anxiety for many women.

L-Tyrosine supplements may help to ease this transition by contributing to better functioning of adrenal, pituitary, and thyroid glands that control hormone levels. This helps to regulate the release of progesterone, ensuring a more normalized schedule of delivery into your blood stream. Over time, this could lessen signs of anxiety especially in older women.

L-Tyrosine Dose & Use Guidelines:

Taking L-Tyrosine for anxiety requires proper consideration to dosages and safety concerns. Studies show that a safe daily dose for L-Tyrosine supplements is anywhere from 200 mg up about 5,000 mg (5 grams).

The best course of action is to begin by finding your own lowest effective dose. From here, you can adjust until you begin to see some of the desired effects.

Many user reviews report that taking between 200 and 500 mg of this supplement once to three times per day gives the best results for anxiety. Some people will use between 1 to 1.5 grams of Tyrosine per dosage, but this amount may be too much for you.

It is also recommended that you talk with your doctor before adding a new supplement to your routine. Your physician can offer you the most informed advice by examining what you are already taking and giving suggestions about any potential interactions or things to look out for.

Tyrosine can be taken with or without food (although many say it is more effective when taken with carbohydrates). However, you will want to try and avoid taking it after the early or midafternoon, since it might interfere with sleep patterns.

Using L-Tyrosine for anxiety is very safe and well-tolerated in healthy adults. The most commonly reported (although still fairly rare in the overall scheme of things) side effects include headaches, occasional nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and insomnia.

Most of these effects are only reported when using high doses, so simply cutting back your intake should help. At very high dosages, it can exacerbate anxiety symptoms and cause an increase in your heart rate. If you experience any of these events, stop using Tyrosine and speak to your doctor for advice.

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