What is 5-HTP? Is it the same as L-Tryptophan?
L-Tryptophan is chemically related to 5-HTP (5-Hydroxy-L-Tryptophan) but they are not identical. (L-Tryptophan is what is called a “precursor” to 5-HTP.) If they were identical, the ban on selling LT that the FDA imposed and that still remains, would also apply to 5-HTP. Isn’t that logical? You can buy 5-HTP in any health food store, on the Internet, or wherever it’s sold in capsules or in whatever form (pills) it’s sold. You will find LT sold as part of amino acid packages or other similar packages, but it’s supposed to be wrong to sell the pills or capsules by themselves for human use. However, people can and do obtain LT via prescription (from a compounding pharmacy) and more are buying it from sources on the Internet that say they have pharmaceutical grade LT for animal usage. They hardly disguise the fact anymore that humans are also buying it to consume themselves, in my personal opinion.
