Natrol 5-HTP Stress & Anxiety Day & Night Formula Review
This is a review of a naturally formulated product, 5-HTP Stress & Anxiety. It soothes the symptoms of anxiety and stress during the day, and helps restore healthy, normal sleep patterns at night. Normal sleep patterns enable you to obtain high quality sleep, enhanced productivity and improved mood the next day. Slightly different formulations are used in the day and night capsules to provide targeted relief for stress, and insomnia or interrupted sleep respectively.
Our review of 5-HTP Stress & Anxiety assesses its potential effectiveness to relieve the very prevalent modern-day ailment of persistent, overwhelming nervousness and worry. Symptoms include neck pain, nausea, getting the jitters, lack of concentration, vomiting, avoiding stressful situations and obsessive compulsive behaviors, among others. The symptoms also include lack of proper sleep at night, and the body’s general inability to regulate normal sleep-wake rhythms. It is estimated that 40 million Americans, or almost 20% of the population, suffers from Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
Consequently, there is a huge market for natural aids that help relieve anxiousness, with some products being more predisposed to work than others, based on their ingredients.
Ingredients
The day and night capsules have different formulations as they are meant to bring about different results.
The Stress & Anxiety Day Formula ingredients are:
- 50mg 5-HTP
- 50mg L-Theanine
- 10mg Vitamin B6
- 10mg Vitamin B12
- 200mg Folic Acid
5-HTP is a plant-derived amino acid that helps increase brain serotonin levels. Serotonin helps regulate mood and behavior, and is often found in antidepressant drugs. L-Theanine is also an amino acid, and is found in green tea. It helps maintain healthy blood pressure and normal heart rates. L-Theanine has therefore been linked to a decrease in anxiety. Vitamins B6 and 12, and Folic Acid also help maintain feelings of well-being without inducing fatigue or sleep. The synthesis in this Day capsule is drug-free, vegetarian-safe and non-addictive.
We agree that it likely helps promote a sense of overall calm, and is effective in stemming a morbid or low outlook. From our research though we would have preferred a richer formulation drawing on other powerful anti-stress natural agents as well. The other agents we would have anticipated seeing are lemon balm and passion flower.
The Stress & Anxiety Night Formula ingredients are:
- 3mg Melatonin
- 100mg Valerian Extract
- 30 IU Vitamin E
- 25mg Grape Seed Extract
- 72mg Calcium
- 800mg L-glutamine
Melatonin, Valerian Extract, Calcium and L-glutamine all help to induce high quality sleep so you can wake up feeling refreshed and enjoy heightened focus and productivity. Grapeseed is a powerful antioxidant that helps your body’s cells regenerate and recover from the stresses of daily life. The synthesis in this Night capsule is also drug-free, vegetarian-safe and non-addictive.
When doing our research and analyses of various ingredients for this 5-HTP Stress & Anxiety review though, we found that although these ingredients do aid natural sleep cycles, we could identify at least four other ingredients which should probably have been added. If added, they would have enhanced the intended effects. Chamomile is one ingredient we expected to see.
Dosage
Take one or two day capsules in the morning, preferably with a meal and water, and a night capsule before going to bed. Those on chronic medication should get medical clearance to take this first. Pregnant and breastfeeding women should also obtain the medical go ahead from their doctor first.
If you are taking prescription drugs, such as those for depression, migraines, Parkinson’s disease or a psychiatric disorder, you should consult a doctor first. This product should not be used in together with other supplements containing L-tryptophan or 5-HTP. As the night formula causes drowsiness, do not take it with other sedatives. Only use it when you are planning to sleep.
Possible Side Effects
The product is safe for consumption but as always, overdosage comes with certain risks. It should be fairly obvious that the night-time formulation can result in an inability to wake up or perform the next day if taken with other sedatives. As for the day formulation, if you take too much L-Theanine, it can in fact cause anxiety symptoms. This is especially true if you exceed the two-a-day dosage and consume large amounts of other stimulants such as caffeine. The daily maximum allowance is 100mg to 200mg of L-Theanine. L-Theanine also interacts badly with alcohol. The main caution relating to L-Theanine is that it can lower your blood pressure so taking it with blood-pressure lowering medications will have adverse effects.
Price
You can buy the product online and at various retailers physically, but you cannot purchase it from the product website. A 60-pack of Natrol 5-HTP Stress & Anxiety (30 day and 30 night tablets) costs $16.48 on Amazon and the 15-15 count pack costs $11.03.
Guarantee
We could not find any evidence of a manufacturer guarantee on the product website. If there is one, we were unable to unearth it. Contact the manufacturer should you have concerns.
Conclusion of Our Natrol 5-HTP Stress & Anxiety Day & Night Formula Review
The ingredients in 5-HTP Stress & Anxiety Day & Night are non-addictive. Clinical studies have linked them to being effective in combating anxiety. The fact that the day and night formulations are separate is great, as this provides targeted relief and the much needed two-prong approach to fighting anxiety. What is also great from a consumer point of view is that the day formulation can be bought separately, as can the night capsules. This suits those whose stress-related symptoms find greater expression either during the day, or at night, causing them to sleep fitfully or not at all.
The product is not all-natural as melatonin is synthetic. L-Theanine is an important inclusion but we would always prefer more disclosure about the quality and purity of L-Theanine. It is the purity of this compound that determines its benefits. It also determines whether it will take long to have an effect, or whether it will stop having an effect quite quickly as the body becomes accustomed to it. The negative consequences discussed under Side Effects are also heightened if the L-Theanine is not of the highest quality.
That apparent lack of a consumer guarantee is somewhat concerning, as is the fact ingredients which could have led to a more potent formulation have been omitted. The product has garnered just over 50% good reviews, pointing to average efficacy. In concluding our review, we advise the product, with the caveat that it may not work for all and certainly not to the same degree. It is worth a try if you are willing to forego a potential money-back guarantee.
