5-Hydroxy-L-tyrptophan (5-HTP) dose-dependently decreased food intake in rats deprived of food, and in rats that were stressed according to a study by Richard Wurtman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tim Maher from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Boston, Mass. Read the entire article | Email this article

The combination of phentermine plus fenfluramine was all the rage from late-1994 until July 1997 when the Mayo Clinic announced heart valve problems in patients taking fenfluramine (Pondamin) or dexfenfluramine (Redux), and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) removed it from the market.

Fen-Phen, as it was called, was said to be more effective than either drug alone.

However, a 1984 study showed that phentermine alone caused more weight loss than the combination of the two drugs:

• 22 lbs weight loss with phentermine alone


• 18.5 lbs weight loss with phentermine plus fenfluramine (Fen-Phen)


• 16.5 lbs with fenfluramine alone


• 9.7 lbs in those given a placebo.

( Thank you to Michael Anchors, MD, PhD for pointing this study out to me. ) Read the entire article | Email this article

On patient given phentermine plus 5-HTP plus carbidopa lost 24.4 percent of body weight in six months, while patients who had successfully maintained an average weight loss of 12 percent for 4-11 years on phentermine alone gained 6 percent when 5-HTP plus carbidopa was added. Read the entire article | Email this article

Twenty percent (20%) of weight loss doctors surveyed use phentermine plus 5-HTP.

It is the seventh most used diet drug used by these doctors. Read the entire article | Email this article

"[P]hentermine plus 5-HTP is effective in reducing alcohol intake and suppressing alcohol withdrawal seizures [in rats]," according to a study from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Read the entire article | Email this article

Below are quotes from a new review paper about 5-Hydroxytryptophan or 5-HTP for short. Read the entire article | Email this article

Below is a brief review of the research on 5-HTP when used for weight loss as described in a new paper by Jason Halford from Kissileff Laboratory for the Study of Human Ingestive Behaviour at the University of Liverpool in Liverpool, England, and John Blundell from the Institute of Psychology at University of Leeds in Leeds, England. Read the entire article | Email this article

Humans given 0.5 to 0.9 mg of 5-HTP per pound of body weight increased blood levels of 5-HTP 1.5 to 2.3-fold. Read the entire article | Email this article

"Presenting symptoms and excess body fat should be the determining factor for treating obesity, not body mass index," says William L. Wilson, M.D. of Chisholm, Minn. "We have found that Body Mass Index (BMI) does not consistently correlate with percent body fat until BMI exceeds 35.2. Read the entire article | Email this article

5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) dose-dependently increases leptin in mice, however, pretreatment with carbidopa suppresses this increase according to a study from Kobe Pharmaceutical University in Kobe, Japan. Read the entire article | Email this article

Dr. Jay Piatek explains how he uses phentermine and 5-HTP plus exercise and some unique motivational techniques to help both adults and children achieve long-term weight loss. Read the entire article | Email this article

Psychiatrist Dr. Dennis Padla 5-HTP may help patients who have plateaued, but may also increase the incidence of some side effects. Read the entire article | Email this article

Dr. Michael Anchors notes that adding 5-HTP to Phentermine-Proac helps about half of plauteaed patients to lose more weight.

Michael Anchors, M.D., Ph.D. was the first to describe the use of phentermine combined with Prozac (fluoxetine) and other SSRIs in his best-seller Safer Than Phen-Fen (Prima Publishing, 1997). He is a clinical professor of medicine at Georgetown University and has a family practice in Gaithersburg, Maryland. A little over a year ago he started adding 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) in some of his patients taking Phen-Prozac.

Larry Hobbs interviewed Dr. Anchors by email to find out what effect, if any, it has had. Read the entire article | Email this article

Psychiatrist Dr. Dennis Padla 5-HTP may help patients who have plateaued but may also increase the incidence of some side effects. Read the entire article | Email this article

Dr. Michael Anchors says that adding 5-HTP to Phentermine-Proac helps about half of plauteaed patients to lose more weight. Read the entire article | Email this article

Michael Anchors, M.D., Ph.D. is the author of the book titled Safer Than Phen-Fen. He is a clinical professor of medicine at Georgetown University and operates a family practice in Maryland. Read the entire article | Email this article

This is an update to the interview with Michael Anchors, M.D., Ph.D. about the use of Phen-Pro, the combination of phentermine and Prozac or certain other SSRIs. Read the entire article | Email this article

Michael T. Murray, N.D., is the author of numerous books about nutritional supplements. His latest is 5-HTP: The Natural Way to Boost Serotonin and Overcome Depression, Obesity, and Insomnia. Larry Hobbs interviewed Dr. Murray by phone about the use of 5-HTP for weight loss.

This interview was first published in Obesity Research Update, June 1998, Volume 3 Number 6 Page 41. Read the entire article | Email this article

"We wouldn't be in business without 5-HTP," says Richard B. Rothman, M.D., Ph.D., Medical Director of BE-LITE Medical Centers located in Virginia and Maryland. Read the entire article | Email this article

"We're getting seventy-eight percent greater weight loss than we got with Fen-Phen," says Martin Hinz, M.D., from Morgan Park Clinic of Duluth, Minn. "This is since we made some additional changes to our program in January of this year." Read the entire article | Email this article