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Phenylethylamine (PEA)

Specific Recommendations:

• DL-Phenylalanine, a direct precursor to PEA (phenylethylamine)

News & Research:

• Happily ever after? It's all in your head - CNN, 2/14/02 - See the video.  Claims that love is dependent on a cocktail of chemicals (dopamine, norepinephrine and PEA) and that oxytocin is responsible for bonding and that vasopressin is responsible for monogamy.
• Body Makes Natural Antidepressant After Moderate Exercise - WebMD, 9/27/01 - "Even moderate exercise apparently raises levels of a brain chemical that improves a person's mood ... The substance is phenylethylamine, or PEA, a natural stimulant produced by the body. It is related to amphetamines but does not have the long-lasting effects that make "speed" or "ice" such deadly drugs ... moderate exercise increases PEA levels for most people"
• Exercise Levels Of Phenylethylamine May Damp Depression - Doctor's Guide, 9/27/01 - "Administration of phenylethylamine or its precursor L-phenylalanine, in conjunction with selegiline, a selective monoamine oxidase B inhibitor, has been reported to alleviate depression and to produce improvements in mood. The effects are sustained and also apparent in some patients who are insensitive to conventional treatment"
• When It Comes to Love, the Nose Knows - WebMD, 2/14/01- "I believe that PEA may be the hormone of libido"
• Amino Acids anyone? - DrBob.org - "L-phenylalanine can also be converted (through a separate pathway) to phenylethylamine, a substance that occurs naturally in the brain and appears to elevate mood."
• Psychotropic Drug-Induced Sexual Dysfunction - Medscape, 7/99, - "Amphetamine-like PEA is a stimulant whose levels spike at orgasm and ovulation and is believed to mediate feelings of romance and love. Its levels are increased by monoamine oxidase inhibitors"
• Natural Remedies for Depression - Nutrition Science News, 2/99 - "D-phenylalanine, which does not normally occur in the body or in food, is metabolized to phenylethylamine (PEA), an amphetaminelike compound that occurs normally in the human brain and has been shown to have mood-elevating effects. Decreased urinary levels of PEA (suggesting a deficiency) have been found in some depressed patients.7 Although PEA can be synthesized from L-phenylalanine, a large proportion of this amino acid is preferentially converted to L-tyrosine. D-phenylalanine is therefore the preferred substrate for increasing the synthesis of PEA--although L-phenylalanine would also have a mild antidepressant effect because of its conversion to L-tyrosine and its partial conversion to PEA. Because D-phenylalanine is not widely available, the mixture D,L-phenylalanine is often used when an antidepressant effect is desired"