Although there are many effective anti-depressants, there are also many doctors who prefer to treat depression and its symptoms in a more natural way such as with supplements found in any health food store. These would include common vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.

One such group of nutrients that have been found extremely successful in treating depression is the amino acids L-tyrosine, L-tryptophan and L-phenylalnine. For many years, L-tryptophan was commonly used to effectively treat depression. Unfortunately, in the late 1980’s a batch of the substance was contaminated and led to several fatalities causing it to be taken off the market. Although corrections have been made to the production process for L-tryptophan to prevent future occurrences, there still remains a ban on this substance in many countries Presently there is a product that is related to L-tryptophan known as 5-HTP that is currently available in various health food stores.