Many use GABA supplements as a natural anxiety remedy. GABA has been clinically proven to reduce anxiety and may also help improve diabetes and blood sugar.
What is GABA and what are its roles in the brain?
GABA is short for Gamma-Amino Butyric acid and serves as a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. Its main function is to block brain impulses, the opposite effect that caffeine has on the brain.
How is GABA beneficial? Too many impulses between neurons is actually a bad thing. When over stimulation occurs due to a lack of GABA, a slew of disorders and symptoms occur.
They are as follows:
- Addiction headaches
- Parkinson’s syndrome
- Cognitive impairment
- Anxiety
The effect of GABA is quieting and calming. This reduces over-communication between neurons and allows the brain to not get overexcited. This effect has been beneficial in using GABA as a natural anxiety remedy.
GABA as a Natural Anxiety Remedy
Anxiety
GABA has been clinically proven to reduce anxiety in patients exhibiting symptoms. GABA serves opposite as a stimulant which is necessary for calming individuals down who have developed anxiety.
A study by Braverman and Pfeiffer showed that a patient consuming 800mg of GABA orally each day was able to eliminate anxiety. This was beneficial to the patient as the treatment had none of the side effects that may have been present if treatment included pharmaceutical drugs.
Other Potential Uses of GABA Supplement
Diabetes and Blood Sugar
Another common use that GABA has been used as a supplement for is to treat low blood sugar caused by diabetes. A study showed that patients consuming 2-4 grams of GABA as an oral supplement exhibited stimulated insulin production as well as lower blood sugar.
A recent study also shows promise for treating type 1 diabetes with GABA. Although it could take years to prove in human clinical trials, research on mice showed that type 1 diabetes can be ‘reversed’ in human pancreatic cells with GABA treatment.
Depression and PMS
Although GABA has been used for other disorders like depression, the science backing GABA effectiveness is still rudimentary and in the developing phase. People with depression and PMS have shown to have lower GABA levels in their blood plasma.
Theoretically, by increasing GABA, the levels should be increased in the blood plasma and the symptoms of depression and PMS should disappear. This was the general method of logic for the longest time until recent studies have showed that the issue of depression and PMS is more difficult than that. GABA should be used with caution to individuals who hope to use it as an antidepressant.
Taking GABA
Are you considering using GABA as a natural anxiety remedy? The suggestion for individuals who are looking to curb their anxiety or boost human growth hormone levels are suggested to take anywhere between 3 and 18 grams of a GABA supplement.
It should be noted that the higher doses of GABA may leave the user with a tingling effect. An alternative to GABA, GHB, can be used as a substitute but has lost positive headway due to its usage as a “date-rape” drug.
Alternatives to taking GABA directly
There are a number of herbs, vitamins, and minerals that can stimulate GABA levels naturally. Valerian root and American Ginseng have been popular inhibitors to increasing GABA levels in the brain.
Magnesium and various teas have also shown having a positive effect in regards to increasing GABA’s impact on the brain. Using GABA as a natural anxiety treatment or boost human growth hormone levels may have other benefits as well. This powerful supplement may also help prevent and treat diabetes.
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Looking for other ways to reduce anxiety naturally? Check out our article on different ways to help reduce anxiety naturally. And you may want to learn how picamilon can improve mood even though the supplement has been banned in the US.
