Neurotransmitters are naturally occurring chemicals in human beings and animals that relay electrical messages between nerve cells. This is not a simple process and requires precise amounts of neurotransmitters for optimal function.

There are basically four components in the foods that we eat:

1. Vitamins
2. Minerals
3. Amino Acids
4. Calories

Neurotransmitters are built in the body from amino acids with the assistance of vitamins and minerals known as "co-factors". If the body does not take in enough of the amino acids, vitamins, or minerals to build neurotransmitters, a neurotransmitter deficiency state develops. Over time this leads to the development of diseases and illness caused by or associated with low levels of neurotransmitters (see Diseases Associated With Neurotransmitter Deficiency link).

Managing an illness that develops from low levels of neurotransmitters by giving someone oral or IV neurotransmitters does not work since neurotransmitters do not cross the blood-brain barrier and enter the brain. Drugs, such as Zoloft, Prozac and other drugs that work with neurotransmitters do nothing to increase the overall level of neurotransmitters in the brain. They work by a process known as "redistribution", where neurotransmitters are simply moved from one place in the brain to another in order o trick the brain into thinking there are more neurotransmitters in the system. In fact, there are no more neurotransmitters I the already depleted brain. Drugs that work with neurotransmitters, will actually deplete neurotransmitter levels further over time, effectively making the real cause of the problem worse (see Depleters of Neurotransmitters link).

The only way to actually increase the level of neurotransmitters in people suffering from neurotransmitter deficiency is by giving them amino acid precursors, vitamins and minerals that the body needs to make them. Unlike neurotransmitters, precursors cross freely into the brain where the body converts them to neurotransmitters and actually increases the overall level of neurotransmitters in the deficient system as verified by laboratory testing.

So this begs the question, "Why don't we simply train people to eat properly in order to get rid of these diseases?" As you will see, simply designing the perfect diet to replace deficient nutrients is usually not possible. Our daily intake of food is meant to maintain or improve our health. Deficiencies develop over years of inadequate nutrient intake and there are not enough nutrients in ordinary food-stuffs to replace deficient nutrients. For example, in order to correct even a mild neurotransmitter deficiency, one would have to eat 35 ounces of red meat or 18 eggs each day. Thirty five ounces of red meat or 18 eggs have about 2440 calories and are loaded with saturated fat, few vitamins and minerals and no fiber. Therefore, you would need more food on top of this to get your other nutrients, and more food equals more calories. It doesn't take long to figure out that weight loss is not possible on this type of diet. Therefore, supplements are used to obtain the results that cannot be achieved on a practical level from diet alone.

The main neurotransmitters we are concerned with are the catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine) and the serotonin system.