When you use Doc Parsley’s Sleep Cocktail, I know in several of the case studies you use it in addition to 5-HTP and melatonin. I also was wondering when it would be advised for any sleep disturbance. Also, in one of the case studies you mentioned 5-HTP even though the patient had normal melatonin levels. Is this common for you to use if melatonin is normal if they have sleep disturbance?

Chris Kresser: Okay, for the Sleep Cocktail, the reason I like it is it has a really low dose of melatonin. It’s 300 mcg. As I mentioned in the HPA axis unit, low doses of melatonin can actually be more sedating than higher doses. It’s got a lower dose of the form of GABA that may cross the blood-brain barrier. It’s got some 5-HTP and some magnesium. It typically works pretty well for people, especially if they don’t have a complication that is contributing to their insomnia, for example, such as severe inflammation, pain, or something like that. It’s a little more gentle of an intervention than Kavinace, for example, or even some of the others that we discussed. I think it’s a good starting place, but it doesn’t work well for everybody. I like to start there in many cases, see how it goes, and if it doesn’t work, then we can bring out the bigger guns. In terms of 5-HTP, yes, even if the patient has normal melatonin levels in the urine, it can still be helpful for sleep. It’s kind of like Sleep Cocktail in the sense that sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t, and some patients actually can even have a paradoxical reaction to 5-HTP where it stimulates them. You just have to observe what happens and go from there.