Supplement Education: GABA

What is GABA?

GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that your body produces naturally. The primary role of GABA is to block nerve impulses that ‘fire up’ your brain – these impulses can contribute to your brain being in a hyperactive state which can have negative effects on sleep, relaxation, recovery and general health.

Benefits & Functions

Benefit: GABA can relieve symptoms of anxiety

Anxiety symptoms include feeling worried or nervous, being uneasy about the outcome of something, strong feelings of apprehension and fear about the consequences of an upcoming event or decision.

Anxiety can be difficult to combat however, GABA has been shown to help relieve some symptoms of anxiety by positively influencing your state of mind on a neurological level. GABA has been praised by many users for its ability to help you form some semblance of order out of the chaos in your mind that is apparent when you are suffering from anxiety.

Function: How can GABA relieve symptoms of anxiety?

GABA relieves symptoms of anxiety by reducing the amount of excitable nerve activity in your brain. By acting as a buffer against the excitable effects of Glutamate, the most abundant excitable neurotransmitter in your body, GABA induces a sense of calm which, in turn, reduces the symptoms of anxiety.

Benefit: GABA can help improve sleep quality

The quality of your sleep has a major influence on everything from your general health to physical performance.

One of the main factors that contributes to low quality sleep is an inability to mentally down-regulate, your mind is filled with thoughts and is firing in all cylinders whilst you lie in your bed with your eyes closed in a vain attempt to drift off to sleep. Your overactive brain needs to be calmed down and GABA plays a major role in doing exactly that.

Function: How can GABA improve sleep quality?

GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter which means it promotes a relaxed state of body and mind. It does this by buffering the effects of excitatory neurotransmitters which send signals to your nervous system and are stimulatory in nature.

The down regulation of excitatory neurotransmitters, such as Glutamate, promote a more relaxed state of mind and not just in a general sense, but on a neurological level as well.

Benefit: GABA can help increase natural levels of growth hormone

Exogenous growth hormone use is a controversial topic to say the least but boosting your bodys natural production of growth hormone has been shown to have many benefits. Growth hormone plays a role in muscle growth & recovery as well as other bodily functions such as regulation of body composition and fat metabolism.

Growth hormone is strongly linked with muscle recovery which is a vital part of any training regime. The ability to recover as much as possible between training sessions will allow you to maintain an extremely high level of training that will ultimately lead to more gains over time.

Function: How can GABA increase natural production of growth hormone?

A 2008 study showed that ingestion of GABA increased growth hormone secretion by 400% compared to placebo. GABA has this effect thanks, once again, to its relaxing properties.

The optimal state for growth hormone to be released is when your body and mind are at rest, GABA is your primary inhibitory neurotransmitter which makes it work perfectly with growth hormone.