The best GABA: Shopping Guide and Recommendations (03/23)

We will now introduce you to a few of the effects of GABA and have also provided you with studies to back them up:

Sleep

Insomnia is widespread. Around 30% of adults worldwide suffer from some form of insomnia. Insomnia, as it is called, includes not only problems falling asleep, but also frequent waking up, waking up too early or restless sleep (1).

As mentioned above, GABA has a calming effect and reduces the excitability of the nerves. Therefore, it can naturally help you fall asleep. A study conducted in 2008 explored the connection between insomnia and GABA levels. The researchers found that GABA levels were significantly lower in people who had insomnia. The levels were about 30 % lower compared to people without insomnia (2).

In addition to taking GABA, it is helpful to establish a sleep ritual and try to go to bed at the same time every night.

Stress

When your body is confronted with many different stimuli over a long period of time, your brain is flooded with stress hormones from the excitatory neurotransmitters.

Exercise in particular has a positive influence on your mood and can help with stress. In 2010, researchers therefore investigated how the concentration of GABA in the brain changes during two different types of exercise and how they affect mood (3).

They found that the GABA concentration decreased by about 18% compared to the neutral state without stress. However, the functional significance and the molecular mechanism of this reduced inhibitory effect are not yet clearly understood and need to be further researched.

Glutamate

GABA and glutamate are the two central neurotransmitters in our nervous system. GABA has a calming effect, whereas glutamate has an excitatory effect. Although they act differently, both have the same biological pathway.

Normally, glutamate and GABA activity is in balance. However, glutamate activity increases, for example, when there is increased immune activity or inflammation, i.e. under stressful conditions. To compensate for this excitement and restore balance, GABA activity increases. Of course, only when the nervous system is functioning properly.

An increase in glutamate levels, should always result in an increase in GABA levels. This is also called the “allostatic mechanism”. Your body tries to restore the balance, the homeostasis.

If your system is unbalanced, i.e. your glutamate level is higher than your GABA level, it can lead to symptoms such as sensory overload, sleep and concentration problems or anxiety.

Anxiety reliever

GABA is responsible for lowering the excitability of synapses. In most cases, such arousal is expressed in the form of emotions such as fear, tension or inner restlessness. This state is quite normal and correct in a real dangerous situation, because it puts the body on alert and improves the reflexes to react more quickly accordingly.

However, constantly persistent and irrational fears lead to panic attacks. Naturally, this puts a strain on the psyche and the body. Such disorders are grouped together under the collective term anxiety disorders. It is precisely here that GABA and GABA-analogue active substances have long proven their worth due to their calming effect.

In 2006, a study investigated the effect of orally administered GABA in people with a fear of heights. As a fear trigger, they had to cross a suspension bridge. The group that had taken GABA showed reduced beta waves and increased alpha waves after only one hour. This is an indication that they were more relaxed (4).

ADHD

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is a disorder that can affect both children and adults. Symptoms include hyperactivity, impulsivity or a limited attention span.

A study was conducted at John Hopkins University School of Medicine in 2012 that compared the concentration of GABA in children with and without ADHD and found that the concentration of GABA in the brain was lower in children with ADHD (5).

It also found that low levels of GABA were associated with less inhibition and more impulsivity. This was investigated in a study using in vivo concentrations of GABA in adolescents of pubertal age (6).

PMS

Premenstrual syndrome occurs in connection with the female menstrual cycle. It is characterised by various symptoms:

• Fatigue
• Ravenous appetite
• Mood swings
• Stomach and abdominal cramps

Researchers compared the concentration of GABA in the occipital cortex of women with PMS and those without symptoms during the menstrual cycle. They found that GABA levels can be disturbed by menstruation and decrease during the menstrual cycle (7).

Depression

In industrialised countries, depression is one of the most common mental health complaints.

People who suffer from depression often have a lower concentration of GABA in the brain. Researchers therefore assume that the neurotransmitter GABA plays a direct or indirect role as a factor in depression (8).

On the other hand, another study at the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine has shown that GABA levels can increase after treatment for depression. Patients had increased GABA levels after treatment of their depression with electroconvulsive therapy (9).

If you stimulate your GABA-A receptors with GABA-A receptor antagonists for a longer period of time, this leads to a downregulation of your GABA-A receptors (10). There is therefore an increased risk of addiction with prolonged use of barbiturates, benzodiazepines or alcohol. In addition, prolonged contact on GABA receptors with alcohol and benzodiazepines, has the same effect as prolonged chronic stress (11).

The production of GABA and cortisol is increased during stress. When the prolonged elevated levels meet, irreversible cognitive damage occurs (12).

However, side effects usually only occur in connection with an overdose of GABA.