In the US, there happens to be a worrying surge in cases of weight problems for the previous 20 years as said by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The fact is, as of 2010, no state has obesity prevalence of lower than 20%. Wikipedia says that around 3 out of 4 Americans may be obese or overweight. This scary rise can be associated with our raised consumption of fat and sugar-loaded food. The price of treating diseases directly linked to obesity ballooned to $75 billion in 2003 alone. Yes, obesity is a serious issue.

The problem is compounded by the tasty snacks we can obtain everywhere. Instant satisfaction is easy to obtain these days. Food manufacturers will forever continue to find ways to make the foods they offer a lot more tasty though unhealthy. Unless of course we stop buying but that’s really hopeless. Very few individuals have the ability to restrain their desire to have tasty but unhealthy foods. Fortunately there are in fact natural health supplements which are useful in curbing our desire for food.

You might have heard about 5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP). Our bodies make this chemical substance from tryptophan. It is then transformed further into the neurotransmitter serotonin. Sufficient amounts of serotonin can facilitate sleep, moods, pain response as well as urge for food. We can obtain 5-HTP naturally from some of the food that we eat but the quantity we obtain from food is not enough to benefit from it in losing weight. That is why we need dietary supplements.

There are studies that support the positive effects of this brain chemical substance for losing weight. The group who took the health supplement ate significantly much less compared to the placebo group. We can feel satiated quicker when we take this health supplement. The effects of the supplement is amazing on its own however, if combined with dieting, it can result in very considerable losing weight as a follow up study showed.

You should be cautioned that there are 5-htp side effects. The reported minor unwanted effects include drowsiness, stomach pain and heartburn. Make sure to consult your doctor first before choosing to use this dietary supplement mainly because it is scored as ‘possibly unsafe’ by the Food and Drug Administration. Keep in mind that it is not yet studied thoroughly and its interplay with other medications is not yet recognized.

If you want, you could just sip green tea to stay on the safe side. The health benefits of green tea are many and they include losing weight. Remember that even the best natural health supplements for losing weight are more useful when joined with the right diet and physical exercise. You can maintain a healthy bodyweight if you make an extra effort to work out even for a couple of minutes daily.