My question: What does alpha-lactalbumin taste like? From Protein drink may sharpen morning mental skills:
In a study of 28 healthy young adults, researchers found that accompanying an evening meal with a milkshake containing a protein powder called alpha-lactalbumin — which delivers a high concentration of tryptophan — seemed to improve morning alertness among participants who had mild sleep problems. ‘Good’ sleepers, on the other hand, showed no such benefit.
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Alpha-lactalbumin, or A-LAC, is a protein derived from the whey component of milk. It contains a high concentration of the essential amino acid tryptophan, a protein building-block best known for its sleep-inducing effects. In the body, tryptophan serves as a precursor for the brain chemical serotonin, which, among other things, is thought to help regulate sleep.Tryptophan is found in foods such as beef, chicken, dairy products and, most famously, turkey — which is often blamed for the near-coma that follows Thanksgiving dinner.
Of course, tryptophan supplements aren’t legal (at least over-the-counter) in the US, after this debacle:
In 1989, a large outbreak of a mysterious, disabling, and in some cases deadly autoimmune illness called eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome was traced to an improperly prepared batch of tryptophan. The bacterial culture used to synthesise tryptophan by a major Japanese manufacturer had recently been genetically engineered to increase tryptophan production: unfortunately, with the higher tryptophan concentration in the culture medium, the purification process had also been streamlined to reduce costs, and a purification step that used charcoal absorption to remove impurities had been omitted. This allowed another bacterial metabolite through the purification, and this contaminant of the end-product had been responsible for the toxic effects. Regardless of the origin of the toxicity, tryptophan was banned from sale in the US, and other countries followed suit.