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in our diet. tryptamine tryptamine. . serotonin 34 © THE BUILDING BLOCKS The other main chemical family of psychedelic drugs is the tryptamines. These all possess a nucleus, or basic building block, of tryptamine. Tryptamine is a derivative of tryptophan, an amino acid present Serotonin is a tryptamine—5-hydroxy-tryptamine, to be exact—but it is not psychedelic. It contains one more oxygen atom than does