the importance of antioxidant nutrients and aminos

loki · guinea pig

It has come to my attention recently that one's diet can have very powerful effects on one's experience of drugs. What started it off was some reading about ascorbic acid, but then I bumped into all these other thing talking about antioxidant vitamins and nutrients, and it has been coalescing awareness in my mind, and the application of the use of these nutrients in my own body, and from my reading about the drug selegiline (deprenyl), a selective monoamine oxidase B inhibitor.

One of the things that kept on coming up in information about selegiline was that it reduces oxidative damage to dopamine receptors. The reason why it does this is that it stops their decomposition. When monoamine oxidase decomposes a neurotransmitter (this applies to all neurotransmitters) it produces active oxygen species such as peroxides and superoxides (O2-) which bind with surrounding tissue, damaging it.

In order to stop this damage from occurring, the brain also absorbs a wide variety of nutrients which themselves directly, and indirectly via assisting antioxidant enzyme formation. The key nutrients relevant to the brain are vitamin B's, A, D, E, essential fatty acids. The body utilises other antioxidants as well, vitamin C being a key one. Vitamin B6 itself is critical to the synthesis of neurotransmitters. There are probably several other things I am leaving out, involved in repairs too.

The brain needs a constant supply of amino acids too of course, phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan being the ones most important to mood regulation, and thus also for mood altering drugs.

One of the biggest causes of problems with methedrine, as a particularly pertinent example of this problem (and probably to a degree equally with MDMA) is caused by oxidative damage. There are several factors which contribute to this problem, body temperature elevation, which is caused by adrenalin and glucose release, increasing oxidative breakdown products in the body. The oxidation of adrenalin most likely is a major contributing factor to the psychosis that the drug is well known for, because oxidised adrenalin forms adrenochrome, and this actually occurs within the body.

In the brain, noradrenalin and dopamine are directly increased in activity, and consequent to this of course is the depletion of phenylalanine and tyrosine, and the increased MAO decomposition of these neurotransmitters, and as a secondary effect to the elevation of glucose in the blood, insulin, released to regulate glucose levels unhooks tryptophan from the bloodstream and this also naturally increases serotonin activity which likewise produces further oxidative damage.

And so, after considering all of these facts, one would have to conclude that the biggest cause of health problems from methedrine is in actual fact caused by diet, made worse by the fact that it has a reducing effect on digestive activity (via adrenalin).

So, you ask, what is the best way to sort this problem out and decrease one's trouble from drug use? This advice pretty much applies to virtually every drug because most drugs elevate activity of one or other or all neurotransmitters.

Fish (preferably deep sea fish whose heavy metal levels are the least), fruit, juices, whole grains, especially wheat and rye, vegetables (carrots, pumpkin, capsicum, chilli, tomatoes etc) and of course, especially while intoxicated, lots of water. One can take nutrient supplements of course, but in many cases these supplements are not as good as the food source nutrients (especially in the case of vitamin A and E) and of course getting out in the sun is what you need for vitamin D.

When looking over this list of foods for reducing damage from oxidation, it occurred to me that this is virtually exactly like the ayahuasca diet. As I said above, all drugs increase oxidative activity in the brain and the only way to clean it up is with nutrition.

Really, in a living environment increasingly toxified by waste products of industry, everyone who wants to avoid suffering the effects of oxidative stress should be eating these foods. And since I mentioned toxic waste, be aware that chemical fertilisers, particularly phosphates, frequently contain heavy metals and stuff like arsenic, which of course contaminates the food, and to add insult to injury, nerve toxins used to kill insects frequently on the surfaces, and in the cases of some of the grain crops, glyphospates and other herbicides. Cows whose diet is enriched with molasses of course are aggregating heavy metals that come along with the chemical fertiliser use in sugar production... i suppose I could go on but anyway, most of us live in cities infused with these most nasty chemicals, fluorine in the water... And remember that, just as occurs in your reaction flasks, heavy metals such as mercury and cadmium, are very useful for increasing rates of redox reactions, and the same applies inside your body.

And as I can personally attest, poor nutrition can even deplete the enjoyment of the drug experience. If your brain is already damaged by oxidation, it's not going to respond as well to drugs as a healthy brain would.

This is your brain >>> Very Happy

This is your brain on drugs >>> Surprised

This is your brain on poor nutrition >>> Sad

This is your brain on drugs and poor nutrition >>> Crying or Very sad

Richy · Sun May 15, 2005 5:39 pm

Another key element in methedrine-induced neurotoxicity is the depletion of magnesium in the bloodstream and preceeding imbalance of calcium and magnesium. As the concentration of magnesium decreases, one's neurons become increasingly exposed to calcium free radicals and damage ensues.

As for preventative measures, in addition to having the self-restraint not to stay up for days at a time, one can take magnesium supplements (1000mg chelated magnesium) to restore the balance and prevent subsequent toxicity! Interestingly enough, if one is fastidious and takes the supplements on a daily basis he/she can also prevent developing a tolerance to methedrine.

This information is well documented, and was discovered in conjunction with research on AD/HD treatment.