Dopamine Cure?

Today one of the happiest herbs helping Us feel well when we need a boost of dopamine in our system is Mucuna pruriens:)

Learn how this miraculous herbal treasure can help with our mood, sleep, focus, memory, infertility & more!!  This grounding plant is favored in ayurvedia for vatas.

I'm currently stacking with a few other supplements to experiment myself & having fun while learning what works for my constitution..

References & more info👇🏼

https://www.banyanbotanicals.com/blogs/wellness/why-mucuna-kapikacchu-really-is-that-amazing

Grow this herbal medicine>>https://goodfoodtoall.com/product/white-velvet-beans-seeds-mucuna-pruriens/

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/05/23/1252941968/adhd-diagnoses-are-rising-1-in-9-u-s-kids-have-gotten-one-new-study-finds

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22581-dopamine

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Greetings to my listeners. Hello. Blessings on this day to you. I am sitting amongst nature. I suppose this could be considered forest bathing. I'm in an oak and bay forest, which is very common in the area where I live, as are the redwoods and other conifers. But yeah, there's this tiny little stream, which you might hear in the background, that is just trickling along. I had to move a few rocks on this one part that had stagnant water. It was kind of smelly. I was like, oh no, this water needs to flow still. So I let it flow a little bit and now it's moving a little on one side. I hope you listened to my allergy podcast. I think that was the last one a couple of weeks ago. And I have definitely been feeling some allergies this year. Um today I am feeling a little off. I had to pick up some more immunity stuff for my apothecary that I had run out of. And I feel like I need to boost myself up because I've been getting enough rest and I feel like I'm eating well enough, but my immunity feels like it just needs a boost right now. So there could be a couple of other reasons for that. And this podcast today, oh, there's some blue dragonflies flying around, is not necessarily about immunity at all. It is about a particular herb that yesterday I found a bag of makuna powder that I had actually in my fridge. And I believe I had gotten it because I thought I was going to add it to the chocolates that I make, but specifically um for that reason, and I hadn't really been doing that. I or also I like to add it to smoothies. Um, but I was like, you know, you need to use this bee because you've had this for probably over a year now, and I barely had used it. So I took it out, and I have capsules that I will put um powders in sometimes, like my ashwagon I have right now. I capsulize myself. And so I went ahead and, you know, said, okay, I know this is good for you. You could use this, let's put it in some capsules and experiment and just taking it in capsule form because I hadn't done that for quite some time. I intuitively knew that this plant medicine was a must-have while completing my wholesale cart with Mountain Rose herbs last year. And one of my former retail positions as manager and buyer at a large natural grocer here in the Bay Area had taught me that this herbal remedy had to stay on the shelf. It was in high enough demand for those that knew the secret. So, why is herbal medicine such an unwell kept secret? I say unwell here instead of the well-kept secret because it's really making people um at a disadvantage, right? It's keeping us unwell by keeping it a secret. So that's why I made that little twist on that analogy, and only by being covered up by the ones that run our world's economy, right? Otherwise, treaded lightly by the respectful knowers that beat, which is hence why most herbs can still be found, though some are now under threat. So today, one of the happiest herbs helping us feel well when we need a boost of dopamine in our system is Makuna purians, also known as velvet bean. One of the reasons macuna is so popular is it's a natural source of the amino acid Leva Dopa or L-dopa. Now, L-dopa is a precursor to the neurotransmitter dopamine. It's the direct precursor, which means it activates it in our body. It puts it into motion, into working. In fact, one of the supplements that was actually called L-dopa, and it was in capsules of concentrated macuna powder found in the stress section with other natural feel-good pills and potions. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter, a chemical messenger communicating messages between nerve cells in your brain and the rest of your body. It's responsible for motivation, pleasure, sleep, mood, and focus. An ADHD brain often has issues with dopamine regulation. So I went into a little bit about ADHD. Um, many of us feel like we have it. I believe like the data is probably really not true because there's so many more people that probably really do have it. Um, you know, many of us aren't diagnosed with things, or we don't want to be. Uh, I do have some direct experience with ADHD from a few family members, and sometimes I even feel like I have it a little bit. In 2022, it was discovered after the pandemic that one out of nine children in the US, so children ages three to 17, had been diagnosed with ADHD. Researchers state that 11.4%, that's 7.1 million, had received an ADHD diagnosis. We're talking about kids. That's a million more children than in 2016, the previous study. Adults, 6% of us, 15.5 million have been diagnosed. And this was four years ago, three or four years ago. So um that's a total of uh 23 million almost. Could be 25, could be 30 million just in this country. Okay, that's a fucking lot of people. That's a lot. That's like, I don't know what the population of the state of California where I live is, but that's probably pretty close. Um yeah, I I think that um, I mean, I'm just guessing. I know I kind of looked into it a few years ago. I'm talking about the population here in California. Um, I'm taking a guesstimate, it's probably like 30 million. I don't know, it could be 40 million. But um yeah, it's definitely a lot of souls are struggling. So are you feeling depressed or sad? Want answers or a way out to feel well again, maybe just to feel like some normalcy in your life, yearning for an experience of peace within, wondering how to feel joy again, something is off inside. You're probably right, your body is telling you something. Dopamine imbalance or deficiency can cause depression symptoms, such as apathy, feelings of hopelessness, while a serotonin imbalance, okay, serotonin is another neurotransmitter in the body, a chemical messenger to our hormones, um, also considered a hormone. Both dopamine and serotonin are kind of like hormonal neurotransmitters, that can affect the processing of our emotions and so much more. So it's also, you know, if that is low or we have an imbalance of it, that's also going to cause some emotional distress and us to feel off. Both of these hormonal neurotransmitters are essential for feeling well and happy. Dopamine drives the brain's reward system, motivating us to take action toward goals and delivering feelings of pleasure and satisfaction upon achievement. So it's key to note that achievement is accomplishing a goal, right? And that will trigger dopamine naturally. So it's like when we exercise, we're like, we know we need to exercise. A lot of times we don't want to, but we do it and we feel satisfaction. We feel like this reward sensation in our body, just like this natural feeling of yes, okay, that's like your dopamine just went up. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter made in our brains, and it plays a key role in many other bodily functions as well, including memory, movement, motivation, mood, and attention. I may be repeating myself here, but I'm yeah, I think I like to write things like more than once and a little bit differently, just to, yeah, kind of maybe say it a little differently, or really like, you know, get it into our brains so we can learn. High or low dopamine levels are associated with diseases like Parkinson's, which I did not know this. I did not know this either, restless leg syndrome, which I experience from time to time, and ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. So all of these, which are very common and we all know somebody, or maybe we experience it ourselves, um, could be a sign that you are dopamine deficient. Symptoms of low dopamine are feeling tired, unmotivated, unhappy, memory loss, mood swings, sleep problems, focus and concentration issues, low sex drive, and infertility. So that was another thing I learned is infertility, especially especially having low testosterone because supposedly it will elevate our testosterone levels in the body. So it's good for men, but women also have testosterone, and it's actually very good for us to have some testosterone as well, especially during menopause. And um natural ways that we can activate our dopamine are, of course, eating a natural whole foods diet rich in the amino acid tyrosine. Tyrosine is a precursor to L-dopa. Okay, and foods that are rich in tyrosine are soy, chickpeas, lentils, squash, wild rice, mushrooms, sesame seeds, chia, pumpkin seeds, eggs, meat and dairy, salmon and cod are a couple of the fishes. But now please choose sustainably raised options and organically grown. Okay, any of these foods, if you choose sustainable options that are organic and raised in a humane way, you're going to be getting more guaranteed because the soil is rich in nutrients that the plants need, like tyrosine, so they can uptake it and they can give it to you. If you're eating conventional foods that are grown with pesticides and soil that's depleted, you're not going to be getting the same nutrition. Okay, just keep that in mind. It's very, very true. Cannabis, one of my favorite plants, has research that's showing an impact on our neurotransmitters, of course, dopamine being one of them. While the role of dopamine in the brain is diverse, short-term THC use causes dopamine neurons to fire more. That's why you kind of feel good, right? That's why people kind of get addicted to it in a way and they end up doing it too much. And um it's interesting. I just I just had uh kind of an epiphany of something that um I'll go ahead and I'll go ahead and mention because he's probably not listening. But I knew someone some years ago that had an infertility issue and he had never had a child and he wanted to, and he ended up finding out that he had very, very low sperm count. And you may have heard that cannabis possibly could lower sperm count. I don't think this is true, but I think that people that abuse the plant, um, this is something that that I'm literally just coming into um knowledge of right now. My brain is like, oh, this makes sense. I'm putting like two and two together. So if someone is, say, addicted to cannabis, they overuse the plant, they're just like, I don't really feel like it's an addictive plant, but I feel like some people are drawn to it more to use more than they should because maybe they're dopamine deficient and they need that dopa, right? They need it, they're like craving it, they're not getting enough from their diet or, you know, maybe other things in their life. Um, maybe they were born with not enough of it. Maybe there's other reasons our body doesn't make enough of it, right? We know that tyrosine now, if we're eating foods rich in that, it's going to kind of keep, you know, that flowing in our body that's going to keep, you know, it making the dopamine, hopefully, right? If everything's working right. But this particular person that I knew many years ago was diagnosed with low sperm count, so could not have children. And he also was using cannabis a lot. Like one of those people that you may know, maybe it's you, or maybe it's someone you know that uses it a lot, right? Some people, it's like all day long, lake and bake, you know, just all day long. It's like excessive. Okay, so if you're doing that, you're obviously craving that dopamine that you're feeling because it does give you that dopa lift. So it's interesting that he was a heavy user of cannabis and he also was diagnosed with low sperm count. And what I learned is that if you have low levels of dopamine, you're usually or you could have also low sperm count, or I think it can affect um women too, but it was more men is right about. Um, but just sex drive in general, because it's testosterone, you feel like that's more of like a hormone for men, um, it definitely will lower your testosterone levels. And that's you know where dopamine comes in. If you have enough of it, you're going to help elevate your testosterone, and many, many other things are going to be functioning better as well. So dopamine, dopamine is also involved in regulating appetite. So an obvious sign that it's being activated when THC is in the bloodstream. Now, going back to macuna, macuna is considered an effective herbal remedy, giving the best natural source of the amino acid L-DOPA, a direct precursor to the hormonal messenger dopamine. It's kind of like its main purpose, but it does so much more as most herbs do. Um, velvet beans, I have a photo of them here, a beautiful photo where they kind of turn purple as they're growing, or I don't know if this is right before you harvest them, are grown in tropical areas. So it's a tropical plant. India, Asia, Africa, and in tropical environments like any of those continents will or countries will grow this plant very well. Arovetic medicine has a close relationship with Makuna Purians, calling it capi, capikachu, traditionally used to nourish and ground vata constitutions. Vata constitutions are usually very airy and dry, they have trouble focusing, um their memory can escape them, um, their skin is dry, their eyes may get dry, they may get um you know more frequent headaches and um whole whole lots of symptoms. They're usually more um, you know, maybe tall and thin is one of the characteristics of vata. Um I believe also like their eyes maybe bulge out a little bit more. I'm trying to think of different characteristics, dry skin. Um, yeah, so there's three specific constitutional types that is vata, pitta, and kha in Aravaidaya, and vata is um when it's out of balance, um, this herb makuna could be very, very nourishing and grounding to that constitution, which helps support a healthy nervous system, balancing, and sleep routine. So, yeah, that's another thing about vata, is they because they're so kind of like airy and they have lots of energy, almost like too much energy, if you're really out of balance with vata and your vata is really high, then you could even have trouble sleeping. Like you're not able to even ground enough to relax enough to sleep well. Also, you can have problems with digestion. If there's, you know, just not enough fire to help digest your food enough and there's too much air, you could have gas and bloating, um, constipation. These are all other symptoms that are coming to me now. So it's also used for reproductive health in both men and women, like I had mentioned, and of course, digestive support, um, which is why, hence, that it's helpful with vata, because vata constitutions can have a lot of digestive issues. So, the bottom line is that Makuna gently increases dopamine by providing L-dopa. The herb is one of the best natural sources of this amino acid, a direct precursor to the hormone dopamine. Additional benefits from L-dopa are remember, I was saying, like, yeah, it helps with these other things that I discussed, but it also does so much more. So let's go into that. And that would be, you know, Makuna being so rich in L-Dopa is going to help with these things. It increases energy levels, enhances concentration, and improves our mood. By raising low dopamine levels, Makuna pruriens can have a positive effect on our motivation, attention span, general outlook, and many other aspects of mental well-being. It helps reduce excessive prolactin and increases testosterone in the body. Prolactin is a natural hormone that our body produces by our pituitary gland that primarily stimulates breast milk production. Okay, so many mothers, especially breastfeeding mothers, have heard of prolactin because we want that to stimulate our breast milk. Like when I breastfed, which was seven years of my life, um, I will never forget that feeling because when the milk lets down, it's like this letdown, it's called feeling. Oh, my milk just came in, you know, it's it's this feeling, this rush of prolactin coming in and like stimulating the milk to come out. Um, so normal blood levels of this depend heavenly heavily on sex and pregnancy status, but elevated levels can lead to infertility. Okay, so I guess here we go back to the infertility issue. If you have too much prolactin, that can lead to infertility, irregular periods in women. Um, maybe the infertility, this is also speaking about women and men, and erectile dysfunction. Okay, so you don't want too much of the prolactin. And let's go back to the dopamine, okay, will help reduce excessive prolactin, but it also is increasing testosterone. So many women and men notice an increase in sexual desire when taking the SERB, libido, and performance when taking on a regular basis due to higher testosterone levels. And Makuna is often considered an aphrodisiac. Okay, so um I just started taking it uh like three days ago, maybe. Maybe this is my third day, and I am going to take it for about a week and just see. I might take it for longer. Um I probably will, but I'm just kind of experimenting just to see how I feel, um, to see if it's, you know, adding anything that I feel like I need it or not. I felt like it couldn't hurt. I wasn't feeling like I was like super depressed or, you know, needing it for any of the reasons above, but um, I just felt like it's safe and it's, you know, why not feel a little bit happier, right? And I'm stacking it with ashwagandha and the a B complex. So B vitamins and ashwagonda in the morning, and then at night, I just take it with maybe some relaxing tea, some of my other herbs that I normally take, and um I have been taking it before bed and it's it's helping me sleep. So I I do feel like it's yeah, like I just um, which ashwagonda does that too, but it did state in some of the reading that I did um because I asked what other herbs would be good to take with it, and ashwagonda was one of them. Something I read said kava, but I don't really like to take kava because I know somebody that has taken it for a long time and actually got kind of addicted to it, and it is not good for your liver, it's very heating. I be I feel like it's very heating to the body. Um, and this particular person doesn't need more heat um because there's already a pita imbalance, and so that could be causing more issues. You really gotta be careful, like certain herbs are more cooling, and certain ones are more heating to the body. And if you don't need more heat or you don't need more dampness or cool, you you're just throwing your body out of balance even more. So you really you know got to know what you're doing there. So another benefit is stimulation of human growth hormone production. Increasing human growth hormone within your body is associated with enhanced muscle growth, improved fat burning, and anti-aging effects. It also improves relaxation and helps get to sleep. Dopamine from L-dopa acts on the pineal gland, which secretes the sleep hormone, melatonin. Higher dopamine levels are also associated with lower stress and an improved ability to relax. I know this may sound like what? Like, how does this do so much? Um, but yes, herbs are fabulously rich in many amazing offerings by the human to the human body and beyond. So thank you so much for listening. I just realized I have to go. I have an appointment in two minutes that I'm gonna be late for. Um I don't want to leave here yet. This is a beautiful little spot. And have a beautiful day. Please love, subscribe, leave me a comment, share this with someone that you think would be helpful. I would love to keep growing this podcast. I've been doing it for a while and I haven't really been promoting it too well. I do everything on my own. I'm a one woman show, and I really appreciate you for listening. Have a lovely day. We'll talk to you in a few weeks.