Stimulants

What are they and are they good for us?

INTRO

With 90% of the global population being caffeinated, almost every single person in the world is using stimulants in some way. In pharmacology the word stimulant is used to describe a chemical or plant-derived compound that that increases nervous system activity. This definition isn’t exactly well defined as our brain is actually most active when we are asleep, so we often don’t think of stimulants as things that help us sleep. So psychological definition may be more appropriate and usable in our case. In psychology they define a stimulant as a substance that increases feelings of motivation, alertness, mood, awareness, or euphoria. This definition is still lacking, but we all know how we feel after a cup of coffee. That is a stimulant, and those are its effects. It feels great doesn’t it? But what are the long term consequences? Why are so many people against stimulant use? Are they medicines? Or are they dangerous?

Background

If you do a google search for stimulant safety you will find a lot of conflicting information as well as conflicting anecdotal reports from people. There are many stories of people abusing stimulants and ruining their life, and there are many stories of people getting on a stimulant type medication and having all their health issues resolved, and everywhere in between. So are they good or are they bad? The quick answer is both, depending on how and for what reason they are consumed. In our society we have little to no information about stimulant use, which seems really weird as a person’s attitude toward stimulant use is probably a bigger determinant of their success in life than their GPA or college entrance exams. Yet, kids are not even taught one thing about how to safely use stimulants. The only education we get is a soft drink ad with a polar bear drinking down a can of bubbled water with intense amounts of caffeine and sugar. The rest we are left to figure out on our own. For some, they were able to figure it out or just stay away from it completely. For others, they maybe used too much or in a way that their body couldn’t sustain and now they suffer from things like CFS, anxiety, depression, or other mental diseases.

Powerful Tools for the mind

Stimulants are very powerful tools. They can make a shy person sociable, they can make a lazy person motivated, they can make a tired person awake, and they could even make a slow person fast. But at what cost? Many people will drink coffee throughout the day to keep them going and keep their mind on point with their work. This is naturally part of the global workforce culture. It is the ultimate tool to get things done. And if things aren’t getting done, then we aren’t drinking enough caffeine. But what happens when that latte isn’t enough? We go for the espresso. Then what happens when that isn’t enough? Well, then we go for the double shot. But what happens when that isn’t enough? Well, then we go for two double shot espressos, and so forth and so on until we have a full blown caffeine addiction. Millions of people are addicted to caffeine, but don’t even know it or address it because it is part of the culture. Now don’t get the wrong idea. There is nothing wrong with drinking coffee or caffeine. It’s just that there is a very fine line between using stimulants like caffeine, and abusing stimulants. This line is seldomly ever talked about. Especially with something like caffeine as it is so loved by the people and you will get protestors on your front door if you ever say anything bad about someone’s coffee habit. But this line is probably one of the most taboo yet critically important topics for the success of humanity.

Why would stimulants be an issue?

Because we grew up with little education about stimulant use, it makes it very difficult to understand the difference between using them to build mental clarity, mental health, and well-being, and using them in such a way that it takes a toll on the organs and ultimately leads to poor mental function years down the road. Before, you probably didn’t put much thought into it. But years have passed, stress has built up, and you are looking for a more articulate and sophisticated way to improve your future as you are realizing what you were doing wasn’t optimal. And that is likely why you are reading this article. So you are in the right place. Even if you have no previous issues with using stimulants or any type of medicine, learning to be conscious about critical life choices is never a bad thing. So we encourage your curiosity and hope that the combined knowledge of the scientists on our team can help guide you in a direction that works to your benefit.

So how do we use stimulants to better not just our performance, but our overall health too?

Before, we would think that we must sacrifice our health for performance. No one has ever drank a glass of alcohol thinking “This is going to make me healthy”. Usually the thought is, “I will take the hit so i can let go of this stress and be social.” But what if we could do something that makes us perform well socially, cognitively, and relationally now, but also improves our mental health long into the future? Stimulants are capable of this, but only when used in the right way.

The first thing you need to make sure is that your organs are balanced with the stimulant. Here is a simple example. Caffeine increases cortisol levels. Cortisol is the hormone that is released when you are stressed. It causes stress responses around your body, and leads to thing like excessive weight gain and anxiousness. To reduce cortisol levels there is a very powerful adaptogenic herb used in ayurvedic medicine called ashwagandha. Ashwagandha reduces cortisol levels and the stress that goes along with it. When combined with caffeine it ensures that the caffeine is providing the benefits we are looking for such as alertness and motivation, without the side effects of feeling stressed out. This is just one small example, as there are literally hundreds we could talk about, but hopefully this gives you an insight into why organ and system balance is an important consideration regarding stimulant use. This is why people get a “crash” about 6 hours after drinking coffee. They didn’t balance their body properly with their caffeine use. Then once the adrenaline wears off, they will suddenly become aware of the damage they did and the state of imbalance in their body.

Finding balance

To be able to accurately and proficiently balance stimulants is a very fine art only conducted by a few scientists in the world. In most research and medical settings, drugs are tested independently rather than in combination with other balancing elements. The reason is to limit variability in the studies to get more accurate results. Then the safety data that gets published is based on the single drug in its unbalanced form. Many people will take the advice of this data to heart and say “well this is it”. But it’s not. The human body is many times more complex than that. People think that THC, the main active stimulant drug found in cannabis will get you high. Well, it will. But not if it is balanced properly. Because of this there are a lot of judgements about the drug and even a lot of protests and political debate going on around the world because they are trying to decide between allowing or not allowing an unbalanced use of this drug. But might we ask why we are using it in an unbalanced way to begin with?

Conclusion

In summary, if properly balanced, stimulants can become the most powerful tools for creating mental health, producitivity, and even a career. But if unbalanced will eventually lead to cognitive decline, high stress levels, and low performance in every area of life. For this reason it is critically important to understand how to safely and properly use stimulants so that they don’t accidentally take a toll on your mind or your life. However, there is very little data or research out there about how to do this well. This makes it very difficult for people to get the right information, and make the right decisions that will keep them from falling off the path. Fortunately, for the Nootripure Foundation, this is the centerpiece of our research. All we do is create analytical models for various compounds to determine their organ balance and their effect on neurotransmitters in combination so that we can create solutions that allow people to not only perform well today, but long into the future. We refer to this as integrative neuroscience technology. Already we have developed 4 products that leverage the results of our research to help people think and live better than any alternative. We also have many research projects underway and with the goal of resolving mental illness for the world.

If you feel like you would like to learn more about who we are, our research, and our mission, click here. Click here if you would like to donate to help further the advancement of technologies that are creating a mentally healthier world. If you would like to experience the results from years of research so that you can perform well in what you do and build long term mental health, then click here. We are here to support you on your journey to becoming a better you. Let’s get started today.

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