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Smart drugs: All-natural brain enhancers made by mother nature | Dave Asprey | Big Think

August 11, 2019 / 26 Comments



Smart drugs: All-natural brain enhancers made by mother nature
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Nootropics are colloquially known as ‘smart drugs’ – substances that increase cognitive function in healthy people. The word nootropic is a combination of two Greek words, noos meaning ‘mind’ and tropein meaning ‘towards’.

Dave Asprey discusses two naturally occurring smart drugs: Caffeine and nicotine. The latter might be a surprise, but while smoking, chewing tobacco and vaping have negative health consequences, there’s evidence to suggest microdosing one milligram of nicotine, about 5% to 10% of a cigarette’s worth, may protect against Alzheimer’s.

Beyond naturally occurring smart drugs, Asprey discusses aniracetam, a pharmaceutical cognitive enhancer pioneered in Russia that may improve memory input and recall.
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DAVE ASPREY

Dave Asprey is a Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur, professional biohacker, the New York Times bestselling author of Game Changers, Head Strong and The Bulletproof Diet, the creator of Bulletproof Coffee, and the host of Bulletproof Radio, the Webby Award–winning, number one–ranked podcast. His new book is Super Human (2019).
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TRANSCRIPT:

DAVE ASPREY: Since this is Big Think, let’s talk about the things that help you think big. And you might think, oh, great, this is going to be a Tony Robbins discussion. No. This is a discussion around nootropics, or what’s known as smart drugs. I have been using smart drugs for more than 20 years, both the pharmaceutical side and the natural side, where you have lots of plant compounds. I’ve even formulated some for my company, where it puts together things — oh, look, there’s studies on rosemary. There’s studies for this extract of seaweed — good studies that show that these are increasing your ability to get things in and out of your memory, or making your brain work better.

And it turns out Mother Nature apparently wants us to be higher performance, because she makes a couple of really potent smart drugs, and you might even have used one or both of them. The most commonly consumed cognitive enhancing substance on the planet is coffee. Now, yeah, Bulletproof coffee — I probably have a bias for saying that — nut no, seriously, 90% of people drink coffee, and caffeine is a very well-studied performance enhancer, at least over the short period. You can’t drink coffee for three days straight and expect to perform well at the end. But could we go deeper than that? And by the way, coffee itself, at this point, I feel comfortable saying it’s an anti-aging substance, given the preponderance of studies. All of the big four killers and things like that, they seem to get better. So you have a cognitive enhancer that looks like it’s beneficial in many different aspects. I’m all-in on that one.

But what about nicotine? Well, is that a cognitive enhancer? It turns out that nicotine actually, since 1988, has been studied and shown to be an anti-Alzheimer’s agent. What? I actually interviewed a guy — I call him Dr. Nicotine — his name’s Andrew Newhouse — on Bulletproof Radio. And he’s the guy who wrote the first paper in 1988 at Vanderbilt University, and has been studying nicotine ever since. Smoking is bad for you. Chewing tobacco is bad for you. Vaping is bad for you. However, a little bit — we’re talking micro-dosing — of oral nicotine is a potent cognitive enhancer. You feel one milligram, which is about 5% to 10% of a cigarette’s worth; you feel it a lot. And so I will tell you, Super Human was written with the aid of both coffee and nicotine. However, the recommendations in Super Human for nicotine are, you don’t want to be using a lot of nicotine, because a lot of nicotine isn’t good for you. And smoking is never good for you. To say tobacco and nicotine are the same thing is not a good idea. So I tell people, look, if you’re over 40, one milligram a day might be a good idea, because it enhances mitochondrial function, and because we don’t want to get Alzheimer’s as we age. And maybe over 50, you want two milligrams a day, so just a little bit. But trust me. You’ll like that one milligram a day, because it feels good. In fact, nicotine can improve typing speed by up to 15% in healthy people. That’s a lot, especially if you’re writing a book like Super Human. I typed faster. Not really. I dictated a lot of it.

But what are some of the other things you can do? One of my favorite drugs that I write about is called aniracetam. And it is a pharmaceutical substance. I…

For the full transcript, check out https://bigthink.com/videos/smart-drugs-all-natural-brain-enhancers-made-by-mother-nature

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26 Comments

  • Spud Ryan

    May 11, 2020 at 8:59 pm Reply

    Hmm yeah, no, that is interesting, however I think he needs to ask his barber if he would be so kind as to cut the left side of his head a bit more the next time.

  • Mark Kravitz

    March 4, 2021 at 10:31 pm Reply

    ✊ Try and fail, but don't fail to try. My top entrepreneur @evenkingsfall (his insta) never stops saying you have to THINK BIG to WIN BIG! Always keep that mindset! Don't stop the hard work ?

  • Cecelia Clarke

    September 21, 2021 at 11:11 pm Reply

    This person does seem to be well-informed, and of course he looks fantastic. It can be difficult to argue about health issues, with an expert who looks and sounds as well put together as this person. It's obvious that his methods are working. I just have problems with general statements concerning coffee and black
    tea as healthful and beneficial. In my opinion, as a person who has studied this subject, the health benefits of coffee and black tea very much depend on soil conditions. Coffee plants and the plants which provide leaves for the production of black and green teas, are known to draw cadmium and other heavy metals from soil and water. The well known coffee growing regions of the world happen to be areas which were once dependent on elaborate irrigation systems. As a consequence of dependence on water from these irrigation systems, the soil of these famous coffee growing regions is saturated with cadmium.

    The curing process for tea leaves intensifies heavy metals in the final product. Most black tea comes from plantations located in China, and the Chinese government has permitted the development of tea plantations on land located above finished landfills. This means that in a general sense, tea plants growing in China have their roots in ground water contaminated with cadmium from batteries and electronic devices. The other well known region for production of black tea is India. India is known for the manufacture of zinc products for galvinization of metal. The by-product of this process is cadmium, and as a consequence the ground water of India is heavily contaminated with cadmium. Black tea produced in India, I am sorry to say, is entirely dangerous.

    This leaves Japan, as a source for green and black teas which can be verified as safe to drink. There is one US source for Black Tea which is verifiably safe, and free of heavy metals. This tea is grown in Charleston, and it is expensive. It will just not cost you as much as medical care for heart damage, from regular consumption of tea contaminated with cadmium. You will get a surge of energy and a feeling of renewed strength from these teas, but that comes from the effect of cadmium on the electrical processes of your heart. In ancient times, cadmium was known as the "strengthening metal" for this effect. It was collected from clay soils and was delivered to soldiers, just prior to ordering them to charge into battles.

    I will agree with statements concerning the health benefits of coffee, if I am permitted to add some qualifications. High altitude coffee is going to be a safer choice. Use of the ancient irrigation systems mentioned here caused the concentration of cadmium and lead in low lying areas. As I care about my friends and relatives, I offer high altitude coffee, and nothing less. The countries of Ethiopia and Peru produce and export excellent high altitude coffees. In addition, real kona coffee is safe to drink. It is just not affordable. Cheaper Kona coffee is usually a blend, and in my opinion Columbian is not a safe product. That soil, high and low, is contaminated.

    These are my opinions, based on extensive investigation. I'll say that I've appreciated this video. I just don't agree that very many brands of coffee or types of Black Tea are safe to drink. I'll say: It depends on growing conditions. Ocha Brothers Black Tea from Japan is safe, and also wonderful in terms of taste.

  • gahmex

    February 28, 2022 at 9:41 am Reply

    I love this channel, but seeing videos of this guy on it is making me doubt some of the other videos now. I'm here to learn, but it seems like this guy is here to sell me something, not so much to teach me.

  • Franco Vivan Michelon

    April 5, 2022 at 8:14 pm Reply

    Bitches, if i could sleep enough, eat well, and not be stressed and anxious all the time i wouldn't be looking for a chemical way to improve my life. Everyone knows how to live a healthy lifestyle. It's just not possible sometimes. I sleep literally all the free time i got in the day which is about 6 hours. Do i feel like shit when i wake up? Yes. Can i make any change in my routine before finishing college and finding another job? NO. So i'm looking for the drug, natural or manmade with the best risk reward ratio possible. I won't get to live a healthy lifestyle without enough money and knowledge. And i'm not making money feeling sleepy all day and not recalling even what i had for lunch. Starting my nootropic journey

  • ralph stephan

    July 24, 2022 at 11:45 am Reply

    I do not trust recommendations from people who want to sell their products, who talk about “we” (as in “we’ve found…”) without clarifying who they represent. It’s true that science is discovering tons of new data re the gut-brain connection but I encourage people to wait until a reputable medical journal recommends an intervention that’s been tested using the scientific method.

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