The "Love Drug"

Plus: the gender pain gap

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The 10almonds Team
February 13, 2024

Today’s almonds have been activated by:

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⏰ IN A RUSH?

Today’s 30-Second Summary

If you don’t have time to read the whole email today, here are some key takeaways:

  • Phenylethylamine is an amino acid that helps our body produce dopamine, norepinephrine (adrenaline), and serotonin.

    • We can make it ourselves, but can also get it from food, or supplement it

    • Today’s main feature looks at how it may be a safer alternative to amphetamines for treating/improving a collection of conditions

  • Being unable to easily participate in spoken conversations is not just an inconvenience; it’s also a [causal, fixable] risk factor for age-related cognitive decline.

Read on to learn more about these things, or click here to visit our archive

🤫 A WORD TO THE WISE

The Gender Pain Gap

A new government inquiry will examine women’s pain and treatment. How and why is it different?

👀 WATCH AND LEARN

The True Cause of Obsessive Thinking (5:19)

We all are, at times, the victims of one of the cruellest and most remorseless of all mental afflictions: obsessive thinking. But why?

Want to watch it, but not right now? Bookmark it for later 🔖

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❓ MYSTERY ITEM

Breathe Easy

Hint: who nose what this one might be

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💊 MAIN FEATURE

Get PEA-Brained!

Today we’ll be looking at phenylethylamine, or PEA, to its friends.

Not to be mistaken for the related amino acid phenylalanine! Both ultimately have effects on the dopaminergic system, but the process and benefits are mostly quite different.

We thought we’d do this one in the week of Valentine’s Day, because of its popular association with love:

❝Phenylethylamine (PEA), an amphetamine-like substance that has been alluringly labeled the "chemical of love," makes the best case for the love-chocolate connection since it has been shown that people in love may actually have higher levels of PEA in their brain, as surmised from the fact that their urine is richer in a metabolite of this compound. In other words, people thrashing around in the throes of love pee differently from others.❞

What is it?

It’s an amino acid. Because we are mammals, we can synthesize it inside our bodies, so it’s not considered an “essential amino acid”, i.e. one that we need to get from our diet. It is found in some foods, though, including:

  • Other animals, especially other mammals

  • Various beans, legumes, nuts, seeds. In particular almonds, soybeans, lentils, and chickpeas score highly

  • Fermented foods

  • Chocolate (popular lore holds this to be a good source of PEA; science finds it to be a fair option, but not in the same ballpark as the other items)

Fun fact: the reason Marvel’s Venom has a penchant for eating humans and chocolate is (according to the comics) because phenylethylamine is an essential amino acid for it.

What does it do for us?

It’s a Central Nervous System (CNS) stimulant, and also helps us synthesize critical neurotransmitters such as dopamine, norepinephrine (adrenaline) and serotonin:

It works similarly, but not identically, to amphetamines:

Is it safe?

We normally do this after the benefits, but “it works similarly to amphetamines” may raise an eyebrow or two, so let’s do it here:

  • It is recommended to take no more than 500mg/day, with 100mg–500mg being typical doses

  • It is not recommended to take it at all if you have, or have a predisposition to, any kind of psychotic disorder (especially schizophrenia, or bipolar disorder wherein you sometimes experience mania)

    • This isn’t a risk for most people, but if you fall into the above category, the elevated dopamine levels could nudge you into a psychotic/manic episode that you probably don’t want.

There are other contraindications too, so speak with your doctor/pharmacist before trying it.

On the other hand, if you are considering ADHD medication, then phenylethylamine could be a safer thing to try first, to see if it helps, before going to the heavy guns of actual amphetamines (as are commonly prescribed for ADHD). Same goes for depression and antidepressants.

What can I expect from PEA?

More dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. Mostly the former two. Which means, you can expect stimulation.

For focus and attention, it’s so effective that it has been suggested (as we mentioned above) as a safer alternative to ADHD meds:

…and may give similar benefits to people without ADHD, namely improved focus, attention, and mental stamina:

It also improves mood:

❝Phenylethylamine (PEA), an endogenous neuroamine, increases attention and activity in animals and has been shown to relieve depression in 60% of depressed patients. It has been proposed that PEA deficit may be the cause of a common form of depressive illness.

Effective dosage did not change with time. There were no apparent side effects. PEA produces sustained relief of depression in a significant number of patients, including some unresponsive to the standard treatments. PEA improves mood as rapidly as amphetamine but does not produce tolerance.❞

Where can I get it?

We don’t sell it, but here is an example product on Amazon for your convenience 😎 

Enjoy!

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📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW

Quit Like a Woman: The Radical Choice to Not Drink in a Culture Obsessed with Alcohol – by Holly Whitaker

We’ve reviewed “quit drinking” books before, so what makes this one different?

While others focus on the science of addiction and the tips and tricks of habit breaking/forming, this one is more about environmental factors, and that because of society being as it is, we as women often face different challenges when it comes to drinking (or not). Not necessarily easier or harder than men’s in this case, but different. And that sometimes calls for different methods to deal with them. This book explores those.

She also looks at such matters as how to quit alcohol when you've never stuck to a diet, and other such very down-to-earth topics, in a well-researched and non-preachy fashion.

Bottom line: if you’ve sometimes tried to quit drinking or even just to cut back, but found the deck stacked against you and things conspire to undermine your efforts, this book will give you a clearer path forward.

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Wishing you the most well-informed start to the week,

The 10almonds Team