The Dopa-Bean

Today’s almonds have been activated by:

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:

• Dopamine is generally something that a lot of us would like to have more of. It’s the “reward chemical”, and it also is necessary for motor skills and various kinds of cognition. It’s the one whose depletion is part of the etiology of Parkinson’s disease.

  • Today’s main feature examines Mucuna pruriens, a bean naturally rich in levadopa (L-dopa), in a safer and more effective form than many Parkinson’s medications.

• At 10almonds, we often mention that “diversity is good”; usually we’re talking about diet and exercises, but the same goes for more things!

  • Today’s sponsor, Money, is giving a timely opportunity to diversify your portfolio one of the most stable investments, gold—which historically can be a very solid bet in uncertain times.

• Today’s featured book is a roadmap to good metabolic health using epigenetics and more, and takes the reader step-by-step through the journey!

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

A Word To The Wise

Watch and Learn

Dangers Of Root Canals And Crowns, &  What To Do Instead

Prefer text? The above video will take you to a 10almonds page with a text-overview, as well as the video!

Research Review Monday

The Dopa-Bean

Mucuna pruriens, also called the “magic velvet bean”, is an established herbal drug used for the management of male infertility, nervous disorders, and also as an aphrodisiac:

The Magic Velvet Bean of Mucuna pruriens

How it works is more interesting than that, though.

It’s about the dopamine

M. pruriens contains levodopa (L-dopa). That’s right, the same as the dopaminergic medication most often prescribed for Parkinson’s disease. Furthermore, it might even be better than synthetic L-dopa, because:

Read in full: Mucuna pruriens Seed Aqueous Extract Improved Neuroprotective and Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitory Effects Compared with Synthetic L-Dopa

Indeed, it has been tested specifically in (human!) Parkinson’s disease patients, which RCT found:

Read more: Mucuna pruriens in Parkinson’s disease: a double-blind clinical and pharmacological study

Beyond Parkinson’s disease

M. pruriens has also been tested and found beneficial in cases of disease other than Parkinson’s, thus:

Mucuna pruriens in Parkinson’s and in some other diseases: recent advancement and future prospective

…but the science is less well-established for things not generally considered related to dopamine, such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiometabolic disorders.

Note, however, that the science for it being neuroprotective is rather stronger.

Against depression

Depression can have many causes, and (especially on a neurological level) diverse presentations. As such, sometimes what works for one person’s depression won’t touch another person’s, because the disease and treatment are about completely different neurotransmitter dysregulations. So, if a person’s depression is due to a shortage of serotonin, for example, then perking up the dopamine won’t help much, and vice versa. See also:

Antidepressants: Personalization Is Key!

When it comes to M. pruriens and antidepressant activity, then predictably it will be more likely to help if your depression is due to too little dopamine. Note that this means that even if your depression is dopamine-based, but the problem is with your dopamine receptors and not the actual levels of dopamine, then this may not help so much, depending on what else you have going on in there.

The science for M. pruriens and depression is young, and we only found non-human animal studies so far, for example:

Dopamine mediated antidepressant effect of Mucuna pruriens seeds in various experimental models of depression

In summary

It’s good against Parkinson’s in particular and is good against neurodegeneration in general.

It may be good against depression, depending on the kind of depression you have.

Is it safe?

That’s a great question! And the answer is: it depends. For most people, in moderation, it should be fine (but, see our usual legal/medical disclaimer). Definitely don’t take it if you have bipolar disorder or any kind of schizoid/psychotic disorder; it is likely to trigger a manic/psychotic episode if you do.

For more on this, we discussed it (pertaining to L-dopa in general, not M. pruriens specifically) at greater length here:

An Accessible New Development Against Alzheimer’s ← scroll down to the heading that reads “Is there a catch?”

Want to try some?

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

Enjoy!

Our Sponsors Make This Publication Possible

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Please do visit our sponsors—they help keep 10almonds free

This Or That?

Vote on Which is Healthier

Yesterday we asked you to choose between garden cress and watercress—we picked the garden cress (click here to read about why), as did just 24% of you!

Now for today’s choice:

Click on whichever you think is better for you!

One-Minute Book Review

Metabolic Health Roadmap: Step-by-Step Epigenetic Guide to Revitalize Energy Levels, Sharpen Cognitive Function, Cultivate Emotional Wellbeing and Customize Nutritional Intake – by Brenda Wollenberg

The term “roadmap” is often used in informative books, but in this case, Wollenberg (a nutritionist with decades of experience) really does deliver what can very reasonably be described as a roadmap:

She provides chapters in the form of legs of a journey [to better metabolic health], and those legs are broadly divided into an “information center” to deliver new information, a “rest stop” for reflection, “roadwork” to guide the reader through implementing the information we just learned, in a practical fashion, and finally “traveller assistance” to give additional support / resources, as well as any potential troubleshooting, etc.

The information and guidance within are all based on very good science; a lot is what you will have read already about blood sugar management (generally the lynchpin of metabolic health in general), but there’s also a lot about leveraging epigenetics for our benefit, rather than being sabotaged by such.

There’s a little guidance that falls outside of nutrition (sleep, exercise, etc), but for the most part, Wollenberg stays within her own field of expertise, nutrition.

The style is idiosyncratic; it’s very clear that her goal is providing the promised roadmap, and not living up to any editor’s wish or publisher’s hope of living up to industry standard norms of book formatting. However, this pays off, because her delivery is clear and helpful while remaining personable and yet still bringing just as much actual science, and this makes for a very pleasant and informative read.

Bottom line: if you’d like to improve your metabolic health, as well as get held-by-the-hand through your health-improvement journey by a charming guide, this is very much the book for you!

Click here to check out the Metabolic Health Roadmap, and start taking steps!

Penny For Your Thoughts?

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

The 10almonds Team