a fun thread about the most used and worthless ethnobotanical: bananas!!!

[genaro]

here's a message I posted in the "funny shit" forum, I thought it could get some interest among ethnobotanicals users:

Ok, first let's forget about anarchist cookbook bullshit (banadinine or bananidine or whatever doesn't even exist). This is a MYTH !

So is banana high just a myth?

Well, not exactly:

banana peel contains 70mg dopamine per gram, which is converted into noradrenaline when the banana gets old and the peel turns black.
Banana peel also contain some serotonine (this analysis results are from a reliable book about ethnobotanicals)

So I can get high from somking it?
The answer is NO, because you would have to smoke such a damn big amount of it to achieve a threshold effect that it's clearly not possible to do so...unless you would extract a crude crystalline alkaloid powder from a pound of dried banana peels that have turned black...why not if you really have much time and solvents to loose (serotonine, dopamine, adrenaline or noradrenaline would be much easier to get from an hospital or online chemical suppliers anyway)
Warning !!! pure adrenaline, dopamine or noradrenaline are extremely dangerous, one can easly get a heart attack from these (speaking of mg doses). These are definitely not for drug use!
...and anyway, it's not a "mental rush" you would get from these, it's a "body rush" which I wouldn't call "enjoyable" in anyway.

BUT here's something you can do (if you really like bananas and have nothing more interesting to do for the next 30 minutes):
once, I bought 250g of dried bananas (not the yellow sliced & hard/craquante ones, I'm speaking of the soft whole dried bananas which are dark brown to black). I love these (taste so fuckin great) so I started eating banana after banana, each banana was throroughly chewed and the paste kept under my tongue for 1 or 2minutes, and then swallowed (as soon I had swallowed one I would take another again and so on and so on until I finished the whole 250g pack).
To my knowledge dopamine, serotonine and noradrenaline cannot cross the blood barrier. So what I experienced was the physical effect of these substances and should not be called a "high" as it isn't brain related.
What I experienced could be compared to some mild vasopressure rush or adrenalin rush: head suddenly feelin heavy, slight confusion, moderate energy/nervousness (better say a mild feeling of "stress" / "alertness"), and slight ophoria. This lasted for some 5-10minutes, it wasn't especially fun or pleasant (nothing like something I would call a "high" or "recreational", I wouldn't call it "enjoyable"), but it amused me because I was getting effect out of bananas!
This wasn't placebo that's for sure, it's due to the physical (body related, not brain related) vasoconstrictive/hypertensive effect of dopamine and noradrenaline.

i.e. if you inject adrenaline or noradrenaline or dopamine so someone, despite these chemicals won't cross the brain barrier, this individual will feel some intense body rush as these 3 compounds cause a short lived vasoconstriction + hypertension + tachycardia which is what is called "an adrenalin rush", that's exactly what happen when you're confronted to a "matter of urgency": your surrenal glands (which are located on the top of your kidneys) will release adrenaline in your blood, adrenaline won't cross the brain barrier but will still put you in an "state of alert", which we all have personally experienced on many occasions: the adrenaline cause vasoconstriction, which cause fast heartbeat and elevated blood pressure (as the blood vessels are contracted), and the usual symptoms are nervousness, feeling of stress/urgency, energy rush, increased alertness, and ophoria, and confusion/disorientation. As you would have noticed, all these symptoms are very short lived (for instance when someone makes you jump badly, the effect from the adrenalin rush will only last for some 5-15minute depending on the intensity of the stress/fear that was inflicted to you)

By the way, if anyone could explain me how it is possible that a naturally induced adrenaline rush makes you euphoric despite adrenaline do not work on the brain ? (let's consider the case of a confrontation to a stressful urgency or confrontation to a sudden fear, for instance if someone makes you jump badly)
I remember I read in medical encyclopedias that young children can get all confused and euphoric and even get hallucinations from excessive doses of vasoconstrictive substances (which of course are also inducing hypertension/fast heart beat by contracting the blood vessels)

How are such "body" effects (cardiovascular) related to " alertness, confusion and disorientation, anxiety and euphoria and even hallucinations" this I do not understand, any input people?

[Senor Gribson]

i thought bananas also had tryptamines in them, hence why they say not to eat them when taking MAOI's?

[Nagognog2]

It's tyramine, and cousins, that must be avoided on MAOI's. Psychedelic tryptamines that are inactive orally - DMT, 5-Meo-DMT - become orally active on MAOI's.

Regards why do some people report "" alertness, confusion and disorientation, anxiety and euphoria and even hallucinations" this I do not understand, any input people?"...maybe they forgot to take their daily med?

[genaro]

"maybe they forgot to take their daily med?"
No kiddin, this is something serious, these symptoms have often been reported in many medical reports involving vasoconstritive substances surdosage, so there must be a link between cardiovascular stress and psychic effects...maybe brain vessels stress your neurones in some way (how?) when they are constricted/hypertensed ?

[Richard_smoker]

The neurologic effects of ACLS drugs that you mention: epinephrine, dopamine, dobutamine, etc. which work on the vasculature and do not cross the BBB... well, think about what you're saying. There is still blood supply to the brain, see? So, that's probably where you get some of these psychological symptoms. From the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood to the brain and changes in the blood vessels themselves supplying the brain.

But the MAIN difference is something you didn't take into consideration. The main thing you're alluding to is the ACUTE escalation in blood pressure as a result of having taken these drugs. When this happens, baroreceptors in your carotid sinus pick up this disturbance and relay the signal to your brain. Normally, the brain will respond (unconsciously) to kick in the parasympathetic reflex--dumping out acetyl-choline onto the heart via the vagus nerve aka vaso-vagal reflex. What you're describing is the effect on the conscious/semi-conscious mind of consequence of those baroreceptors sensing the acute increase in blood pressure. That WILL cause a HUGE cascade of events that are enclosed WITHIN the brain... no need for any crossing-over of anything thru the bloodbrainbarrier. You've got plenty of norepinephrine, dopamine, etc. already stored up inside the brain to do its own freaking-out... you don't need the initial instigating drug to cross over.

[genaro]

well great answer, nothing to be added.