Semester 4, Week 8, Day 4: A Constituent of Chocolate

It took me forever to get the kids to sleep last night.  I have realized though they are not finishing their meals, they are not getting enough to eat.  They just don't want to eat what I gave them.  This morning I decided to make bacon.  Yes, I ate some violating my diet. The person who can resist such tastiness is held in high regard by me!  My son didn't want to eat it but seemed to like it so I decided to fry the hashbrowns in the bacon grease and put the bacon in country gravy, all served over toast.  They are eating quietly.  I guess I did a good thing!  My eye is more swollen this morning. I know this has to run its course but last night I was literally begging it to stop.  It feels like it's going into my neck next. I understand to rid my body of all the toxic things that have been put in it over the decades, it's needed but that doesn't take away the itching, the heat, the dryness or the pain when the kids touch a dry spot. Trying to stay positive despite everything. Love and Light!

On to the discussion!

"Plants are a well-known source of psychoactive amines. L-theanine (from Tea), ethylamine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, 5-HTP, histidine, histamine, cathinone (from Khat), ephedrine (from Ephedra), pseudoephedrine, mescaline (from Peyote), muscarine (from Amanita muscaria), phenylethylamine and anandamides (in Chocolate), psilocybin (from ‘Magic Mushrooms’), tryptamine, tyramine immediately come to mind. Research and share information on the properties of psychoactive amines, their use in herbal medicine. Try to explain why these substances have psychoactive properties."

I thought this prompt was going to be hard and my stress level went through the roof when I read this.  Turns out, the answer was in Ganora all along. This is one of our supplemental books. I forget what I paid but if you don’t have it, get it!  😊
The short answer of what makes them psychoactive, according to Ganora (2009, p. 102), is they all “share the aromatic ring (phenyl) with 2 carbon side chain (ethyl) having an amino group (amine) on the end)”.

What I find interesting, in the first paragraph (of 2) where Ganora talks about these constituents, the first one she brings up is 2-phenylethylamine or phenethylamine or PEA.  I’ll use PEA.  It’s easier! This is found in chocolate (cocao beans).  She says it mimics amphetamines and may be a neurotransmitter/neuromodulator. It releases dopamine! While chocolate is not herbal medicine, though dark chocolate does have health benefits, this was mentioned in the prompt and Ganora uses this as a jumping off point for some of the other constituents.  This listing of these constituents though, is mainly the source so she can get to what they have in common structurally. 

Tyramine is similar to PEA but has a hydroxyl group across the ring from the ethyl group. It can be found in Cystisus scoparius which is scotch broom as well as soy and some cheeses. This specific constituent acts as a sympathomimetic with indirect adrenergic properties. This CANNOT be taken with MAOs. It can cause increased vasoconstriction, heart rate, and systolic blood pressure.  It may also trigger migraines (Ganora, 2009, p. 102-3). My issue here is she doesn’t discuss the function of these in herbal medicine.  I don’t know how many were are supposed to break out for medicinal use but I found a study on tyramine and bees.  The forager bees have a higher level. When the nursing bees were given this, they started acting more like the forager bees (Scheiner et al. 2017).  Essentially, this constituent affect learning behavior as well as social tasks.

References
Ganora, L. (2009). Herbal Constituents: Foundations of Phytochemistry. Louisville, Colorado: Herbalchem Press. p. 101-2.
Scheiner, R., Rein, T., Sovik, R., Entler, B. V., Barron, A. B., and Thamm, M. (2017). Learning, gustatory responsiveness and tyramine differences across nurse and forager honeybees. Journal of Experimental Biology, 220, 1443-1450 doi:10.1242/jeb.152496

Have  Great Day!