How to feel, actually BE younger, and slow down aging

According to webmd and the FDA, GBL is both illegal and dangerous.  This happens sometimes when a substance really works and the drug companies want to figure out how to put a patent on it.  There is lots and lots of information on the web about how it has helped people.  Not so much self report about being harmful but you can’t buy it any more so that kills the streams of reviews.

GBL is changed in the body to one of these brain chemicals called GABA. This is one of the neuro transmitter that people need to stay calm and balanced.  If they trip out, this is the one they need.  It has to do with the PHP and the tiny metabolic assistance that the body needs to make GABA.  Usually when my clients come in who need this, they are in a basket.  (Basket case)  They are amazed that the simply elegant results of finding the right one on this list that they need to make GABA.  

If you get upset and anxious a lot, you can come back to balance with this information.  Not all bodies work the same, make the right things, or act the same internally.  People can’t see it so they don’t realize it is important.  Often, the gut flora is out.  This is where they make the things that they need.  Re-establishing gut flora resolves both physical and psychological syndromes that have been reeking havoc.

I like ELEGANT, EASY AND INEXPENSIVE solutions.  Like Food.

Foods that increase GABA & GBL are a safe ways to source these “feel better” increases.  One of the easy peasy ones that has a lot of bang for the buck is fava beans.  They are the largest source of human growth hormone precursors.  These are the long flat beans.  Specifically I am testing that the bean seeds are more significant therapeutically than the beens but they are both good food.  More specifically, when the bean seeds are sprouted, they turn into “activated” packages of enzymes that burst with potential.  Then you can either use them in salads cause they are sweet, or put them in the blender with some flavorful things and use it as a dip or a pesto.  The best thing about this protocol is that the beans are inexpensive, they are dried before sprouting so they are available all year round.  Did I say cheap?

So how come I have to fuss with myself and make bean sprouts?  Because you are worth it and it will give you a feeling of more youth (growth hormone), it will help your body move and detoxify.  How long does it take anyway.  Let’s look at it.

You will need a colander and something under it to capture water.  A plate or cloth of any kind, like plastic plate over it to keep the petrie dish effect off of your food.  You will be depending on the holes in the colander for air so keep the beans at a thin layer all the way around and don’t let them pool in the middle or they won’t get air and will mold.

• Soak the beans over night.  (not extensive output there)
• Rinse them the next day.  You might do this a lot so put it in your routine.  They will need rinsing several (3) times per day to keep the toxins they excrete off them and to give them fresh water to clean with.  Then spread them in the colander to give them air. They are busy little guys.
• Then after 3 days, they should have tails.  Eat one to see if they are sweet.  (They will turn to sugar as soon as they start to become plants.)
• When they are sweet, they are done being sprouted.  (times may vary with temperature, humidity, altitude, your loving attitude etc.)
• Eat some, put the rest in the refrigerator like any fresh veg.

Okay, how long did that take.  Soak, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse,rinse, rinse, rinse.  Put in the fridge, Prepare.  If it takes 15 mins per week to prepare an awesome youth and brain power food, that costs, $2. per pound that makes you feel fantastic.  Huh?  I am down!

Here is more extensive info on the mechanisms of GABA.  (I would be able to test these things and customize a remedy.)

Using these nutrients really works great and takes the basket case away. I am more relaxed and effective.   I don’t run out of brain power and get fatigued.  If I don’t take them, I am sorry I didn’t.  I think of it as “showing up for the job with the proper tools”.

I like this article about GABA

http://www.vitalityandwellness.com.au/health-blog/low-gaba-levels-increase-gaba-naturally

Now let’s see if I can find out more about GBL which is similar but not the same and I agree; a wonderful product to feel younger.   I always tend to do these things through food if possible.

A few berries, some magic beans and a mushroom capsule, probiotic by cultured food, continue the culture so it isn’t expensive.  Build the gut flora that makes all these ingredients naturally once the body off loads the stress.  Then try to eat what the body needs and ask honestly to your body to see if a food you want to eat,  interferes with a valuable step in the process to “feel good”.  Then determine which is more important but don’t use your mind.  Get above it.

Fava beans might as well be the number one food for Human Growth Hormone production, as they’re filled with L-Dopa which is the precursor to Dopamine (another neurotransmitter like GABA).  It has been shown to generate a huge increase in Human Growth Hormone, making us feel younger and more vital and creating a body environment of being younger, while also boosting dopamine and testosterone.   Even women need this to get through a busy day.

From http://www.anabolicmen.com/foods-that-increase-human-growth-hormone-naturally/

That’s it.  What I learned is that I am going to be using fava bean sprouts all day long for vegetables at dinner, in salads, and as pesto, sauces and salad dressings.

I have already worked out most of the GABA builder nutrition and have the ingredients on my bench ready to make customized capsules.  They are all over the counter things.   It is just a matter of realizing that you need it to support the metabolic pathways.  I even gave many of them to my kids when they were growing up.  I had calm happy children with clean livers so that while they did that at my house, they existed peacefully in a state of cooperation.

I need to deeply consider the new ones for this purpose and get them for my bench incase someone wants it in a custom remedy.  Here is what the article mentions: (I included the below)

• Theanine
• Inositol
• Magnesium
• Noni Fruit
• Chamomile
• St John’s Wort
• Valerian
• Kava
• Ginkgo Biloba
• Passion fruit
• Skullcap
• Hops
• Lemon balm
• Magnolia bark
• Phellondendron bark

All are well-known to have calming and relaxing properties that improves moods, insomnia and anxiety, but their mode of action is not exactly known.

Mimi

Article below

 

G’day friends and welcome!

Well, its becoming a popular little word this GABA, and rightly so, as many people are now realising the benefits it has for the body. Now GABA shouldn’t be confused with the cricket ground in Brisbane, Australia called ‘The Gabba’! However, some might argue that watching a live cricket match at ‘The Gabba’ might be beneficial for raising your GABA levels, but for other people it might very stressful and down right boring – which is not good for your GABA levels.

Ok, cricket and my rambling aside, this brain chemical GABA is really important for your health, so lets get down to it;

What does GABA do?

GABA, short for gamma aminobutyric acid, is your major inhibitory or relaxing neurotransmitter (brain chemical). Normalisation of brain GABA levels leads to a reduction in stress, anxiety, nervousness and an improvement in insomnia resulting in a more restful night’s sleep 1,2,3. GABA prevents nerve impulses associated with anxiety from reaching the motor centres of your brain (by filling your benzodiazepine receptors with GABA) 1,4,5. Besides binding to your GABA and benzodiazepine receptors, GABA decreases your beta brainwaves and increases your alpha brainwaves 1.

Beta brainwaves are important brain waves required during periods of concentration, attention, alertness and can enhance your memory, but excess or high concentrations that occur during times of stress can lead to more stress, anxiety, insomnia and depression. Alpha brainwaves on the other hand are produced when you go into a meditative state such as meditation, yoga, Tai Chi, when you focus your attention on one task, or as you begin to fall asleep. Alpha brainwaves are involved in memory but their major function within your body is to calm and relax you.

Alertness can stimulate production of both alpha and beta brainwaves but it is the type of alertness that determines which brainwave is produced. When your body is in a relaxed state of alertness alpha brainwaves are produced, but when you are alert and stressed beta brainwaves are produced. Both can be beneficial, but excess beta wave production eventually reduces concentration and focus ability and contributes to an array of nervous disorders such as anxiety and stress.

Low levels of GABA can cause or contribute to a variety of health issues such as anxiety, panic disorders, depression (including postpartum depression), epilepsy, convulsions, stress, insomnia (especially waking with a racing mind or waking and not being able fall back to sleep), Tourette’s syndrome, muscle spasms, hypertension, emotional issues associated with premenstrual syndrome, dry skin and wrinkles. GABA stimulates secretion of your digestive enzymes and low levels of digestive enzymes are associated with poor digestion, bloating, flatulence, poor bowel motions and malabsorption.

How does the body manufacture GABA? 

The amino acid L-glutamine, the most abundant amino acid in your body, is the precursor to GABA production. What occurs is that glutamine is first converted within your body to glutamic acid or glutamate, which is your body’s most abundant excitatory neurotransmitter. Glutamic acid is responsible for your attention span, memory, brain energy, learning ability, staying awake and the metabolism of carbohydrates. From there the enzyme glutamate decarboxylase (big word I know……means nothing to most people, only nerds like me) converts glutamate to GABA. Now for this enzyme to work effectively Vitamin B6, or more importantly the active form of vitamin B6 – Pyridoxal-5-Phosphate (P5P), is essential to increase it’s production 42,43 while the amino acid taurine increases the communication and productivity of that big worded enzyme 6, 7. Interestingly,  studies have shown that anxiety may occur as a result of taurine deficiency 10, 11. Zinc on the other hand has been shown to enhance the release of GABA from its receptors. Both zinc and vitamin B6 are essential for the production of your other brain chemicals such as serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline, adrenaline and histamine 43.

Nutrients required to increase GABA levels 

All of your cells, organs, metabolic processes, hormones, blood and neurotransmitters require a variety of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and phytonutrients to function effectively. Without these nutrients all of your essential body functions or processes won’t work effectively, resulting in a variety of diseases and illnesses.

So for your body to manufacture GABA effectively it requires specific nutrients to achieve this. As we have already mentioned some of the main nutrients required are glutamine, Pyridoxal-5-Phosphate, taurine and zinc, but there are some other equally important nutrients also involved in the process that can enhance the production of GABA.

Theanine a plant-based amino acid found only in tea increases levels of GABA within the brain 8, 9, increases the production of alpha brainwaves 12, 13, 14 and enhances GABA A receptor response 60.  Studies have shown that theanine is useful in the treatment of anxiety due to its ability to sedate the central nervous system as well as improving the quality of sleep and counteract the toxic effects of stress 15, 16. How smart were the generations gone before us……when someone was stressed their initial response was “come inside and sit down, I’ve just put on a pot of tea”……not coffee which can be stimulating and have the opposite effect!

Inositol, a B group vitamin may help alleviate anxiety and depression, by enhancing the ability of GABA to bind to the benzodiazepine receptors within the brain 35, 36, 37, 38, 39. Inositol may also help to stimulate poorly sensitive serotonin receptors within the brain 20. and facilitate a good night’s sleep 40.

Magnesium deficiency is common in western society with up to 80% of women and 70% of men having some form of magnesium deficiency. Magnesium binds to and activates GABA receptors 54. Anxiety, panic disorders, apathy, poor attention span, depression, insomnia, irritability and nervousness may all result from magnesium deficiency 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52. Magnesium may also improve the length and quality of slow wave sleep 53.

Noni Fruit, a herb native to French Polynesia and traditionally used to help with many ailments including issues associated with the nervous system, was found to help alleviate anxiety by binding to the GABA receptors within the brain 33. Animal studies have shown that Noni may reduce the toxic effects on the body of excessive stress 34.

Chamomile, a medicinal herb used for thousands of years and commonly found throughout the world as a tea has been shown to have sedative effects due to the flavonoid apigenin that binds to the benzodiazepine and GABA receptors within the brain 67. Traditionally chamomile has been used to help alleviate anxiety and improve insomnia by sedating the central nervous system 21, 22, 23, 24. Chamomile may also assist in normalising moods 25.

St John’s Wort may inhibit the reuptake of GABA (which leads to increased GABA levels and GABA activity 75.

Valerian is known to prevent or reduce the breakdown of GABA within the brain 71, 72, 73, 74

Kava inhibits noradrenaline (norepinephrine) uptake (too much noradrenaline causes you to feel like your are out of control and running around like a headless chook and leads to anxiety, panic attacks, schizophrenia, blood clots, hypertension, depression and  elevated stress)59.

Ginkgo Biloba has been found in to increase GABA in the hippocampus region of the brain. The hippocampus plays an important role in long and short term memory it is also one of the first area affected by Alzheimers disease hence memory loss and disorentation 70.

Other herbs such as passionflower, skullcap, hops, lemon balm, magnolia bark and phellondendron bark are well-known to have calming and relaxing properties that improves moods, insomnia and anxiety, but their mode of action is not exactly known. It is believed that these herbs act either as a GABA receptor agonists (fancy word that simply means to stimulate the receptor, thus having a calming effect) or they boost GABA levels 59.

Other well know foods called, Fermented foods, also help with GABA levels. Foods such as fermented cabbage, fermented milk and fermented juice contain naturally occurring GABA 61, 62, 63. as does fava beans, tomatoes, sunflower seeds and reishi mushroom 64, 65, 66.

Glycine, another amino acid, may help with GABA function and alleviate anxiety and panic attacks by reducing the stimulatory effects of noradrenaline within the brain 17, 18. Glycine functions as a calming neurotransmitter within the nervous system and it does this by causing a relaxing effect when it binds to and activates the glycine receptors within the spinal cord 19. Glycine may also help alleviate insomnia due to its role as a relaxing neurotransmitter 20.

Potassium is required to help stimulate the release of GABA within the brain 68. Potassium deficiency may be responsible for anxiety, depression and irritability 50, 55, 56, 57. Potassium may improve the quality of sleep and reduce the frequency of awakenings after the onset of sleep 58.

5HTP is a precursor to serotonin, and serotonin is well know to enhance the effects of GABA.69

A lot of technical jargon I know, sorry about that, but if it has put you to sleep there is a positive in that….your GABA levels may have increased!

Why not just take a GABA supplement?

I know it sounds quite feasible that if you have low GABA levels and are suffering from anxiety, insomnia or depression that taking a GABA supplement makes sense. Even though the theory may sound good, how much GABA does your body actually need? One person may need 200mg a day, while another person may need 500mg, but they may both be taking a standard 750mg supplement. What does the body do with the excess GABA?

The toxic effects of too much GABA is that it may cause nausea, numbness, impair learning and memory, while inhibiting the release of serotonin. Serotonin is your ‘feel good’ neurotransmitter and low levels are associated with depression, anxiety, anger, insomnia, low melatonin and carbohydrate cravings.

Like a car, your body, or more importantly every single cell within your body, needs the right fuel to function properly – not too many petrol cars run well on diesel fuel, so its best to feed your body the nutrients it needs to produce GABA by itself naturally. This to me makes a lot of sense as does the old adage “you are what you eat” meaning that your diet is the number one thing that you need to do to maintain great health.

In our clinic we recommend ‘Be Calm’, a pleasant tasting, vanilla berry powder and GabRelax a natural herbal blend, both of which contain many of the nutrients mentioned above in therapeutic doses, to assist the body in increasing it’s GABA levels naturally.

How to test GABA levels?

Diagnostic Testing is by far the best way to check your GABA levels and we offer a GABA Test that measures not only the amount of GABA, but also other important neurotransmitters including serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline, adrenaline and glutamate. We find testing for the whole range of neurotransmitters gives us a greater understanding of the persons neurological or mental health status. This is a simple urine sample test that is sent away to pathology for analysis.

For more information 

– Visit our website pages on Low GABA Levels.

end of article ***

What if we are creating GLB in our stress state?  What would the effects of that be?

This article was insightful!  http://www.mensjournal.com/expert-advice/the-worst-supplements-of-all-time-20131216/gbl

Interesting article:

https://www.supplementcritique.com/63-foods-that-boost-testosterone-naturally/