Dreams/bananas/tryptophan/serotonin...

[darkangel13]

I've never tried eating bananas before I go to sleep for that purpose, but someone posted a while back about eating cheese before going to bed, and I tried that two nights ago and had over 6 vivid dreams.  I'll give the banana thing a try, but I'm pretty picky about bananas.  One brown spot and I won't go near it, lol

-Kristina

[ralphm]

Wow! maybe smoking banana peels wasn't a hoax after all!

[Transplutonian]

quote:Originally posted by ralphm

Wow! maybe smoking banana peels wasn't a hoax after all!

I think it most likely is a hoax. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020426.html

There is supposed to be a chemical called bananine in the peels that is psychoactive, but some studies indicate it is false.

One person claimed that the peels contain serotonin, but I haven't heard this anywhere else.

[Fenris]

Wow this is some really interesting stuff Transplutonian! Great work with the research, this I will have to come back to and read more into this once Ive knocked off a few assignments. I had no idea about the relationship between REM and serotonin, this is really interesting!

Thanks for the great topic
David

[pod3]

Chemicals in this cycle are produced by the metabolism of all carbohydrates.

[Logic]

I think smoking banana peels (after prepairing them correctly) does almost the same thing as crack.

So.. dont get any bright ideas []

[preeno]

Hey Transplutonian!

Many thanks for the research and the links! One of the links pertained to sleeplessness. I had been experiencing a problem with waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to go back to sleep. By simply eating 3 or 4 dates and a banana about an hour before bedtime, I have been getting better sleep for the past week than I have in years! Last night I slept 7 hours straight in a row without waking up. That is the first time I've done that in many years!
I've been into lucid dreaming and O.O.B.E.'s for several years. I even had a lucid dream last night that I converted into an O.O.B.E.
Again, many thanks for the great information!

Best regards,
preeno

[CaCoDeMoN]

I've read about banana drugs in "Anarchist Cookbook". If this is hoax, why so many parents are telling their children, that they should not eat banana peels? About cheese: I've heard that it works best with white cheese.

[volcomstone]

chocolate and mint work wonders, (york patties mmmmmm)

or a good smoke of salvia (caution advised)

[pod3]

It was my understanding that strychnine was used as an antifungal on banana peels at one time, but the chemicals I see on the crate now have much longer names. Supposedly, the peels and leaves contain actual THC, not bananadine.

Weed is soaked in formaldehyde sometimes as it produces strychnine (and from that, formic acid) when it burns. For some reason, this is said to better the high.

Weed by itself is on the schedule 1 as a hallucenogen.

According to legend, that Cookbook was altered by the authorities, and the recipes wouldn't have worked well, even before it was.

Bananadine was supposed to exist in the inner scrapings of the peels, after they turn brown, but this would not be a good place as plant toxins are considered to be for the purpose of keeping bugs from eating through them.

But don't listen to me, I haven't tried it and only heard that mellow yellow works, and that Foster's beer recipe would be cool...

[holy reality]

according to snopes, the tryptophan available in foods is not enough to affect you at all...

as for melatonin, i've taken a TON of it before bed, nothing, nothing at all..... no tiredness, no better sleep....

it seems ultimately useless....

so anyway, is it true then, that lucid dreaming could make you depressed, due to decreased amount of seratonin since you stay in REM so much?

I thought REM itself produced seratonin.. hmm.

[Transplutonian]

I have found that eating one or two bananas before going to bed causes me to either dream more or remember my dreams better. Even better(for myself, as I usually wake up around 3-4 a.m. every morning, then go back to sleep after a while) eat a banana if you wake up in the night, then go back to sleep.

(I read on a message board somewhere, where another person said this worked for them.)

Bananas are high in L-Tryptophan. L-Tryptophan is converted to 5-HTP, which is converted into serotonin.

Curious however, is that the serotonergic system shuts down during REM sleep(http://www.antidepressantsfacts.com/pinealstory.htm).

"Dreams are hard to remember because noradrenaline and serotonin are virtually unavailable during REM sleep. These substances are needed to record memories. You can recall a dream that immediately preceded awakening, because the noradrenaline and serotonin systems come back online as you wake up. But if you shift your attention at all while you wake, you will often find that the memory of the dream vanishes."
From http://www.clusterheadaches.org/library/serotonin/sleep.htm


From Legal Highs:
L-TRYPTOPHAN -- 1-alpha-aminoindole-3-propionic acid.
   Material:  Amino acid essential to human nutrition.
   Usage:  5-8 grams are ingested on empty stomach.
   Effects:  Drowsiness, euphoria, and mental changes similar to mild  (5 mg) dose of psilocybin.
Contraindications:  Tendency to fall asleep.  Excessive use could  
cause dietary amino acid imbalance.
   Supplier:  CS, 500 mg tablets from some heatlh food stores.
From http://www.erowid.org/library/books_online/legal_highs/legal_highs.shtml


Foods Causing Depressions and Sleeplessness: http://www.13.waisays.com/

Banana facts: http://www.bananaland.com.au/topmenu/facts.php





IF there is a definite increase in dreaming or dream recall, I am curious what is the mode of action?


Edit addition:

Melatonin is a neurotransmitter/hormone that is only active during sleep. It is being
metabolized when you fall asleep from Serotonin, a neurotransmitter that is being metabolized
from the amino acid Tryptophan. Melatonin increases non-REM sleep and makes it easier for you
to fall asleep. But it has also an interesting rebound effect that gives more frequent and
vivid dreams. The vividness might even give you a lucid dream.
From http://www.faqs.org/faqs/dreams-faq/general/

One person said of 500mg L-Tryptophan and 3 mg melatonin: "Not only did the combination of these two produce a pronounced drowsiness and eventually a deep sleep, but after several nights I began to notice that I was remember more dreams than normal." From http://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=5336

Melatonin is metabolized to very interesting compunds, including 5-methoxy-tryptamine. This chemical may be involved in inducing REM sleep with vivid dreams. 5-methoxy-tryptamine and other tryptamines. Our brain manufactures its own hallucinogens which lead us to dream.
From http://www.melatonin.com/melatonin-tryptophan.htm