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And it would make you just as content as a smokable, because like tobacco smoke, sawdust smoke contains MAO inhibitors.
by eurasiantiger 6y ago
And it would make you just as content as a smokable, because like tobacco smoke, sawdust smoke contains MAO inhibitors.
- fnordian_slip 6y agoSeconding the request for more information, a quick Google search didn't yield any results for sawdust being a MAOI. But this is so far out of my area of expertise that my search was probably worthless anyway, because I may not have been able to properly assess any sources anyway.
- eurasiantiger 6y agoIt’s not sawdust per se, rather the smoke from it — more exactly, the pyrolysis products of certain amino acids: heating L-tryptophan, for example, produces various Harmala alkaloids. The effects are also dependent on the type of wood, as some woods do naturally contain tannins which act as MAO inhibitors. Harmala alkaloids, of course, are naturally present in Penganum harmala, one of the two traditional ingredients of Ayahuasca. The inherent psychoactivity of this family of compounds cannot be overstated.
- fnordian_slip 6y agoThanks a lot for the reply, this really is a fascinating topic.
- mod 6y agoHey, can you elaborate on this? Sincere request. Cheers!
- tartoran 6y agoNicotine is a nootropic but had no idea it about this https://www.biopsychiatry.com/nicotine-mao.htm https://www.biopsychiatry.com/nicotine-mao.htm
- TheAdamAndChe 6y agoI made a relevant comment about this a while back[1]. Thinking it was a nootropic got me addicted for years and brought no benefits. I still get the urge to smoke and it's been years now. Just don't smoke, there are better nootropics. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26181713 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26181713
- tartoran 6y agoI was a smoker for 20 years, I know about the addictive properties but I think I did get some benefits but the damage is not worth it.
- eurasiantiger 6y agoNicotine is not the main cause of tobacco addiction: it is attributable to MAO inhibitors created pyrolytically during the roasting and burning of plant material. The same goes for coffee and coffee substitutes with respect to caffeine.
- TheAdamAndChe 6y agoThis is wrong. Nicotine alone is less addictive than the nicotine-MAOI combination, but it is still extremely addictive. I started with vaping.
- eurasiantiger 6y agoAnecdotal experiences are not evidence of anything else than someone having experienced something in a certain way. It is completely feasible that you simply are more susceptible to the effects of plain nicotine, e.g. due to differences in nAChR genes, or maybe you already had a MAOI source in your daily diet, e.g. medications, cannabis smoke, coffee, soy sauce, beer, wine, sake, roasted/grilled foods...
- TheAdamAndChe 6y ago
- mlang23 6y agoInteresting. I must have missed that smoked tobacco is a MAOI. But it is significant, i.e., noticeable?
- temp0826 6y agoIt does to me. Vaping nicotine always felt like more of a stimulant- whereas cigarettes were more relaxing.
- eurasiantiger 6y agoDefinitely. PET studies have yielded something like 1/5 to 1/4 of brain MAO enzymes being inhibited in smokers.
- mlang23 6y agoHmm, of course nicotine itself is stimulating, but this makes me wonder if MAO inhibition might be one of the causes for tobacco smokers seemingly being more communicative? When smoking was still allowed in trains, cars were usually split in smoking and non-smoking areas. I always found it fascinating to watch how the different groups behaves if I happened to walk for a while to find a free place. The non-smoking area typically felt dead quiet, almost depressingly. And one you opened the door to the smoking area, pretty relaxed chatting amongst the travelers was the norm.
- thinkingemote 6y agoCould this be why people feel calm and comfortable smelling woodsmoke on a campfire?
- eloisius 6y agoIt might also explain why I loved being in a wood shop so much as a kid. Something about the warm, sweet smell of wood smoke when the friction from a saw caused it to heat up was so relaxing.
- text70 6y agoSeveral woody aromatic compounds also have partial molecular similarity with neurotransmitters. Could it have been activating neural pathways directly in your brain through your olfactory?
- eurasiantiger 6y agoDefinitely. Since the same compounds are formed in meat during cooking, so there is a curious evolutionary correlation: did the first humans harnessing fire and cooking meat do so for the psychoactive effects? The implications also touch demographics, since humans have great variance in the activity of their MAO-A and MAO-B genes. People who get easily addicted to smoke flavoured food, coffee and/or tobacco may simply have inherited a high-activity MAO gene that they are trying to compensate for.
- coldtea 6y agoPart of it. It's also because they're camping as opposed to some hellish office.