Anandamide, nature’s morphine
Until last fall, I didn’t even take aspirin for pain. I remember telling the doctor that “pain is a messenger” that helps the body heal. Oh baby. That was before I broke 4 ribs surfing in Australia, got pneumonia and had to have lung surgery to save my life. The open ribcage kind of pain isn’t a message, it’s a final warning.
The doctor gave me something he called ‘the strongest narcotic known to man’ and I liked it. I was in three hospitals and came home with a renewed interest in biochemistry. Why and how do morphine, codeine, heroin, cannabis and all painkillers work so perfectly and efficiently in the body? Being a mad scientist and tantric yogini, I am a big fan of psychoneuroimmunology and the production of chemicals in the body.
Almost everything the chemist or doctor gives you is a copy of what your body produces naturally and, in my opinion, a cheap copy. We can do better. Almost all narcotics are derived from plants: opiates come from poppies, cannabis is the flower of an herb. While our lives depend on plants, the receptors in our brains are wired for something else. We naturally create a chemical anandamidealso know as NO-arachidonoylethanolamide an endogenous cannabinoid neurotransmitter. The name comes from the Sanskrit word ananda, which means happiness.
The reason opiates and cannabinoids work so well is that they fit exactly into the brain receptors intended for anandamide. Your body produces these things naturally! It is synthesized from lecithin. I cry when people tell me they eat egg whites. The yolks are pure lecithin, the ingredients of happiness. You can also get lecithin by combining two simple B vitamins, choline and inositol.
Anandamide is the chemical that gives you the “chills,” the little orgasmic thrill you feel when you notice something beautiful. It is the ultimate painkiller and much stronger and more effective than morphine. However, the problem with anandamide is that it has a very short life in the body, so it should help you out a bit.
Paracetamol, a common pain reliever, works because it is an anandamide reuptake inhibitor. What that means is that it holds happiness molecules longer. Pain IS a messenger. It helps create the chemical just like exercise, meditation, music and love. The acetaminophen helps keep it around. And lecithin (choline and inositol) feed it. High levels of intercellular calcium also contribute to high levels of anandamide production.
So here’s my recipe for homemade morphine: feed your heart, take a few grams of choline crystal and inositol with your Tylenol, eat your egg yolks, and add some chocolate (another reuptake inhibitor). I’m not an ice cream lover, but it’s loaded with egg yolk and usually has added lecithin. So go ahead.
My teacher Deepak Chopra recommends 12 hugs a day for maximum health and I suspect this may be due to anandamide production. I prefer kisses.
Rx: 2 grams of choline crystal and inositol, 1 gram of acetaminophen, 2000 iu of D3, half a gram of coral calcium and call me in the morning.
TO ENJOY!
Happiness, Health and Wealth!
nancy travis
CEO, Lotus Wellbeing, Inc./Lotus Liberty
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