SMART DRUGS by Andy Russell

*sheds light on some new and remarkable concepts involving smart drugs.*

INCREASE YOUR MENTAL CAPACITIES

VITAMINS,

AMINO-ACIDS AND PROTEIN ARE SMART DRUGS

BODILY AND MENTAL HEALTH BENEFITS

A Beginners Guide

Definition: A "Smart Drug" is any substance natural or synthetic, which improves mental performance. It may improve concentration, short or long term recall or various other mental faculties.

These drugs can be divided into natural and synthetic categories. drugs are every day substances that we all have in our diet, such as vitamins, amino acids (the building blocks of protein) and anti-oxidants. Also herbs and plant extracts have been shown to give neurological benefits to the user.

The majority of synthetic smart drugs are pharmaceutical products originally designed for other uses, most often the treatment of conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, asphasia, dyslexia etc. but are now used by people unaffected by such conditions to improve their normal mental ability.

There are various reasons for wanting to increase your mental capabilities as there are also various reasons for wishing to improve your physical well being and the idea of a healthy mind in a healthy body is vital to a correct understanding of the implications of Neuro/Physical Nutrition.

Previously we have suffered from the stereotypical view that fit people, especially those involved in physical activities such as body building, tend to lack intelligence. Conversely we assume that professors and poets lack in physical prowess. These generalisations are principally due to specialisation in one field at the detriment of others. If you sit and read all day then you will be knowledgable with a poor standard of aerobic fitness, while if you spend all your time exercising you may be fit but are unlikely to grasp quantum physics. However, if you balance your mental endeavours with physical efforts, you are likely to find that in addition to bodily health benefits your ability to concentrate may well improve, as will general coordination and stamina for all tasks.

This belief is one of the cornerstones of eastern health philosophies such as Yoga, Chi Kung (qi gong) and the martial arts. The majority of native practitioners of these disciplines have superior physical and mental conditioning when compared to an average non-practising person. Why?

One fundamental technique involved in all aspects of the above (the bench pressing body-builder, meditating yogi, or striving martial artists), is the use of breathing techniques. There are diverse reasons why different disciplines use different breathing methods. Suffice it to say that anything which enables you to absorb large amounts of oxygen, and remove the spent waste material from your body will drastically improve your mental and physical fitness.

Medically, most types of brain damage are caused when the brain is deprived of oxygen even for very short periods. Longer than a few minutes and death is a certainty. On the other hand Las Vegas casinos are pumped full of oxygen throughout the night so their customers won't feel as tired and will stay longer to play rather than go to bed. When oxygen levels drop in the body - be this in a high altitude climber, a heavy smoker, an asthmatic or a long distance runner - physical tasks become harder. However, if a substance is taken which improves oxygen absorption or retention, the individual can continue to perform at a more intense level for a longer period.

Obviously just taking a substance will not allow you to run a marathon or grasp calculus. The key to this is regular physical and mental exercise. What the substances may do is significantly help your progress as you exercise.

Smart drugs have been shown to improve performance in a variety of fields such as concentration, long and short term memory, problem solving ability, sexual performance and removal of depression amongst others. Many of the substances are particularly useful to those suffering age related mental decline, as well as those suffering from the side effects of drugs such as alcohol, tobacco and cocaine, all of which have very negative long term and some times short term side effects on mental processes as well as the physical side of the body.

Memory loss, personality distortion in the form of increased aggression, lock of reasoning ability, poor emotional control etc. are to be expected from the regular use of the above substances. If you wish to improve either your mental or physical health, try giving them up as this may be of as much benefit as taking smart drugs. Failing that, decide a strategy possibly using smart drugs to limit their adverse effects. Some of the above may appear to contradict your own experiences with these substances, but let me clear this up.

While nicotine may improve concentration and have some potential benefits in certain mental process, smoking cuts off oxygen to the brain and body tissues. If you wish to continue using nicotine either because you are addicted or are tempted to use the substance as a smart drug use either nicotine chewing gum, patches or non-inhaled products.

Most people have enough experience with alcohol to know that it can sometimes lead to great and profound flashes of inspiration, and generally make you think in ways that you would not otherwise imagine. However, thoughts such as "Oh wow, I've just realised the world is a giant teacup and all the people are grains of sugar floating in it's chaotic swirl" or "I think it is a good idea to drive my car into that lamppost" are more than likely to occur. Alcohol has a very bad effect on the body if used long term, even in relatively small amounts, and like tobacco it kills vitamins which are natural smarts. Like tobacco, if you don't want to limit it's use, find something to replace what you lose when you drink.

Cocaine, amphetamines and barbiturates have all been used to improve mental abilities and they do work briefly.

You pay later. Long term use is likely to turn you into a vegetable and will certainly result in loss of mental ability as well as generally destroying your body. In the US, "ICE", a cocktail of the above drugs was used by almost an entire year at one University. The academic scores for the first and second years or the course were the highest ever recorded, but the third year produced the lowest ever recorded scores. Judge for yourself.

Most smart drugs are legal (sort of). The naturally occurring ones such a vitamins, herbs, amino acid compounds etc are generally available at your local health food emporium, or considerably cheaper if you buy direct from the manufacturer.

Other smart drugs of the pharmaceutical variety are legal if you get your doctor to write you a prescription for them (not very likely unless you are a private patient, not so much because of the ethical or safety reasons but down to costs; still worth asking though). If the substance is approved for use in the UK then it is still legal to buy it from abroad for personal use. For more information read one of the books listed below.

Correctly used, smart drugs are largely side effect free, which may be in part due to the fact that they are almost all natural occurring substances, or chemically engineered versions/refinements of natural substances. While the fact that they are basically "natural" in no way means that they are harmless (there are many toxic natural substances after all), it does make the risk of the substance giving you cancer a hell of a lot less likely.

Of the few adverse reactions that are possible while taking smart drugs in a responsible way, the most serious are flushing of the skin, blocked nose, running nose, increased trips to the toilet, mild headaches, light heat flushes etc. If these symptoms occur, many will disappear with continued use. If you suffer from anything more serious or if symptoms persist, stop taking the drug and talk to a doctor.

Another possible side effect of smart drugs is life extension. Smart drugs seem to make you live longer. This is probably due to their anti-oxidant functions. The theory is that they clear your body of "Free Radicals" which are the nasty things which zap around your causing your DNA to crumble and thus making you age. If you get rid of these "Free Radicals" you don't age so fast. Some drugs may be able to increase your life-span by 40% (ie: as long as up to 170!) and in the process ensuring you don't get senile. The Chinese use Chi Kung for exactly the same purposes.

For Further Reading see

Smart Drugs and Nutrients by Ward Dean MD and John Margenthaler (BE Publications) ISBN 0-9627418-9.2

Life Extension : A Practical Scientific Approach by Dick Pearson and Sandy Shaw (Waner)

Mind Food and Smart Pills by R&T Pellen (Doubleday)

For more information on getting pharmaceuticals (cheaper than UK suppliers) write to: Inhome Health Services PO Box 3112/CH-2800, Delmont. Switzerland.

Thanks to Shain, Head & The Fluffy Bunny Tribe for some of the above info.

[The Author has also written for Newspapers and Magazines as well as getting involved in a new UFO and Strange Occurrences Magazine called Phenomena... Ed]

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