I have been looking into herbs and supplements for more of an energy boost in my daily life. I've noticed energy decreasing, physically and mentally, due to late nights, irregular diet and constant travelling. Traveling is burning me out and I don't think it should be. I've looked into Spirulina, ginseng, maca, Astragalus and the recently posted Celastrus Paniculatus.

Does anyone have certain supplements they use in order to increase energy and focus? Have you had experiences with the herbs I mentioned? What doses and method of intake works best for you?

In terms of boosting energy, i would look to optimizing my bodies nutritional state, and then looking to frequent intense exercise to maintain "all systems go!". Really, exercise is probably the best supplemsnt ever against depression, stress, insomnia, and low energy!

--I would use high potency B complex, vitamin C, and multimineral-multivitamin supplement to optimise the body prior to exercise.

Optimal nutrition is part of it. Often the RDA for various vitamins & minerals is wrong. Sometimes laughably low (as in Vitamin D)... other times unattainably high (like with Potassium).

You need to play with the various vitamins and supplements over time and pay attention to how you feel. Everyone's biochemistry and current nutritional profile is different, so one person's experience with something can vary wildly with anothers. Even at different stages of one's own life, certain supplements might become more or less beneficial.

I have experience with all the ones you mentioned, and they are all very worthy additions to any traveler's regimine. Quality, purity, potency can vary from brand to brand... batch to batch. Bulk powdered stuff from a reputable vendor is usually the cheapest and most effective way to go. Though, if you are travelling, ordering a Kilo of each herb might be seriously impractical.

Maca is probably the most noticeably tonifying and energy boosting one on your list... physically anyway. Concentrated Resveratrol is a very good antioxidant for removing stress related metabolites. Mixed tocopherol vitamin E with plenty of Gamas is generally good for internal and external wear and tear as well. Chinese tonics like Ho Shu Wu are quite effective. Keep the body a bit alkaline with things like green tea. Stretch. Sleep. Breathe.

I could give you lists of herbs you might benefit from, but it can be endless. I would do some research guided by your intuition, and play with the herbs you are drawn to. Best to start slowly. Alergy test first with micro amounts. Build up slowly and pay attention.

Be well.

Supplements:
Vitamin D (If I could recommend one supplement it would be this. My colds have reduced to maybe one a year and I'm much moar "sunproof" than before)
Magnesium (Sleep and muscle relaxation related)
Vitamin K2 (people see great effects on their skin)
Omega 3 (depending on your food intake of both Omega 3 and 6).

If anyone wishes I can recommend specific products, dosages and suppliers for the mentioned products.

I would like to say that I totally agree with Hyperspace Fool about optimal nutrition being key. Supplements are more or less (Vit D and magnesium should be mandatory though) cherries on the top.

The following video is about fitness supplements but it's still a good see since it reminds us about things we should be aware about this topic.

regardless of herbs, if you feel decrease in energy

watch your aminoacid intake

vegetarians often have a deficiency with some of them

try glutamine and see how you feel

also good to keep an eye on tryptophan. Eggs, fish, chicken, bananas. Bananas also contain lots of magnesium


let a lab check your blood for nutritional deficiency, iron plays a big role in energy too

there are cheap natural syrups for bioavailable iron (e.g. german floradix)


ginseng is a quite powerful ssri, too powerful for some. Gives me a hardon and a headache most of the day.

regarding focus increase piracetam with choline! supplement works very well for me. I use it before important meetings and/or presentations.

drink more

Ginseng really works, but yeah at first it may make you outrageaously horny, almost debilitatingly so.

^^ I find Maca to be worse than Ginseng when it comes to the viagra type side effects...

@ Elicius, To add a few more ideas to your list:

Cold pressed flax or hempseed oil can be an awesome supplement. Omega 3s with a super amino acid profile.

Bee pollen is amazing. Wheat grass juice rocks, as well.

I have found that 2-3 tablespoons of coconut oil is a pretty serious jolt of all day energy. Look around on the net and you will find out more about it.

Peace

Flaxseed oil Omega3 content is mostly ALA while all the benefits comes mostly from DHA/EPA forms. The body can't convert ALA to DHA/EPA very efficiently (link).

As for hempseed, Omega6 content is quite high and if one is looking to achieve a "beneficial" Omega3/Omega6 ratio, additional Omega6 aren't needed in my opinion since they are practically in everything therefore adding more would only skew the ratio further.



2 bananas, 225g, 1 cup contain only 60.8 mg of magnesium, which is 15% of the RDA (link) so I still think supplementation is needed in this case.

Good program for tracking your nutrition - CRON-O-METER (link)

Ginseng, SSRI?

@ Shaolin

I think you are oversimplifying the whole Omega oils issue. All the benefit certainly does NOT come from DHA or EPA. GLA (found in evening primrose & hempseed) is actually an Omega 6 that might be more anti-inflammatory than the Omega 3s. This potentially goes counter to your statement about Omega 6s being not needed.

Actually, I think the grouping of these acids into the Omega categories is somewhat misleading. ALA, DHA, EPA, GLA, LA, LNA, AA etc. etc. are all quite different from each other. As you have said, DHA is a superior Omega3 to ALA. It isn't just the 3 to 6 ratio that is important, or even throwing the Omega 9s in there.

1st off, it depends on the amounts of each fatty acid, and what you want them to do. The anti ALA research is primarily due to some reports of Prostate inflamation and cancer. It may also promote cataracts. But none of this is certain. The known benefits of ALA rich oils, on the other hand, are heart disease, hormone balancing, brain tissue repleneshing, immune boosting, and maybe the biggest one of all... forming the oil barrier that protects every cell in the body. The layer of Omega 3s that keeps the intra cellular water isolated is essential, and when it goes away, the cells die. Water inside of our cells is structured, and kept at a very specific PH.

Anyway, I feel where you are coming from as it does seem DHA might be the best of the Omegas. Unfortunately, it mostly only comes from fish... who might also be poisoned with heavy metals. There are vegan sources of DHA and EPA from algaes and seaweeds, but to get supplements that give you large amounts of the stuff, you have to drop some coin.

I think it is notoriously hard to study essential fatty acids in any comprehensive way. The way they are processed varies drastically from person to person. Women (especially young women) can convert ALA to DHA & EPA rather well. 2.5x as well as men. Women also don't have to worry about prostate inflammation. This higher conversion rate is likely due to estrogen. Of course, high levels of estrogen have their own health concerns. Studies rarely account for other synergistic elements of the diet and biochemistry. It is possible that some negative effects shown by large consumption of a certain supplement in a vacuum might be offset or eliminated by another dietary modification or supplement.

Studying only Vitamin D (a pro-hormone actually, not a vitamin), Calcium, and Magnesium seperate from each other is somewhat pointless as they all interact with each other, for example. The RDA for D is only enough to prevent rickets. The human body can use a ridiculous amount of D, and store it for later in the liver. Thus, supplementing with 10-40,000 i.u. can be very beneficial even though the USRDA is only 400iu and people often state that the tolerable upper level per day is like 4000iu. It is said that laying naked in direct sun w/o sunscreen for an hour can produce 40,000iu, so the RDA must certainly be wrong.

Part of the problem is that people only talk about daily usage. I find that taking anything everyday is a rather poor idea. I like to take a healthy dose of D and then not take it for a few days to let my body use it up a bit. I like to take some supplements for a few days, and then lay off for a bit to see the difference. I would say that a spoon of cold pressed hempseed oil a day is a good idea for most people, but maybe some days more and some days not at all.

It is vital that people pay attention to their own bodies. Do not make the mistake of following some formulas or studies blindly. Simply following a regemine and swallowing a bunch of pills everyday without checking in on how you actually feel is like drinking milk based only on the expiration date, and not smelling it. It could be in date and still be spoiled rotten, and it could be way out of date and still edible. Listen to your body. If you pay attention, you will know how well you are responding to something you are ingesting... and when it is time to take a break.

I found Sam-E to be very interesting. I haven't tried it yet, but shipment is underway. The supplement itself is slghtly expensive 0,80 €/1 dose.

I have high expectations.

I totally agree with you. Grouping, whether it's subclass of fatty acids or macronutients is usually very misleading. I've reread my post and I admit I've made that mistake there.

I have oversimplified the issue because I feel that this was aimed at a beginner who usually believe that taking flaxseed is equivalent to taking/to benefits of fish oil. There are Omega6 fatty acids that are quite beneficial (I have actually taken GLA but didn't remember) and others who in excess might promote inflammation (LA). I am totally OK with your daily spoon recommendation.

As for heavy metals I would say, depends of "where ya at". Should people who eat "poor" worry about heavy metals in fish oil ? Not in my opinion (I'm leaving the door open for some super toxic chemical that appear from a low reputable chinese producer but the point is this are itsy bitsy things compared to the whole picture). As an interesting note, Kresser (link) talks about selenium in fish being protective on some effects of mercury.

Can you link me about the 40K VitD ? I've only heard numbers around 10K (~15min, depending on your location and season) and while I think sun fear is exaggerated, 60 minutes of midday sun sounds too much. And yeah you can use D with once per week megadoses but excess magnesium will be peed out so that strategy isn't universal. Blindly loading on the other hand of course isn't optimal.

RDA is a funny thing. I've read that it was invented to prevent soldier from dying of malnutrition. Can't find any sources about RDA pre 1945 but if it's true, check the words. prevention from dying of malnutrition vs. optimal nutrition. Long way in my opinion Plus bioavailability, mineral blockers, etc.

As for your body, I don't know. I remember when I CRAVED bread, ate it four times a day and was tired all the time. I then FORCED myself to stop eating it. My energy returned and was better than before. I think a lot of food choices are a mixture of desire and (mild) addiction so an obese invidual listening to his body might hear "donuts, donuts all day long". I realize you were talking about supplements and attention which is more rational in my opinion but I still think that the phrase is overused and not of much value and could be more or less replaced with data and daily checks (log/diary of usage, description of physical changes, mood changes, etc). When I feel I want a banana do that really imply that I'm deficient of any nutrient* in it or do I just like the feeling x (maybe French novelist smell nostalgia of grandmas banana tree), which I get when eating it ?

*I've read a study about babies picking their own food and more or less they nailed they RDA all by themselves. Babies being key.

^ We're on the same page. Forums force people to be more concise (and thus generalized) than might be appropriate for a true intellectual discuasion of an issue. Plus, we are all going square eyed from reading on backlit monitors as it is... wading through multi-page essays or dissertations can be a pain.

Sunlight giving 10k iu's of Vit D in 15 minutes is the same as saying 40k in 60 min. There might be a saturation point where the body stops converting UVB's into D... but it would be quite a bit higher than 40k. Plenty of studies have documented sunlight to D conversion. Dr. Mercola is often quoted, but I can not vouche for his research. I DO happen to know a scientist who is at the forefront of vitamin D research and is one of the louder voices pushing for raising the RDA. She takes her 40k once a week, and every day if she feels sick.

On "listening to your body":

Unconscious people can not just drop wholesale into body awareness. Listening to your body takes practice and a keen attention to detail. Logs help, but you DO develop an uncanny sense about substances after a while. Some people can simply hold something in their hand and know on a sub-cellular level if they should consume it. Many people do muscle testing. Hardcore science types tend to laugh, but I've seen it work. Hold something in your hand and ask yourself "Is this beneficial for me at this time, in this amount?" Then do a simple muscle test and you might be very surprised at how well it works.

Indigenous shamanic people often use one entheogen to ascertain the uses of other plants they encounter. This can be an amazing tool as well. I can't imagine how people living in the Amazon, surrounded by a quarter of a million unknown species of plant could zero in on the handfull of them that make ayahuasca... and figure out the whole MAOI effect as necessary to potentiate the DMT. If a shaman informed me that this info was passed along by the entities they met using simpler hallucinogens, I would not doubt it.

I guess I am going off topic now. Perhaps I will continue this train of thought on a more relevant thread.

What do you guys think about the chinese Herb Jiaogulan? Any advice`?

Be careful with the Sam-e. A few years back an acquaintance told me about it's good feeling effects. At the dosage he stated 2-3 times the daily rec dosage on package..... I had stomach cramps all evening. Granted, I did not repeat the experiment so it may not be the same for you, but, you have been warned.

Wow thank you for all the responses! I must go through these right now.

Thanks I was looking into the powdered stuff more so I can cap them and take them with me. iamshaman seems to be a good vendor for maca and the local health food store will most likely have the vitamins you mentioned. I'll look into these to start out with.

I have noticed bananas help keep you going, I try to eat one atleast once a day.

Also, @ Shaolin and HF - Vitamin D from the sun is very interesting! I always thought it was more of a psychological boost in energy plus physical energy but this makes a lot of sense.

For a good night sleep and healthy sleep patterns, using melatonin, valerian and chamomile separately or in combination helps me a great deal.
Another good one is kava kava.
It helps the mood.

Not to forget that melatonin is another tryptamine :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin

Agreed. Personally, I eat my babies with food, as it makes them more bio-available. Little F'ers are hard to digest sometimes.



Sorry, I'm in a weird mood.

SO...I started taking a high-quality, full spectrum fish oil from a reputable source (New Chapter's Wholemega). I Also started taking a full spectrum, whole foods-based multivitamin from Megafood. My depression definitely seems to be getting better (recovering from THC and Oxycontin addiction). I have more energy, I feel happier. It's amazing how good you feel when you load your body with high bio-available nutrients after years of poor nutrition! I posted about the multi in this thread:

https://www.dmt-nexus.me...aspx?g=posts&t=27137

For anyone considering taking a multiple, please do yourself a favor and avoid cheap, synthetic-based multivitamins and instead take a whole foods-based vitamin supplement. They are actually organic food concentrates that include the plant-based enzymes and phytonutrients to aid in absorption and digestion. It just seems too impractical to try to eat a variety of organic raw fruits and veggies everyday so this is a better option. (another would be to juice your fruits/veggies)

Another supplement I just discovered is called "Natural Calm" and is a highly bio-available magnesium supplement. It's a powder blend of citric acid and magnesium carbonate which, in combination with water, creates ionic magnesium citrate. It makes a tasty fizzing drink. I drink it during the day if I feel sore or stressed and it relaxes my muscles and calms me down.

If I take it before bedtime it does the same, only it seems to give me really vivid, fun, adventure-type dreams for some reason. Last night I took it and dreamed I was being pulled through this underground swimming pool at high speed, with amazing surreal music playing the whole time! I could feel the crystal clear water streaming around my body- it was an incredible sensation and experience! I woke up feeling happy- almost euphoric, and well rested. I've read reports of other people getting vivid dreams from taking magnesium supplements before going to sleep too. Crazy.

The last one I'll mention is a supplement called Aniracetam, a fat-soluble, more potent cousin of piracetam that is a nootropic supposed to boost memory, concentration, and left/right brain hemisphere communication. (It's recommended to take with Choline). Unique to the racetams, this one is an anxiolytic. I haven't started taking it yet though, as I'm waiting to get off the methadone I'm taking since the two don't combine well.