Marijuana As A Natural Alternative To Nootropics

Marijuana As A Natural Alternative To Nootropic

Why Cannabis is a Better Choice Than Nootropics from CannabisNet on Vimeo.

Brain-boosting drugs like Nootropic are quickly getting traction especially among corporate slaves, but can marijuana be an efficient natural alternative to these chemicals?

If you’ve been living under a rock, you might not have heard of Nootropic. It’s the latest craze among corporate slaves and junkies who need a little help surviving notorious hell weeks at work and office hours that (too often) stretch into the small hours.

Coffee? Not enough.
Cocaine? Illegal AND dangerous.

Red Bull? Dangerous.

But what’s in a Nootropic and why are so many people using it? A capsule of the company’s “Rise” pills contain bacopa monnieri, Rhodiola rosea, and α-GPC. Bacopa monnieri is an herb that helps improve brain performance. Rhodiola rosea is a plant containing compounds that have shown the ability to reduce fatigue and fight stress. α-GPC is a naturally-occuring choline compound that activates the rest and digest function of the brain. α-GPC has also been shown to increase dopamine and serotonin in rats.

While Nootropics is raking in profits, many people are still skeptical about taking anything, especially in pill form, even if it promises to alter your mind in a positive way. These so-called smart drugs and cognitive enhancers are designed to help brain fog, but since these are still fairly new on the market the side effects aren’t well-known yet.

But Google will tell you otherwise: a quick search on Rhodiola rosea side effects will show you that it causes agitation, anxiety, insomnia, and restlessness. On top of that, brain-boosting drugs more often than not make their way to the market without the approval of the FDA. Many times, they contain compounds that haven’t been tested yet and can cause side effects such as extreme sleepiness that causes people to crash for as long as 4 days. These effects are so commonplace that there’s even a Reddit forum dedicated to it.

Cannabis As A Brain Booster?

While people may have high hopes for these smart drugs, we can’t say that these are 100% safe yet. You never know what kind of chemical or powder lurks inside that pill.

Marijuana is a much safer alternative. It’s no secret that with the proper strain, you can get yourself to be a productive stoner. Pot is good for the brain in more ways than one. In fact, some of the world’s greatest thinkers are known avid fans of cannabis: the list includes William Shakespeare, Salvador Dali, and Carl Sagan. They were definitely onto something!

Smoking pot can help you fight stress better without the side effects of chemical cognitive enhancers. Aside from empirical evidence that we’ve all experienced while we’re high, science backs up these claims. A 2013 Israeli study showed that cannabis can protect the brain from the harmful effects of chronic stress. Specifically, the researchers found that the cannabinoids found in pot can protect the brain from memory impairments and learning problems which often result from undergoing too much stress. While it still remains unclear why exactly this happens, doctors continue to study how cannabinoid receptors affect the various helpful brain functions that we rely on to get work done. Another interesting point in the study was that THC improved the short-term memory of the rat compared to those who didn’t use marijuana. That should make you think again before you pop a pill the next time you’re having a long, stressful day at work.

Marijuana can also help you become more creative. In a 2011 study, researchers pointed out that the effects of pot on creativity is still largely unexplored and doctors still aren’t sure about the connection between creativity and marijuana. However they do state that using pot can lead to psychotomimetic symptoms which may help you connect concepts that you previously thought were unrelated. Psychotomimetic symptoms is a part of divergent thinking which forms the foundations of creative thinking. Thus we can say that an altered state of mind can help you “think outside the box”, so that you can break free from ordinary thinking patterns in order to produce more original, witty, and masterful ideas.

The improved productivity people experience while stoned can be traced to the dopamine levels in the brain. While dopamine is usually associated with rewards or pleasure, higher levels of dopamine in the brain lead to the feeling of wanting to get more things done because it also acts as the motivator of the brain.Cannabis use stimulates the release of dopamine levels, which is also responsible for the euphoric feelings you get while you’re high. There you have it - no need to take smart drugs to perform better at work. All you need is a toke!

Fighting The Stigma

Sadly, stoners still suffer from being stereotyped as lazy couch potatoes. Productive isn’t exactly a word that is associated with someone who uses marijuana. But the truth is that there is no compound in pot that has been proven to make people lack ambition. It’s all about finding the right strain, one that’s sativa-dominant, if you want to boost your productivity and energy. An indica-dominant strain won’t necessarily make you lose sight of your goals - it will just relax you and can help you sleep better.

Marijuana As A Natural Alternative To Nootropic Drugs? (VIDEO)