Callistemon (Bottlebrush) tea as gentle Native stimulant, pro-cognitive tea?

[Alchemica]

In adventures living more off the land, today trying Callistemon as a natural energy drink. Anyone tried this one?

 

"Indigenous people of Australia used the bottle brush flowers as a natural energy drink, ingeniously taking full advantage of their natural surroundings. Soaking the flowers in water essentially drinking all the natural goodness."

 

Flowers and leaves can be used for tea; leaves can be used to flavour sauces.

 

"Some people say all of the Callistemon species can be used the same way - You can use either the Callistemon citrinus leaves or blossoms to make a tea or use the leaves to make a tea and use the blossom to sweeten the tea."

http://www.eattheweeds.com/bottlebrush-tree/

 

The plant has good antioxidant activities, total phenolic and flavonoid contents

 

These Myrtaceae tend to contain 1,8-cineole and α-pinene in the essential oils, of relevance to medicine. 1,8-cineole may function as a memory enhancing NMDA/AChE active molecule (also acting at TRPA1 and TRPV1 channels). 1,8-Cineole, a major constituent, was effective in decreasing anxiety and plasma 1,8-cineole correlates with cognitive performance following exposure to essential oils... It displays NMDAR activity, 1,8-cineole was found to be similar to memantine, 1,8-cineole is a good candidate for NMDA antagonism, with a weaker AChE inhibitory effect.

 

 α-pinene has diverse applications, from anti-inflammatory, to memory enhancing, to being anxiolytic. Leaf essential oil exhibited high antioxidant activity

 

I like the Callistemon as a tea. The flower is a pleasant softer brew. The leaf particularly seems 'sharply pro-cognitively uplifting'. If you like healing teas like rosemary etc you may like it

 

The flowers brewed as a tea have a refreshing flavour, pleasant, be nicer as iced tea I think.

 

The leaves quite a bit more essential oil laden, still pleasant but reasonably flavoursome and seemingly more active.

 

1,8-Cineole is a small lipophilic molecule that easily passes across the blood-brain barrier and may show effects at the neuronal level by acting on receptor sites and enzyme activity. This compound showed stimulant activity in mice, significantly increasing ambulatory activity and reflecting a reduced level of anxiety. Furthermore, 1,8-cineole was reported to inhibit the activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), a nervous system enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine to transmit nerve impulses.

 

The α-pinene is a nice additional addition, so too the flavonoids/phenolics.

Edited March 6, 2018 by Alchemica

[Cubism]

Hi mate,

So I must admit I know nothing about 1,8-cineole, in fact I have never heard of it before (like most things ;) )

But....if it is an NMDAR antagonist then it acts similar to PCP and Ketamine which are both used as models of schizophrenia. Do you know if it is a competitive or non-competitive antagonist??? And you wrote it also inhibits AChE? So it does what sarin nerve gas does too?  Obviously it probably isn't as strong as sarin though but still....

Just be careful with what you ingest man....that's really all I'm getting at.

 

Take care buddy!

[Alchemica]

It's the same compound in many essential oils, including rosemary. This compound is quite effective via inhalation, as mentioned, anxiolytic, pro-cognitive.  Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDA) ligands are used in treating cognitive decline such as Alzheimer's, too. Irreversible AChE inhibition is sometimes problematic as you mention. Particularly things like memantine ie uncompetitive NMDAR antagonists with paradoxically cognition enhancing, even antipsychotic-augmenting effects, find use in medicine.

 

That said, it's one you don't want to dose too high on.

Edited March 6, 2018 by Alchemica

[TheMooseZeus]

Great report! I have to try it some day, it grows everywhere here

[Siggor]

You need to collate your knowledge into a book, I am sure there would be plenty of people to fork out for it. Or people would chip in to get something like that to be published.

[TheMooseZeus]

Just now, Siggor said:

You need to collate your knowledge into a book, I am sure there would be plenty of people to fork out for it. Or people would chip in to get something like that to be published.

Absolutely, Its incredibly valuable and powerful. Would read  

[Alchemica]

29 minutes ago, Siggor said:

You need to collate your knowledge into a book, I am sure there would be plenty of people to fork out for it. Or people would chip in to get something like that to be published.

 

Thanks, one day that would be nice, I keep doing little write ups for the moment, I still struggle quite a bit with my head, each day is just trying, so these kind of cognitive tasks help me a little bit. Nice to be able to do little bits and pieces that others find of interest.

[Tøn]

Keep collecting what you've written, the way you present these posts could easily be published as a collection of short essays I'd support it!

[Alchemica]

I'm still interested in Callistemon tea but starting to think I can get similar effects with Spanish Sage essential oil, although I like thing of using the whole plant and it being a native.

 

I use this Spanish Sage one a bit, when I need a non caffeine boost. Anyone else tried this one? Probably worth using it more frequently, my caffeine intake needs to drop again, so too my nicotine gum, I kind of got a liking for Matcha and stress pushes up my cholinergic needs.

 

The essential oil was a potent inhibitor of human acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and consisted almost exclusively of monoterpenoids. Spanish sage oil is characterized by the preponderance of 1,8-cineole and camphor, whereas thujyl ketones are detected in negligible amounts. It also contains appreciable α-pinene. The monoterpenes 1,8-cineole and α-pinene identified in S. lavandulifolia essential oil act as regulators of cellular redox balance including in astrocytes, S. lavandulifolia essential oils may have therapeutic value for the prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases associated with oxidative stress-induced neuronal injury. Part of this can be attributed to the NMDA antagonist/AChE inhibitory activity of the 1,8-cineole and anti-inflammatory, AChE and GABAA activity of α-pinene

 

"Oral consumption (50 µL, 1 drop) lead to improved performance of secondary memory and attention tasks, most notably at the 1-h post-dose testing session, and reduced mental fatigue and increased alertness which were more pronounced 4-h post-dose. These results extend previous observations of improved cognitive performance and mood following AChE inhibitory sage extracts " [1]

Edited March 13, 2018 by Alchemica