Feel free to be loose with your definitions. “Not usually considered a drug” is fine to qualify as “non-drug”, for instance. I’m not really thinking so much of “foods”, though, but maybe “food ingredients” and substances found in food ingredients are fine, especially if they’re quasi-drug-like or if you’d get a lot of the same benefits/enjoyment from it consuming it straight rather than in food.
Also ITT, tell other users why their substances actually are drugs actually.
Mine:
- Chamomile - good for my mood and gives me vivid dreams.
- Capsaicin - I and Wilbur Scoville are well acquainted.
- Cacao - I don’t really do cacao any more because I’ve quit caffeine, but I include it here because I still miss sucking on unsweetend baker’s chocolate daily.
insomnia. after the second or third day of no sleep you start seeing some really wild shit.
That used to be my drug of choice
Sugar. That shit is like meth.
Saffron: either a few strands in hot water as a tea, or the much more affordable saffron extract tablets; gives a mildly speedy/stimulant effect, genuinely interesting.
Valerian root extract: smells like feet, knocks you off of your feet.
Licorice root: sugar free sweetener that increases your BP in larger amounts, I literally use a stick of it to stir my tea, the sweetness is felt at the back of the mouth and typically comes on as an aftertaste, doesn’t have a strong anise flavour.
Kanna: a small plant from South Africa that an extract of will give entactogen effects (reminiscent of MDMA, but with a much lower ceiling)
Syrian Rue Seeds: seeds which contain harmala alkaloids, the thing that changes DMT into a 3-hour experience in Ayahuasca. The seeds are traditionally used as an incense in Persian/middle eastern cultures.
Ginger: it has 3 different properties if left fresh, dried or cooked. The main spicy component of fresh ginger becomes more pungent if left to dehydrate (dried ginger), or becomes sweeter if cooked/baked from fresh (the molecule literally ends up closer to vanillin, the main flavour of vanilla)
Nutmeg: consumed in a large quantity raw, will causes stoning and mild anticholinergic effects.
Cloves and clove oil will block out a tooth ache.
Poppy seeds have a very small amount of morphine naturally on them, you can make a painkilling tea from them, but I wouldn’t recommend doing this, and would suggest if ever attempted to titrate up slowly.
You can just buy straight linalool terpenes now (the smelly stuff in lavender attributed to sleep).
I drop a couple drops on a stuffed animal or small pillow in bed and it’s like knockout wonder.
Tulsi (Holy Basil): Has just enough anti-anxiety properties to quiet the inner voice that keeps me up at night.
Sugar is great for when I’m sleepy in the afternoon (good strong black licorice is a good complimentary to that, since it seems to keep my blood sugar from dropping in the first place)
400 mg of l-theanine. Aka two pills. If I don’t take any for a while I start with one otherwise it feels like like a extremely mild stimulant.
Just regulates my mood, and gives me focus in the day. Smooths out caffine too makes me feel less wired, and makes me more awake/cognitive awareness. For the mood part i would compare it to eating a 5mg edible where you don’t feel high but are more smiley and giggly.
It helped with anxiety and I rebound better off poor sleep.
And for those that don’t know its found in green tea or matcha which is originally how I learned about it. I bought matcha powder and noticed it made me feel almost “stoned” or just a weird uplifed mood in the mornings, then just started buying l-theanine. Mornings are supposed to be depressing and a struggle even with coffee so I knew something was wrong.
Damn I wish L-theanine did something for me. I thought it was a scam because it does absolutely nothing at all for my mood or anxiety. Shame, because it’s supposed to work well for ADHD when combined with caffeine…
(FWIW a 5mg edible would do nothing for me either. I guess I just have a naturally high tolerance to everything.)
I get a crick in my neck on occasion and will take valerion by the handful until it goes away. I get a little light headed afterwards.
Music. It’s mind-altering and mood-altering.
Cheese. One of its ingredients, casein, can trigger opioid receptors.
I love that erowid is still alive and kicking.
I’d have died in my 20s without it. Like, literally.
English Mustard. A nice thick layer of it, as in, thick enough that you question the structural integrity of the result, and everyone else questions your sanity, in a cheese (other fillings are available) sandwich will light your day up. The heat is different to capsaicin, you feel it more in your nose and sinuses, but it has a similar effect. You get a mild, giddy, flying feeling for a moment, then settle down into a haze of sensation. The endorphin (I assume it’s endorphins anyway) release feels great, all my muscles relax, and it’s a pretty good painkiller too.
sold! that’s the calm I’m up for
Seconded. I like to slather steaks in english mustard. My partner and kids think I’m insane.
Another annual tradition for me is leftover Christmas ham, in white bread, with loads of english mustard, while sitting on my ass watching the cricket.
Giving my pets scritches.
Or when my cat gives me headbutts.
Yes sameee
meditation and early hypnangogic sleep stages, just watching my brain do weird brain shit. sometimes I get this insane, intense sensation of being/observing something formless and simultaneously infinitely large and infinitely small. like my location/place neurons doing some kind of existentially overwhelming hardware stress test lol
Starch.
Specifically, potato.
More specifically, fried somehow.Ginger and Valerian (interestingly Valerian is the component of most bedtime teas that’s associated with vivid dreams. You might actually be reacting to that, check the ingredient list on your tea or supplement).
Have you got anything against vivid dreams?
I want complete darkness until my alarm goes off.
Now it is the 2AM “Weeeeee! I lost my pacifier” and the 5AM “Daddy can I sleep in your bed”…Nothing OTC or supplement
Good call, but the chamomile I do is just bulk “Egyptian chamomile”. Not any kind of a “sleepy-time tea” or anything like that.
In the past I’ve done Celestial Seasonings Sleeptytime Vanilla. Love the taste. It doesn’t have any Valerian either, though.
I have done Cup of Calm by Traditional Medicinals which is a mix (it doesn’t have any Valerian, though) but it’s honestly a little stronger than I’d like. It’d be fine on a once-in-a-while basis, but I wouldn’t want to do it daily.
I honestly don’t know that I’ve ever consumed Valerian now that you mention it. 🤔 Maybe I’ll try some sometime.
Sleepytime extra does (it’s the extra).
