Hey all. About a year ago I tried 98% MP. Didn't do as much as I'd hoped and sometimes felt a bit nauseous. Moved onto the 'whocantell the %' stuff from India and it worked reasonably well. Not as good as a LC pill but definitely some result. The latter is clay like in colour and taste and the former is pure white.
Anyway, three days ago I took a tablespoon of the brown one (my usual dose) but added a 1/4 teaspoon of the 98% white-stuff which I get from Blackburn Distribution in the UK. This mixture is extraordinary. I take it mixed together, feel absolutely normal for about 6 hours. The difference is amazing. Now for the darker side! Why is the stuff from India always brownish and why is this 98% white? Where does this white one come from? Is there such a thing as chemically created Mucuna? Is it as safe as the herb from India?
I will ring Blackburn tomorrow and ask them where it's made etc. I suppose I'm wondering if the effects of this brew are too good to be true and that there's a catch somewhere. White powder strikes me as being a chemical irrespective of it being called Mucuna. Your observations welcomed. Thanks gang.
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jeeves19
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So, you're taking a tablespoon of pure velvet bean powder {mucuna puriens which is grayish because it's ground down bean ), and adding 1/4 tsp of pure extract ?
I found a site healthjade.com/mucunapruriens, that is the most thorough I've seen. Apparently the mucuna plant goes through many soaks, washings, and rinses to get the l-dopa extracted...i think it goes through a wash with sodium bicarbonate too. That may acct for its whiteness. I think the better companies are a safe bet.
I also read there are different color velvet beans, white is one.
Hi Jeeves, my husband has the same effect when he takes one Barlowes 40% capsule with 1/8 tsp Nutrivita. I think the 'pure' white l dopa, whatever brand people use is white as the other particles of the bean have been removed, hopefully by a fine filtering/separating process and not chemicals. My gut tells me (and after lots of reading) that due to the many other benefits of the whole bean, along with its other components besides l dopa, that if one only takes the 'pure' powder then some of those benefits will be missed. And maybe the pure powder is better absorbed when taken with some of the 'brown stuff' as it is suggested the whole bean does not necessarily need a carbidopa alternative, which we have found to be true.
I once used a highly concentrated form of EGCG which is considered one active component of green tea. I think the name of the product was Teavigo and it came in capsules that were filled with white powder. Because it was an experiment, I took some of the white powder from some capsules and added it to a white lotion to try it as a topical application on the skin. To my surprise, when I added the white powder to the white lotion and blended it, the lotion turned a shade of darker brown!
I didn't end up using the mix because it stained everything it came in contact with when I first applied it and that is where that experiment ended. I have since tried it with weaker EGCG mixes, but they too tend to stain, making them not too practical for topical applications.
Easilly, how wonderful it would be if we had a transdermal levodopa so we wouldn't need to bombard our digestive system! Some time ago, I posted in another thread that I had taken bio-identical hormones for several years in a transdermal gel (made by a compounding pharmacist). Twice a day, I would draw out of the bottle a set amount in a syringe (minus the needle) and then apply it to my skin. Follow-up tests always showed that the gel was balancing my hormones nicely. It was so simple.
Please, keep on experimenting (but make sure you do it safely)!
Thanks, malayappan. It seems to be an inhaled levodopa which would bypass the digestive system. However, from what the article said, I gathered that it isn't to replace regular levodopa, but just be supplemental to get a person through the off period until they could take the next dose of regular levodopa. Thanks for posting this. It sounds like you stay up to date on what's new.
Note: I managed to find a chemical breakdown of the white powder on Blackburn’s site. Rather bizarrely and IMHO somewhat uneccessary the product includes arsenic and ‘heavy metals’. Bit odd! Let’s hope these are in minute amounts, but for what purpose could these serve?
I've read that heavy metals are naturally occurring in our soil, and certain crops absorb more than others. It is pretty high in bone broth, and chocolate too. Labdoor.com tests for it.
Half pint of water in blender then add tablespoon of conventional MP (not 98%) then add 1/4 teaspoon of the 98%. Blend away then pretend it doesn’t taste awful and drink it down. Empty stomach and don’t eat for half an hour.
If you replace the water with caffeinated coffee or quality green tea it might help the l-dopa to cross the blood brain barrier? Over the last two and half years i have mixed with water, green tea and coffee but i circled back to black coffee because it seems to be the most effective for me...
i guess you can sweeten up the coffee because there is nothing tasty about black coffee mucuna and no sugar!!! I wouldn't mind trying the brown stuff its the heavy metal thing that alarms me especially because we take so much of it!
Hi jeeves19, I’ve been taking mucuna whole powder 4-7% l-dopa for 18 months now. I have had one batch from my UK supplier that had no effect at all and I was refunded in full right away. Otherwise it’s been working reasonably well but I do take half a Sinemet with each dose of MP.
I’m only guessing here as I’ve had no experience using it: the 98% white powder you mentioned may be almost pure l-dopa extracted from natural mucuna, though IMHO there is very little natural about such a highly concentrated l-dopa product. If you weigh the amount of the white powder that you are taking, you might find that you are taking quite a high dose of l-dopa which would explain why you feel such a difference when taking it together with the brown powder.
I have only used the mucuna powder from this source. Strength may vary a little with each order but it’s easy to feel the difference in yourself immediately and then adjust the dose. I take 1 tsp plus 1/2 Sinemet.
The white will have just been purified more. Like sugar cane juice you get molasses, golden syrup, treacle, brown sugar, white sugar. You have got the white sugar equivalent ie 98% pure, and the other is a bit more like brown sugar. The brown stuff is the same as the white plus impurities which are just other natural components from the bean. So by mixing them you have a stronger dose of levodopa, plus a dose of the other compounds which are the beans natural equalalent to the carbidopa. Sounds like a good idea!
But we take MP to hopefully offset dyskinesia. I guess I’m slightly wary that this 98% might be as damaging as Sinemet in the longer term? Who can say.
It doesn’t have the carbidopa in it though, and it is the carbidopa that causes the problems with sinemet. Instead the brown compounds serve the same purpose as the carbidopa but are a range of natural compounds that come in the bean! Carbidopa destroys your b6 that is needed for many enzymes processes.
Jeeves, I have a problem with this theory that the darker, browner colors come from the non-levodopa parts of the mucuna bean and the white part is the pure L-Dopa itself. I use 40% L-Dopa powder--much less purified than your 98% powder-- but guess what, it is still completely white, with no hint of yellow or brown or grey hues at all. What this tells me, is that the pure L-Dopa is indeed white, but so are most of the non l-Dopa compounds included in Mucuna.
I’ve done some research and found out that there are brown Mucuna beans and white ones too! I can only presume that this fact might go some way in shedding light on the discussion?
Can you send us the link of the one you get? I would like to get it. How do you know which dosage you are supposed to take? And why do you take it with coffee? Many thanks 🙏
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too. Labdoor.com tests for it.
Mucuna
99% ldopa products are not really 'mucuna'
