Sunday, November 13, 2011

Super Tea

Super Tea .
Andre Willers
14 Nov 2011

Synopsis :
Why did Tibetan refugees survive 5000 yrs ago ?
Yaks and Rhodiola rosea enabled short-term survival while ferocious natural selection altered the genome for high-altitude utilization .

Discussion :
Yaks ate Rhodiola's (see Appendix A) , root and branch .
Humans ate or drank yak milk after churning and/or heating .
The Rhodiola's chemicals end up in Tibetan Tea .
This would have an anti-anxiety effect .
Which is why Tibetans and presumably their cousins the Mongols are always described as cheerful in traveller's accounts . An essential to survival in tough times .

But there are other adaptogens . Look at the forbs and clovers .

This enabled a large enough percentage of the high-plateau refugees to survive long enough to have grandchildren . Since these were adaptogens , not stimulants , genome modifications had to be made via selection . And fairly rapidly .
Hence the record on the human genome history .

South America :
Here there was a different route to high-altitude usage .
Coca Mate . Google it .
The coca plant co-evolved with cultivation to make the higher areas habitable . There was not the same level of adaptation of the genome as found in Tibet . The coca plant was too good at it

The student of human historical trivia might note that Java was the greatest exporting nation of coca-leaves just prior to being outlawed in the mid-1800's .

The caffeine connection :
Tea , coffee , yerba , guarana .
The caffeine acts synergystically with the stimulants and adaptogens , amplifying their effects .

Super Tea :
Make Tibetan tea , but substitute coca-leaves for black tea .

This will certainly unify the two branches , but with very unpredictable results at the individual level .

At a broader level , Super Tea should reduce addiction quite considerably .
Adaptation to stimulants means that pathways to reduce most of the addictive “Aha” effects get established .

Yak butter , cow butter and ghee .
It matters what the beastie ate before making the milk .
Churning and heating seems to concentrate the chemicals involved .

If your milk beastie has munched on Rhodiola rosea , clovers , milkweed , belladonna , jimsons weed , etc , you might expect these effects in varying degrees .

I have no idea about goats , but suspect that it will vary with the breed .

Milking mountain goats is only for the fleet-footed .

Andre

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Appendix A

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodiola_rosea
“Rhodiola rosea may be effective for improving mood and alleviating depression. Pilot studies on human subjects[2][3][4] showed that it improves physical and mentalperformance, and may reduce fatigue. “
Similar to coca-leaves in South America .

“Rhodiola is included among a class of plant derivatives called adaptogens which differ from chemical stimulants, such as nicotine, and do not have the same physiologicaleffects. “

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