Simple health
To get started this is not the green people generally aspire for mental calmness especially to tap the creative centres. But boy, would it help if a cup of tea could help you get there.
During the pandemic, two things got highlighted apart from the ephemeral rise of cryptocurrency, the need for a healthy lifestyle and the importance of psychoactive substances. Interesting how both aim to create a balance between those who can be awake and opt for a slightly difficult action and the ones who can take a puff and feel the earth moving. Cortisol (stress hormone), dopamine (rewarding hormone), endorphins (pain-relieving hormone), insulin (metabolism hormone), and catecholamines (adrenaline and noradrenaline) are mainly influenced by regular consumption of alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette smoking.
Stress which you feel before any major event in your life, could be as simple as the one you feel right before taking a small test directly increases the amount of cortisol levels in your body. Further, persistently high level of cortisol influences blood sugar (via insulin), inflammation, and memory. Taking a sutta (smoke) break seems like an appropriate solution or a ‘trip’ if you have time but on the contrary they increase cortisol levels. You may wonder with Google’s justification of nicotine providing an immediate feeling of relaxation or stress relief but how is nicotine contributing? Well, the answer is simple by telling
‘All izz well’
but this time to your brain with the release of dopamine creating a temporary sense of pleasure or relaxation.
Similarly, THC in marijuana can initially increase dopamine levels contributing to the medicinal plant’s pleasurable effect. However, you might have heard the phrase “Stuff is not good, bro!”, the reason behind this is the blunted dopamine response due to continuous consumption and not the blunt. Otherwise, you’ve got a shitty dealer or have been scoring from Subhash Nagar in Delhi.
Whereas alcohol is altogether a different story when compared to the effects of cannabinoids, well, not really! Let’s see how. Alcohol elevates the levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline contributing towards increased heart rate and heightened alertness with a definite clouding of judgment. We all know how many rational decisions we have made under the influence of alcohol except for a few really great trips. Interestingly marijuana can also cause a transient increase in the level of adrenaline and noradrenaline due to its effect on the sympathetic nervous system (for science geeks). It is basically the ‘fight or flight’ response of a nervous system in stressful situations, creating changes in the body that mimic the response to stress or excitement.
I don’t make a very compelling case to make you have a cup of green tea but let me try! Dopamine, cortisol, and endorphins play an important role in regulating mood, pleasure, and pain perception as discussed. The functioning of these hormones is also influenced by oxidative stress in your body, which is the imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants. Imagine free radicals as “Munna Tripathi” (Mirzapur) the unstable troublemakers causing damage to your cells, DNA, and tissues. Antioxidants such as “Guddu and Bablu Pandit” help neutralize these troublemakers. Green tea has an abundance of antioxidants (polyphenols i.e. catechins) to help neutralise free radicals.
Further, green tea has additional benefits such as weight management by controlling blood sugar levels ( via insulin) and an increase in adiponectin (protein) levels which help in the fatty acid breakdown, anti-aging, simply put good for your skin. Although the impact of green tea on these hormones is considered mild, but here the response will never get blunted and this stuff will always be good.
Lastly, the taste is not very pleasant for the first timers but if you can develop taste for a beer then this would be pretty easy.
PS: We all know you never liked your first beer, yet you never stopped.
grewal 