Herbs: timing their use

This is my first post here, so if I am messing badly up with this, then at least you know the reason :)

With herbs there are many possibilities as far as consuming them is concerned, for example infusions, tinctures, eaten raw.

Logically, the results must depend on which form the herbs are taken in. Raw herbs must undergo more processing in the stomach than infusions, where the "active" ingredients have already been extracted into the water.

Therefore, the active ingredients ought to be available to the organism sooner, if taken through infusions than through raw material.

My first question would be: how long does it take, before the active ingredients are available for use in the brain?

A pertinent example (at least for my case) is mugwort; it can be obtained through the nose (dream pillows), which should be very fast, as an infusion, which should be somewhat slower, as dried and finely milled herbs (I mix this into yoghurt), which should be even slower, and also as dried and unprocessed herbs (pills), which should be the slowest method.

Since usage for REM sleep is what is normally desired, the timing of use for the various methods seems rather important. Has anyone got a good feel for, when the active ingredients start to slip into the blood stream - and when the concentration in the blood is at its maximum value?

Best regards

You should read Advanced Lucid Dreaming: The Power of Supplements to know what I am talking about but I would think that each herb would be different. You would need to know things like time to peak plasma levels and half-life elimination. Meaning, you would need to know when the highest concentrations would be in your blood and how fast your body eliminates it. Each substance would have different values. You can't just say all herbs are processed the same way.

I think most aids are best taken during WBTB with the exception of REM suppressors which should be taken pre-bed. As far as dose amounts and how you will ingest it. I would suggest just start experimenting on your own (Be safe and reasonable of course). Or do a search and see if anyone else has done any tests. That would give you a good place to start.

Sorry I'm no real expert on these things. This is just what I have learned on my own.

I read that book some years ago, and recall that the author was meticulous about timing the use of supplements based on the factors you also mentioned. He does not specifically involve himself with herbs though (as far as I can recall).

I had not thought about the various herbs being noticably different from one another in terms of the time required, by the digestive system, for breaking them down to their molecular level. But I suppose that you are right. This of course complicates matters, because we would then need specific data on the different types of herbs. In other words, collecting good data may actually require a lot of work. :disconcerted:

Thank you for your insights.

Well you could use yourself as a guinea pig and tell us how it went. :D

It's possible some of that research(maybe a lot of it?) has already been done - if I were you I'd begin systematically doing websearches to see if it's available online or in book form somewhere. When I search for info on various dietary supplements I often find good info on nutritional or bodybuilding sites, or sometimes sites discussing alzheimer's medicine or something similar. Just search for each herb by name along with some of the other data you want, for instance "St. John's Wort peak plasma level" etc.

Use the format of Yuschak's book to guide you in what data to search for.

Good advice Darkmatters. Or try the dreamviews search!

I have begun, but being rather risk averse, I'm starting with quite small amounts, so it could take a while. :)

That sounds like a really good approach. Hopefully there is appropriate research out in the open, rather than all of it being locked away in journals, which can only be obtained through academic channels ("Go! Open source!" :-) ).