Stack Substances
Stack Substances is the index of the Van Kush Family Research Institute's substance monographs — every plant, compound and enzyme that appears in the Institute's own stacks, formulations and botanical inventory, written up individually so that each can be checked on its own terms.
Every entry states what is established, what is preclinical, and what is the Institute's own hypothesis, separately. Where a substance has a real hazard, the hazard is on the page rather than in a disclaimer.
Why the interactions are stated in full
These pages carry preparation detail, dose figures where the literature gives them, and interaction and contraindication warnings in full. That is deliberate and it is the Institute's settled position: withholding preparation, dose and interaction detail from someone who is going to proceed anyway is the harm this library exists to prevent. Somebody deciding what to do with a pound of Mucuna extract is better served by being told plainly that L-DOPA plus an MAOI is a hypertensive-crisis interaction than by being told to consult a professional about a plant most professionals have never handled.
The endocannabinoid framework
The organising idea across most of the botanical inventory:
- Cannabinoid Oilahuasca — the framework itself: potentiate the body's own cannabinoids by inhibiting the enzymes that clear them, on the model of DMT plus an MAO inhibitor
- MAGL — the enzyme that clears 2-AG, ~85% of it
- FAAH — the enzyme that clears anandamide
- Anandamide and 2-AG — the two endocannabinoids, and why they are not two versions of one thing
Compounds
- Beta-Caryophyllene — dietary CB2 agonist; the compound running through nearly every plant below
- 8-Prenylnaringenin — hops; the most potent natural MAGL inhibitor known, and one of the most potent phytoestrogens known
- L-Methylfolate — the only folate that crosses the blood-brain barrier; upstream of all three monoamine systems
Plants
- Imphepho — Helichrysum spp.; the ukuphahla incense, and the best vaporiser candidate in the inventory
- Yin Chen Hao — Artemisia capillaris; sold as a psychoactive, actually a liver medicine
- Mucuna Pruriens — velvet bean; 3–7% L-DOPA, and the highest-risk material held
- Kava — Piper methysticum; yangonin inhibits FAAH, and the hepatotoxicity question is not closed
- Black Pepper — Piper nigrum; four distinct activities from one kitchen spice
- Maca — Lepidium meyenii; macamides as structural analogues of anandamide
- White Sage — Salvia apiana; and why the sourcing question is the whole entry
- Cannabis and Cannabis Harm Reduction
Nutrients and cofactors
- Creatine — the best-evidenced supplement in common use, and the reason it raises serum creatinine without harming the kidney
- Vitamin K2 — the vitamin that decides whether calcium goes into bone or into arteries; MK-4 vs MK-7 is a half-life question
- Chelated Minerals — form governs uptake; and elemental content is where the labels mislead
- Liposomal Vitamin C — the SVCT1 absorption ceiling, what encapsulation actually buys, and why splitting the dose beats most of it
- Silicon and Collagen — orthosilicic acid, not quartz
- B-Vitamins — picamilon, "read your urine", and the B6 neuropathy nobody mentions
Nootropics
- The Amplification Framework — substrate, cofactor amplifier, degradation inhibitor; the model the rest of this section is arranged by
- Racetams — piracetam and family; strong in clinical populations, weak in the healthy adults who buy it
- Choline Donors — alpha-GPC, citicoline and the rest; not interchangeable, and the TMAO question
- Galantamine — the one lucid-dream aid with a randomised trial behind it, and a real cardiac-conduction drug
Recorded only as a warning
- Datura — the single entry in this library where no dose is given, because no accurate dose exists to give
Preparation
Vaporisation temperature governs which fraction of a plant is actually delivered, and the bands are narrow enough that temperature control is a formulation decision rather than a comfort setting:
{| class="wikitable"
! Fraction !! Temperature !! Found in
|-
| Monoterpenes (α-pinene, 1,8-cineole) || 155–175 °C || Imphepho, Artemisia
|-
| Sesquiterpenes (β-caryophyllene) || 175–200 °C || Imphepho — the CB2-active fraction
|-
| Scoparone || ~200 °C || Artemisia capillaris
|-
| Flavonoids || 200–230 °C || most herbs
|-
| L-DOPA — degrades || >200 °C || Mucuna — not a vaporiser candidate
|}
The interactions worth knowing before anything else
- L-DOPA + MAOI — hypertensive crisis. Mucuna with any harmala-containing preparation, syrian rue, or a prescribed MAOI.
- Piperine + prescription medication — black pepper extract inhibits CYP3A4 and P-glycoprotein and is sold specifically to raise absorption. It raises the absorption of drugs too.
- Kava + alcohol, sedatives, or anything hepatic — see Kava.
- 8-PN in hormone-sensitive conditions — see 8-Prenylnaringenin.
- Folate without checking B12 — see L-Methylfolate.
- B6 above ~100 mg/day — irreversible sensory neuropathy; see B-Vitamins.
- Vitamin K2 with warfarin — direct antagonism of the drug's mechanism; see Vitamin K2.
- Galantamine with bradycardia, asthma or an anticholinergic — see Galantamine.
- Chronic complete MAGL inhibition causes CB1 desensitisation. More is not better; see MAGL.
Related
Library of Ashurbanipal · PIHKAL and TIHKAL · Psychedelic and Psychopharmacology Glossary · Food Pyramid and Supplements · Kyphi