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Is it possible that traditional diets were exposing us to small quantities of nootropics and we’ve just lost them through commodification?

I wonder if this is a new phenomenon or just an undiagnosed one.




Nootropics is a very vaguely defined categorization. There are certainly vitamins and amino acids that improve brain function (especially in cases of deficits) that are underexpressed in modern food because of our optimization for size, shelf stability and appearance.

However, the idea that there could be chemicals like psilocybin or modafinil or piracetam that used to be in our produce seems highly implausible.




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