SÚPER Azul de Metileno (AM)!

SUPER Methylene Blue (AM)!


Methylene blue (MB) is known as the dye used to add color to your fabrics and faded jeans. AM also has biological applications in humans, but lately, it has gained unusual interest as a nootropic agent (a substance that enhances the cognitive functions of the brain) and anti-aging agent. ( 1 )

Apart from industrial uses as a dye, other frequent applications are related to medical-hospital treatments:

  • As an antiseptic to treat minor wounds and prevent infections.
  • As a medical diagnostic tool to identify leaks in the urinary and digestive systems.
  • To combat methemoglobinemia , a disorder that makes it difficult for the blood to transport oxygen.
  • Other studies also suggest that it may help treat low blood pressure by improving oxygen flow and circulation problems, especially in people with septic shock or severe liver disease.
  • AM may serve as an alternative treatment for Lyme disease (an infection caused by a tick bite), particularly for antibiotic-resistant strains, and has in fact proven effective when combined with certain antibiotics.
  • Also for pain relief and inflammation reduction : AM's antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties can help manage chronic pain and reduce inflammation throughout the body.
  • It is now re-emerging as a possible treatment for malaria due to drug-resistant strains and as a way to combat other antibiotic-resistant infections as well.
  • According to an article by Dr. Joseph Mercola, AM is a very effective agent against urinary tract infections (UTIs). Many elderly people are given antibiotics, which disrupts their microbiome. AM was used for many decades at a dose of 65 mg per day and was even sold in pharmacies as Urolene Blue.

Since your body doesn't actually metabolize it, it is excreted by the kidneys into the bladder, where it reaches very high concentrations over time and becomes a potent oxidative stressor that kills virtually any pathogen in the bladder. Plus, it has the added "side effect" of improving brain health and reducing dementia. According to Dr. Mercola, “It is reprehensible medical malpractice not to use AM in UTIs in the elderly. It is clearly the safest and most effective drug of choice.”

 

What's all the hype about methylene blue (MA) as a nootropic and anti-aging?

The recent emergence of MA as a nootropic is what has caused biohackers (individuals who apply techniques and tools to optimize body, brain functions and quality of life), social media influencers and other anti-aging promoters to set their sights on this product.

One of the main reasons is its benefits as a health and wellness supplement. This versatile compound acts as a cellular energizer, boosting the body's natural energy center: the mitochondria . This translates into a series of attractive benefits:

It is being used as a cognitive enhancer to improve memory, mood and prevent the accumulation of proteins associated with Alzheimer's; but also as an anti-aging skin agent. Let's see how this happens.

 

How AM's impressive effects on the body occur

In an interview conducted by Dr. Joseph Mercola with Dr. Francisco González-Lima, the latter explains the mechanisms by which AM acts with its unique quality at the electron level:

"Our body uses electrons as part of the electron transport chain that occurs within the mitochondria, and these electrons, which move along the mitochondria, are generated from electron donors that we produce from the foods we eat."

González-Lima explains that the food we eat gives us electrons that are transported within the mitochondria. The main electron receptor in nature is oxygen, so when electrons are removed from a compound, this process is known as oxidation.

In mitochondria specifically, this process is called “oxidative phosphorylation.” Electrons couple to the phosphorylation of adenosine to ultimately produce the molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP). AM functions as an electron cycler (i.e., it can both accept and donate electrons).

AM then performs TWO IMPORTANT FUNCTIONS : it donates its electrons directly to the electron transport chain, but it also obtains electrons from surrounding compounds and maintains oxygen consumption and energy production. By doing this, it helps oxygen to be completely reduced to water.

This simply means that AM acts as an antioxidant because oxygen is neutralized in water by donating electrons to the electron transport system. But it also produces energy , because when the electron transport pumps are moving along in oxidative phosphorylation, you get an increase in ATP formation.

We often have things that improve energy metabolism, but then they cause oxidative stress. In the case of AM, this is not the case.

Healthy people who consume low doses of AM could therefore increase their oxygen consumption, mitochondrial respiration and ATP production in the body. This would result in a significant improvement in their metabolism.

The action of AM on mitochondrial respiration is also combined with the biochemical regulation of general oxygen consumption and processes that increase local blood supply to tissues.

According to González-Lima, “this regulation remains even after AM has been expelled from the body (mainly through urine, as the body metabolizes it minimally) and over time it can increase the number of mitochondria. In the brain, this will benefit cognition, as the brain is the organ in the body that depends most on energy.”

 

Benefits of AM

Enhances cognitive function

Research suggests that AM may improve memory and attention by increasing energy production in brain cells.

Likewise, it would influence the neurotransmitters that regulate mood, and AM is being considered as a promising alternative to alleviate the symptoms of depression and anxiety.

AM may help prevent neurodegenerative disorders by reducing oxidative damage to brain cells, thereby helping to prevent Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Recent studies in animal models of Alzheimer's disease have shown that AM can slow the formation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. ( study ) Also, a drug derived from methyl bromide has been shown to be beneficial for both Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia (Lewy body disease) and is currently in the final phase of clinical trials.

 

Improved mitochondrial function

But AM doesn't stop at the brain. It turns out that its effects go all the way to the mitochondria where it may have a youth-promoting effect by supporting mitochondrial function and promoting cell renewal, or mitophagy. ( study )

AM is a very attractive supplement due to its positive influence on the mitochondria of cells, which are like the "energy centers" of our body. Mitochondria convert the food we eat into energy through a process called oxidative phosphorylation, which uses an electron transport chain to produce the necessary energy, as we have mentioned, but it should be noted that AM has a beneficial effect at low doses , a phenomenon known as hormesis and that it can be harmful in high quantities .

 

In high doses, AM can interfere with the energy production process in the mitochondria. So, keep in mind that in adequate amounts, AM can even benefit people with different health problems.

According to several experiments, AM can "redirect electrons in the mitochondrial electron transfer chain directly from NADH to cytochrome oxidase (complex IV), increasing the activity of complex IV and effectively promoting mitochondrial function while mitigating oxidative stress." In other words, AM has demonstrated remarkable properties that help limit cellular damage and improve metabolic capabilities within the mitochondria of cells.  ( article )

 

At the level of exercise and sports performance

Of course, if your mitochondria are functioning optimally, your physical activities, and even better, your sports, will benefit.

  1. Increasing energy production because, as we saw before, AM optimizes the electron transport chain, which generates ATP (adenosine triphosphate). An increased production of ATP can enhance sports performance, reduce fatigue and of course, speed up recovery from training.
  2. AM can improve your cardiovascular endurance because it increases oxygen transport to the muscles as it has the ability to promote the release of nitric oxide, a molecule that dilates blood vessels and improves blood flow.
  3. It remains to be seen whether AM can enhance the function of motor neurons, which are responsible for transmitting signals from the brain to the muscles. This could lead to greater force generation during exercise. However, so far, studies have been done in rodents and have not shown a significant effect.
  4. AM can help reduce muscle damage and inflammation resulting from intense physical training as it participates in the neutralization of free radicals and exerts an anti-inflammatory action.

 

To combat skin aging

Cellular damage or mitochondrial dysfunction has been observed in systematic aging, affecting various tissues of the body and especially brain function and skin health.

Here AM would potentially be entering the anti-aging field since, as far as skin health is concerned, it increases the production of collagen and elastin, improving the appearance of the skin and treating conditions such as psoriasis. ( study )

By increasing mitochondrial functions and ATP (adenosine triphosphate) production, these factors would help keep skin cells healthy and ultimately combat skin aging.

On the other hand, it would increase cell lifespan, that is, a sufficient number of cells would be maintained, which would reduce aging markers in skin cells.

Likewise, due to its antioxidant properties and the ability to find free radicals, it would balance skin deterioration. The signs of skin aging refer to wrinkles, skin pigmentation and slowing of the wound healing capacity. ( study ) ( study )

 

Dosage:

According to Dr. González-Lima, the benefits of methylene blue AM are evident in doses of between 0.5 milligrams and 4 mg per kg of body weight. He admits that lower doses may work, but he has not tested them.

For acute treatment, the upper limit is between 3 mg and 4 mg per kg, which is usually the range given as an intravenous antidote for methemoglobinemia. For non-acute, longer-term treatment, 0.5 mg to 1 mg per kg per day works best. AM has a half-life (presence in the body) of 12 to 13 hours, so a daily dose is fine. So, for a person with a body weight of 73 kg (160 lb.) that translates to 36 - 290 mg of AM. For a person weighing 52 kg that would be 26 - 210 mg of AM.

The equivalent of 0.5mg of an AM dose is a safe dose and allows you to feel the benefits.

González-Lima gives the following example of how AM has been used in the treatment of fears and phobias:

"One of the processes where memory formation can be used therapeutically is when a memory is formed to extinguish fear. Individuals who have a phobia can be exposed to the specific situation that is involved in the phobia, and a learning called extinction learning occurs that extinguishes their response.

In that situation, we only give AM once after this extinction learning to facilitate the memory consolidation process. What happens after learning is the consolidation process, which requires energy.

“So by making energy available during the consolidation phase, which occurs over several hours, the next time [exposed to fear-provoking stimuli], the person has consolidated that extinction memory more effectively.”

Finally, Dr. Gonzalez-Lima recommends taking AM with some ascorbic acid (vitamin C) to aid absorption. You won't find AM at your local pharmacy, but many supplement pharmacies can get you pharmaceutical-grade AM.

"Ascorbic acid is a way to facilitate the AM cycle by promoting its reduction," he explains. Considering the importance of mitochondrial health, AM appears to be a simple and highly effective way to improve overall health and cognitive function.

 

Preventive measures

According to Dr. Scott Sherr in an article published on troscriptions.com, as a preventative measure, due to the risk of serotonin syndrome (which can be fatal), AM should not be combined with drugs that increase serotonin levels.

For those psychonauts interested in using AM, Sherr warns, psychedelic substances such as psilocybin, which increases serotonin, or the yajé/ayahuasca served in these ceremonies have similar properties to AM, so after the ceremony one should wait about 24 hours before consuming AM again.

Pregnant or breastfeeding people please refrain from consuming methylene blue.

At high doses, i.e. >10mg/kg of body weight, methylene blue can cause a list of undesirable effects such as hypertension, methemoglobinemia (a condition it actually treats at low doses), nausea, gastrointestinal upset, inducing hemolytic anemia in patients with a genetic condition called G6PD (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency), and more.

Finally, please do not drink aquarium or fish tank cleaning fluid! Although it does contain methylene blue, these commercial tank, aquarium and fish tank cleaning products also contain cadmium, iron and other heavy metals that can be very harmful to your body. Furthermore, when purchasing a methylene blue AM supplement, please make sure that it is from a source and that it has been tested for purity.

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2 comments

Excellent información
Infinitas gracias

Leticia Ortega

Hola. Le felicito por su investigación. Mi tema son las manchas en las manos. Me gustaría saber si e azul de metileno es efectivo en estos casos. De que manera usarlo para su aplicación externa. Mil gracias.

Nancy Newman

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