family and is considered an essential nutrient by the US Food and
Drug Administration (FDA). There are many kinds of Choline
supplements available: Choline Salts (Choline Citrate & Choline
Bitartrate), Lecithin (phosphatidylcholine), CDP-Choline, GPC
(Glycerophosphocholine), and others. Of the available forms, the
Choline salts and GPC have proven to be especially useful for lucid
dream enhancement.
Choline Salts:
Both Choline Bitartrate and Choline Citrate are part of group of
substances referred to as Choline salts. When you see a supplement
that is simply called Choline, most likely it is either the bitartrate or
citrate variety. These two types are the most common and most inexpensive
forms of Choline supplement available. Although the salts
pass through the blood brain barrier, it is often said that they do so
inefficiently. Their transport is controlled by the concentration
gradient between the blood and the brain and normally the brain has
high enough concentrations of Choline to allow only a small fraction
of the supplements to enter. However if brain concentrations are
lower, Choline is transported more efficiently.Once in the brain, free Choline is quickly converted into acetylcholine
and therefore low levels of Choline translate into low levels of ACh
and visa versa. Since during the non-REM stages of sleep,
acetylcholine levels are lower than normal, transport of free Choline
is improved if available.
The advantage that the Choline salts have is that they are
more quickly absorbed by the body. This allows them to be used
synergistically with Galantamine. In addition to the overall level of
ACh in the brain, an important factor in initiating a WILD is the rate of
increase of acetylcholine. Galantamine inhibits the breakdown of ACh
but does not increase the production of it. Adding one of the salts can
jump start the accumulation process by producing ACh at a faster
rate. This noticeably increases the odds of becoming lucid and can
intensify the transitioning process (see chapter 22) from what is
normally experienced with Galantamine alone.
GPC:
Although the Choline salts can jump start the accumulation process,
they quickly lose there efficiency as the concentration of ACh
increases. To keep the accumulation process going, a different type
of supplement is required; one that does not depend on low levels of
ACh. Only two types of Choline supplements are known to cross the
blood brain barrier efficiently under normal conditions: CDP-choline
and GPC. Both supplements act as a precursor to acetylcholine, but
of the two, GPC is superior when it comes to lucid dream
enhancement. There are three reasons GPC is preferred:1. The time to peak plasma levels for GPC is 3 hours. Whereas
the time to peak plasma levels of CDP-choline is 6 hours.
2. The elimination half life of GPC is ~ 1.5 hours. The elimination
half life of CDP choline is ~4.5 hours.
3. I have successfully used GPC as a lucid dream trigger but
CDP-choline has never triggered a lucid dream for me or
even had much of an impact on dreaming at all. Also GPC
works synergistically with Galantamine to give excellent odds
of becoming lucid whereas CDP-choline didn’t have any
noticeable impact.
If you are trying to increase your memory, both supplements may
work the same. However, if you are trying to develop high quality
lucid dreams, GPC has clear advantages. The fact that CDP-choline
has such a long time until the peak plasma levels are reached makes
it far from ideal for the lucid dreamer. To use CDP-choline, one would
most likely need to take it before bedtime so the peak plasma levels
would arrive at the time of the lucid dream attempt. Although this may
seem like a viable approach, consider what is happening to the
quality of deep sleep in the hours before the attempt. Acetylcholine
levels would be slowly and steadily rising while the body is trying to
maintain the low levels needed for the deep rejuvenating sleep
stages. The result is a decrease in sleep quality.
GPC stands for Glycerophosphocholine but it has also been
called Choline Alfoscerate, Alphoscerate, L-alpha-
Glycerylphosphorylcholine, and alpha-GPC. GPC has been used
extensively in Italy and other parts of Europe but has only recently
become available in the United States. Due to this fact, most of the
research has come out of Europe. The European research is very
impressive and GPC has been shown to improve cognitive function
for both young and old in several studies. Some studies have shown
GPC to be just as effective as Donezepil and superior to
Rivastigmine (both are prescription AChE inhibitors) in relieving the
symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Furthermore GPC is extremely
well tolerated and has no serious side effects at the therapeutic
dosages.
Mechanism of Action: Choline supplements are precursors to
acetylcholine and cause acetylcholine levels to rise by allowing the
brain to produce more.
Concentration Curve: Because Choline is found naturally in many
food sources, it has been difficult to find peak plasma time studies for
the standard forms (i.e. the Choline salts). Several studies suggest
that the Choline salts are metabolized faster than the other forms
(GPC and CDP). One study mentions that Choline Bitartrate is
absorbed more than twice as fast as fast as GPC and has the same
elimination half life. GPC has an elimination half life of 90 minutes
and takes about 3 hours to reach its peak plasma levels. Based on
this information, I have assumed that Choline Bitartrate reaches peak
plasma times in about an hour and also has a 90 minute elimination
half life. Due to the similarity in structure and metabolic pathways it is
probable that Choline Citrate is metabolized in the same way as
Choline Bitartrate.Effect on Dreams: GPC has a profound impact on dreaming and
causes dreams to be exceptionally vivid and long. I have not had any
bazaar or nightmarish dreams using GPC but have not tried it without
following up with Piracetam to avoid desensitization issues.
Choline salts do not have much of an impact on dreaming
unless they are combined with Galantamine in which case they can
intensify the action of Galantamine.
Effect on Lucid Dreams: Combining a Choline salt with
Galantamine increases the odds of experiencing a WILD. I consider
the Galantamine/Choline combination to be the fundamental lucidity
trigger from which all others are derived.
GPC has a profound effect on lucid dreaming and can be
used either as a trigger or as a support for Galantamine. If it is used
as a trigger, it has the advantage that it is easier to fall back to sleep
than when using either Galantamine or Yohimbine. This is primarily
due to the longer time it takes to reach peak plasma levels. The
negative side of this is it does not lend itself as well to WILDs and all
my lucid dreams using GPC by itself have been DILDs.
When using Galantamine/Choline and GPC together I have a
very high success rate in becoming lucid. This combination works
incredibly synergistically together. Interestingly this combination also
has a tendency to give my lucid dreams a soundtrack in that I hear
music playing (sometimes very loudly) during the dream. Nicotine (an
ACh agonist) has a similar effect but of course also has some serious
drawbacks (see chapter 9).
Side Effects: Both types of supplements are extremely well
tolerated. Most GPC studies available report only mild side effects in
a small percentage of the people taking the supplement. The side
effects generally included nausea and insomnia. I have no noticeable
side effect with doses up to 1200 mg of GPC or with up to 1000 mg
of a Choline salt.
Dosage: The dosage used for most of the GPC studies was 1200
mg taken once daily. I have taken GPC by itself at doses of 900 mg
and 1200 mg and have combined it with Galantamine at doses of 600
mg, 900 mg, and 1200 mg. I have had lucid dreams under all of
these conditions, but the 900 mg dose had less success than the
1200 mg dose when GPC was taken alone.
Choline is considered an essential nutrient and the
recommended daily allowance is 425 mg/day for women and 550
mg/day for men. The maximum safe level of Choline has been set at
3.5 grams/day. For lucid dream enhancement 400 – 800 mg should
be sufficient. I typically use 500 mg of Choline Bitartrate in
combination with 8 mg of Galantamine.
When adding GPC to the Galantamine/Choline mix, a 600 mg
dose of GPC improves the odds of becoming lucid and noticeably
increases the length of the lucid dream. At doses of 900 mg and
1200 mg I experienced intense periods of acceleration (see chapter
22) and music playing during my lucid dreams. The music seems to
be louder with the 1200 mg dose.
Special Notes: In order to form acetylcholine two ingredients are
needed: Choline + Acetyl. Choline supplements provide the Choline
but where does your body get the Acetyl group from? The answer is
from vitamin B5. Most diets include plenty of vitamin B5 but it is
probably not a bad idea to supplement your diet with a good
multivitamin taken in the morning (not at the time of a lucid dream
attempt). I did some experiments taking vitamin B5 in the form of
Panteteine (activated form of B5) at the time of the lucid dream
attempt but I don’t recommend it; it makes it very hard to fall to sleep
and my other experiments have shown that I don’t need it (although I
do get B5 in my regular diet).
Vitamin B5 CoA Acetyl
GPC phosphatidylcholine Choline
Choline + Acetyl Acetylcholine
Summary: GPC and the Choline salts (bitartrate and citrate) are
excellent supplements to support lucid dreaming. Combining a
Choline salt with Galantamine increases the odds of experiencing a
WILD and is the foundation of all other combinations described in this
book. GPC can be used to trigger lucid dreams although I generally
experience DILDs instead of WILDs when I use GPC alone. My
favorite way to use GPC is in combination with Galantamine/Choline
taken 4 or 5 hours after going to bed. When I use GPC this way I find
600 mg is optimum (although I occasionally use 900 mg). GPC and
Galantamine/Choline give me a high success rate at becoming lucid.
Note, I do not use them on consecutive nights and use Piracetam
immediately following my lucid dreams (see chapter 10). Both GPC
and the Choline salts are extremely well tolerated and have few
noticeable side effects.
Source: Thomas Yuschak The Power of Supplements
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