A few years back I sat down to a lunch of raw cheese and grapes, and before I knew it I was as high as a kite. Within a few minutes of eating the cheese my entire body was buzzing, I felt as if I was floating in the air, and I felt so relaxed and at peace. After two or three hours I ended up on the floor rubbing my body into the carpet like a dog because I felt so itchy. I did manage to walk to class that evening somehow; first time I went to class high, I swear.
So what’s the deal? How did eating raw cheese have such an effect? It turns out there are some exotic peptide hormones in milk; most people don’t ever experience the effects of these peptides as they are destroyed during pasteurization. Casomorphins were probably the main culprit in my accidental pipe dream; they bind to opioid receptors in the brain and are similar to opium and morphine. Casomorphins are formed by our digestion of casein protein which is found in milk and the primary protein found in cheese. Casomorphins also cause histamine release, hence my itchiness.
So why are these peptides in milk? The opioid peptides seem to promote nursing in young mammals; they make you feel good and are addictive.
If you have never consumed raw dairy or plan on consuming a large quantity of dairy, raw or pasteurized, be aware that there may be some unintended consequences.
Interestingly, consuming dairy can also lower blood pressure. The digestion of certain milk proteins results in the formation of peptides that inhibit ACE (angiotensin converting enzyme) which results in lowered blood pressure.
“Recent research has shown that enzymatic digestion of casein and whey proteins generate peptides that have the ability to inhibit ACE. The best known ACE-inhibitory peptides, Val-Pro-Pro (VPP) and Ile-Pro-Pro (IPP)”
-from dairyscience.info/index.php
A few more links if you’re interested:
A very informative website on all things dairy: http://www.dairyscience.info/index.php
He's definitely high
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