Page 30 - Winter2008

When they gave these people 50 mg of found that their endorphin levels were extremely
oral naltrexone, it blocked the receptors and low, maybe as a consequence of taking heroin but
heroin wouldn’t make them high. So the addicts maybe just naturally occurring. If you take heroin
said, “We’d rather be dead than take this stuff.” it actually suppresses endorphin production, so
Naltrexone failed as an opiate heroin addiction it’s hard to know which comes first.
medicine because all the addicts who used it felt The next discovery was even more amazing.
terrible all the time. The researchers isolated the T-cells and found that
Why did it make them feel so bad? That most of the receptors on the cells of the immune
question led to the discovery of something system—the B-cells, T-cells, thymus cells and so
probably everybody has heard of, which are forth— are endorphin receptors. That’s right, over
endorphins, our body’s own feel-good chemi- 90 percent of the receptors on all the immune cells
cals. Endorphins comprise a category of at least of our bodies are endorphin receptors. These cells
twenty neuro-hormones, meaning hormone-like are like an endorphin-coding apparatus. Here’s
chemicals that are made in the nervous system another way of saying it: the endorphins are the
and other places in the body, specifically in the fuel for the proper functioning of our immune
adrenal glands. Some of these are biochemical system. Without endorphins, the B-cells don’t
copies of the opiates the poppy plant makes, work, the T-cells don’t work, and eventually our
or perhaps we should say that the opiates the immune system starts misbehaving.
poppy plant makes are biochemical copies of the Just think of how clever your body is! It
endorphins we make in our bodies. The same is hooks up your immune system— your protection
true for the cannabinoids— our bodies make the against bacteria, viruses, cancer and autoimmune
same chemicals the marijuana plant makes. disease—with the chemicals that determine how
Rudolf Steiner would put it like this: when you feel about life. This is a very profound state-
the nervous system was organizing itself into ment by the body. In other words, if you find
a functional system, it made neural chemicals, yourself saying, “I don’t feel very good, I don’t
the endorphins, in our body. As a reservoir, it really like my life, it’s not going very well,” but
put the poppy plant and the marijuana plant on don’t make any changes to remedy the situation,
the outside world as free, growing plants. As all this chronic condition of feeling bad will have a
heroin addicts have learned, if your own opiates profound impact on your immune function and
are not being produced, or the receptors are not even on your propensity to get immune-related
working (probably because of dietary choices illnesses such as cancer. If you’re feeling bad,
that you have made for many years), you have a you’re not supplying your immune system with
strong urge to reunite with the identical chemicals the fuel it needs to function properly. So how
produced in the world outside yourself. They you feel is not just emotional matter. There is no
make you feel good for a while until they wear division of body here and mind there. There’s
How you off. And of course, because they are not carefully just you. How you function and how you feel
regulated like the ones in our bodies, those from about how you function is a direct reflection and
function and nature have terrible side effects. manifestation of how your body will work. One
how you feel The failure of naltrexone for heroin addic- of the best ways of seeing this is through this

about how tion directly led to the discovery of endorphins whole endorphin story. The endorphins control
and to the discovery that feeling good, having the immune system.
you function an elevated mood, has something to do with
is a direct the chemicals in our body. The research also INCREASING ENDORPHIN LEVELS
Now let’s consider how to go about increas-
reflection and confirmed the fact that the world out there is a ing the endorphin levels in people. We need to
mirror of the world inside ourselves.
manifestation The next step in this story involved a neu- consider the premise that low endorphin levels
of how your rologist and immunologist named Bernard Bahari are what cause people to use drugs like heroin in
body will in New York City, who had a lot of AIDS patients the first place. They’re a supplement for addicts,
who were heroin addicts. He had the insight to who have an endorphin deficiency, which makes
work. check their endorphin levels. Lo and behold he them feel bad. So if we get them to make more
30 Wise Traditions WINTER 2008