Methylene Blue

Methylene Blue is a seriously underrated, surprisingly effective, safe, and very affordable anti-aging agent along with being a subtle Nootropic.

In the cryptocurrency world where I spend some time, there seems to always be a trade-off between three desirable attributes; speed, security, and scalability. In Biohacking, similarly, we often have to choose between safe, effective, and affordable. But, after reading The Ultimate Guide to Methylene Blue by Mark Sloan (who I had a great deep-dive interview with) I was thoroughly convinced that Methylene Blue measures up in all three crucial dimensions, so I've added it to my daily stack.

History
Mitochondrial biohack
Vs Nitric Oxide: A toxic free radical
Nootropic properties
Vs cognitive decline
Vs emotional trauma
Vs depression
Vs cancer
Vs EMF-toxicity
Vs back pain
Broad-spectrum antiviral
Vs malaria
Vs COVID
Photodynamic therapy cofactor
Politicized medicine
Sources
Usage and dosage
Experiential
Side effects
Risk grade: A
Conclusion

This article is mostly going to focus on decoding what the human studies are saying about Methylene Blue and how this squares up with the anecdotal experiences of Biohackers online. For more of my own personal experiences, thoughts, and comparisons please see the written and video reviews in the sidebar.

 History

It's no recent discovery, it's actually been used medicinally for well over a century. The Ultimate Guide explains...

Methylene blue is an inexpensive blue dye developed by scientists in the 19th century for the textile industry. In addition to being a brilliant blue dye for fabric, surprisingly, it was soon discovered to be useful in the scientific laboratory and in medicine. [pg. 8]

Funnily enough, it's what they used to use to make blue jeans blue. 

Mitochondrial biohack

Head Strong by Dave Asprey makes the case that optimizing your Mitochondria is the ultimate performance-enhancing Biohack because your Mitochondria are the fundamental energy generation mechanism that underlies everything else. From the book: 

Animal studies also show that methylene blue is a powerful nootropic. Rats that were treated with methylene blue showed improvements in cognition and memory retention. So did humans in another study, where methylene blue was shown to help short-term memory. Methylene blue definitely helps mitochondrial respiration, and you can feel the difference if you try it.

Its mechanism of action is described: 

It can cross the blood-brain barrier and acts as an antioxidant in the brain. It also improves the efficiency of your mitochondria by carrying more electrons into the electron transport chain and increasing your mitochondria’s oxygen consumption. (p. 286)

The mitochondria are the energy powerhouses of the cell. They produce all the ATP. Improving ATP production in the brain is a viable cognitive enhancement strategy. For example, thyroid hormone (which regulates ATP production and cell metabolism at the basic level) has nootropic effects if you're slightly hypothyroid. Hypothyroidism is linked to slowed cognitive tempo, depression, and energy.

Methylene blue does a few different things. It's a blood-brain barrier-permeable antioxidant. One difficulty with many antioxidants is that they never make it into the brain. For example, many people supplement with GABA, but it's clear that GABA is too water-soluble to ever get into the brain. 

Remarkably... 

Methylene blue’s uncanny ability to selectively target diseased tissues in the body was another observation made by Ehrlich. Although healthy tissues could benefit from the methylene blue, the cells with the greatest dysfunction metabolically received aid first. [49]

 Vs Nitric Oxide: A toxic free radical

I've long suspected that nitric oxide was a double-edged sword; it's an oxidant - as it says right there in its name, Nitric oxide. The Ultimate Guide explains...

nitric oxide is not the health panacea that drug company researchers and marketers of nitric oxide-promoting supplements would have you believe. My position is that nitric oxide is part of the body’s stress response fundamental to the aging process and virtually all chronic degenerative diseases, including Diabetes, Cancer, Heart Disease, Stroke, and Dementia. [18]
One of the most damning studies ever to combat the rolling tidal waves of misinformation regarding nitric oxide is called “The Nitric Oxide Hypothesis of Aging.” In the study, scientists from Louisiana State University suggest that nitric oxide is the primary driver of aging and causes damage to literally every organ in the body, particularly the brain and heart. [28]
If The Nitric Oxide Hypothesis of Aging is correct, reducing nitric oxide in the body is the most efficient target to halt aging and degeneration of tissues. [29]

And pushing back on nitric oxide is exactly what Methylene Blue does, quite effectively.

The primary ways that methylene blue benefits the body is its role as a nitric oxide inhibitor and an estrogen antagonist. By reducing nitric oxide and estrogen, thyroid function is increased, and the body benefits from increased metabolic rate and overall energy production. [51]

Methylene blue and caffeine are two potent nitric oxide inhibitors. [35] 

Only two known interventions are capable of dissociating nitric oxide from cytochrome c oxidase and restoring its function: red light therapy and methylene blue. [94]

All this theoretical information is nice, but what evidence is there that this actually works in humans? Well, there are a couple of studies dating back to the 1970s that demonstrate improvements in memory formation following methylene blue administration. 

 Nootropic properties

Good news for the Nootronauts out there, it has some subtle Nootropic effects on cognition along with both short and long-term memory.

the very first human study investigating the impact of methylene blue on memory and attention span in 2016. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial administered an oral dose (0.5-4.0mg/kg) of methylene blue to twenty-six healthy participants between the ages 22 and 62 to determine if the substance could increase brain activity and improve performance in memory- and attention-related tasks... The study found that a single oral dose of methylene blue improved both short-term memory and attention span in the participants. “Methylene blue was also associated with a 7% increase in correct responses during memory retrieval,” the study reports. [69]

Mechanistically, in addition to being a potent antioxidant with good brain penetration, methylene blue behaves like an artificial electron donor and electron acceptor. If you've taken biochemistry, you'll know that REDOX (reduction-oxidation) reactions are vital to the electron transport chain (ETC). The ETC is what allows mitochondria to pump protons out of the mitochondrial matrix and generate ATP. So in a way, because methylene blue can accept and donate electrons, it makes REDOX reactions more efficient and snappy. The net effect is reduced oxidative stress in the brain and increased oxidative phosphorylation and ATP production.

 Vs cognitive decline

Over 30 studies provide hope to those losing their minds, in regard to Methylene Blue.

One fascinating and useful attribute of methylene blue for treating brain disorders is that, once inside the body, it tends to accumulate in the brain, right where it is needed. [61]

In 2019, scientists gave Alzheimer’s patients 8mg-16mg of methylene blue daily while monitoring their brain function. They witnessed the methylene blue treatment stop Alzheimer’s disease dead in its tracks. [63]

 Vs emotional trauma

A fascinating and potentially world-changing effect is in helping the user overcome the fear, trauma, and PTSD of the past...

One of the most unique and fascinating brain benefits of methylene blue is its ability to release negative feelings associated with past situations, allowing the user to retain the positive aspects of those events and ‘move on’ from fears or trauma. In the scientific world, they call this ‘fear extinction.’ In the real world, the people who need these kinds of therapies have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). [76]

 Vs depression

There are over 100 items of scientific research on Methylene Blue and depression published on Pubmed. 

A 2-year trial on 31 bipolar patients compared 300mg/day of methylene blue with 15mg/day methylene blue in 1986. All patients were also treated using lithium. Of the 17 patients that completed the 2-year trial, they were significantly less depressed when on 300mg/day methylene blue compared to 15mg/day. The 300mg/day dose was said to be “a useful addition to lithium in the long-term treatment of manic-depressive psychosis.” [76]

 Vs cancer

There are over 20 clinical trials specifically investigating its anti-cancer effects, and the results give cause for optimism about the specter of the cancer epidemic. In short, cancer is fundamentally caused by dysfunctional cell and mitochondrial metabolism and Methylene Blue does much to normalize metabolism at the foundational layer of our biology. The book Cancer: The Metabolic Disease Unravelled.

...references over 30 studies showing Cancer cells transform back into normal cells. In one study, scientists put mitochondria from Cancer cells into normal cells and observed the normal cells transform into Cancer cells. When they put mitochondria from normal cells into Cancer cells, the Cancer cells transformed back into normal cells. [191]

What could be more promising for Cancer than a substance that specifically seeks out and corrects metabolic defects first before anything else? Research on methylene blue for Cancer is surprisingly abundant, dating back almost 100 years, and shows us that methylene blue can rapidly oxygenate Cancer cells and tumors. [95]

 Vs EMF-toxicity

The book EMF*D by Dr. Mercola rigorously makes the scientific case for the toxicity of EMFs generated by cell phones, Bluetooth, 5G, and, perhaps most problematically, wifi (which you're probably using to read this very article!) All of this terribly convenient wireless technology results in an excess of the worst oxidant in our cells, peroxynitrite. Dr. Mercola urges readers to give up wifi and keep their smartphones in airplane mode at almost all times, but you're probably not going to do that, so some good news is that...

MB supplementation is highly protective of cardiovascular function in disease and aging. Through its action as a nitric-oxide inhibitor and antioxidant, methylene blue can prevent both the formation of new peroxynitrite and scavenge existing peroxynitrite, which has been implicated in the diseased and aged heart.

 Vs back pain

If you spend your days and nights swearing, "Back pain, be gone!" Good news... 

One of the most remarkable studies ever conducted on low back pain came from the General Hospital of Armed Police Force in Beijing in 2010. The study showed strong evidence that the injection of methylene blue into a painful disc is a “safe, effective, and minimally invasive” method for the treatment of discogenic low back pain, far more effective than any other known treatment for low back pain. Of the 72 patients enrolled in the study, 36 were given a placebo and 36 were given methylene blue injections directly into the spinal discs experiencing pain. The results showed that of the 36 patients given methylene blue injections, 19% were completely pain free, and 72% almost completely pain free. Said differently, over 90% of patients experienced total or near-total relief! [89]

 Broad-spectrum antiviral

Methylene Blue can serve as a bulwark against the microscopic nastiness of this world.

And when used in combination with light therapy, methylene blue exerts even greater antimicrobial effects against bacteria, like E. coli and others, including drug-resistant strains, against fungi like candida, and also against many common viruses, including Zika, West Nile, Ebola, Hepatitis, and HIV. [57]

Good news for those, like me, who have a sordid and skanky sexual history, five clinical trials suggest that it inactivates the herpes virus, especially when combined with photodynamic therapy.

 Vs malaria

Countless lives have, no doubt, been saved in the over a century that it's been used as an anti-malarial medicine. In the Second World War, it was given to soldiers fighting in the Pacific theater. From The Ultimate Guide...

The new generation of methylene blue research as an antimalarial agent has proven that no drug even comes close to the potency or effectiveness of methylene blue against Malaria... On World Malaria Day in 2018, German researchers published a meta-analysis on the use of methylene blue for Malaria and concluded it is highly effective against the Malaria-causing parasite in all endemic areas. [57]

Malaria has, of course, been with us as a species since time immemorial and before the discovery of Methylene Blue, it was treated with quinine...

Interestingly, the carbonated beverage known as tonic water contains quinine, which some people drink to ease leg cramps. If you can handle the bittersweet tang of tonic water, between the quinine, glucose, and the carbon dioxide contained within it, you’ve got yourself a refreshing and medicinal beverage. [55]

Tonic water is a surprisingly healthy (provided it doesn't have a lot of sugar added) beverage that you can buy at almost any grocery store. I love the taste of the fizzy drink, to make it even healthier you can add a splash of balsamic vinaigrette to infuse it with phytochemicals, it tastes surprisingly like Coca-Cola. In fact, that's an ideal cocktail to add a few drops of Methylene Blue too!

 Vs COVID

Interestingly, Methylene Blue is the progenitor of the most controversial drug of 2020, Hydroxychloroquine - it's controversial, of course, because it's cheap, unpatented, and at least as (if not dramatically more) effective in combating COVID as big pharma's solutions. The Ultimate Guide thoroughly catalogs the body of recent science investigating Methylene Blue's potential in combating this pandemic/plandemic that so impacted all our lives...

You may have heard doctors talk about the use of hydroxychloroquine as an effective antidote to the 2020 viral pandemic COVID-19. It turns out that hydroxychloroquine is derived from methylene blue; methylene blue is its parent compound [56]

Chinese scientists were among the first to investigate methylene blue’s effects on COVID-19. In March 2020, they published a study reporting methylene blue can “effectively eliminate SARS-CoV-2 in vitro within two minutes [emphasis added].” Two minutes!? Why didn’t the public hear about this? [59]

In October 2020, French researchers duplicated the study in their lab and came to the same conclusion: In very low doses, methylene blue possesses powerful antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2. Their study concluded, “We propose that methylene blue is a promising drug for the treatment of COVID-19.” [59]

When scientists administered methylene blue to 2500 Cancer patients, none of them ended up developing COVID-19. Coincidence? Or is methylene blue a first-class preventative? [59]

This recent science and a 2021 Iranian clinical trial provide ample reason why Methylene Blue should be in your anti-COVID immune armamentarium. As a biohacker, you're probably not terribly worried about COVID-19, but you probably have loved ones at higher risk. Should they be stricken with COVID, you'll want some efficacious therapies on hand to offer them. Hydroxychloroquine can be tricky to get your hands on, obviously, it's very in demand these days, and it's not something that should be self-administered. Being non-prescription, affordable, safe, and accessible Methylene Blue is an excellent alternative.

 Photodynamic therapy cofactor

If you really want to unleash Methylene Blue you'll want to explore using it concurrently with red light therapy. The infrared and near-infrared spectrum of red light that penetrates deeply into your body has a synergistic effect with Methylene Blue in optimizing the mitochondrial energy generation process. The Ultimate Guide explains... 

the primary mechanism behind red light’s remarkable healing potential is its restorative effects on cellular metabolism, specifically through the intensification of the metabolic enzyme cytochrome c oxidase. [39]

Red light therapy is another way to restore mitochondrial respiration within tumor cells rapidly. The combination of light therapy with methylene blue for Cancer, called photodynamic therapy, has become one of the most promising and popular research subjects in recent decades. [96] 

Drinking water or juice containing a few drops of methylene blue then sitting underneath red light allows you to receive one of the most potent metabolic treatment protocols ever devised. [97]

Red Light Therapy

 

5.0 (2)

Category: Mind Hardware

Red light therapy is one of my favorite biohacks for economic reasons, a decent red light therapy device will run you a few hundred dollars yet if you use it frequently, you'll enjoy its health benefits for years, as much as a decade. If you do a little math, comparing red light therapy's effects to supplements that imbue similar effects that must be re-purchased monthly, you'll quickly see that it's one of the very best biohacking values.

 Politicized medicine

In 2020, President Donald Trump​ was harshly pilloried for saying something to the effect of...

Injecting disinfectant and “very powerful light" could be used to effectively treat COVID-19.

And he's NOT totally wrong.
Methylene Blue is a disinfectant and well-studied Mitochondrial enhancer with a potent anti-viral effect that is effective against RNA SARS Coronaviruses, particularly in combination with "powerful light" 660 NM Near-Infrared.

There are two studies specifically on this...

• Methylene blue photoinactivation of RNA viruses
• Inactivation of SARS coronavirus in human plasma by methylene blue/light method

Which you can find discussed by some very adroit biohackers here on LongeCity​.

Infrared light has some well-demonstrated anti-viral medicinal properties, it feeds our Mitochondria the same kind of light that we get from the sun.

President Trump probably doesn't know about this science, but this little episode reveals a few things...

• The media are mostly a bunch of very biased malicious idiots who care much more about politics and serving their masters (big pharma) than they do about using real science to save lives and counter the threat of the global pandemic.
• The masses have been effectively brainwashed into believing that medicine MUST be a pill recommended by a doctor sold by big pharma.
• President Trump often has good instincts and the media attack him relentlessly because he's open to cheap, effective, unpatented COVID-19 solutions that might compete with big pharma's diabolical plan to force (via statism) vast populations to take a risky, unproven vaccine.

Methylene Blue is a disinfectant that is commonly used for fish tanks although you shouldn't consume the stuff sold at pet stores, you would want to get pure, pharma-grade stuff sold for human consumption.

 Sources

Should you get the liquid solution or the powdered stuff? I'd suggest getting both, for different reasons; the bottled solution is very convenient, its 300 milligrams will last you a month a conservative yet efficacious dosage of 10 milligrams daily. Powdered it's a whole lot better value, 10 grams for the same price, that's an over 3-year supply! I would keep the powdered stuff around as a doomsday (bio) prepping measure, as it's chemically very stable. Stored somewhere dark, dry, and cool it will stay good for years, if not decades.

Methylene Blue from Swiss Chems

 

4.5

Category: Nootropics & Anti-Aging

Methylene Blue (Powdered) by CZTL

 

5.0

Category: Nootropics & Anti-Aging

Swiss Chems is my go-to recommendation. They offer an affordable liquid solution Methylene Blue.

It's even more affordable powdered which is how I get it from CZTL.bz in the EU serving European Biohackers USP grade pure Methylene Blue (as verified by COA). Mixing it into a liquid solution with distilled water is easy-peasy as you can see here. You just need to be careful to not spill any!

Methylene Blue Troches - This is one of the more innovative ways I've seen lately to take it. You hold these blue troches under your tongue for direct absorption along with a dose of caffeine and Nicotine, two of my favorite Nootropic molecules that share powerful synergies. Around the internet, Biohackers speak in some pretty grandiose terms about the powers of cognition and creativity that these troches unleash but it's a bit spendy. If you're ballin' on a budget, you could achieve a similar effect cheaply by taking a Methylene Blue solution with a few drops of Nicotine USP solution and drinking coffee.

Some vendors on Amazon offer powdered Methylene Blue - but I'd be suspicious of the quality!

Downloadable Methylene Blue?

You may be interested in taking it as an infoceutical - a non-pharmacological, side-effect-free version of the supplement that takes advantage of the phenomenon of water memory - which is imprinted on water via quantum collocation and electromagnetism using this device...

IC Pad by Infopathy

 

4.3

Category: Mind Hardware

Infocueticals typically have 1/3 or half the effect of the actual medicine being imprinted. If you're skeptical of Infopathy that's understandable, it's a game-changing application of a little-known scientific phenomenon. But I'd urge you to evaluate the scientific evidence (presented in my biohacker review) that downloadable medicine is no longer science fiction...

 Usage and dosage

.5 - 2 milligrams daily per kilogram of body weight

I'll do the math for you...

Dave Asprey advises that you keep the dosage very low:

The problem is that as doses get higher, methylene blue becomes a pro-oxidant and can do the opposite of what you’d expect— cause oxidative stress. Larger doses may also harm your gut bacteria, and if you have high blood pressure, it’s not a good idea to try this one. It’s also really harmful for babies. (p. 287)

Although Dr. Francisco Gonzalez-Lima reports taking as much as 200 milligrams daily, this will result in very blue-ish urine! 

About 1 milligram per kilogram is the sweet spot for maintaining health, although the case is pretty strong for taking just 10 milligrams daily if your aim is simply optimization of cognitive function and disease prevention. At just 10 milligrams daily, it's an extremely affordable biohack, that's what Mrs. Roseland and I will be taking going forward to keep things simple and economical.

 Experiential

I did try it myself a while back and found the Nootropic effects to be underwhelming compared with other, more stimulating smart drugs that I've tried. I made some errors though, I simply took too much of the stuff and I squirted it in my mouth instead of mixing it in a beverage.

What else to expect...

• My wife and I have been taking Methylene Blue daily for a while now. It's a subtle nootropic, but mostly, I appreciate its effects on immunity. We haven't gotten ill since we've been taking it - no long COVID here.
• An experiential effect that I like is that I'll find my typing speed and accuracy to be a bit better after a little higher dose – 20 milligrams.
• Blue pee - A somewhat comedic effect of it is that your pee will take on a blueish hue - depending upon how much you're using. This effect is so consistent that it's sometimes used as a placebo in placebo-controlled clinical trials of other drugs. For guys, it's a pretty smart idea to sit down when you pee as an errant drop of urine may stain the bathroom walls or floor - that's something you wouldn't want to have to explain!

 Side effects

The really good news about it is that when token at a moderate dose, there's very little concern about side effects.

• At excessive dosages, Methylene Blue transforms from an antioxidant to an oxidant. Less is more with this one.
• There are cases of Serotonin syndrome occurring when taken with SSRI drugs; Methylene Blue's mechanism can conflict with Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
• It should not be taken by nursing or pregnant mothers nor given to children.

From The Ultimate Guide...

Adverse effects of methylene blue can come from chemical impurities, so it’s important to use only pharmaceutical-grade methylene blue. Don’t be afraid to ask for a lab analysis to confirm the purity of the product when buying. [106]

 Risk grade: A

• When I first tried Methylene Blue, I took some huge doses and experienced no adverse effects.
• Unlike other drugs, methylene blue is relatively "clean." This means that methylene blue doesn't really perturb any neurotransmitter systems. Instead, methylene blue enhances the efficiency of mitochondrial bioenergetics.
• Brazilian scientists Tardivo, Giglio, Santos de Oliveira, and their colleagues in Sao Paulo summed up the potential of methylene blue for Cancer when they wrote, “MB has the potential to treat a variety of cancerous and non-cancerous diseases, with low toxicity and no side effects.” [98]

 Conclusion...

If you want to go deeper on Methylene Blue, I do recommend reading The Ultimate Guide to Methylene Blue by my friend Mark Sloan, which I quote from here. Mark is an obsessive and relentless self-experimenter, it is very high praise when he reports...

From my experience testing dozens of different drugs and nutrients over the past 15 years for their effects on my own depression, nothing has had a more positive impact on my life than methylene blue.

Like Sloan's other books, it contains more than a few empowering paradigm-shifting epiphanies about biohacking and health. The book concludes with a "red pill" on modernity...

The greatest obstacle preventing humanity from thriving as we move forward through time is the existing for-profit medical paradigm, which is based on the belief that diseases are genetically determined and incurable. [110]

It meticulously convinced me to add Methylene Blue to my daily stack. It's well-written for a bioscience book and concise enough that you can get through it in a few sittings. You might say...

Why would I want to read a book about the benefits of Methylene Blue? I'll just take Methylene Blue.

Sure, if you don't have the time to read another book, just get Methylene Blue from a credible source and take about 1mg/kg per day, but as you may have suspected the more you understand a biohack like this, the more you'll get out of it.