Ike, Great addition to the thread! Gold star for you!
GoHard, my information comes from the knowns of L-Dopa. Maybe the companies are not providing the L-Dopa extract they advertise (Which Dr. Shehalin (sp?) claims) so it the subject doesnt gain any effect because of such a miniscule dose. But you cannot refute that you can apply L-Dopa research to L-Dopa, synthetic or natural it is the same molecule, just like testosterone.
Without having seen any research or history on mucuna your reasoning would be sound. And being that it's based on caution, I cannot in any way cast a stone....I am very cautious with my supplementation researching anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks on specific ingredients and their synergy berfore taking any product.
But concerning your reasoning compared to research i would have to say that ppl have lived on the velvet bean for centuries intaking this "natural" L-Dopa dietarily in large doses. Lets say a bean contains 3% L-dopa...so 1 gram of beans would have taken in .01 grams. For if they eat 100 grams of beans a day(which is not out of the ordinary) the take in a gram a day 7 days a week. Those with larger appetites or more wealthy can take in more then a gram and would start approaching levels ppl supplement with supps like Powerfull...HGH Up....or IGF-2. Tribes and cities who use this as a food crop do not show any increase occurence of cognitive decline....if my memory serves me correctly they show less then the statistical average.
And being that there is research that compares synthetic, lab made L-Dopa to extracted L-Dopa from mucuna there is no reason to apply research of one to another. Why? B/c the several studies done comparing them shows there effects and safety levels to be different. Then they have conducted and are continuing to conduct extensive L-Dopa as a vastly safer alternative to synthetic L-Dopa. And the alkaloids and flavonoids from these extractions are proving to be neuroprotective, antidiabetic...etc.
And the end result of the L-Dopa is to convert to Dopamine then to raise GH levels. Its like natural test boosters that work via raising LH or increase free test by binding to SHBG.
phew my posts are getting progressively longer haha. But Adams im not trying to change your mind, you can never use any GH releaser your entire life and i wouldnt think any less of you. Heck, i respect you for havign a firm belief and standing by it, shows a certain amount of character, so kudos.