Troscriptions Tro Calm Product Review
If you’re at all biohacking-inclined, you would have over the past year or so seen a number of photos pop up on Instagram of people with blue tongues along with hashtags like #blueisthenewsmart #smurfnootropic #smurfyourself #bluetonguemagic #gofullsmurf and #blueyourself. These are all related to products developed by Dr Ted Achacoso called Troscriptions which have the cool side effect of leaving you with a blue tongue!
One of the products, Blue Cannatine, is formulated with 5mg of Methylene Blue (a substance touted for its neuroprotective benefits, improved learning and improved memory benefits as well as benefits to mitochondrial health) and is stacked with nicotine, caffeine and hemp crystals. Basically, this product was designed to “launch your brain into limitless mode”, and it has been a massively popular and effective nootropic for enhanced cognitive performance and focus. In fact, I’m using Blue Cannatine right now as I’m writing this review!
Now, it is time to GO ORANGE! Enter…TroCalm. This is the latest product launched by Dr Achacoso at Troscriptions and while the “blue” products were designed to enhance your cognitive performance and make your brain fire on all cylinders, TroCalm by contrast is designed to “quiet your mind, relax you and allow you to feel your stress and tension melt away”. The idea is that as your stress melts away, this will allow you to “perform better in the boardroom and the bedroom”…that is a calm mind in stressful situations and better SLEEP!
What Exactly is TroCalm
Before we take a look at the ingredients, it’s important to understand the delivery mechanism of TroCalm. Similar to the other Troscriptions products, TroCalm is sold as troches (pronounced “tro-key”), a novel delivery method which is effectively a hard lozenge of sorts that you dissolve in your mouth (typically between your gums and your cheek) for 20-30 minutes.
The benefit of using a troche as opposed to other lozenges, tablets or liquids is that they dissolve directly into your bloodstream and therefore skip what is known as first-pass metabolism through your digestive system. A typical tablet that is swallowed goes through your digestive system where a lot of its bioavailability is either compromised (broken down by acid) and therefore less effective, and it also takes significantly longer to reach your bloodstream.
With a troche, the ingredients are highly bioavailable to you (i.e. you absorb more than you would have otherwise and you also benefit from quicker onset of action (you’ll feel a real difference within 15 minutes or so as opposed to up to 2 hours). It’s, therefore, a very specialised product relative to other lozenges.
The magic is in the ingredients
To understand why the three main ingredients in TroCalm were selected, it’s important to have a basic understanding of what GABA is. GABA (gamma-Aminobutyric acid) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter (chemical messengers of our bodies) in our central nervous systems. Just another naturally-occurring amino acid in our bodies that has a specific job to do. In the case of GABA, that job is to slam on the brakes of your nervous system, so anything that allows you to relax or shut down an excitatory response. Sometimes your body needs to react (fight or flight) and sometimes that needs to be countered or tempered or have the brakes slammed on by relaxing you: that’s GABA’s job.
So, you can understand why anything that boosts GABA, might have a relaxing, calming effect on us. TroCalm offers us these ingredients:
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Kava Kava (Piper Methysticum) – 100mg
Kava Kava is a plant indigenous to the South Pacific and known for its relaxing properties (due to impacting GABA). In fact, if you visit Hawaii, you’ll find more Kava Kava bars than you find actual “normal” bars!
Kava Kava has been used for years because its use allows GABA to become pronounced in the system, which in turn relaxes the brain. The knock-on effect of this is improvement in mood and focus. I’ve been trying to get hold of Kava Kava in South Africa without success for quite some time, so this is really an exciting product for me! Kava Kava is said to give you the same feelings of relaxation and calmness that a glass of vino would do, but without the dodgy side effects of alcohol: forgetfulness, fogginess, belief in karaoke skills or feelings of loss of control. Essentially, it has the good aspects of alcohol but it’s not a sedative in the same way that alcohol is.
To boot, it’s perfectly safe and has been used for centuries. Kava Kava also works on serotonin and dopamine (our so-called “happy” neurotransmitters), which means that mood and ego is also boosted by Kava Kava. As summarised by Troscriptions: Kava Kava won’t make you sleepy, but it does bring you down a notch without disturbing your focus.
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Hemp Extract (CBG 2mg and CBD 10mg)
The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a network of chemical signals and receptors packed throughout our brains and bodies. The receptors in our brains basically act like traffic cops that control the activity of our neurotransmitters. They basically run the show with immediate feedback by turning things up or down based on what your body needs (think hunger, temperature etc). So kinda a big deal.
Cannabinoids on the other hand are compounds found in cannabis. With the meteoric rise of CBD in recent years, you might know that cannabis is made up of over 120 compounds, of which two of them are very well known: CBD (popular for sleep, calming effects etc) and THC (the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis and popular for getting “high”). Both of these interact with the ECS.
A lesser-known compound in cannabis is cannabigerol or CBG. CBG is known as a precursor to the other cannabinoids, which means it breaks down into CBD, THC and the other compounds when heated. That being said, new research is showing that CBG has some different benefits to CBD and its popularity is growing rapidly. Unlike CBD, CBG does not work on the ECS but on completely different pathways. It is non-psychoactive and works as a mild sedative by decreasing stress, relaxing the mind and providing some pain relief. New research is even rumouring some metabolic benefits, so definitely a compound to keep your eye on! Regardless, I love that it’s included in this product.
I also like that CBD is also included in TroCalm – it’s popular for a reason: it works for a lot of people!
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N-Nicotinoyl GABA
Also known as Picomilon, N-Nicotinoyl GABA (NNG) is a combination of GABA with nicotinic acid (Vitamin B3 or niacin). The addition of niacin allows GABA to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which means that it can act directly on your brain to provide its benefits. A very clever addition to this supplement.
My Review of TroCalm
The product is cleverly formulated by providing Kava Kava (GABA), coming at it from the ECS and outside of the ECS through the CBD and CBG respectively and then finally making it “accessible” to your brain by allowing it to cross the blood-brain barrier.
Each package comes with four troches, which can easily be divided into four blocks. With Blue Cannatine, I find that I need at least two to three blocks to feel any difference. With TroCalm (it is orange, not blue) I found that even one block made a big difference for me. This comes in really handy because you then have more servings per box, making it significantly “cheaper” on a relatively pricey product.
I was amazed at the effect I felt from using just one-quarter of a troche. Chilled is how I would best describe it, but not sleepy. I continued with my workday but just felt…chilled.
I’ve subsequently ramped it up before bedtime because Troscriptions mentioned that their findings are showing massively beneficial impacts on deep sleep quality. They’re not kidding. My Oura ring scores were amazing for deep sleep in a way that other products have not been able to achieve (I’m obsessed with getting good sleep so I’ve tried it all!).
TroCalm is amazing for day to day use for the calm that it provides, almost a sense of wellbeing that is hard to describe. Wine without the light-headedness. The calmness actually helps you to concentrate better. And the impact on sleep is wildly impressive. Unfortunately, given that each package would only last me four nights it is not exactly something that can be used continuously, but it’s a fantastic tool for nights when quality sleep is non-negotiable!
Finally, it must be said that a product like this should never be used in lieu of other relaxation techniques such as breathing, meditation, journaling etc. Instead, it should be viewed as a supplement to all of those things to take you to the next level and boost your zen!
Closing Thoughts
This product gets a massive thumbs up from me! As we’ve become accustomed from Troscriptions, the sourcing and quality control of the ingredients is their number one priority and I fully trust the product (Kava Kava in particular is one where you don’t want to mess with impurities).
It’s cleverly formulated and it's one of those products where even if the science doesn’t particularly interest you, you’ll love how it makes you feel! It’s rare that I can feel such a real and pronounced effect from a product – this one is it!!
- Thea is the founder of Neolaia – Biohacking SA and passionate about all things biohacking, functional medicine, holistic and ancestral wellness. She enjoys the occasional triathlon, is fanatic about yoga and the gym and loves n=1 biohacking experiments more than anything else! Learning about the latest in scientific research for health and wellness and applying this knowledge is what makes her happiest!
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Instagram: biohack_sa
Disclaimer
This information does not serve as medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is for informational purposes only and does not provide a comprehensive explanation of the different compounds. Always consult your doctor first when making any changes to medication or supplementation.