As you guys probably know there is a peptide called Bremelanotide formerly known as PT-141. To make a long story short, there is this other peptide called Melanotan II which was used to induce Sunless and UVless tanning and people found out that it results in a very strong libido boost both in men and women as well. The reason for that was the fraction now known as Bremelanotide. Bremelanotide is an isolated fraction that is used for the purpose of treating sexual dysfunction. Now I'm not talking about the effect one would get from Viagra or Cialis. I'm talking directly affecting the brain to increase sexual desire. This happens by stimulating the MC1R, MC3R and MC4R melanocortin receptors.
I've tried this peptide and let me tell you this - It works like magic. Just 4 hours after a subQ injection and even the slightest hint of skin will awaken the rabbit inside you. That goes on for 1-3 days. As you will read in the wiki article - at first it was developed to be introduced through a nasal spray which however resulted in very high peak plasma levels and high blood pressure. So they switched to subQ injections and voila, no more blood pressure side effects due to a much slower introduction to the blood stream.
Now while this is a cool tool to have peptides are not very comfortable. First of all you need to keep them in a separate sterile fridge. Second of all you need to reconstitute with acetic acid and bacteriostatic water every now and then and last but not least some people are not comfortable with injections. I don't mind but a lot of people do. So here is what I was thinking. If we take the knowledge from this peptide maybe we could find a way out to activate the MC1R, MC3R and MC4R receptors through dietary or supplemental intake. What if there are foods/herbs/amino acids (after all peptides are fractions of amino acids) that can stimulate these receptors in a more subtle and long-term way. This can fix every couple's love life forever. Not only this but studies show that activating melanocortin receptors might greatly reduce inflammation which can be useful in a lot of people:
Check this out:
1. Natural and synthetic agonists of the melanocortin receptor type 3 possess anti-inflammatory properties
2. Targeting Melanocortin Receptors as a Novel Strategy to Control Inflammation
According to Wiki:
"Bremelanotide is a cyclic hepta-peptide lactam analog of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) that activates the melanocortin receptors MC3-R and MC4-R in the central nervous system. It has the amino acid sequence Ac-Nle-cyclo[Asp-His-D-Phe-Arg-Trp-Lys]-OH or cyclo-[Nle4, Asp5, D-Phe7, Lys10]alpha-MSH-(4-10). It is a metabolite of Melanotan II that lacks the C-terminal amide function."
Knowing this, could we come up with ways to activate these receptors through dietary intake ? Can't wait to see what you think about this.