Betel
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Plant Medicine, Excitantia
Betel
Areca catechu (the nut); Piper betle (the leaf)
Betel chewing is one of the most widespread human stimulant practices, used daily by an estimated 600 million people across South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. The areca palm nut is sliced and combined with a green betel pepper leaf and slaked lime, which alkalizes the mixture and frees the alkaloids for buccal absorption. Distinct red-stained teeth/saliva. Significant oral cancer risk with prolonged use.
Tobacco, Coca
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Summary
Classes
Plant Medicine, Excitantia
Common uses
Alertness0, Appetite suppressant0
Pharmacy
Preparations
A betel quid: areca nut slice + betel leaf + slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) ± tobacco ± spices, chewed
Pharmacology
Routes
Oral (buccal)
Purported mechanism
Primary alkaloid is arecoline, a muscarinic agonist (M1, M2, M3, M4) and partial agonist at nicotinic receptors. Produces alertness, salivation, sweating, mild euphoria.
“Pendell's corner
The chew is older than the writing — Areca catechu in slice, Piper betle in leaf, slaked lime in dust, the red stain on the lips and the small alkaloid lift across a billion afternoons. Pakistan to the Philippines, the quid is the social glue of half the human population. The pharmacology is mild; the cultural weight is anything but.
— Dale Pendell, Pharmako/Dynamis
curated paraphrase — replace with verbatim passage
curated paraphrase — replace with verbatim passage