We especially like A different kind of Thujone. Visitors to this site have posted additional material on the topic of thujone. Wormwood oil, in its raw form, is a poison. At best, you will end up with a foul-tasting liquor that bears no resemblance to real absinthe. Thujone poisoning is a possibility with home-made, undistilled 'absinthes' though - so beware those do-it-yourself absinthe recipes that suggest mixing wormwood oil with alcohol. 'Absinthe generally contains less than ten parts per million,' he continued. 'In absinthe, the most toxic compound is the alcohol,' confirmed biochemist Wilfred Arnold of the University of Kansas.

No matter how much absinthe you might drink, the chances of a thujone-induced delirium remain nil - you would suffer fatal alcohol poisoning long before that. In extreme quantities, thujone is toxic and may cause hyperactivity, excitability, delirium, seizures or worse.Ībsinthe drinkers needn't fear, however, as only a small amount of thujone actually survives the absinthe distillation process. This will come as no surprise to practitioners of natural medicine, who have long prescribed thujone-rich wormwood for the improvement of thinking and memory. Recent research did confirm one thing: the alpha-thujone found in absinthe causes 'CNS cholinergic receptor binding activity' in the brain, which, scientists claim, improves the brain's cognitive functions.

To this day, modern science has failed to provide any comprehensive answers, even though scientists had documented the effects of thujone by 1916. It is unclear, however, why thujone affects the mind in this way, or even if thujone alone is responsible for these remarkable absinthe effects. For over two centuries, absinthe drinkers have reported perplexing shifts in sensory perception, as well as extreme clarity of thought and vast improvement in cognitive and creative abilities. Thujone is believed to trigger inexplicable transformations in the mind. An essential ingredient of the celebrated drink, wormwood perhaps is nature's richest source of thujone: by weight, wormwood oil typically contains over 40% of the substance. The alpha-thujone contained in absinthe comes from Artemisia absinthium, a wild plant commonly known as wormwood. As a result, many everyday products contain some concentration of thujone, including Ralph Lauren's 'Safari' fragrance and Vick's 'Vaporub'. Thujone is also found - in fairly high concentrations - in cedar leaf oil and Dalmatian sage oil. Coriander, tansy and tarragon all contain moderate amounts of thujone, as do many other herbs and spices. Thujone takes its name from the thuja tree, whose bark contains the substance. Thujone, however, turns up in all kinds of unexpected places. In absinthe, thujone is thought to be the secret behind the unusual 'mind-illuminating' effects (as one French doctor put it) of the special green liquor. Thujone is perhaps best known in connection with absinthe, the drink that inspired a generation of nineteenth-century artists, writers and thinkers.

Thujone is a fragrant, oily substance, naturally found in a variety of common plants and flowers. Thujone and Absinthe: Mind-bending Effects? Thujone

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