Bacopa monnieri is Awesome!

Modern medicine has achieved incredible feets, helping us to live much longer and healthier lives, but sometimes it seems like something is lacking. Many forms of traditional medicine, such as Ayurvedic Medicine from India, differed in the way that they had a more holistic approach to looking at ailments – mind, body, and soul – and they relied a lot more on whole medicinal plants, like brahmi, instead of isolated compounds. Now, many researchers are seeing how we can take some of these traditional medicinal plants and better understand how they can improve our lives. 

In particular, many of us feel like we could use a little “boost” in our brain power – whether it is to be less forgetful, a bit more focused, a little more awake, or maybe even to protect our brain from neurodegenerative disease. Luckily, there are a lot of ways that we can improve our brain health and cognitive abilities for a better quality of life. Exercise (including mental exercise in this case) and diet should always be at the forefront of your journey to a healthier you, but there are also a few things we can take as “supplements” – whether in the form of actual supplements or teas or greens – to help better improve how our brains work. 

One plant that is being re-explored as a nootropic “brain booster” is Bacopa monnieri, most commonly referred to as brahmi or herb of grace!

What is Bacopa monnieri? 

Bacopa monnieri is the scientific name of this medicinal herb that we will mostly refer to as brahmi. A widespread low growing wetland herb, brahmi has a long history in Indian Ayurvedic medicine and is gaining traction as a potential nootropic in new research.

This plant is also often referred to simply as Bacopa, but do be careful, because this is the genus name and there are actually quite a few more similar species within this genus! Some other common names are Herb of Grace. Hyssop, and water hyssop.

Identify Bacopa monnieri

Bacopa monnieri is a wetland herb that likes to be in moist conditions and can even grow in water. It grows in gardens and even pots if it is well watered but thrives in wet soils along water bodies. It does not get overly tall and grows out horizontally. Here are some of its main identifying features: 

• Grows from ~15 cm to 1 m in length (6 inch to 3 ft) 
• Bright green leaves that are small and oblong
• Leaves are succulent – thick and smooth
• Leaves grow in pairs along the stem 
• Very fibrous roots that can anchor well in marshy areas/wet or submerged soil 
• Soft stem that is light green to reddish green in color 
• Flowers are solitary and white to light purple 
• Flowers have 5 petals and contain both male and female parts (bi-sexual flower) 
• The fruits are little ovoid capsules full of small oblong seeds
• Plant is bitter and has a very subtle herb-like odor

So why should you want to be able to find this plant? Because it’s amazing!

Bacopa monnieri Benefits

We have talked about a lot of incredible plants that can improve your health, and even fungi that may improve cognitive abilities, but brahmi stands out as an ancient medicinal herb that is also finally getting the research it deserves. Thanks to that, we have a pretty good idea of how this plant can help us live better. 

Brahmi is best known for its origin in Ayurvedic Medicine with records dating all the way back to 6th century AD! Ayurveda is an ancient medicine from India that focuses on natural and holistic approaches to health of the mind, body, and spirit. Ayurvedic medicine is still practiced today and science is allowing us to get to the bottom of some of the practices, such as using Bacopa monnieri as a cognitive enhancer and for protection against neural degenerative disorders. 

As we mentioned above, brahmi is a promising nootropic – meaning it may be a cognitive enhancer and is also a powerful antioxidant. Taking this plant may improve: 

• Heart rate and blood flow
• Memory
• Learning/retention of new information 
• Attention and focus 
• Mood
• Sleep
• Mental health (Improving depression and anxiety)
• Energy levels

In addition to these more general benefits, there is potential for bacopa to aid in the prevention and/or treatment  of serious neurodegenerative disorders such as Dementia, Alzheimer’s, and Parkingson’s.

Bacopa monnieri Research 

Traditional knowledge of medicinal plants can absolutely guide us to a healthier lifestyle, but it helps to have science to tell us what works and why it works the way it does. Luckily, due to the extensive historical use of brahmi and the increasing popularity of it as a nootropic supplement, there have been a decent number of clinical trials – in-vitro, on non-human animals, and on people – that are showing some pretty great results. Though most researchers recommend further studies to fully understand how bacopa works and if there are any long term side effects of use, what we have learned so far is that this plant is awesome. 

The video above broke down some awesome review papers, and here are a few more interesting things we found: 

This research (a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial) showed improvements in memory, ability to focus on important information, depression, anxiety and heart rate in the elderly participants of the study. Some experienced upset stomachs, but otherwise only experienced minor side effects. 

In this clinical trial they saw an increase of retention of new information, though not too much else was impacted. There are plenty more review articles (here, here, here, and here) that show the same benefits, and newer research is highlighting the potential it may have in treating and/or preventing Alzheimer’s. Surprisingly, we could highlight even more studies here but we hope this is enough to help you get started if you want to take a deeper dive yourself!

How Does Brahmi Work? 

There are clearly a lot of potential benefits to taking Brahmi, but how does it work? 

Some of the review papers mentioned above also helped to explain a bit of the “why” brahmi works as well as it does. Bacopa monnieri does a few main things to improve health: 

• Anti-oxidant neuroprotection – where antioxidants prevent the oxidation of neurons and therefore reduce their degradation over time 
• Bacosides regulate neurotransmitters – It’s regulation of Acetylcholine may aid in improving memory and regulation of serotonin and dopamine aids in mood/mental health
• Bacoside A helps Improves blood flow in the brain, mainly through nitric oxide – This increased blood flow helps with a range of neuro-related issues 
• Brahmi is anti-inflammatory – controlling inflammation can help with a range of neurological problems
• Beta-amyloid reduction – Though the direct cause of Alzheimer’s still isn’t known, reducing Beta-amyloid plaques that build up in the brain seems to help patients with their symptoms. 

Now, just like with a lot of medicinal plants, researchers caution that we need to do more studies on long term impacts of brahmi, but most are very optimistic about the great results coming from the various different clinical trials using the plant. 

Bacopa monnieri side effects? 

With any medicine or treatment, whether traditional/natural or synthesized, there can be side effects and/or interactions with medication that you need to be aware of. For this reason it is always best to consult your doctor before you add any medicinal plants into your health regime. Additionally,  once you get the “OK” from your doctor, it is important to listen to your body and experiment with different remedies until you find what is right for you. On the bright side, Research so far has shown very few negative side effects of bacopa monnieri. 

Some negative side effects noted from studies were: 

• Some individuals experienced gastrointestinal discomfort, abdominal cramping, dry mouth, and more frequent bowel movements. 
• Because Bacopa interacts with Acetylcholine, it could interfere with other medications such as anticholinergic drugs. There could always be potential other interaction so be careful. 
• One study highlighted in the video showed that rats given Bacopa monnieri had reduced fertility – mainly reduced motility and viability of the spermatozoa – but this effect reversed after the rats stopped taking the plant. Furthermore, libido was never impacted during treatment and the same study found no issues in liver and kidney – which is not often true regarding other neurological pharmaceuticals.

Using Bacopa 

If you have decided that Brahmi is a good supplement for you to try you can take it in a few different ways: 

• Eat the leaves (though they are pretty bitter) 
• Make the leaves into a tea 
• Add into your supplements/smoothies as a little extra boost
• Get supplements from a reputable dealer in natural health products

Something worth mentioning here is that various clinical trials do extract the beneficial compounds from the plant using ethanol and other laboratory methods before administering to the control group. So, if you are looking for more powerful results, it may be best to take this plant as a concentrated supplement.

Wrap Up 

Bacopa monnieri is a widespread wetland herb with a long history of use as a nootropic. Recently its popularity has also inspired a range of research in clinical trials that show great promise for this plant to aid in a range of neurological disorders. If you decide that this medicinal plant could benefit you, it can be eaten or made into tea or taken as a supplement. Brahmi is just one more awesome herb that shows us how incredible the world of plants is, and how much learning more about them can help to improve our lives! 

Disclaimer: The StoneAgeMan blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. We are not responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided. Always consult a healthcare professional before using plants for medicinal purposes.