Bacopa is an Ayurvedic herb used in India for memory enhancement, epilepsy, insomnia, and as a mild sedative. Bacopa commonly grows in marshy areas throughout India. Studies show that bacopa monnieri has antioxidant properties, protects mental function in those with epilepsy who take the drug phenytion, while a study on rats showed bacopa administration improves learning skills.  Recent human studies show bacopa herb has the ability to improve memory and mood.

Bacopa Extract, 225 mg, 120 Tablets - Planetary Formulas
Bacopa monnieri has been revered for centuries in the Ayurvedic herbal tradition of India to enhance clear thinking and support memory function. Studies have shown that bacopa monnieri supports learning and memory in humans. In animal models, Bacopa monnieri provides antioxidant protection for critical memory centers and helps to reduce the effects of stress on the brain. Traditional application suggests that bacopa has a direct effect on improving brain functions, increasing concentration, and in promoting memory functions. Bacosides play a protective role in the synaptic functions of the nerves in the hippocampus, the seat of memory. Nerve impulses are transmitted across the synapses and their degeneration is believed to contribute to impaired memory and cognition.
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Bacopa Monnieri Supplement Facts
Amount Per Serving
Calcium - 100 mg - 10%DV
Bacopa Whole Plant Extract - 450 mg*
   (20% bacosides A+B)

* Bacopa daily value not established.

What's in Bacopa monnieri?
Two saponins, designated as bacopaside I and II, are found in Bacopa monniera. Additional phytochemicals betulinic acid, wogonin and oroxindin have been isolated from the aerial parts of Bacopa monnieri and showed significant antifungal activity.

Bacopa: Ayurvedic Memory Herb
Researchers at the Department of Psychology, University of Wollongong, in Woolongong, Australia, recently studied the effects of Bacopa on human memory. Seventy-six adults aged between 40 and 65 years took part in a double-blind randomized, placebo control study in which various memory functions were tested and levels of anxiety measured. There were three testing sessions: one prior to the trial, one after three months on the trial, and one six weeks after the completion of the trial. The results showed a significant effect of bacopa on a test for the retention of new information. Follow-up tests showed that the rate of learning was unaffected, suggesting that bacopa decreases the rate of forgetting of newly acquired information.

Additional benefits of bacopa herb
Bacopa has antioxidant properties. One rodent study indicates bacopa to have some potential in helping protect the stomach from ulcers.

Bacopa Side Effects
Long term bacopa side effects are currently not fully understood.

Additional mind boosting herbs besides bacopa
These include Alpha-GPC, along with Huperzine supplement, and Galantamine.

Bacopa extract availability by herbal suppliers
Bacopa extract is sold in a number of concentrations and extract potencies including 20 percent bacosides and 45 percent bacosides.

Bacopa Research Update
Bacopa monniera prevents from aluminium neurotoxicity in the cerebral cortex of rat brain.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2006 Nov 11; Neurobiology Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi-67, India.
Bacopa monniera is a perennial herb, and is used as a nerve tonic in ayurveda, a traditional medicinal system in India. Aluminium -induced neurotoxicity is well known and different salts of aluminium have been reported to accelerate oxidative damage to biomolecules like lipids, proteins and nucleic acids. The objective of the present study was to investigate whether Bacopa monniera could potentially inhibit aluminium toxicity in the cerebral cortex. Male Wister rats (8 months old) were administered with AlCl(3) orally at a dose of 50mg/kg/day in drinking water for 1 month. Experimental rats were given AlCl(3) along with Bacopa monniera extract at a dose of 40mg/kg/day. One group of rats was treated with l-deprenyl at a dose of 1mg/kg/day along with AlCl(3) treatment. We have observed that Bacopa monniera prevented accumulation of lipid and protein damage significantly, which resulted from aluminium intake. Decline in the activity of endogenous antioxidant enzymes associated with aluminium administration was also inhibited by Bacopa monniera extract. The potential of Bacopa monniera to inhibit Al-induced oxidative stress was observed to be similar to that of l-deprenyl, which was taken as standard. The potential of Bacopa monniera extract to prevent aluminium neurotoxicity was reflected at the microscopic level as well, indicative of its neuroprotective effects. These findings strongly implicate that Bacopa monniera has potential to protect brain from oxidative damage resulting from aluminium toxicity.

Chronic effects of Brahmi (Bacopa monniera) on human memory.
Roodenrys S. niversity of Wollongong, Woolongong, Australia.
Neuropsychopharmacology. 2002 Aug;27(2):279-81.
A study is reported on the effects of Brahmi (Bacopa monniera) on human memory. Seventy-six adults aged between 40 and 65 years took part in a double-blind randomized, placebo control study in which various memory functions were tested and levels of anxiety measured. There were three testing sessions: one prior to the trial, one after three months on the trial, and one six weeks after the completion of the trial. The results show a significant effect of the Bacopa monniera on a test for the retention of new information. Follow-up tests showed that the rate of learning was unaffected, suggesting that Bacopa monniera decreases the rate of forgetting of newly acquired information. Tasks assessing attention, verbal and visual short-term memory and the retrieval of pre-experimental knowledge were unaffected. Questionnaire measures of everyday memory function and anxiety levels were also unaffected.

The chronic effects of an extract of Bacopa monniera (Brahmi) on cognitive function in healthy human subjects.
Stough C. School of Biophysical Science and Electrical Engineering, Victoria, Australia.
Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2001 Aug;156(4):481-4
Extracts of Bacopa monniera have been reported to exert cognitive enhancing effects in animals. However, the effects on human cognition are inconclusive. The current study examined the chronic effects of an extract of bacopa on cognitive function in healthy human subjects. The study was a double-blind placebo-controlled independent-group design in which subjects were randomly allocated to one of two treatment conditions, bacopa (300 mg) or placebo. Neuropsychological testing was conducted pre-(baseline) and at 5 and 12 weeks post drug administration. Bacopa significantly improved speed of visual information processing measured by the IT task, learning rate and memory consolidation measured by the AVLT and state anxiety compared to placebo, with maximal effects evident after 12 weeks. Conclusion: These findings suggest that Bacopa monniera may improve higher order cognitive processes that are critically dependent on the input of information from our environment such as learning and memory.

Effect of Bacopa monniera and Azadirachta indica on gastric ulceration and healing in experimental NIDDM rats.
Dorababu M. Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221 005, India.
Indian J Exp Biol. 2004 Apr;42(4):389-97.
Gastric ulcers were induced in normal/NIDDM rats by various physical (2 hr cold restraint stress and 4 hr pylorus ligation) and chemical agents (ethanol, 1 ml/200 g, oral, 1 hr before; aspirin, 200 mg/kg, oral, 4 hr) and duodenal ulcers were induced by cysteamine (40 mg/200 g). Ulcer healing activity was studied in gastric ulcers induced by acetic acid (50%) and HCI (0.6 M). The result indicated that in both, normal and NIDDM rats, Bacopa monniera extract ( 20-100 mg/kg) did not show any significant effect on blood glucose level, while A. indica (AIE, 250-1000 mg/kg) significantly decreased it. However, both Bacopa monniera extract  (50 mg/kg) and AIE (500 mg/kg) showed significant anti-ulcer and ulcer-healing activities in normal and NIDDM rats. Further, the present results also indicated that the ulcer protective effects of Bacopa monniera extract was more pronounced in non-diabetic, while that of AIE was more in NIDDM rats. The anti-ulcer and ulcer-healing activities of Bacopa monniera extract and AIE may be due to their effects on various mucosal offensive and defensive factors, and correction of blood sugar level by AIE may help to have more ulcer protective effect in NIDDM rats.

Bacopa press release
October 2007 – Verdure Sciences announced today that Bacognize Extract, the clinically researched ingredient derived from bacopa monnieri, after an extensive analytical program, has been further characterized to its 100% natural serotonin-active profile of unique glycosides. A substantial amount of published human and in vivo research supports the use of bacopa monnieri for areas of cognitive health, particularly for helping the brain regulate mood and adapt to stress. Traditionally used in Indian and Asian cultures, bacopa is an integral part of an Indian pharmacopoeia refined over the past two to three thousand years. Noted in the traditional literature is regular use of bacopa as a nerve tonic by people within a broad range of ages. “Parallel with our mission to provide efficacy and consistency across the board, we thought it was necessary to improve upon the non-specific ultraviolet spectrometry method for ‘Total Bacosides’, a method which may or may not detect the active glycosides,” said Blake Ebersole, Technical Director of Verdure Sciences. “By HPLC-standardizing to the serotonin-active bacopa phytochemicals, we are now able to provide exact levels of the exact compounds researched for the plant’s cognition-enhancing activity.” Bacognize, a proprietary extract from 100% bacopa monnieri, is manufactured at Verdure Sciences’ ISO-9000:2001, HACCP, botanicals-only facility; is supported by its own clinical, safety, and natural phytochemical profiles; and is Kosher- and Halal-certified, and GMO-free.

Bacopa moni extract availability by herbal suppliers
Artichoke extract is available in a number of concentrations and extract potencies.
 

Bacopa Questions
Q. On a page for Mind Power RX, it states "the usual dosage of bacopa is 100 mg of the extract once or twice daily. It appears that bacopa works better when taken a few days in a row rather than just once." I don't understand this. The bottle must have a few dozen capsules, so does this mean that you take the dose for a few days, stop, then resume when you feel you'd like more, or do you take the dose daily?
   A. Not enough research with bacopa on humans has been done to give a good response. To be on the safe side we suggest taking breaks, the length of the breaks and the frequency of the breaks depend on the user and the guidance of their health care provider. Each person is likely to respond differently to bacopa and other herbs or combination.
 

Q. Investigating the herb bacopa I have learned that the active components resembles the toxic substance strychnine, this makes me a bite concerned, but of course the dose makes the poison; so what I would like to do is how much one would have to take in order to have a toxic effect from bacopa? I have some more questions regarding the bacopa herb: Do you think bacopa might have a long term negative effect on the kidneys (I do know that strychnine is harmful fore the kidneys in particularly)? Do you now how bacopa effects the dopamine in the brain? (dose persons with epilepsy have high levels of dopamine in general?) And finely what do u think abbot long term us of bacopa in the treatment of chronic ailments, perhaps several of years, have it bin used like that traditionally? Is their any side effects that are associated with long term use of bacopa? Most grate full for answer.
   A. We have not seen any research regarding the relationship of substances in bacopa and strychnine. We prefer taking breaks from the use of most herbs, and that includes bacopa. There has not been long term research with bacopa and many medicinal herbs, and hence taking breaks from use are a cautious option. This could be in the form of one week off per month. Another option is to use combinations of herbs such as that found in Mind Power Rx.

Q. Are there any bacopa side effects or medical conditions where the supplement should not be taken. I have an 80 y/o father with CHF and begin stage of Alzheimer's.
   A. Not enough human studies are available to determine bacopa safety in elderly. If bacopa is used, we suggest very low dosages.
 

Q. Is it safe to take bacopa monniera for memory improvement? I am on blood pressure pill Coversyl 10 mg daily.
   A. We can only refer your doctor to read the page on bacopa and decide for you. We can't make that judgment regarding blood pressure medication interactions. Much depends on your overall health and dosage of medicines used.

Q. I would like to give some info about the effect of Bacopa on my two young daughters. The younger one was prescribed an extract of bacopa by a medical practitioner several years ago and then suffered frightening auditory hallucinations at night. I phoned the Dr and asked if this was a side effect and he seemed unconcerned and asserted bacopa was very safe. However, I decided to discontinue it and threw the bottle away. The hallucinations stopped immediately. A couple of years later I gave my elder daughter a student formula (completely different brand) to help her through exam time. Within a few days she expressed concern about hearing things that she “knew weren’t there at night”. I checked the bottle and one of the ingredients was “brahmi” which as you would know and as I then discovered is aka bacopa – reminding me of the trouble two years previous! So that bottle was thrown away and we check any student formulas very carefully now! Incidentally, our younger daughter suffers an anxiety condition called Selective Mutism – now she is symptom-free thanks to a combination of Inositol, Glutamine, Tyrosine and the occasional course of 5-htp. Several other Selective Mutism children have also been effectively cured with the same combination. She now takes a maintenance dose, which also helps with common Selective Mutism co-traits such as obsessive compulsive, transition anxiety, sensory integration probs. She took the bacopa well before starting on this special combination, in fact we tried a lot of things that didn’t work! At first I thought her condition may have just made her super-sensitive to the bacopa, but then when our other daughter (who didn’t inherit the selective mutism) had just the same reaction, my theory was dashed! I haven’t been able to find any info on the web re any link between bacopa and auditory hallucinations, but I thought you might be interested in our experience with it, or even be able to theorise an explanation for it?!
   A. This is quite interesting, we have not had reports of bacopa monniera causing auditory hallucinations but unexpected reactions can occur with medicines and supplements. Perhaps bacopa enhances auditory perception?

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