Bacopa monnieri is a plant that’s used in traditional Indian medicine. It’s also known as water hyssop, brahmi, the herb of grace, and thyme-leaved gratiola. It’s found growing in tropical, wet environments including in ponds, wetlands, and tidal lands.

Though it’s a popular underwater plant for aquariums, Bacopa monnieri is more widely used as a nootropic. In fact, Ayurvedic doctors have been using it for centuries for brain enhancement and other reasons. It’s commonly found in the best brain boosting supplements, and for good reason. Let’s take a look at the benefits of Bacopa monnieri on the human brain.

Antidepressant Properties Many people around the world live with depression. It is a hard mental illness to deal with as it varies in effects and intensity depending on the person’s environmental factors and history of mental health. Regardless, this condition keeps many sufferers from ever seeking help, which causes some to become lost on a dark road that can end in suicide.

It’s thought that low serotonin levels inside the brain can play a role in developing or worsening the symptoms of depression. Studies conducted on Bacopa have shown that the supplement boosts activity of the brain’s neurotransmitters. Thus, increasing the natural production levels of serotonin.

It’s been found that patients using Bacopa for only 8 weeks have shown great improvement with their symptoms of depression. This supplement can help improve brain health and stabilize moods.

Boosts Brain Function

Bacopa monnieri is contained in the best memory pills because it’s known to help improve overall brain function. Multiple studies have been conducted on this supplement, and each shows promising results.

One study conducted on mice showed that after being supplemented with Bacopa it improved their ability to retain info and spatial learning capabilities. This study also found that it helped increase dendritic branching and length. Dendrites are found within the brain’s nerve cells and are linked to memory and learning.

May Help Relieve and Prevent Stress and Anxiety

This powerful herb may help prevent stress and anxiety. It’s actually labeled as an adaptogenic herb. This means it can increase the body’s natural resistance to stress.
Not only can it help reduce anxiety and stress by helping elevate your mood, but it is also shown to reduce levels of cortisol, the hormone linked to stress. Studies have found that it has effects most similar to lorazepam, which is a prescription medication used for anxiety.

Helps Manage Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a nervous system disorder that causes people to experience seizures. The seizures are caused by environmental triggers that cause changes in brain activity. While this condition is rarely fatal, it can cause complications when other nervous system conditions are present.

While Bacopa won’t replace your regular Epilepsy medication, it’s thought that if you supplement with the herb in addition to the prescriptions, it will help ensure that you have fewer seizures. In the event a seizure does occur, Bacopa can help reduce the duration and intensity of it.

Reduces Symptoms of ADHD

ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is a disorder that’s characterized by impulsivity, inattentiveness, and hyperactivity. Some studies have shown that taking Bacopa can help reduce the symptoms of this condition.

A study followed 31 children between the ages of 6 and 12 years old for 6 months. Researchers found that by taking just 225 mg of Bacopa monnieri daily significantly reduced the symptoms of ADHD for 85% of the children. Symptoms that were reduced included inattention, impulsivity, poor self-control, and restlessness.

A similar study was conducted using 120 children. It found that when children were given 125 mg of Bacopa it helped with their cognition, attention, and impulse control when compared to the placebo group.

May Prevent Alzheimer’s and Dementia

Bacopa monnieri may be among the best supplements for brain health because it may help prevent cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Dementia. While there is no known cure for either of these diseases, this supplement has shown promising results for slowing the progression of the disease. It contains many antioxidants that work to clear the neural pathways of free radicals. These free radicals are what cause oxidative damage to the brain’s cells.

Enhances Mental Focus

While you won’t become the main character in the movie “Limitless”, it can help improve your focus and mental clarity. It’s highly regarded by many for its nootropic effects, and is known to boost neural pathways to improve decision-making, memory, and thinking.

Hence, taking Bacopa daily can help not only increase your focus, but also your concentration which allows you to more efficiently solve problems and execute decisions. When you take focus vitamins, you’ll find that your “brain-fog” is cleared and you can think more clearly than ever before.

It Contains Powerful Antioxidants

Perhaps the best benefit gained by Bacopa monnieri is its content of powerful antioxidants. Remember that antioxidants are substances known to help protect your body’s cells from damage caused by free radicals.

The damage caused by free radicals can lead to conditions such as cancers, diabetes, and heart disease.

Bacopa does this because it contains bacosides. These active compounds are shown to not only neutralize free radicals, but also prevent fat molecules from reacting with them as well. This is great because when fat molecules are allowed to react with free radicals, they undergo what’s known as lipid peroxidation. This process is linked to Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and other disorders of the neurological system.

So, if you are looking for the best brain boosting supplements, be sure to find one that contains Bacopa monnieri. It offers many health benefits beyond the ones we’ve discussed today. There are many memory enhancing supplements on the market today, so it can be hard to choose one.

One of the best memory pills we’ve tried was created by Dynamism Labs Parent company of Mantfup and is called.  It contains a proprietary blend which includes Bacopa, Ginkgo Biloba, caffeine, and GABA.

There was also a study that lasted 12 weeks and followed 46 healthy adults who took 300 mg of Bacopa daily. This study concluded that these people had improved processing speeds for visual information, they learned faster, and had better memories than those given a placebo.

A third study that also lasted 12 weeks, but looked at 60 older adults, found that when they took 300 mg or 600 mg of the supplement daily it improved their attention, memory, and ability to process info when compared to those given placebo treatment.