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- Bacopa Monnieri: A Well-Evidenced Cognitive Enhancer
Bacopa Monnieri: A Well-Evidenced Cognitive Enhancer
Plus: boost your language-processing faculties
The 10almonds Team
August 29, 2023
Today’s almonds have been activated by:
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⏰ IN A RUSH?
Today’s 30-Second Summary
If you don’t have time to read the whole email today, here are some key takeaways:
Bacopa monnieri is one of those “from traditional use” herbs that has made its way into science.
It is most popularly sold and bought because of the following health claims:
Improves attention, learning, and memory
Reduces depression, anxiety, and stress
Reduces restlessness and impulsivity
It does have some other claims to its name too:
Antioxidant properties
Anti-inflammatory properties
Anticancer properties
In today’s main feature, we look at the scientific evidence for both sets of claims, and see that the nootropic (cognitive enhancement) benefits have a much better scientific underpinning than the more generalized putative benefits.
Of all the cognitive activities we can do to keep our brains young, keeping our language skills polished is one of the most critical (use it or lose it!)
Today’s sponsor Memrise offers an easy, fun, and useful (because as a bonus, you learn another language) way to do just that
Read on to learn about these things and more…
👀 WATCH AND LEARN
Knee Strengthening Exercise Routine | Bulletproof Knees
Knee strengthening and mobility exercises that will help your knees become strong, flexible, and healthy:
Disclaimer: metaphorically bulletproof. Please still try to avoid getting shot in the knees.
💊 MAIN FEATURE
Bacopa monnieri: a powerful nootropic
Bacopa monnieri is one of those “from traditional use” herbs that has made its way into science.
It’s been used for at least 1,400 years in Ayurvedic medicine, for cognitive enhancement, against anxiety, and some disease-specific treatments.
See: Pharmacological attributes of Bacopa monnieri extract: current updates and clinical manifestation
What are its claimed health benefits?
Bacopa monnieri is these days mostly sold and bought as a nootropic, and that’s what the science supports best.
Nootropic benefits claimed:
Improves attention, learning, and memory
Reduces depression, anxiety, and stress
Reduces restlessness and impulsivity
Other benefits claimed:
Antioxidant properties
Anti-inflammatory properties
Anticancer properties
What does the science say?
Those last three, the antioxidant / anti-inflammatory / anticancer properties, when something has one of those qualities it often has all three, because there are overlapping systems at hand when it comes to oxidative stress, inflammation, and cellular damage.
Bacopa monnieri is no exception to this “rule of thumb”, and/but studies to support these benefits have mostly been animal studies and/or in vitro studies (i.e., cell cultures in a petri dish in lab conditions).
For example:
Inhibition of lipoxygenases and cyclooxygenase-2 enzymes by extracts isolated from Bacopa monnieri
Assessing the anti-inflammatory effects of Bacopa-derived bioactive compounds using network pharmacology and in vitro studies
The evolving roles of Bacopa monnieri as potential anticancer agent: a review
In the category of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in the brain, sometimes results differ depending on the test population, for example:
Anything more promising than that?
Yes! The nootropic effects have been much better-studied in humans, and with much better results.
For example, in this 12-week study in healthy adults, taking 300mg/day significantly improved visual information processing, learning, and memory (tested against placebo):
The chronic effects of an extract of Bacopa monnieri on cognitive function in healthy human subjects
Another 12-week study showed older adults enjoyed the same cognitive enhancement benefits as their younger peers:
Children taking 225mg/day, meanwhile, saw a significant reduction in ADHD symptoms, such as restlessness and impulsivity:
And as for the mood benefits, 300mg/day significantly reduced anxiety and depression in elderly adults:
In summary
Bacopa monnieri, taken at 300mg/day (studies ranged from 225mg/day to 600mg/day, but 300mg is most common) has well-evidenced cognitive benefits, including:
Improved attention, learning, and memory
Reduced depression, anxiety, and stress
Reduced restlessness and impulsivity
It may also have other benefits, including against oxidative stress, inflammation, and cancer, but the research is thinner and/or not as conclusive for those.
Where to get it
As ever, we don’t sell it (or anything else), but for your convenience, here is an example product on Amazon.
Enjoy!
❤️ OUR SPONSORS MAKE THIS PUBLICATION POSSIBLE
Keep Your Brain Young (And, Bonus: Learn A Language) With Memrise
When it comes to keeping an aging brain young, language-learning is always one of the top-advised activities. Why is that?
It’s because unlike for example sudoku or chess, it directly works the part of the brain responsible for a critical life skill: communication.
If someone in advanced years struggles with mental arithmetic, or forgets the best 17th move in the Tartakower variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined, it’s usually not a big deal! But fumbling speech, forgetting words, and failing to keep up with conversations? That has a big impact on life (and mental health).
Memrise is a top-tier way to keep language skills sharp, because unlike some other market-leading language-learning apps, Memrise focuses strongly on audio/video recordings of native speakers speaking naturally, keeping the human touch. This makes a big difference for your brain!
(You can click through and then on “start learning” if you want; it’s literally that easy)
Please do visit our sponsors—they help keep 10almonds free
🌍 AROUND THE WEB
What’s happening in the health world…
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High-fat diets alter gut bacteria, increasing colorectal cancer risk
Migraine headaches: what they are and how to treat them
Brain circuitry repair offers hope for new Parkinson's disease treatments
Poor lifestyle of over 60s linked to heightened risk of nursing home care
More to come tomorrow!
📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW
The Circadian Code: Lose Weight, Supercharge Your Energy, and Transform Your Health from Morning to Midnight – by Dr. Satchin Panda
There's a lot more to circadian rhythm than "sleep during these hours". And there's a lot more to bear in mind than "don't have blue/white light at night".
In fact, Dr. Satchin Panda explains, there's a whole daily symphony of movements in our body as different biochemical processes wax and wane according to what time of day it is.
There are several important things he wants us to know about this:
Our body needs to know what time it is, for those processes to work correctly
Because of these daily peaks and troughs of various physiological functions, we get "correct" times for things we do every day. Not just sleeping/waking, but also:
The best time to eat
The best time to exercise
The best time to do mental work
The best times to take different kinds of supplements/medications
Dr. Panda also looks at what things empower, or disempower, our body to keep track of what time it is.
Bottom line: if you'd like to optimize your days and your health, this book has a lot of very valuable practicable tips.
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Wishing you the most well-informed start to the week,
The 10almonds Team