What Is Brahmi Good For? (Hint: Memory!)

What is Brahmi good for? Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri) herbal extract provides support for brain health and memory.

Brahmi, more formally known as Bacopa monnieri, has been used as an herbal therapeutic for more than 3,000 years. Native to India, it’s a nootropic, an adaptogen, and an antioxidant, and it offers exceptional health benefits. Brahmi is called Medhya Rasayana in Ayurveda. At Linden Botanicals, we call it the Mastermind.  There is good reason to believe that a lifestyle-related approach to optimal health will benefit from support with Brahmi as a health supplement.

What Is Brahmi Good For?

The following properties in Brahmi have been studied and found to be statistically significant: adaptogenic, analgesic, anti-anxiety, anti-bacterial, anticonvulsant, antidepressant, anti-diarrheal, anti-fungal, anti-hypertensive, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, antioxidant, anti-anti-toxicity, anti-ulcerogenic, nootropic, immunostimulatory, hepatoprotective, and neuroprotective.

That’s a long list, we know. But then, Brahmi is a very impressive plant with equally impressive potential health benefits.

The most common medicinal uses of Brahmi are as follows:

• memory enhancer
• cardiac tonic
• epilepsy, bronchial, and diarrheal ailments
• malaria
• headache

The phytochemistry is important here. The pharmacological properties of Bacopa monnieri are mainly attributed to the presence of characteristic saponins called “bacosides.” Bacosides are a complex mixture of structurally closely related compounds, glycosides of either jujubogenin or pseudojujubogenin. Bacosides can enhance collaboration between brain chemicals engaged in thinking, reading, improving memory, and reducing inflammation in the brain.

A recent study published in Annals of Neurosciences reviewed Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri extract). As the authors note, Bacopa extract is an herbal nootropic that “promotes free radical scavenger mechanisms and protects cells in prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and striatum against cytotoxicity and DNA damage implicated in Alzheimer’s disease.”

The study’s subjects were tested on general information, orientation, mental control, logical memory, digit forward, digit backward, visual reproduction, and paired associated learning. Bacopa extract provided neurocognitive herbal support, improving the total memory score. Maximum improvement was seen in logical memory and paired associate learning in humans and reversed phenytoin-induced memory impairment in an experimental model.

Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri) shows significant potential as a novel agent in supporting treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. However, as is almost always the case with scientific trials and experimental models, further human trials will be needed to verify the plant’s effectiveness and rule out any side effects.

Serving Suggestion: Add 1/2 teaspoon of extract to 1/2 teaspoon of your favorite nut butter (or you can add it to virgin coconut oil or ghee). Mix thoroughly. Take two servings a day.

Learn More About This Marvelous Extract

Linden Botanicals sells Bacopa monnieri herbal extract in a small, 100g size as AHA! Memory Support (approximately 50 servings). We also sell Bacopa in larger sizes ranging from 200 g (100 servings) to 1,000 g (500 servings).

To learn more about Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri), a good place to start is with the Brahmi FAQ. It contains a more extensive description of science-based information about this amazing plant.

Read the FAQ Buy AHA! Buy Bacopa