Can I Use Bacopa Monnieri For ADHD?

What Is Bacopa Monnieri?

Bacopa Monnieri is a plant that is mostly and commonly used in Ayurvedic medicine. It has an old reputation for being an effective herb that is helpful to the memory in fighting stress. Most people know it as Brahmi and use it as an adaptogen. This signifies that it helps the body to adapt to new stressful situations that emanate from the environment. The leaves of this plant are oblong, succulent, and around 4-6mm thick. Bacopa Monnieri has been used for centuries as a memory and learning enhancer, sedative, and even an anti-epileptic.

Benefits

This product has been found to have the following advantages:

• It has been found to have memory enhancing effects in human beings
• It aids in the retention of new information that is aired or channeled to the brain faster than those who don’t use it.
• It lessens the time that is required to learn a new task by almost half.
• It can be used to treat epilepsy, Alzheimer, mental deficiency, Attention Deficit Disorder, anxiety, stress, and depression.
• It may also prevent long-term cognitive decline.
• It fights systemic redness and swelling that occurs in the body. It is even worse when this takes place in the brain. But Brahmi can fight all these defects that are caused by the body’s autoimmune response.
• Research has shown that Bacopa Monnieri encourages normal blood pressure in the body. This is because it increases the utilization of nitric oxide in the body and vascular muscle function, two things that influence the body’s normal blood pressure.
• It can offer high antioxidant protection. It has been rated to provide protection against the oxidative damage that emanates from cellular damage caused by free radicals. Bacopa Monnieri ADHD treatment options use the drug as a natural alternative to prescription stimulants.

Recommended Dosage

The standard dose that is known for Bacopa Monnieri is 300 mg. This is when it is assumed that the total bacoside content (this is the active compound that is found in it) is, at least, % of the extracted component by weight. On the other hand, Bacopa Monnieri can be supplemented in a leaf or powder form. To achieve the required bacoside content, then you are required to take a -dose that is between mg of the powder of leaf. Since this product is fat soluble and requires lipoid transporter so that it is absorbed, it is recommended that it is taken alongside a meal.

Side Effects

There are no major side effects of Brahmi on the human body but with other animals like rats, some behavioral changes have been noticed. For instance,

• It improves the rate of learning in a brightness discrimination task but does the opposite in a conditioned avoidance task.
• It has been published to cause stomach discomfort if not used with food.
• It is fat soluble hence needs to be used with a lipid.
• The powder form of the substance has a bitter taste.

Long-Term Use

• Those that have used it for a long time have found the drug to be one of the most popular aids for memory among 60-64-year-old consumers.
• It promotes the health of the liver. We should be aware that the brain is not only the one that benefits from the long term use of Brahmi but also the liver. As we all know, the liver is the main detoxifying organ that is found in the body. Therefore, Brahmi is useful for encouraging liver function from toxin damage.
• It will protect infants against Neonatal Hypoglycemia. Researchers believe that its extracts are effective in protecting newborn brains against hypoglycemia-induced brain damage.
• It positively impacts on Opioid Dependence. Doctors prescribe opioids mainly for pain management. But like morphine and oxycodone, their addictive nature is a massive loss. This is why Brahmi comes in handy to offer protective benefits of morphine but reduce the risk of dependence.

Short-Term Use

• It helps to improve brain health that in turn helps to develop any other system that is found in the body.
• It has been found to have memory enhancing effects in human beings
• It aids in the retention of new information that is aired or channeled to the brain faster than those who don’t use it.

Research

Bacopa Monnieri displays have been used in vitro antioxidant and even in cell protective effects. In animals, it has been found that it inhibits acetylcholinesterase. It also activates choline acetylcholinesterase and increases the flow of blood in the body. Several kinds of research and studies that have been carried out have proofed that Bacopa Monnieri extracts have protective effects in animal models of neurodegeneration. But the small clinical trials that have been conducted in humans produced limited evidence that supports improved free memory recall; there was a lack of evidence that showed other cognitive enhancing effects. The Bacopa Monnieri ADHD positives far outweigh the downsides.

Legal Status

Each country and state have rules and regulations that govern the use of any drug. For instance, in countries like the US, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has not yet given it its highest general safety rating known as the GRAS (generally regarded as safe). In fact, the FDA has listed it in its poisonous plant database. But this is not the in other states like in India where it emanated from.

Online Reviews

This element is considered to be as effective as a natural way to fight anxiety and stress. But most of the people that have reviewed Bacopa Monnieri have singled out its anxiolytic factor as the best among its benefits. It has been found to prevent anxiety attacks before they happen, and if you have social anxiety, this is a great tool too. The central point that users are saying is its connection between anti-anxiety support and cognition. It works best as it enables the user to sustain a longer attention span without being distracted by thoughts that are negative.

Final Thoughts

Standardized extracts of Bacopa Monnieri have been agreed upon and found to have a potential for safely enhancing cognitive performance in aging. This is an indication that it can be carefully compared to the traditional uses of the herb. But several facts remain to be discovered about the product for instance, will it be able to work on brain chemistry so that it can influence memory processes or decrease the performance that degrades effects of arousal on complex task? But the better part is that Bacopa Monnieri has been used for decades and therefore, it poses no significant risks if taken according to the required doses. Research has shown that Bacopa has been known to be highly toxic if taken in high doses, so always be cautious.