Bacopa, a plant predominantly found in India and sparsely in other continents, is used in ayurvedic and herbal medicines for various unimaginable benefits. Some of its most known benefits are improving brain health and fighting diseases like Alzheimer’s, Dementia, and Epilepsy. Bacopa extracts contain active properties that don't carry harsh side effects compared to other existing medicines.
Here's the other benefits Bacopa plant offers:
- Improves Brain Health
The bacopa plant, known as Brahmi or water hyssop, has a chemical content called bacosides that's named after the plant itself. It is said to improve the overall functioning of the brain. It boosts kinase, which activates cells and proteins, resulting in faster thought processing, better cognition, and increased memory.
- Prevents Depression
The Bacopa Monnieri extract also acts as an anti-depressant. This means it can relieve your anxiety, stress, depression, and other related disorders. This statement was proven by the research conducted by the University of Michigan after testing the plant on animals in various forms of intake.
- Relieves Stress and Inflammation
Bacosides help relieve the stress of any kind – mental or chronic. The apoptogenic properties can relieve your physical pain and ease your acute joint inflammation, facilitating better movement for the elderly who experience pain and difficulty. Due to the pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory elements, Bacopa is also used as a treatment for patients with arthritis for better activity.
- Reduced Inflammation
The ingredients of bacopa extracts can improve gut health and reduce inflammation. A weak gut is one of the reasons for many chronic disorders, including osteoarthritis and back pain that often accompanied by aging. By reducing inflammation, patients feel a lot comfortable for their day-to-day activities and may feel younger, too.
- Supports Epilepsy Treatment
As we already know, Bacopa improves brain activity. While it does not have the tendency to repair the central nervous system, it's advised for people with epilepsy as it can inhibit seizures. Research shows that when Bacopa Monniera is consumed by the patients, they show a remarkable response to the treatment and better control over the body. Therefore, the extracts are a must alongside the usual treatments for epilepsy and vitamins.
- Fights Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia
Alzheimer’s affects the brain by reducing memory and cognitive skills, leading to the absence of independent thinking. The patients affected by dementia experienced a noticeable improvement in their behavior when they consumed Bacopa. The antioxidant nature of Bacopa fights directly against excess oxygen causing brain damage in Alzheimer’s preventing further damage.
- Maintain Blood Pressure
Nitrate oxide is a major component that keeps the blood pressure in check. Nitrate oxide is formed in our body from nitrates by a process. Either lesser consumption or lesser conversion of nitrate oxide can cause higher blood pressure than normal. Bacopa Monnieri releases nitric oxide straight into the bloodstream directly from the endothelium, keeping the blood pressure at necessary levels.
- For ADHD Treatment
ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is another brain-related disorder in which Bacopa performed surprisingly well. Its symptoms are hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsiveness. It creates an overall restlessness accompanied by inattention resulting in random hyperactivity. This is merely the opposite of how Alzheimer’s affects the brain. However, Bacopa extracts can treat ADHD, too. It showed a 93% positive response in a test over a group of children affected with ADHD compared to 70% expected outcome with existing medicine.
The benefits of Bacopa keep going on and on out, which a few are not found or proven to the world. The plant's other benefits, which are not listed here, include recovery of the sexual ability by improving gut health and relieving chronic stress. Bacopa is already available in some countries in the form of tablets, gels, and pills.
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