Bacopa monnieri, also called Brahmi, is a plant long used in Ayurvedic medicine. It is sold as a dietary supplement, usually as a standardized extract, for memory and attention. Trials have tested it for 12 weeks or more.
Also known as: Bacopa monnieri, Brahmi, water hyssop.
Bacopa has no intake value. A 12-week trial in older adults used 300 mg a day of a standardized extract (Calabrese, 2008). Extracts differ in strength. These are study protocols, not a recommendation.
It is sold in the US as a dietary supplement. Under the 1994 dietary supplement law (DSHEA), FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they are marketed, and the maker, not FDA, is responsible for safety and labeling.
A 2014 meta-analysis of 9 randomized trials (518 people) of standardized extracts taken for at least 12 weeks (Kongkeaw) found faster performance on attention tests (Trail B and choice reaction time) than with placebo; the authors said a larger trial is needed for firm answers. In a 12-week trial in 54 adults aged 65 and over (Calabrese, 2008), 300 mg a day improved delayed word recall compared with placebo. Side effects were few and mostly stomach upset, reported by 9 people on bacopa and 10 on placebo.
We could not find a published human half-life or time to peak for bacopa that we could check against a primary source, so we do not list one. It is a plant extract with several active compounds, and trials measured effects after weeks of daily use.
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