Supplement evidence

093 / 575Cognition

Bacopa monnieri

View my plan →

The short answer

Some 8–12 week trials report modest memory effects in healthy adults; acute effects are not expected.

Evidence and scope: Conditional or population-specific
This status does not grade the ingredient for every goal, outcome, or person.
Important limitation: Benefit depends on the population, formulation, baseline status, and objective; results should not be generalized.
Before deciding: Key concern: Thyroid, cholinergic, sedative, bradycardia, ulcer, pregnancy, and liver concerns require review.

01 / PRACTICAL GUIDE

Dose, absorption, and combinations

These are indication-specific reference or studied ranges—not a personalized prescription. Start with the objective, then check the form, label, medicines, and health conditions.

Reference range by objective

Cognitive-performance research300 mg/day extract standardized to bacosides in many trials

Reference or studied range—not a personalized prescription. The product label or a clinician may specify a different dose.

Dose source ↗

More is not automatically better. A clinician or product label may specify a different amount.

Absorption / solubilityFat-soluble / lipid-based

Fat-soluble or lipid-based. Absorption generally improves with a meal containing fat.

How it is commonly taken

Take with food containing fat to reduce GI effects.

Do not combine casually

Thyroid, cholinergic, sedative, bradycardia, ulcer, pregnancy, and liver concerns require review.

Dose and use source ↗

Dose and use links lead to primary or official source material. Search links are discovery tools, not proof that every returned paper applies.

02 / EVIDENCE

What the research says

We keep supportive, mixed, negative, safety, and contextual findings together. The headline never replaces the underlying papers.

2research papers in this ledger

7unique primary studies represented

101unique participants represented

These are audited counts for this JIVANA collection, not search-result totals. Participants are counted once when multiple papers use the same cohort; review papers are not added again to participant totals.

Open the research timelineResearch timeline

Entries are ordered by publication year. A study period appears only when the source reports it.

2025

Does not support the tested claimPMID 41091332 · ACTRN12623000475640

Bacumen Bacopa extract for cognition, stress, and fatigue

Bacopa did not improve any primary cognitive outcome. Selected secondary stress and fatigue measures improved, while digestive complaints and headaches were more frequent; those secondary findings need replication.

Published: 2025Duration: 12 weeksn=101 participants

Study design and methods

Design: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel trial
Population: 101 adults aged 40–70 with self-reported memory and attention problems; 87 completed
Intervention: Proprietary Bacumen Bacopa extract 300 mg/day versus placebo
Outcome: Primary verbal learning, attention, and working memory; secondary stress and fatigue; adverse events

Funding or conflict note: Both authors worked for Clinical Research Australia, which receives nutraceutical-company funding; one reported nutraceutical honoraria.

Open research record ↗

2012

Mixed or qualifiedPMID 22747190

Cognitive-enhancing effects of Bacopa monnieri in adults without impairment

Bacopa improved 9 of 17 free-recall memory tests, but little evidence supported other cognitive domains. Few trials, varying extracts, inconsistent measures, and absent participant totals limit the claim to a possible memory-specific effect.

Published: 2012Duration: 12 weeks in every included trial6 primary studies represented

Study design and methods

Design: Systematic review of 6 randomized controlled trials
Population: Adults without dementia or significant cognitive impairment; total participant count was not reported in the abstract
Intervention: Three Bacopa extracts at 300–450 mg/day
Outcome: Validated memory and other cognitive tests

Open research record ↗

Unscreened discovery appendix—not evidence16 candidate publicationsSearch run: Aug 21, 2026

Complete for the displayed PubMed query at the search timestamp—not for all databases or every possible synonym. Candidates can be irrelevant, duplicate the same study, or report negative findings. They are never summed as evidence or participants until screened.

03 / SOURCES

Start with the source material

Official evidence overviewPubMed bounded human-evidence search Live PubMed discovery searchNational Library of Medicine

The live search is for discovery only. Search-result counts change and are not included in the audited totals above.

Recent PubMed discovery recordsDirect links to the first 12 records returned by the reproducible search. These are discovery candidates—not reviewed summaries or a count of supportive findings.

04 / EXPERT CONTEXT

Expert context—not evidence

Expert positions are dated context—not scientific evidence. They never raise the evidence status or become consensus by repetition.

No direct, source-verified endorsement is currently recorded. Research authorship or discussion alone is not treated as endorsement.