Bacopa Monnieri | An Amazing Ayurvedic Adaptogen | Cognance vs Bacognize vs Synapsa vs 24%
The concept of nootropics is quite new, dating back to the 1970’s when Corneliu E. Giurgea, a Romanian chemist and psychologist, coined the term. According to Giurgea, a compound must meet specific criteria to be considered a nootropic. These include enhancing learning and memory, elevating acquired behaviors despite disruptions, providing neuroprotection, and ensuring safety. “If you read through this list of criteria, you’ll realize many plants used in Ayurvedic and Chinese practices fit. Some of these plants are particularly famous for their cognition enhancing properties, with a particular standout being Bacopa monnieri.
In ayurvedic practices, it is referred to as a medhya-rasayana. Medha refers to intellect, and rasayana refers to rejuvenation. “The concept of medhya-rasayana sounds very similar to the concept of nootropics. Unsurprisingly, modern studies on medhya-rasayana herbs refer to them as ‘nootropic herbs’ now!”
This means that while the formalized concept of nootropics is quite new, people have used nootropic herbs for centuries.
While there are quite a few medhya-rasayan herbs, such as Centella asiatica and Celastrus paniculatus, Bacopa monnieri particularly stands out due to the sheer amount of modern day research on it. This is mostly due to one particular standardized extract called CDRI-08.
A Scientific Adventure
Years ago, before accessible chemistry, it was hard to identify beneficial compounds in plants due to limited analytical methods. This was certainly the case for Bacopa monnieri. However, eventually compounds from this plant were isolated and named. One of the first compounds that was isolated from Bacopa monnieri was called bacoside A. At the time, it was thought that bacoside A was a single compound. Later, we discovered it’s a mix of bacoside A3, bacopasaponin C, bacopaside II, and bacopaside X.
Understanding Bacoside A: The Saponin Conundrum
The compounds constituting bacoside A are saponins, leading to the initial belief in its singularity. This means that they have soap-like qualities, and like to stick together. Separating these compounds in an HPLC column was challenging, leading to their initial classification as a single compound. As the analytical chemistry improved, another phenomenon started to emerge during sample preparation. Some bacosides hydrolyzed into compounds like jujubogenin, pseudojujubogenin, and the bacogenins, revealing their diverse nature.
Unraveling Bacoside A’s Metabolic Transformations
All of the compounds that are collectively known as bacoside A are glycoside compounds. These compounds share a core structure with varying sugar groups attached at different positions. These sugar groups readily fall off during human metabolism, yielding their aglycone (no sugar groups) counterparts. The two main aglycones that are formed are jujubogenin and pseudojujubogenin. The smaller size of these compounds facilitates absorption due to the presence of sugar groups, making molecules larger. Jujubogenin and pseudojujubogenin can be further reduced in size via stomach acid hydrolysis, forming bacogenins. The bacogenins are even more bioavailable and produce drastically different effects. We go into this process in much more detail in our cognance blog if you are curious about learning more!
Insights from CDRI and Controlled Bacogenin Levels
The Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) understood the metabolic fate of bacosides. Studies suggest CDRI-08 had controlled bacogenin levels. Synapsa’s reduced lethargy compared to other Bacopa extracts may relate to its controlled bacogenin levels, as discussed earlier. During cognance development, our aim was to replicate bodily metabolic processes converting bacosides into their active forms. We developed two different extracts during this research.
Mimicking Metabolic Processes: Extract Development Journey
One extract performed mostly the first hydrolysis step, turning the bacosides into jujubogenin and pseudojujubogenin. When we beta-tested this novel extract, we all felt a strong calming GABAergic effect. It’s unsurprising considering Ziziphus jujuba, a renowned sleep aid, contains jujuboside A, which converts to jujubogenin during hydrolysis! Jujubogenin and pseudojujubogenin convert to bacogenins after acid hydrolysis, but there’s no evidence suggesting strong GABAergic effects.
Thus, we developed a second extract, which fully acid hydrolyzed jujubogenin and pseudojujubogenin into their bacogenin counterparts. During beta testing, we observed reduced lethargy and increased nootropic effects with this extract. We patented this fully acid-hydrolyzed Bacopa monnieri extract, now marketed as Cognance, one of the most distinctive Bacopa extracts available.
Pharmacological Implications: Understanding Bacopa’s Effects
If the CDRI conducted similar research in the 1970s, they likely discovered similar effects and refined extraction methods to convert some bacosides to bacogenins. With this in mind, it makes sense why anecdotally, many individuals report less lethargy with synapsa, and stronger nootropic effects. However, it is important to note that many people still report lethargy with synapsa.
To better understand why this occurs and to accurately compare our Bacopa monnieri extracts, we need to delve into Bacopa’s pharmacology.
The Reason Behind the Initial Belief
The compounds comprising bacoside A are saponins, leading to the initial misconception of its singularity. This means that they have soap-like qualities, and like to stick together. Separating these compounds in an HPLC column was challenging, resulting in their initial detection as a single compound. As the analytical chemistry improved, another phenomenon started to emerge during sample preparation. Some bacosides underwent hydrolysis, yielding varied compounds like jujubogenin, pseudojujubogenin, and the bacogenins.
Understanding Bacoside A Composition
All of the compounds that are collectively known as bacoside A are glycoside compounds. The compounds share a core structure with sugar groups attached at different locations. These sugar groups readily fall off during human metabolism, yielding their aglycone (no sugar groups) counterparts. The two main aglycones that are formed are jujubogenin and pseudojujubogenin. The smaller size due to fewer sugar groups makes absorption much easier. However, jujubogenin and pseudojujubogenin can be reduced in size even further via acid hydrlosis which occurs in the stomach, which yields a class of compounds known as the bacogenins. The bacogenins are even more bioavailable and produce drastically different effects. We go into this process in much more detail in our cognance blog if you are curious about learning more!
Insights from CDRI-08 Development
The Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) was clearly aware of the metabolic fate of the bacosides and while it is unclear how they implemented this, studies do seem to hint at the fact that CDRI-08 was developed with controlled levels of these bacogenins present. Circling back to what we mentioned earlier in the blog, this could explain why synapsa is less lethargy inducing when compared to other Bacopa monnieri extracts. When we were developing cognance, we wanted to closely mimic the metabolic processes in our body which turn the bacosides into their more active counterparts. We developed two different extracts during this research.
Developing Unique Extracts
One extract performed mostly the first hydrolysis step, turning the bacosides into jujubogenin and pseudojujubogenin. When we beta-tested this novel extract, we all felt a strong calming GABAergic effect. This is not surprising when you consider that a very famous sleep promoting herb from traditional Chinese practices, Ziziphus jujuba, contains a compound called jujuboside A which during hydrolysis also turns into jujubogenin! Jujubogenin and pseudojujubogenin then turn into the bacogenins after further acid hydrolysis and we could not find any data suggesting that the bacogenins had strong GABAergic effects.
Thus, we developed a second extract, which fully acid hydrolyzed jujubogenin and pseudojujubogenin into their bacogenin counterparts. When we beta-tested this extract, we noticed a distinct lack of lethargy inducing effects and a significant uptick in nootropic effects! This second fully acid hydrolyzed Bacopa monnieri extract was subsequently patented by us, and is now available as cognance, which in our opinion is one of the most unique Bacopa extracts on the market!
Pharmacological Profile of Bacopa
Bacopa monnieri exhibits a very unique pharmacological profile, interacting with lots of different neurotransmitter systems. The two main neurotransmitter systems Bacopa monnieri interacts with are the GABAergic and serotonergic systems. Within the GABA system, Bacopa monnieri appears to gradually upregulate GABA receptor density, which is a very unique mechanism! Most GABAergic supplements simply make the GABA receptors more sensitive through positive allosteric modulation, or they directly activate GABA receptors. Rarely do we see significant upregulation of GABAergic receptors occurring, which make Bacopa very unique. However, this unique effect may also be responsible for the gradual increase in lethargy many people can experience from Bacopa monnieri. Usually, the first few days of Bacopa monnieri supplementation does not present itself with much lethargy, yet after a week, a gradually increasing intensity of lethargy is not uncommon.
Understanding GABAergic Effects
Since GABAergic tone is important for relaxation, and also sleep, it means that increasing the density of GABA receptors with Bacopa monnieri can eventually lead to very prominent relaxation effects, which for some can result in pronounced lethargy. That being said, for individuals who struggle to unwind and relax throughout the day, Bacopa monnieri makes for a fantastic supplement. For example, I (Emiel, product specialist and author of this blog), benefit a lot from increased GABAergic activity. Due to this, GABAergic supplements are usually my favorites, and recently our Bacopa monnieri 24% bacosides extract has become one of my go-to GABAergics. From the first dose, the effects were very pleasant and overtime the calming effects have become more pronounced yet remain balanced, leaving me with a great mood.
Choosing The Best Bacopa Monnieri Extract
Now that you have a solid understanding of the phytochemistry, pharmacokinetics and pharmacology of Bacopa monnieri, we have arrived at the most important part of the blog, choosing the best extract! Finding the best extract is going to be a highly personal endeavor, and this is why we carry a wide range of Bacopa monnieri extracts. Below follows a convenient overview of all of the different extracts we carry:
Choosing the Right Bacopa Extract
You can’t go wrong with any of these Bacopa monnieri extracts, but you can definitely pick one that is most tailored towards your goals. If you want to go with a traditional Bacopa monnieri extract, but are unsure of which one to pick, then our advice would be to go for the Bacopa monnieri 24% bacosides extract. This is the least “specialized” extract, and delivers incredible value for money.
Traditional Bacopa monnieri Extracts
If you instead want to focus more on the mood boosting properties of a traditional Bacopa monnieri extract, then bacognize would be the ideal extract for you. It often produces the most pronounced mood boosting and calming effects, but is also most likely to produce lethargy in those that do not require much help with relaxation.
If you are most interested in the nootropic effects of traditional Bacopa monnieri extracts, then synapsa is going to be a perfect choice. This is especially the case if you love reading research, because chances are, most of the research you have been reading on Bacopa monnieri uses CDRI-08/Synapsa as their Bacopa monnieri extract!
Next Generation Extract
If you already have experience with traditional Bacopa monnieri extracts, and you want to experience the next generation of cutting edge Bacopa monnieri extracts, then certainly take a look at cognance! Cognance feels nothing like traditional Bacopa monnieri extracts, and produces a very unique effects profile that is unlike anything we have ever tried.
Combining Extracts
For the most advanced nootropic enthusiasts, we actually would recommend combining cognance with one of our traditional Bacopa monnieri extracts. While cognance is fantastic for its nootropic effects, it’s clearly also missing some aspects of Bacopa monnieri that can be really beneficial for some. For example, I took cognance for 6 months and was entirely enamored with its unique nootropic benefits. However, after switching back to Bacopa monnieri 24% bacosides recently in order to compare the two again, I realized just how unique and pleasant the calming, mood boosting and adaptogenic effects of traditional Bacopa monnieri can be. That being said though, I do miss the very unique acute nootropic effects of cognance now. This means that for me, the ultimate Bacopa monnieri extract, would actually be a combination of Bacopa monnieri 24% bacosides and cognance!
Stacking
Stacking Considerations
When it comes to stacking, selecting the right extract becomes quite critical. Traditional Bacopa extracts can enhance GABA receptor density, potentially potentiating the effects of other GABAergics in your stack. For example, stacking Bacopa monnieri 24% bacosides with ashwagandha led to lethargy due to enhanced GABAergic activity.
Traditional Extracts in Stacks
Traditional Bacopa monnieri extracts, like Bacopa monnieri 24% bacosides, are ideal for taking the edge off stimulating components in stacks. However, integrating them seamlessly into stacks requires effort and skill due to their attention-attracting nature.
The Stacking King: Cognance
Cognance, on the other hand, is more forgiving in stacks and can enhance the effects of various plants and compounds. It stacks well with almost anything, adding a unique nootropic layer without drawing much attention to itself.
Provided Stacking Examples
To assist with stacking endeavors, we offer stacking examples with all of our extracts. Each extract has two stack suggestions: one simple stack with Bacopa monnieri and one other component, and another stack with Bacopa monnieri and three other synergistic components.
Also read our blog on L-Theanine
