Mucuna pruriens can help with severe health conditions like Parkinson’s disease. The extract from this plant can also help the nervous system, male infertility, and taken as an aphrodisiac. Mucuna pruriens has its roots in Ayurvedic medicine, a traditional healing method from India that focuses on creating balance in the body. These practitioners support using this plant because of its naturally therapeutic and powerful ingredients. (x)
What is Mucuna Pruriens?
Initially grown in eastern India and southern regions of China, the Mucuna pruriens vine prefers a tropical climate. Its cultivation has since spread to the Caribbean and some parts of Africa. The plant itself is a vine that creeps along other surfaces and can grow up to 50 feet long, with roots that are over twice that length. The flowers can display a range of purples and pinks.
The bean pods are an eye-catching orange and have a fuzzy, hair-like coating that can cause persistent itchiness after it’s touched. These woolly pods create such an intense sensation that they’ve been used to make itching powder. In the 1930s, pranksters bought the powder in joke shops and tricked others who came in contact with the powder. They itched for hours until they washed it off. (x) The active compound that causes this reaction is mucunain, and it is not present in Mucuna pruriens extract. It’s safe to take the extract for remedial purposes.
Mucuna has several names. The most used is velvet bean, and other interesting ones are monkey tamarind and lacuna bean. These legumes can be black or white and eaten as food in some parts of the world, though in small amounts. People either call them beans or seeds.
The Mucuna pruriens seeds contain levodopa, L-DOPA, in high concentrations. Also included are tryptamines, hallucinogenic, phenols, and tannins. The content of L-DOPA treats Parkinson’s disease.
The bean is also a food rich in raw protein, essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, and starch. The whole plant holds medicinal properties. Several scientific studies support that Mucuna pruriens contain anti-inflammatory, anti-epileptic, anti-microbial, anti-diabetic, and pain-relieving. (x) Consult with a medical practitioner before you take any new supplement.
What is Mucuna Pruriens Extract?
Known as an adaptogen, the plant helps your body handle stress since it stabilizes your body despite the fluctuation of the outside world. Mucuna pruriens can help boost your energy and immune system if you take it as an extract. Some recommended that you take it as an afternoon pick-me-up. Since it increases your body’s energy level, you are able to focus better.
It’s the seeds from this plant that hold the magic, which are actually beans. Water extraction method is used to make Mucuna pruriens extract.
The extract of this bean contains bioactive compounds that work with the body to aid in the management of certain maladies. The first and most abundant compound is L-DOPA. This is an amino acid that the body converts to dopamine and to smaller amounts of adrenaline and norepinephrine. Mucuna pruriens also contains high amounts of antioxidants that can help reduce free radical damage in the body. (x)
Mucuna Pruriens Extract Benefits
The seeds have proven to have a substantial medical benefit over the centuries. Mucuna pruriens can treat many ailments, but visit your doctor before trying any new supplement. Here are some health benefits used today include:
- Relief From Stress and Anxiety
Stress can build up faster than you realize. From a rough meeting at work to sitting in traffic, many things can add to your stress level. But stress isn’t just a psychological thing. It takes a toll very physically, such as hormone imbalances, decreased immune function and elevated blood pressure. (x)
Stress relieving strategies like meditation or yoga is a good start but might not be enough. They may also take more time than your busy schedule allows. This is where the adaptogenic Mucuna pruriens comes in. The L-DOPA, combined with the antioxidants in Mucuna pruriens, may help relieve physical and mental stress. Studies show that it reduces feelings of anxiety and rebalances the hormones that have triggered these feelings, most notably by decreasing cortisol. (x)
- Cognitive Health Improvements
Improving physical health is an essential piece of the puzzle to living a full and active life. It’s easy to focus on the visible, tangible results you can get from foods, supplements and lifestyle choices. Still, the effects on your overall spiritual and mental well-being appear to be more nebulous as we are sentient beings. Life today is more manageable with technology and automation, but it has become more stressful than yesteryear. Focusing and handling everyday problems of keeping up with the Jones can affect your mental stability. In the past, loss of mental well-being happens only to the elderly. However, research shows people can lose cognitive abilities earlier in life. (x)
Research focuses on enabling the protection of your nerve cells from experiencing degeneration or how to heal them from injury by administering L-DOPA. What studies are showing, though, is that Mucuna pruriens extract is more potent than L-DOPA alone. It suggests that other compounds within the extract work synergistically to create a more substantial effect. (x)
Mucuna pruriens can help your body become more potent to learn, recall, and focus. It is up to you to be willing.
It is also successful in clinical settings to treat Parkinson’s disease. This severe neurological condition involves a severe dopamine deficiency in the body. Interestingly, the L-DOPA from the plant extract seems more effective and causes fewer side effects with long-term use than isolated L-dopa. (x)
- Helps You Feel Better
Could a supplement deficiency in your body cause a less than cheery disposition? It’s entirely possible since unhealthy bodies make people feel moody and stressed. The American College for Advancement of Medicine (ACAM) reports a study performed on individuals feeling depressed proved their diet and lifestyle caused their overall negative well-being and outlook on life. (x)
The L-DOPA in Mucuna pruriens converts to dopamine in the body, helping your body achieve or maintain healthy levels. In this way, Mucuna pruriens extract helps to balance your neurotransmitters to achieve a more stable condition. Therefore, it is better to take nutrients and have a healthy lifestyle than take antidepressants, which are incredibly harmful to your body and overall well-being. In an ACAM article about the dangers of taking medications, studies support this claim of antidepressants damaging your body. The importance of looking at the entire body for underlying factors that cause symptoms of depression. (x)
While the connection between the L-DOPA in Mucuna pruriens extract and increased dopamine levels in the body is clear, it’s interesting to note that vitamin B6 helps the body absorb the nutritional components and assists the neurotransmitters in your body. (x) Chlorella has high levels of B6 so that it might be beneficial with Mucuna pruriens. (x) Since this Mucuna pruriens extract can help bring your body back into balance, it may help you have more stable mental energy overall (x).
- Increases Fertility in Men
Mucuna pruriens extract doesn’t seem to have much of an effect on fertile men or help them have a better love life. However, it can be of significant benefit to men who are struggling in this area. For men who are suffering from infertility, Mucuna pruriens extract can improve levels of male hormones. Men can also experience a significant increase in sperm count and sperm motion. (x)
Thanks to the dopamine increasing effect of Mucuna pruriens extract, men, and most notably older men, can enjoy more robust love life. As dopamine declines, so does romantic drive, and this has a lot to do with neurotransmitter balance. An increase in dopamine because of the L-DOPA content can help restore interest and stamina in the bedroom and life. (x)
- Improves Sleep Quality
Whether you take longer than you’d like to fall asleep each night, you wake up multiple times, or you just don’t feel rested after you’ve slept, Mucuna pruriens extract can help. Studies have shown that you can enjoy up to 50 percent better sleep after the daily use of this herb for four weeks. You can expect to feel more relaxed when you take Mucuna pruriens extract triggers dopamine, so not only will you fall asleep more quickly, but your body becomes calmer so you can drift off peacefully, feeling more rested the next day. (x)
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Mucuna Pruriens Extract Dosage and Side Effects
Mucuna pruriens is likely safe for most people. However, those experiencing the following issues should consult with a healthcare provider before use:
- Diabetes
- Low blood sugar
- Cardiovascular disease
- Taking antidepressant or antipsychotic medications
- Pregnant or breastfeeding
Side effects of Mucuna pruriens extract are rare but can include:
- Digestive upset
- Elevated blood pressure
- Neurological effects such as headaches, sleepiness, confusion, hallucinations and delusions.
To ensure that Mucuna pruriens is the right choice for you, discuss it with your doctor, and start with a small dose to see how it makes you feel.
Where to Buy Mucuna Pruriens?
You can purchase Mucuna pruriens extract at BulkSupplements.com. The company is an industry-leading manufacturer and distributor for pure dietary supplements.
BulkSupplements.com is not just a consumer brand. It also supplies pure ingredients to other food and supplement brands to make their products. All products at BulkSupplements.com are manufactured and tested according to current and proper manufacturing practices.
Are you interested in trying Mucuna pruriens extract? Contact BulkSupplements.com to place an order.
Mucuna Pruriens Dosage
This extract has an earthy, nutty flavor. Instead of water, you can mix this powder into juice or coffee if you don’t enjoy the taste. Many people add Mucuna pruriens extract to a smoothie with fruits, vegetables and other superfoods. Try adding it to a savory stew. This powder is ideal for filling capsules for convenience or travel.
As mentioned earlier, start with a small dosage to see if there are any side effects and build up to 500 mg or 1/5 a teaspoon of powder twice a day. Talk with your doctor about the dosage amount.
The Bottom Line
Mucuna pruriens extract is unique. The substances in it are neuroprotective and help make your body healthy and keep it healthy. So, your overall well-being is good. It also helps people with Parkinson’s disease manage their health concerns. It can help you have more energy, focus, and strength as long as you maintain a healthy body by eating well, exercising, and getting plenty of sleep.
The benefits of Mucuna pruriens extract are almost limitless in helping you achieve your goals of becoming healthy and taking care of yourself to focus on having a better outlook on life. Men who take this extract may experience more drive and greater fertility. It can help the body relax, stay calm, and even help improve your sleeping habits.
The statements in this article have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.