The benefits of Bacopa monnieri for athletes: the evidence base

Bacopa monnieri is increasingly offered to athletes as a means for concentration, stress resistance and "mental endurance". Unlike many herbal supplements, it has several randomized studies and meta-analyses regarding memory. But do these results transfer to sport? The editorial team analyzed the evidence base from the standpoint of the training process and competition.

The cognitive demands of sport

Athletic performance depends not only on strength and endurance. In team sports, martial arts and racket sports, the speed of decision-making, attention, memory for tactical schemes and the ability to maintain concentration under pressure are important. It is precisely these qualities that the marketing of "nootropic" supplements targets.

However, between a laboratory test and the field or the ring there is a great distance. An improved result in a word-memorization test does not necessarily mean better play. Therefore, when evaluating bacopa for athletes, we distinguish evidence on cognitive functions in general from evidence on athletic indicators.

It is also worth considering the specifics of bacopa's action. In studies, the effects on memory developed over weeks of regular intake. This fundamentally distinguishes it from caffeine, which acts within an hour and has convincing data on athletic performance.

Finally, most bacopa studies were conducted on students, office workers and elderly people. There are practically no trained athletes among the participants, which limits the generalization of the conclusions.

Memory and learning: the strongest part of the evidence

The most convincing data concern memory. In the study by Stough and colleagues (2001), 12 weeks of taking 300 mg of standardized extract improved the speed of processing visual information, the speed of learning and memory consolidation in healthy adults. Roodenrys and colleagues (2002) showed an improvement in the retention of new information.

The systematic review by Pase and colleagues (2012) concluded that bacopa can improve memory, primarily free recall. The meta-analysis by Kongkeaw and colleagues (2014), which combined nine randomized studies, confirmed an improvement in individual cognitive tests, in particular in choice reaction time and in attention tests.

For an athlete, the potentially interesting aspect is precisely the ability to absorb new information: tactical schemes, combinations, technical elements. However, none of the studies known to us directly measured the speed of learning athletic skills.

Therefore, the correct formulation is this: bacopa has moderate evidence of improving individual aspects of memory in healthy adults, and their significance for athletic preparation is a hypothesis that still needs to be tested.

Reaction, stress and anxiety

Reaction speed is key for many sports. In the meta-analysis by Kongkeaw and colleagues, bacopa reduced choice reaction time in cognitive tests. This is an interesting signal, although the magnitude of the effect is small and the tests are computer-based, not athletic.

As for stress, in the study by Calabrese and colleagues (2008) in elderly people, anxiety and depression indicators decreased after 12 weeks of intake according to questionnaires. Benson and colleagues (2014) studied single doses of 320 and 640 mg of extract before performing a multitasking task that simulated stress, and reported individual positive changes in cognitive indicators and mood, although the results were not unambiguous.

For the competitive anxiety that many athletes face, these data are so far indirect. Working with a sports psychologist, breathing techniques and sufficient sleep have far greater practical value.

Physical performance and recovery

We did not find direct randomized studies of bacopa's effect on strength, endurance or speed in humans. Claims of "anti-stress support during overtraining" or "accelerated recovery" rely mainly on animal models in which the extract affected oxidative-stress markers and stress proteins.

Extrapolating such data to trained people is unreliable. Moreover, as in the case of other antioxidants, even an undesirable blunting of some signals of adaptation to training is theoretically possible — although this has not been studied with regard to bacopa.

The practical side effects of bacopa for an athlete are also worth considering:

• digestive disorders — nausea, cramps, diarrhea, which are inappropriate before training or competition;
• possible drowsiness or fatigue in some people, especially at the start of intake;
• slow development of the effect — a single dose before the start hardly makes sense.

Bacopa, anti-doping rules and product quality

Bacopa monnieri is not on the Prohibited List of the World Anti-Doping Agency. In itself it does not create a risk of violating anti-doping rules.

However, athletes undergoing testing must remember the risk of supplement contamination, especially of multi-component "nootropic" and pre-workout complexes. Responsibility for the content of the sample lies with the athlete, regardless of where the prohibited substance came from.

Therefore it is advisable to choose products with a single active substance from manufacturers that undergo independent certification for the absence of prohibited substances, and to keep the packaging and receipt in case of a review.

When evaluating a product, it is also worth paying attention to the bacoside content and the extract dose: studies most often used about 300 mg of standardized extract per day for 12 weeks.

Editorial conclusions

Bacopa monnieri has moderate but reproducible evidence of improving memory, especially recall, as well as a small reduction in reaction time in cognitive tests after long-term intake.

There are no direct studies in athletes and no data on physical performance. For recovery and stress resistance in sport, the evidence is limited to indirect data and animal models.

Bacopa is not banned by WADA, but its effect develops over weeks, and digestive disorders can interfere with training.

We also advise reading "Bacopa monnieri: what it is and how it works", "The benefits of Ginkgo biloba for athletes: the evidence base" and "What to combine Ginkgo biloba with".

References

1. Stough C, Lloyd J, Clarke J, et al. The chronic effects of an extract of Bacopa monniera (Brahmi) on cognitive function in healthy human subjects. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2001;156(4):481–484.
2. Roodenrys S, Booth D, Bulzomi S, et al. Chronic effects of Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri) on human memory. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2002;27(2):279–281.
3. Calabrese C, Gregory WL, Leo M, et al. Effects of a standardized Bacopa monnieri extract on cognitive performance, anxiety, and depression in the elderly: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. J Altern Complement Med. 2008;14(6):707–713.
4. Benson S, Downey LA, Stough C, et al. An acute, double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over study of 320 mg and 640 mg doses of Bacopa monnieri (CDRI 08) on multitasking stress reactivity and mood. Phytother Res. 2014;28(4):551–559.
5. Pase MP, Kean J, Sarris J, et al. The cognitive-enhancing effects of Bacopa monnieri: a systematic review of randomized, controlled human clinical trials. J Altern Complement Med. 2012;18(7):647–652.
6. Kongkeaw C, Dilokthornsakul P, Thanarangsarit P, Limpeanchob N, Norman Scholfield C. Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials on cognitive effects of Bacopa monnieri extract. J Ethnopharmacol. 2014;151(1):528–535.
7. Aguiar S, Borowski T. Neuropharmacological review of the nootropic herb Bacopa monnieri. Rejuvenation Res. 2013;16(4):313–326.
8. World Anti-Doping Agency. The World Anti-Doping Code: International Standard — Prohibited List. Montreal: WADA; оновлюється щороку.