Brain Boost – Jyotishmati, One of Ayurveda's Miracle Herbs.
Ayurveda has a rich and complex Materia Medica with thousands of herbs and spices all succinctly classified and delineated in terms of their therapeutic effects, contraindications, bioavailability and so forth.
My Ayurvedic teacher Vaidya Mishra said that over 700 herbs were routinely used in his 5000-year-old Shaka Vansiya Family Lineage (SVA). In this article I want to highlight one such herb called Jyotishmati or the Latin name Celastrus Paniculatus.
Jyotishmati belongs to a classification of herbs in Ayurveda called Medya. These herbs are grouped together because of their ability to enhance brain function. They include Brahmi (Bacopa Moniera and Gotu Kola), Vacha, Jatamansi and Shankapushpi. However, among these Medya herbs, Jyotishmati is unique because it is fat soluble. Our brain is composed mostly of fat making it difficult to introduce water soluble substances into it. Therefore, Jyotishmati can cross the blood brain barrier very easily making it the most powerful brain tonic. Vaidya Mishra said that Jyothishmati is 10 times stronger than Brahmi for the brain.
Ayurveda describes 3 essential functions of the mind:
- Dhi (learning new knowledge)
- Dhriti (maintaining knowledge)
- Smriti (recalling knowledge or memory)
Jyotishmati especially enhances memory and cognitive abilities. In fact, the name Jyotish means light and Mati means intelligence. Thus, it ignites the Intelligent Light of the mind.
Many scientific studies have been conducted on the effect of this miraculous herb. Several studies refer to Jyotishmati as a Nootropic:
In our office we use Jyotishmati mainly to enhance memory, cognitive functions, reduce anxiety and improve intelligence. However, it has many other uses as well which have been reported in several scientific journals:
- Lipid Reducing
- Anxiety Reducing
- Brain Enhancing (Nootropic)
- Cardiovascular Improvement
- Neuroprotective Activity & Free Radical Scavenging
- Analgesic and Anti-inflammatory Activity
- Memory enhancing
- Antioxidant Activity
- Mood enhancing
- Gastroprotective
|
Phytochemistry and pharmacology of Celastrus paniculatus Wild: a nootropic drug
|
C. paniculatus is a rich source of several secondary metabolites……The various study shows that the extracts and active constituent of this plant possess potent nootropic activity. Besides nootropic activity, it has also been reported for anti-Alzheimer, anticonvulsant, antidepressant, antioxidant, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antiarthritic, gastroprotective, anti-psoriatic, wound healing, antibacterial, antimalarial, and several other properties. J Complement Integr Med 2021 Sep 15;20(1):24-46. doi: 10.1515/jcim-2021-0251. eCollection 2023 Mar 1 |
Lipid Reducing |
In comparison to the induced hypercholesterolemic animal group, oral treatment of methanolic seed extract (50%) of Celastrus paniculatus at the optimal dose of 65 mg/kg body weight significantly lowered plasma total cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL cholesterol. Patil, R H, Prakash K, Maheshwari V L, Hypolipidemic Effect of Celastrus paniculatus in Experimentally Induced Hypercholesterolemic Wistar Rats, Ind J Clin Biochem 25, 2010;405–410. |
Anxiety Reducing |
In a staircase test in mice, Celastrus paniculatus plant extract reduced the beginning of action in pentobarbitoneinduced sleep, increased the overall duration of sleep and demonstrated anxiolytic effects. Ramamoorthy Rajkuma, et al. Evaluation of anxiolytic potential of Celastrus oil in rat models of behaviour, Fitoterapia, 2007; 78(2):120-124. |
Brain Enhancing (Nootropic) |
Aqueous extract of Celastrus paniculatus seeds has dose-dependent cholinergic activity which improved memory performance in rats and mice. Bhanumathy M, et al. Nootropic activity of Celastrus paniculatus seed. Pharmaceutical Biology, 2010;48(3):324-327. |
Memory Enhancing |
The anti-alzheimer activity of the crude methanolic extract of Celastrus paniculatus plant demonstrated strong DPPH free radical scavenging activity. Badrul A, Ekramul H, Anti-Alzheimer and Antioxidant Activity of Celastrus paniculatus Seed, Iranian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2011;7(1):49-56. |
Mood Enhancing |
Both stressed and unstressed mice showed significant decrease in immobility period when administered Celastrus paniculatus seed oil, showing significant antidepressant-like effect. Valecha R, Dhingra D, Antidepressant-like Activity of Celastrus paniculatus Seed Oil, British Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, 2014;4(5):576-593. |
We offer Brain Boost as a Brain Boost Transdermal Cream and a Brain Boost Intelligent Herbal Glycerite. You may use one or both products. Apply the transdermal cream to the whole spine and swipe downwards. With the glycerite drop, put 5 drops in 16oz of alkaline spring water and sip during the day.
Enjoy,
Dr. Beech
