The use of mucuna pruriens for ADHD symptoms has shown to have positive potential. This natural herbal supplement shows positive impact on mood, attention, and focus. Since mucuna pruriens is a main ingredient in Root’s Zero-In, this article will discuss:
Mucuna pruriens is a tropical legume typically found in Africa and the Caribbean. It is also known as velvet bean. Mucuna pruriens is a creeping plant that is known for its purple flowers. It also has fuzz-covered pods that contain large beans inside. The beans provide health benefits.
The several health benefits of mucuna pruriens include:
The dopamine function of mucuna pruriens has been shown to minimize stress, improve calmness, and stabilize the central nervous system.
The nourishing quality of the mucuna pruriens seeds can help support a healthy mind and improve cognitive performance as they can help strengthen neurons and cells.
The interaction with the central nervous system helps to provide significant improvement in encouraging muscular movements and fine motor skills.
Mucuna pruriens supports healthy digestion by prompting smooth muscle contractions.
Mucuna pruriens powder has been used as an aphrodisiac by increasing dopamine production to create feelings of euphoria. It has also shown to increase sperm count and sperm motility.
Mucuna pruriens contains a naturally occurring levodopa which is a direct precursor to the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine release plays an important role in behavior, mood, cognitive performance, and movement.
Because of its effect on the dopamine response, mucuna pruriens has been used to improve symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. It may not only help treat Parkinson’s disease but can also be used in ADHD treatment.
Natural products like amino acid precursors to neurotransmitters have the potential to improve cognitive performance and cognitive function. Using these important neurotransmitter precursors has shown significant improvement in symptoms of ADHD, including focus and attention.
Mucuna pruriens can directly interact with the nervous system. The amino acid, L-DOPA, in this natural supplement, not only increases dopamine but also boosts the production of neurotransmitters like serotonin and adrenaline.
The boost in these neurotransmitters provides an increase in energy, focus, and mood without the adverse side effects that might come from the use of stimulant medications typically used for ADHD patients.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is one of the most common mental disorders affecting children but is also common in adults as well. Those with ADHD often have difficulty paying attention, controlling their behavior, or being overly active.
ADHD is typically treated with the use of stimulant drugs. The most common stimulant medication for ADHD is Adderall.
There are three main types of ADHD. These are:
Those with predominantly inattentive type ADHD experience symptoms of:
Those with predominant hyperactivity or impulsive ADHD experience symptoms of:
Those with combined type attention deficit hyperactivity disorder meet criteria for both inattentive and hyperactivity.
Though there has been no identified cause of ADHD, it does show that neurotransmitters, like low serotonin and dopamine levels may contribute to signs of ADHD.
ADHD symptoms and neurotransmitters like adrenaline and dopamine levels appear to be linked. More specifically, scientists have found these symptoms to be related to a deficiency in the neurotransmitter, norepinephrine. This neurotransmitter is linked with dopamine.
Dopamine is related to the parts of the brain responsible for reward and motivation. Dopamine helps you focus and rewards your brain for completing tasks. Thus, those with lower dopamine levels may have a difficult time maintaining focus and completing tasks.
In human studies of ADHD and dopamine, those with ADHD exhibited lower levels of dopamine and may have genes that lead to a lack of dopamine production.
In traditional medicine, the use of stimulant medications can help increase the dopamine neurotransmitter, thereby, helping to improve focus and mood and decrease depression. But these medications can cause several side effects.
Dopamine is a cell-signaling neurotransmitter that is not readily able to cross the blood-brain barrier. This means that dopamine itself cannot enter the brain. Dopamine cannot cross this barrier because of its low solubility and lack of specific transport carriers.
Because dopamine cannot interact with the brain directly, amino acid precursors, like L-Dopa are used to directly affect executive function. Because L-Dopa is an amino acid, it is recognized by the proteins in the body that carry amino acids across the blood-brain barrier. There L-Dopa is able to pass easily to the brain.
Levodopa, or L-Dopa, is an amino acid precursor to dopamine. Levodopa is usually created synthetically in a lab. This synthetic L-Dopa is not metabolized directly to the nervous system and brain. This can cause problems.
However, the L-Dopa found in mucuna pruriens occurs naturally. This amino acid is naturally synthesized in the brain by L-tyrosine. L-tyrosine is another one of the amino acid precursors to dopamine and norepinephrine. L-tyrosine can help improve attention, focus, and alertness. So this amino acid is responsible for producing the natural L-Dopa. The natural L-Dopa bean can improve learning, boost mood, reduce depression, and reduce stress.
So can mucuna pruriens be used as a treatment for ADHD? Because of the naturally occurring L-Dopa in velvet bean, the amino acid is not only associated with dopamine, but also serotonin, norepinephrine, and adrenaline. Thus, it can work to improve symptoms of ADHD.
The boost of norepinephrine and adrenaline can improve energy and focus without the same jittery side effects that many people get from stimulant ADHD medication. While regulating dopamine release can help with learning and reward, the regulation of serotonin can contribute to improving mood and relieving stress.
Of course, too much dopamine can increase impulsive behaviors and poor decision making. So it’s important to use this L-Dopa bean carefully if you have hyperactive ADHD. But overall, mucuna pruriens can help be an alternative ADHD treatment by:
Because the L-Dopa created by the velvet bean is natural, it is well tolerated by the body. Unlike synthetic L-Dopa, there are minimal side effects when using this natural herbal supplement. However, there are some that may experience side effects.
In animal studies, some of the adverse effects included involuntary spontaneous movements and hyperventilation that appeared 1 hour after ingestion. Due to the possibility of having too much dopamine or serotonin, other side effects may include:
Most side effects are not common and can be alleviated if using the mucuna pruriens powder as advised.
Zero-In is a natural supplement that can be used as an alternative to treatment with stimulant medications. The combination of ingredients in Zero-In help produce balanced serotonin and dopamine to avoid too much of these neurotransmitters and reduce the likelihood of adverse side effects.
Zero-In uses a combination of supplements and amino acids to:
The ingredients in Zero-In include turmeric, pine bark, velvet bean seed, and vitamin D. In combination, these supplements and amino acids can improve cognitive function, boost mental acuity, and optimize sleep and circadian rhythm.
Zero-In uses a proprietary blend of ingredients proven to improve cognitive function. For example, turmeric has been shown to help the brain make new connections and reduces inflammation in the body which has resulted in improvements in memory performance.
Zero-In aids healthy brain function and focus while balancing dopamine and serotonin levels. This may not provide complete relief to individuals with ADHD but can help to manage symptoms. For example, the pine bark found in Zero-In has many benefits including improvements in sustained attention, memory, and executive function.
Zero-In optimizes sleep and circadian rhythm by reducing stress and improving mood. Sleep can be a problem in children and adults with ADHD due to hyperactivity. But with the ingredients in Zero-In, sleep quality can be improved. For example, studies on Vitamin D have shown this supplement to improve sleep quality and reduce sleep related difficulties.
Thus, there are many potential benefits for using mucuna pruriens to address and treat symptoms of ADHD. By increasing and regulating neurotransmitters, those with ADHD can receive symptom relief and treatment without the negative side effects of stimulant medication.
The optimized ingredients in Root’s Zero-In, including mucuna pruriens, can have full body benefits and provide treatment for a foggy mind, poor memory, decreased energy, and poor sleep. Find out more about Zero-In and it’s potential as a natural ADHD medication.