Shankhapushpi (Dwarf Morning Glory, aloe weed, Convolvulus pluricaulis, Clitoria ternatea, Evolvulus alstinoides, Codonopsis pilosula, Canscora decussate)

Well, dingbat here, was digging through my refrigerator bin with powders and herbs and found my bag of powdered Shankapushpi (or Shankhapushpi). I have a tendency to get interested in something, buy it and USE it...but this is one I remember getting during a really stressful time, I tried it for a bit, and I put it in the fridge for "later". It slid to the bottom of the bin and my mind. 

The plus side to coming across it this morning is that I get to be excited about trying it again so it's a two-fer??? Not exactly excited but I'm off doing some re-research to re-learn why I bought it. If I remember correctly it didn't do much for my sleep but it could be that it needs to build.

It sounds really good but I've gotten a bit jaded when it comes to all the things out there that are said to do wonderful things, especially when they have such a long list of benefits. Not doubting they work but none of them are miracle workers and what works for one person may not for another. It could be that this will help me personally in one area but not another. Getting ready to start again and find out!

It has many reported benefits for the brain AND to a lesser degree for sleep, two big areas of interest for me. In reading about it the memory enhancement and cognitive benefits top the list as to reasons people use it. The list of what it purportedly does/helps with includes:

• Memory enhancement (long-term), improved concentration & mental fatigue, & focus
• Alzhiemer's disease & other dementias (here's an interesting bit about two of the different types of Shankhapushpi: https://www.jpionline.org/index.php/ijpi/article/view/827)
  
• Epilepsy
  
• Depression
• Ulcers
  
• 
  Stress & anxiety
• Sleep
• Headache prevention
• Skin health
• Digestion 
• Cardio health
  
• Learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism
  
• Liver disease
• Nausea & vomiting
• Bronchitis & asthma
• Graying hair, hair loss
• Diabetes
  

A few tidbits:

• There are four (4) plants known as Shankhapushpi: Convolvulus pluricaulis, Clitoria ternatea, Evolvulus alstinoides (found it called Vishnukarandhi, Vishnukrantha, Vishnu-kranta, Vishukarandi, and Sankaholi), and Codonopsis pilosula. Update: just came across a site that says the four are Convolvulus pluricaulis, Evolvulus alsinoides, Clitoria ternatea, and Canscora decussate with the first being the "true" Dwarf Morning Glory. Yikes, now we're up to five plants and who knows how many names... Sigh. Ya'll are on your own...I'd need a doctorate to figure out which one is true at this point. I have Evolvulus alstinoides...which a number of sites said was "the best". Who knows? They generally all said they did the same thing in reading.
  
• You can use the oil, capsules, syrup, powder, juice or make a decoction.
• It's a perennial Indian plant (also found in Burma)
  
• 
  Check with your doctor if you're taking medications to lower your blood pressure or have any other health issues. I didn't see any big warning signs about taking it but it's always advisable to go slow with anything new you're adding.
  
• At extremely high doses it can slow down your respiratory system so make sure you stick to the recommended doses. I always cycle things like this just to be on the safe side. I also cycle things to make sure my body doesn't adjust to whatever I'm taking --- sometimes your body adjusts and quits making its own cancer fighters, sugar regulators, etc. All we're trying to do with supplementation is enhance, not kill or suppress, what our body can do for us if treated well.
  
• There is some debate as to whether the shankpushpi from Clitoria ternatea or Convolvulus pluricaulis is the best...seems that the Clitoria ternatea wins out for purists but it seems the Convolvulus is more common. I plan to do a bit more reading on this one...came across it late in my research. Not sure which one I have either so going to grab my bag to see. Update: I have Banyan Botanicals, Evolvulus alstinoides (saw it called Vishnukranthi on one site) also known as Dwarf Morning Glory herb per the label on the bag --- which means yours truly has more research to do! I am going to look it up using the common title, see if I can find out what the difference is between the three I have now come across. Traveling an interesting investigative trail. :-)
  
• The blooms closely resemble those of the Morning Glory so you'll see that mentioned frequently if you're out reading. It's not morning glory so don't go getting high on those morning glory seeds :-).
  
• Throughout history it has been a major part of Ayurvedic medicine practice
• It has a bitter taste so you may want to mix it with something sweet if you're not taking capsules

Dosage

The dosage suggestions vary widely and depend sometimes on what you're trying to achieve. I'm going to start with a half teaspoon twice a day, once in the morning and another at night. For brain and memory I saw doses as high as two teaspoons three times a day with the last being taken before bed to enhance sleep (which definitely helps the brain). I plan to start slow. I'm more into prevention of memory issues at this point so doubt I'll go to the higher doses.

More reading if you're interested. Much more depth than I provided above:

Effect of Evolvulus alsinoides Linn. on learning behavior and memory enhancement activity in rodents: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19610035/

https://supplementsinreview.com/nootropic/convolvulus-pluricalis-nootropic/ 

https://learn.1balance.com/post/benefits-of-shankhpushpi/

Comparative nootropic effect of evolvulus alsinoides and convolvulus pluricaulis: https://ijpbs.net/abstract.php?article=NTk2 

https://www.netmeds.com/health-library/post/shankhpushpi-benefits-uses-dosage-formulations-and-side-effects

https://lifeseasons.com/shankhpushpi

https://rootbabes.com/shankhpushpi-benefits/

https://harmonyveda.com/2020/01/09/know-shankhpushpi-benefits/

https://www.gyanunlimited.com/health/top-10-wonder-benefits-of-shankhpushpi-convolvulus-pluricaulis/11551/

Published Study Shows Brain Exercises Improve Memory and Attention - And People Notice

/PRNewswire/ -- Study results to be published in the April 4, 2009 edition of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society are the first to show definitively that computerized brain exercises can improve memory and attention in older adults. An advance copy of the breakthrough study led by researchers from the University of Southern California and the Mayo Clinic has been released online.

A total of 487 healthy adults over the age of 65 participated in the randomized controlled trial, called the IMPACT Study. Half were assigned to a group that trained on a brain fitness software program for a total of 40 hours over the course of 8 weeks. The other half spent an equal amount of time learning from educational lectures on the computer followed by quizzes.

The study found that participants who trained on the software, The Brain Fitness Program(TM) from Posit Science(R), more than doubled their processing speed, with an average increase of 131%. They also saw gains on standard measures of memory and attention of 10 years, on average. These changes were big enough that participants reported significant improvements in every day activities (such as remembering names or understanding conversations in noisy restaurants). The gains of the brain exercise group were clinically significant; the gains of the lecture group were significantly smaller and not clinically significant.

The Brain Fitness Program was developed by a global team of neuroscientists for Posit Science. It consists of six exercises done on a computer. The product is based on the science of brain plasticity - the ability of the brain to change and form new pathways in response to the right stimulation delivered in the right way.

Marlene Allen, aged 75, of Mill Valley, California participated in the brain exercise half of the study. "Now I don't have to write down shopping lists. I remember what I need at the store," Ms. Allen said. "And I almost never walk into a room and forget why anymore."

While some earlier studies have shown older adults get better at exercises that they practice, this study goes two steps further. The improvements at the exercises resulted in gains in standard measures of memory and attention and people noticed improvements in their every day activities.

"The changes we saw in the experimental group were remarkable - and significantly larger than the gains in the control group," said Liz Zelinski, PhD, a principal investigator for the study from the University of Southern California. "From a researcher's point of view, this was very impressive because people got better at the tasks trained, those improvements generalized to standardized measures of memory and people noticed improvements in their lives. What this means is that cognitive decline is no longer an inevitable part of aging. Doing properly designed cognitive activities can enhance our abilities as we age."

"We saw gains of 4% in memory scores in the brain exercise group," said Glenn Smith, PhD, the study's principal investigator from the Mayo Clinic. "That may not sound like much, but it is about what an older person normally loses in a 10 year period. The lectures group saw about a 2% gain, which may sound like they did half as well; however, we look at memory on a curve, not a straight line, and a 2% gain is not something you are apt to notice in your life."

"This study has profound personal and public implications for aging baby boomers and their parents," said Joe Coughlin, PhD, Director of the AgeLab at the Massachusetts Institute Technology. "This means boomers may now have tools for a future that is not their grandfather's old age. It also impacts most aspects of independent living - from aging-in-place to transportation to all the great and little things that we call life. This is big news for aging and for all of us."

The IMPACT study is the largest study ever of a brain fitness program that is available to the public and the first published in a medical journal to show improvements in memory and attention.

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Live

Live, as in live your life to its fullest every day. You never know what kind of curve ball life is going to throw. I remember years and years ago hearing my parents talking about some older friends of theirs. This couple had everything planned out. They scrimped and saved so they could live their dream when they retired. They saved every spare penny in order to buy one of those big motor homes. They planned the trips they would take and managed their money so they could live their perfect life. Nothing wrong with having a dream, but “today” didn’t exist for this couple. It was all about the day they retired.

I know you’re expecting to read that one of them died, or one came down with a debilitating illness. Nope, nothing that tragic. But the gas shortage did hit. They couldn’t afford, or find, enough gas to fuel their dream. I don’t know if they ever did get to go tooling around the country as they’d planned. I know they were pretty miserable for at least that period of time.

That conversation I overheard stuck with me. It sparked many thoughts about the balance that’s needed in life to live today fully yet plan for a future. Yes, it’s important to plan for the future ‘cause hopefully you’ll have one. But life doesn’t always let you live out your plans.

I could tell tale after tale of people who were hit with the unexpected. Some were living their life to the fullest and while they may have had some regrets when life dumped on them, they generally accepted the rock thrown through the window of their plans. Others had focused completely on their future leaving behind a long line of “if only’s”.

I remember the young woman I met at a concert whose goal throughout her 30 year life was to be married. She finally found Mr. Right after years and years of searching only to find out within weeks of being married that she had an inoperable brain tumor and had less than six months to live. How much life slipped by her as she focused on a future that had to include a husband? Who knows, we didn’t get that far into her life.

I know way too many people who lived their life for retirement only to die within a few months or come down with some catastrophic illness that sapped their savings or otherwise prevented the attainment of their dream.

It’s important to find the right balance and oft times it’s impossible to find the right balance.

I’ve learned that it’s more important to spend a day with the kids than to update a website. Sure I want to accomplish things. However, when everyone is standing around my coffin someday I seriously doubt they’ll be remembering the times I completed a video or finished a work product… unless it kept me from doing something with them. I don’t want to be remembered for the things I missed.

Likewise, when I’m on my deathbed (yes, the blog has taken on a rather morbid tone hasn’t it?) I doubt I’ll be regretting an unfinished load of clothes that didn’t get washed or a yard that wasn’t mowed or a garage that wasn’t swept or the television program unwatched. Nope, if I’m regretting anything it’ll be the times I didn’t spend with my family and friends.

Again, balance. You have to pay the bills, you have to keep a clean house and neat yard… but not at the expense of a life with real meaning. Life is short and it gets shorter as you’re getting older and looking back on the life you’ve lived.

The older I get the more I realize how fleeting life truly is. Planning ahead is still important to me, but more and more I see just how important it is to build good memories, too. Memories are built on todays, not on tomorrows.