Benefits Of Mucuna Pruriens

In this article we take a look to Benefits of Mucuna Pruriens and my experiences with it after two years use.

What is Mucuna Pruriens?

Mucuna Pruriens is a tropical legume known as velvet bean (cowitch). Mucuna Pruriens is a moderately popular herb in Ayurveda which is the oldest known health system in the world dating back to past over 5000 years ago.

Traditional Indian medicine considers Mucuna Pruriens to be antidiabetic, aphrodisiac and to improve fertility properties.

Modern western science has shown that Mucuna Pruriens extract works more effectively than pure L-Dopa and that its action starts sooner and lasts for longer.1Hussian, Ghazala & V. Manyam, Bala. (1997).
Mucuna pruriens proves more effective than L‐DOPA in Parkinson’s disease animal model. Phytotherapy Research. 11. 419 – 423. 10.1002/(SICI)1099-1573(199709)11:6<419::AID-PTR120>3.0.CO;2-Q.

Mucuna Pruriens contains high levels of L-Dopa (levodopa) which functions as a precursor to dopamine. Unlike dopamine, it has the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier. That will elevate your dopamine levels which makes you feel good and happy. dopamine will increase our attention span and concentration. It might help to mitigate attention deficit and has a calming yet mood-lifting effect. It has been also reported to increase lucid dreams and dream vividly.

Mucuna Pruriens acts as an hGH secretagogue (meaning it causes secretion of another compound) by increasing our dopamine levels which then increase our growth hormone levels.

It has been already long known that dopamine is a central compound in increasing our growth hormone secretion. It seems that dopamine increases secretion of Growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) and prevents the secretion of Growth hormone-inhibiting hormone (GHIH or somatostatin).2J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1987 Jun;64(6):1136-41.

Role of dopamine in the regulation of growth hormone secretion: dopamine and bromocriptine augment growth hormone (GH)-releasing hormone-stimulated GH secretion in normal man.

Vance ML, Kaiser DL, Frohman LA, Rivier J, Vale WW, Thorner MO.


Therefore dopamine acts as one of the best natural hHG releasers. High levels of human Growth hormone (hGH) are known as a major key to human longevity.

Mucuna Pruriens flower
Mucuna Pruriens flower source

Mucuna Pruriens is said to be one of the greatest herb on earth. But let’s take a look real studies.

Mucuna Pruriens studies

  • Mucuna pruriens stress
    In the study made with infertile men who were under psychological stress, it was noted that mucuna pruriens increases well-being, helps in the management of stress and lowers serum cortisol levels.3 Shukla KK, Mahdi AA, Ahmad MK, Jaiswar SP, Shankwar SN, Tiwari SC. Mucuna pruriens Reduces Stress and Improves the Quality of Semen in Infertile
    Men. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med.

    2010;7(1):137–144. doi:10.1093/ecam/nem171
  • Mucuna Pruriens testosterone
    Mucuna Pruriens is also shown to increase testosterone levels significantly in infertile men. For healthy men, the increase wasn’t that high but still significant. Remember every change to raise your testosterone counts. Also, Mucuna Pruriens significantly improved the quantity and quality of infertile men’s semen quality. Mucuna Pruriens also seems to decrease prolactin.4Fertil Steril. 2009 Dec;92(6):1934-40. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2008.09.045. Epub 2008 Oct 29.
    Mucuna pruriens improves male fertility by its action on the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis.
    Shukla KK1, Mahdi AA, Ahmad MK, Shankhwar SN, Rajender S, Jaiswar SP.

    J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2011 Jul 15;55(5):1060-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jpba.2011.03.010. Epub 2011 Mar 11.
    A proton NMR study of the effect of Mucuna pruriens on seminal plasma metabolites of infertile males.
    Gupta A1, Mahdi AA, Ahmad MK, Shukla KK, Bansal N, Jaiswer SP, Shankhwar SN.
  • Mucuna Pruriens dopamine
    Mucuna Pruriens has been said to elevate your dopamine levels mainly because of its natural L-dopa content. But you might wonder has this been proven in scientific studies. Yes, it’s been tested in studies and as it turns out: Mucuna pruriens can at least recover decreased seminal and blood plasma dopamine levels.

    “Treatment with M. pruriens recovered the seminal plasma and blood plasma dopamine levels in normozoospermic (65%, 63%; P<.01), oligozoospermic (70%, 19%; P<.05), and asthenozoospermic (72%, 75%; P<.01) men, as compared with pretreatment levels.” – Mucuna pruriens improves male fertility

  • Mucuna Pruriens Parkinson’s Disease
    Mucuna Pruriens might able to reduce symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease.5J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2004 Dec;75(12):1672-7.
    Mucuna pruriens in Parkinson’s disease: a double blind clinical and pharmacological study. Katzenschlager R1, Evans A, Manson A, Patsalos PN, Ratnaraj N, Watt H, Timmermann L, Van der Giessen R, Lees AJ.

    J Neurol Sci. 2000 Jun 15;176(2):124-7.
    Association of L-DOPA with recovery following Ayurveda medication in Parkinson’s disease. Nagashayana N1, Sankarankutty P, Nampoothiri MR, Mohan PK, Mohanakumar KP.

    J Altern Complement Med. 1995 Fall;1(3):249-55.
    An alternative medicine treatment for Parkinson’s disease: results of a multicenter clinical trial. HP-200 in Parkinson’s Disease Study Group.
    No authors listed

As you can see: mucuna pruriens benefits are backed up by several human and animal studies.

Safety of Mucuna Pruriens

When used reasonably intelligently and in a proper way Mucuna Pruriens is safe and effective for most healthy people.

Is Mucuna Pruriens a drug and can you overdose & get addicted?
L-Dopa that Mucuna Pruriens contains is just a precursor that our body can use to produce more dopamine. It will not probably stimulate us to the direction we wouldn’t want to go too much so developing an addiction is not likely.

Overdosing might be possible, I suggest you follow the dosage suggested by the manufacturer, or your physician.

Possible side effects
You should not use Mucuna Pruriens if you are pregnant, nursing or taking MAO (Monamine Oxidase) inhibitor drugs which prevent dopamine being broken down by monoamine oxidase.

Other contraindications are schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or usage of any drug especially those that affect neurotransmitter functions. Do not use if you have any kind of blood clotting disorder.

If you use medicines or suffer from some kinda disease, you should always check with your doctor before adding any new herbs to your nutritional supplement regimen.

Personal benefits of Mucuna Pruriens

It improves feelings of well being and motivation. Mucuna Pruriens leads also to increased sexual desires and better sexual function. My experience is that Mucuna Pruriens will raise libido pretty fast.

Mucuna is an awesome state booster when used in moderation. Mucuna Pruriens is a fun herb to experiment with. It’s incredibly beneficial for people who are dealing with symptoms of stress, anxiety or depression or symptoms of dopamine deficiency.

When taken every day for 1-2 weeks the effects will wear down, and I have to take some time off – two weeks to one month and come back to it later. Experiment with your usage. I think Mucuna Pruriens should be used in cycles, for example, two weeks on two weeks off.

Who should use Mucuna Pruriens?
Mucuna Pruriens should be used by people who want to optimize and raise their dopamine levels to gain improved mood and energy. Or enhance their libido and sexual capacity and optimize testosterone production.

Mucuna Pruriens is also being used by people who want to optimize their growth hormone levels like bodybuilders, athletes, and people who want to look good and stay young.

Benefits Of Mucuna Pruriens
Mucuna Pruriens product that I’m using.

Mucuna Pruriens products

You might be able to buy Mucuna Pruriens in well-supplied health and food stores. You can also order it from the Internet from various places such as iHerb or amazon.com.

Mucuna Pruriens product I’m using is:
Himalaya Herbal Healthcare, Mucuna / Amazon 15 mg L-dopa per tablet. Organic and filler/additive free.

Other good choices:
Paradise Herbs, Organics, Mucuna / Amazon 37,5 mg L-dopa per tablet. Organic and no added fillers or flow agents in the capsule.

Now Foods, Dopa Mucuna, 90 Vcaps / Amazon 60 mg L-dopa per tablet. Contains some fillers and additives.

Money saving tip
You can get 10% off from your first iHerb.com order and for everyone else gets 5% off with code: KLJ962 or by clicking this link. (5% off works on everyone and every order you make)

You get the discount code automatically from my links and while you’ll benefit from this, I also benefit by getting “iHerb credits” that I can use towards my next orders. Thank you for this!

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