The Dopa-Bean

Mucuna pruriens, also called the “magic velvet bean”, is an established herbal drug used for the management of male infertility, nervous disorders, and also as an aphrodisiac:

The Magic Velvet Bean of Mucuna pruriens

How it works is more interesting than that, though.

It’s about the dopamine

M. pruriens contains levodopa (L-dopa). That’s right, the same as the dopaminergic medication most often prescribed for Parkinson’s disease. Furthermore, it might even be better than synthetic L-dopa, because:

❝M. pruriens seed extract demonstrated acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity, while synthetic L-dopa enhanced the activity of the enzyme. It can be concluded that the administration of M. pruriens seed might be effective in protecting the brain against neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.

M. pruriens seed extract containing L-dopa has shown less acetylcholinesterase activity stimulation compared with L-dopa, suggesting that the extract might have a superior benefit for use in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.❞

~ Dr. Narisa Kamkaen et al.

Read in full: Mucuna pruriens Seed Aqueous Extract Improved Neuroprotective and Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitory Effects Compared with Synthetic L-Dopa

Indeed, it has been tested specifically in (human!) Parkinson’s disease patients, which RCT found:

❝The rapid onset of action and longer on time without concomitant increase in dyskinesias on mucuna seed powder formulation suggest that this natural source of l-dopa might possess advantages over conventional l-dopa preparations in the long term management of Parkinson’s disease❞

~ Dr. Regina Katzenschlager et al.

Read more: Mucuna pruriens in Parkinson’s disease: a double-blind clinical and pharmacological study

Beyond Parkinson’s disease

M. pruriens has also been tested and found beneficial in cases of disease other than Parkinson’s, thus:

Mucuna pruriens in Parkinson’s and in some other diseases: recent advancement and future prospective

…but the science is less well-established for things not generally considered related to dopamine, such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiometabolic disorders.

Note, however, that the science for it being neuroprotective is rather stronger.

Against depression

Depression can have many causes, and (especially on a neurological level) diverse presentations. As such, sometimes what works for one person’s depression won’t touch another person’s, because the disease and treatment are about completely different neurotransmitter dysregulations. So, if a person’s depression is due to a shortage of serotonin, for example, then perking up the dopamine won’t help much, and vice versa. See also:

Antidepressants: Personalization Is Key!

When it comes to M. pruriens and antidepressant activity, then predictably it will be more likely to help if your depression is due to too little dopamine. Note that this means that even if your depression is dopamine-based, but the problem is with your dopamine receptors and not the actual levels of dopamine, then this may not help so much, depending on what else you have going on in there.

The science for M. pruriens and depression is young, and we only found non-human animal studies so far, for example:

Dopamine mediated antidepressant effect of Mucuna pruriens seeds in various experimental models of depression

In summary

It’s good against Parkinson’s in particular and is good against neurodegeneration in general.

It may be good against depression, depending on the kind of depression you have.

Is it safe?

That’s a great question! And the answer is: it depends. For most people, in moderation, it should be fine (but, see our usual legal/medical disclaimer). Definitely don’t take it if you have bipolar disorder or any kind of schizoid/psychotic disorder; it is likely to trigger a manic/psychotic episode if you do.

For more on this, we discussed it (pertaining to L-dopa in general, not M. pruriens specifically) at greater length here:

An Accessible New Development Against Alzheimer’s ← scroll down to the heading that reads “Is there a catch?”

Want to try some?

We don’t sell it, but here for your convenience is an example product on Amazon 😎

Enjoy!