Artichoke Extract (Luteolin)
The artichoke is one of the most amazing and photogenic vegetables around. Images of artichokes appeared in many paintings, writers glorified them in their works, and in general – they make delicious dishes from them, collect beautiful bouquets and even make a tea.
Although considered a vegetable, artichoke is a type of milk thistle. This plant originated in the Mediterranean and has been used as a cure for centuries. Artichokes help lower blood sugar and improve digestion; good for the heart and liver.
In addition to its charming appearance, the artichoke is a storehouse of vitamins and amino acids necessary for a person. Read about the most useful benefits of artichoke in our article.
What is Artichoke Extract?
Artichoke extract is a supplement that is gaining popularity in the nootropic community. All thanks to their abilities to improve emotional well-being and develop cognitive abilities.
Artichoke extract is an extract of the leaf, stem and root of the Cynara scolymus or Cynara cardunculus plant.
Artichoke extract has been used as a digestive aid for many years. But more recently, it has been used to treat liver disease, weight loss, and infections.
Although artichoke extract contains many compounds that have a beneficial effect. There are two that are responsible for positive effects on mood and brain function: luteolin and inulin.
- Inulin is a prebiotic fiber that stimulates the growth of good bacteria in the intestines. There is a link between gut health and cognitive function, mood, and the ability to cope with stress.
- Luteolin is a flavonoid or secondary metabolite of the artichoke. Substances based on it have been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat various diseases.
How artichoke extract works
1.Inulin
It is is a powerful prebiotic. Within each of our digestive tracts, there are trillions of bacteria and other microorganisms known as the gut microbiome. The more common term for these bacteria is prebiotics. They can also be taken in supplement form.
Prebiotics are components of some plant foods. They feed these bacteria, increasing their health benefits. Artichoke extract is rich in inulin, an inedible starch with a strong prebiotic effect.
In just this century, researchers have discovered that these tiny organisms do much more for our health and well-being than we thought, especially when it comes to mood, energy, and brain function.
When your bacteria get sick and begin to get infected with disease-causing bacteria, you experience problems such as brain fog, depression, stress, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, memory impairments, and weight gain.
But when you maintain a healthy gastrointestinal tract by promoting the development of your commensurate bacteria, you are improving the health of your gut microbiome.
One way to do this is by taking prebiotics like inulin. This allows populations of healthy bacteria to grow in our body.
When you increase the number of good bacteria in your gut, you will experience an increase in energy, mental clarity, a boost in your mood, and more.
These benefits are mainly because bacteria in your gut are capable of making chemical compounds similar to neurotransmitters that are created in your brain.
For example, bacteria in the gut make more serotonin than the brain (roughly 90% of the body’s serotonin is produced in the digestive tract), which helps you feel happy and optimistic.
One way to promote the health of your gut microbiome is to consume prebiotic foods and prebiotics, as they help the good bacteria grow.
2.Luteolin
Luteolin antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent.
Luteolin is a flavonoid found in artichokes. It is considered one of the main compounds that provide many of the health benefits of artichoke.
Research shows it helps fight inflammation throughout the body, especially in the brain, thanks in large part to its powerful antioxidant properties.
In addition, some inflammatory compounds lead to decreased neurogenesis (the growth of new brain cells) in the hippocampus.
This is the area of the brain that is primarily responsible for memory and learning abilities. By protecting against neuroinflammation, luteolin is thought to help protect neurogenesis by providing neuroprotective effects.
Artichoke Extract Top 6 Picks
Nootropic properties of artichoke
1.Improves memory and learning
Artichoke extract, thanks to its high content of inulin and luteolin, improves memory and learning ability.
One double-blind, placebo-controlled human study of 47 participants examined the effect of inulin on memory.
5 grams of inulin or placebo was given to the participants over two control days, divided by two weeks. Inulin was found to improve episodic memory performance and memorization efficiency, compared to the placebo.
In animal studies, luteolin has shown impressive anti-inflammatory properties.
In these studies, the reduction in neuroinflammation due to luteolin was accompanied by improvements in memory and knowledge in elderly and healthy mice. It is likely that these benefits could extend to humans, but more research is needed.
2.Improves your mood
The mood benefits of artichoke extract are largely due to its prebiotic content. Prebiotic foods and supplements have shown the ability to alter our emotional well-being, so it’s no surprise that artichoke extract helps improve our mood.
In the same study that looked at inulin and memory, inulin was found to improve participants’ well-being on the day they took cognitive laboratory tests, compared to placebo.
Because inulin contributes to the formation of a healthy gut microbiome, it brings even greater benefits to emotional well-being.
Dosage, safety and precautions
While artichoke contains a lot of nutrients, artichoke extract contains the same nutrients in a more concentrated form.
Besides its nootropic properties, it also lowers cholesterol levels.
There is no recommended dosage for artichoke extract nootropic use, however 320-640 mg three times daily was used for indigestion studies and 250-960 mg twice a day for high cholesterol.
Due to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and chelating properties, research has shown that artichoke extract and its compounds can help protect the brain from damage.
By stimulating optimal brain health, people will be able to experience an overall increase in their brain performance across a wide range of tasks.
You may notice an increase in stress tolerance, an improvement in well-being, an improvement in memory and your learning ability.
