Supplement
Mucuna pruriens is a tropical bean whose seeds naturally contain L-DOPA, the compound the brain converts into dopamine, the chemical messenger that helps coordinate movement. People mainly look at it for Parkinson's disease, and the evidence is rated strong: in three small studies, symptoms eased. Those studies enrolled only about 40 people in total, and some were short pilot or crossover designs, so the results are best read as early rather than settled.
Sources: PMID 29352722; PMID 28679598
- Updated
- How we grade
- 3 studies cited
- Best evidence
- Grade A
- Conditions studied
- 1
- Outcomes
- 1
- Graded outcomes
- 1000
Evidence by condition
- Strong
- Moderate
- Limited
- Very limited
| Grade | Outcome | Effect | Size | Studies | People | Studies list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parkinson's Disease Symptoms Moderate Improvement | Improves (the measure goes down) | Moderate effect | 3 studies | 40 people | ||
Studies that measured parkinson's disease symptoms
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Key findings
- Parkinson's Disease SymptomsImproves (the measure goes down)
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Third-party tested Mucuna Pruriens products, in the forms the graded studies used where we can match them.
- Grade A
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Studies cited
3 studies from PubMed
- Daily intake of Mucuna pruriens in advanced Parkinson's disease: A 16-week, noninferiority, randomized, crossover, pilot study
- Mucuna pruriens in Parkinson disease: A double-blind, randomized, controlled, crossover study
- Mucuna pruriens in Parkinson's disease: a double blind clinical and pharmacological study