Convolvulus prostratus.
An Ayurvedic creeping herb, shankhpushpi, used to support calm and memory. What's on record is traditional use plus animal and laboratory work, not human trials.
- Category
- Herb
What Convolvulus prostratus is, and what it does.
- Does it work
- It suits people drawn to Ayurvedic calm and focus botanicals who are comfortable with early evidence. It's usually paired with other herbs rather than taken alone.
- How much to take
- No daily amount is on record. Traditional practice starts with the dried whole-herb powder, and extract strengths vary, so follow what the specific extract states.
- Time to feel it
- Nobody has measured a controlled human timeline. Traditional use ran as daily courses over weeks rather than as a single dose.
- The first dose
- Day one is quiet for most people, sometimes a mild settled feeling. No human study has tracked a first-day response.
- With regular use
- Weeks of daily use is how it's traditionally taken. Animal work points to calm and memory pathways, and human confirmation hasn't been done yet.
- How well tolerated
- Traditionally well tolerated as a food-grade powder. Its coumarins are cleared by the liver, so check with a clinician if you take prescription medicines.
- How it feels
- People describe a mild settling rather than sedation. That's a traditional report, not something measured in a trial.
- The overlooked benefit
- Shankhpushpi is a shared name in Ayurveda and several unrelated plants are sold under it, so the botanical name on the label is what tells you what you have.
The proof, claim by claim.
These words describe the research, not the molecule's worth. Research strength is how much work stands behind one claim, and it is never a product score.
- calm and everyday stressAnimal study
- memory and recallAnimal study
- antioxidant activityIn vitro study
- sleep quality in traditional useNarrative review
Why these belong in the same formula. Each row says what the basis is, from settled biochemistry through to a trial that measured the pair.
Convolvulus prostratus (shankhpushpi) and Bacopa monnieri appear together in classical Ayurvedic memory formulations, and modern products often carry both. The pairing rests on shared traditional use, not on controlled human work comparing the pair against either alone. Anyone reading this should count it as formulation convention with a long history rather than demonstrated additive benefit. No dose ratio has been established in humans.
Shankhpushpi and ashwagandha are combined in traditional preparations aimed at calm and mental steadiness. The two have different phytochemistry, so the rationale is overlapping intended use rather than a defined biochemical interaction. Human data on the combination specifically is not available. Read it as mechanistic and traditional rather than clinical.
L-theanine has a defined effect on alpha-band cortical activity, while Convolvulus prostratus contains a mixed alkaloid and coumarin fraction with no single characterised target in humans. Products pairing them are aiming at the same subjective end point from two different directions. Nobody has tested the pair head to head against either component. Anyone stacking them should watch for additive drowsiness at higher intakes.
Traditional use of Convolvulus prostratus includes calming preparations, and animal work has reported reduced spontaneous activity. Valerian has its own well-documented sedative profile. Stacking the two can compound drowsiness, which matters for driving and for anyone already on sedating medication. This is a caution flag, not a recommended pairing.
Piperine inhibits several intestinal and hepatic metabolising enzymes and efflux transport, which raises systemic exposure to a range of co-administered plant compounds. Whether that applies to the specific alkaloids in Convolvulus prostratus has not been measured. The pairing is common formulation practice extrapolated from other botanicals. Higher exposure also means a higher chance of interaction with prescription medicines.
Nothing specific on file for Convolvulus prostratus. Match the label to the daily amount above, and tell your doctor what you take.
Not medical advice. Show the label to your pharmacist.What Convolvulus prostratus actually does.
This plant contains a mix of alkaloids, coumarins, flavonoid glycosides and sterols, but no single one of these has been pinned down as the active ingredient in humans.
Since the whole plant is used rather than an isolated compound, its makeup varies with where and what part is harvested and how it's extracted, so two products labeled the same way can differ unless standardized to a named marker.
One of its coumarin compounds is well studied chemically, and coumarins as a class are processed by the liver, which is why caution is warranted when taking this alongside prescription medicines cleared the same way.
Where Convolvulus prostratus comes from.
A small creeping plant from India, dried and powdered or extracted into a concentrate. What ends up in the bottle depends a lot on which parts of the plant were used and how it was processed.
Made from a plant. What ends up in the capsule tracks the harvest, so batch testing and a stated marker matter more here than with a made molecule.
A low creeping herb of the bindweed family, gathered from cultivated or wild stands mainly in India. Aerial parts and roots are both used, and which parts a supplier includes changes the final composition.
Traditional material is shade-dried and milled. Commercial extracts use water or a water and ethanol mix, then the solvent is removed under vacuum.
Where standardisation is offered it is usually to total alkaloids or to a named coumarin such as scopoletin. No industry-wide marker exists, so figures are not comparable across suppliers.
Sold as churna, as capsules of extract, or blended into syrups and ghee preparations.
Many labels give an extract ratio without naming the solvent or the marker assayed, so the strength claim cannot be checked.
The forms it comes in.
FDA Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Consult your healthcare provider before starting any supplement regimen.