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In our modern lifestyle, we often stress our bodies and minds to the point of exhaustion.
In the end, stress catches up with us, making matters worse.
Then, we go hunting for a therapist to find peace of mind.
But, why waste so much when we gain so little? Why not try nootropics instead?
Nootropics are nothing but supplements to boost brain health and cognitive functioning. They allow you to breeze past those daily chores without breaking a sweat.
It is interesting to note that most efficient nootropics use natural ingredients that have been used as memory boosters in traditional medicine for ages. So, they are tried and tested. To give a modern twist to these brain boosters, manufacturers have incorporated numerous other ingredients in optimal dosages to make a winning formula backed by clinical trials.
So if you think things have gotten too hot to handle, try the best nootropics to cool it down. Here are three of the most effective nootropics on the market right now.
Here are the detailed reviews of our top picks:
Introduction NooCube is manufactured by Wolfson Brands (UK) Ltd, which has been in the health supplements business for more than a decade.
Orders are shipped from the company’s U.S. warehouse. So, orders within the U.S. will reach you within 5 to 8 days. In Canada, you can expect your orders to reach you within 5 to 15 days. For the rest of the world, orders may take anything between 5 and 15 working days.
The company provides free shipping worldwide, and orders are shipped every day from Monday through Friday, usually within 48 hours of order placement.
The company even offers a 100% money-back guarantee, including shipping and handling, if you are not satisfied with the results of NooCube.
Alpha GPC: Alpha glycerylphosphorylcholine (Alpha GPC) may increase levels of acetylcholine — known as the learning neurotransmitter — in the brain. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers in the brain that communicate between the cells. Alpha GPC is important for memory, learning, and concentration, and it has a strong ability to improve cognitive function. It has shown promising results in patients with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.
Huperzine A: Huperzine-A, an acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor, is extracted from the Chinese club moss plant. AChE can cause damage to acetylcholine. Huperzine A prevents the levels of the learning neurotransmitter from decreasing and creates a surplus. It can improve mental clarity, concentration, and memory. Huperzine may also improve the conditions of Alzheimer’s patients.
Cat’s Claw: It is a natural extract of the Uncaria tomentosa vine found in the Amazon rainforest. Cat’s Claw contains antioxidants and may have neuroprotective benefits. It may also help improve brain health and cognitive performance.
Bacopa Monnieri (Brahmi): Bacopa monnieri or Brahmi is an Indian herb that has been used for ages in Ayurvedic medicine to improve memory and cognitive function. It contains compounds called bacosides that help repair damaged neurons and promote nerve growth. It improves neurons’ communication with the brain, which improves cognitive function, memory, and mental performance. There have been many studies to prove the remarkable abilities of Brahmi.
Oat Straw: Avena sativa or oat straw is extracted from wild green oats and is another traditional medicine for boosting brain health. Oat straw possibly increases alpha-2 waves in the brain, which are active when we are awake, and controls inflammation within artery walls, which increases blood flow to the brain. Researchers have reported the positive effects of oat straw on attention and concentration.
L-Theanine and L-Tyrosine: Both of these are amino acids that stimulate neurotransmitters in the brain. L-theanine is found in green and black tea, and it can help relieve stress and promote a relaxed but alert state of mind. L-tyrosine helps create dopamine and noradrenaline, which are neurotransmitters that control alertness and focus, particularly in taxing situations. L-tyrosine may help improve cognitive performance by reducing the impact of stress, brain fog, and mental fatigue on mental performance and helping you remain focused.
DOSAGE Start with two NooCube capsules with breakfast every morning. You can take up to three or four capsules per day, but do not take more than four a day. Each bottle has 60 capsules.
Introduction The parent company of Mind Lab Pro is the U.K.-based Opti-Nutra Limited. It manufactures state-of-the-art performance supplements to optimize biological function, brain function, and boost health. Opti-Nutra is known for using premium branded ingredients and following stringent standards for purity and freshness.
Products are shipped fast across the world, and all orders are shipped on the same day or the next working day.
The company also offers a money-back guarantee. You can use Mind Lab Pro for 30 days (up to one bottle), and if you are unhappy, you can return the empty bottle within 60 days for a full product refund (minus shipping).
Citicoline 250mg as Cognizin: Citicoline helps rejuvenate the healthy brain cells and optimizes the neural electrical impulses that control thought processes. It may be the key to brain cell regeneration and repair. Citicoline also supports neurotransmitters, including acetylcholine. It enhances mental performance and promotes mood balance, memory, attention, focus, and concentration. It may help maintain healthy brain function with age as well.
Phosphatidylserine (PS) 100mg as Sharp PS Green from Sunflower Lecithin: PS comprises 15% of the brain’s fats, and it is mainly found in brain cell membranes, where it helps maintain fluidity, optimizes receptors, and boosts neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine and dopamine. It supports brain cell energy production by boosting glucose absorption and may support brain cell creation, maintenance, and repair. PS may sharpen memory and slow cognitive decline, and it has the FDA’s backing as a medication for reducing the risk of cognitive decline.
Bacopa Monnieri 150mg: Bacopa’s antioxidant bacosides enhance other brain antioxidants, helping protect brain cells from the effects of free radicals. Bacosides also promote acetylcholine, GABA, and serotonin, which are brain chemicals linked to focus, memory, and mood. Bacopa boosts memory and promotes learning and retention. Bacopa may slow the rate of forgetting freshly acquired knowledge, accelerate mental processing, optimize cognition under stress, and promote relaxation.
Organic Lion’s Mane Mushroom 500mg: This unique mushroom supports brain health by supplying active nootropics called hericenones and erinacines. It may help with neural regeneration, boost memory, and promote brain cell replication and function. It may also help maintain mood balance.
Maritime Pine Bark Extract 75 mg: Its antioxidants can help counteract the damaging effects of toxic free radicals concentrated in the brain. The extract can also promote the release of nitric oxide, which relaxes blood vessels and increases blood flow to the brain. This can reverse age-related cognitive decline. The extracts of the maritime pine tree can enhance mental energy, attention, learning, and focus in the short term. In the long term, it can maintain memory, mental clarity, and brain health.
L-Tyrosine 175mg as N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine (NALT): This amino acid may counter the impact of brain stress, helping support the synthesis of neurotransmitters that are depleted by thinking in a high-pressure situation. It may help you multitask more efficiently and optimize mental performance under high stress and fatigue.
L-Theanine 100mg as Suntheanine: L-Theanine may enhance creativity and promote calming neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and GABA. L-theanine may protect neurons from damage, help you maintain clear thinking and instill a state of calm, as well as sharpen attention, alertness, and focus. It promotes new learning and creative problem-solving.
Rhodiola Rosea 50mg: This extract may stimulate and sustain neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin that are critical to cognition. It may optimize these neurotransmitters and prevent age-related decline. It also strengthens mental resistance to stress by inhibiting the release of stress hormones such as cortisol. As a result, it helps strengthen mental and physical stress resistance while promoting clear, calm thinking under taxing conditions. Rhodiola Rosea is used in traditional medicine to augment mental processing, learning, memory, work capacity, attention span, and mood.
Vitamins B6 (2.5mg), B9 (100mcg), and B12 (7.5mcg): All B vitamins contribute to brain health, as they help with mental performance and address cognitive decline, brain aging, and poor blood flow to the brain. They also promote mood balance, mental energy, information storage, and long-range brain health.
DOSAGE Take two to four capsules a day with water, juice, coffee, or any other drink. For the best results, take your first two capsules before breakfast, and then, you can add another two capsules around lunchtime. The brand recommends that you take one week off after taking it for four weeks or two days off after taking it for five days.
Introduction Focus Factor has been in business for about 20 years. It claims that in its clinical trial, Focus Factor Original was shown to improve memory, concentration, and focus after six weeks of intake.
The company ships the product all over the world, and the usual delivery time within the U.S. is five to seven working days and one to three working days by Priority Mail. It takes the brand one to four weeks to ship its products to other countries.
Focus Factor also offers gummies and brain energy shots. Plus, the company has a paid brain-training app called Brain Hub with a seven-day free trial.
Ingredients: Dimethylaminoethanol (as DMAE bitartrate), L-glutamine, Bacopa monnieri extract, L-pyroglutamic acid, phosphatidylserine, docosahexaenoic acid concentrate (15% DHA from fish oil), inositol, N-acetyl tyrosine, bilberry fruit standardized extract, GABA, grape skin, grape seed extract, vinpocetine, Trace-Lyte electrolyte concentrate, Huperzine A, boron, and vanadium.
Dosage: Four tablets with food per day. You can take up to eight tablets per day.
Ingredients: Dimethylaminoethanol (as DMAE bitartrate), Ginkgo Biloba extract, L-glutamine, Bacopa monnieri extract, L-pyroglutamic acid, phosphatidylserine, docosahexaenoic acid concentrate (15% DHA from fish oil), inositol, N-acetyl tyrosine, bilberry fruit standardized extract, GABA, grape skin and grape seed extracts, Trace-Lyte electrolyte concentrate, Huperzine A, boron, and vanadium.
Dosage: Four tablets with food per day. You can take up to eight tablets per day.
Ingredients: Bilberry (fruit), N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine Inositol, Coenzyme Q10
Dosage: This dietary supplement is suitable for children aged four and over. They should chew two tablets per day with food.
Ingredients: Dimethylaminoethanol (as DMAE bitartrate), L-glutamine, Bacopa monnieri extract, L-pyroglutamic acid, phosphatidylserine, docosahexaenoic acid concentrate (15% DHA from fish oil), inositol, N-acetyl tyrosine, bilberry fruit standardized extract, GABA, grape skin and grape seed extracts, Trace-Lyte electrolyte concentrate, Huperzine A, boron, and vanadium.
Dosage: Four tablets with food per day. You can take up to eight tablets per day.
Many brands claim to supply top-class brain health supplements. However, not all of them are effective, no matter what the brands claim. Because of the nature of these nootropic supplements, it might take you some time to notice convincing results. Here are some factors we followed to come up with our list:
Some ingredients have been known to boost health for ages, and modern research has thrown up others. Most genuine nootropics combine these two categories to give you the best possible results. Our chosen products contain several effective ingredients and also explain in detail how they will help your brain. Besides, these products contain mostly natural ingredients. We have listed all the ingredients and also explained how they will work to improve your brain health.
It was also essential to choose products that are made from ingredients and blends that are safe for consumption and can effectively boost your cognitive skills. Natural ingredients that humans have consumed for centuries are usually safe to consume unless you are allergic to one of them. Usually, they do not react with other medications and supplements. However, we recommend that you consult a doctor if you have any health condition or take medication regularly. These products also may not be suitable for those who are pregnant or nursing. Also, check the ingredients list carefully for the presence of anything you may be allergic to.
Almost all the products we have listed contain ingredients that are backed by clinical research. We have mentioned several links so you can see those results for yourself. You can use these without a doubt and expect to see results.
The best way to judge a product’s effectiveness is by going through as many customer testimonials as possible. Customers do not lie, as they have no stake in the brand. We went through as many customer reviews as we could find on the brand website as well as third-party portals to make sure the products have mostly positive feedback with no reported side effects.
It was also vital for us to check the brand’s reputation in terms of customer service and customer-related policies such as shipping, exchanges, returns, and refunds. Since these are all supplements with no FDA backing, there is no way for you to be sure that they will work. In that case, you need friendly customer policies such as a money-back guarantee and easy returns and exchanges. Two of our three suggested nootropics guarantee a refund if you see no results.
We have listed what we believe to be the best nootropics on the market. However, you have the right to look beyond our list and look for something better. If you do this, though, we would ask you to follow this buying guide. It would help you to zero in on the genuine stuff and bypass the fakes. Here is what you should keep in mind:
If you have been facing trouble keeping things in mind or remembering things, do not jump into buying a nootropic at once. Consult a doctor first, as the mentioned symptoms may indicate one of many things. Once the doctor tells you that it is because of stress or the general aging process, you can take a nootropic to boost your brain cells.
Also, if you are under medication for some existing ailment, make sure to consult your doctor before starting any nootropic regimen. Also if you are pregnant or lactating, stay away from these as well.
All reputable nootropic brands list their ingredients and explain how they work to boost your cognitive health. So, you should check the list carefully. Here are some ingredients that are extremely potent, and you might want to choose a nootropic that contains at least some of these:
Check customer feedback to look for reports of side effects. Two of the products we have listed guarantee that they are 100% safe and free of side effects. You should also look for such claims but be doubly sure by checking customer testimonials.
It is best to look for brands that offer a 100% money-back policy if you are not happy with the results. Two of our listed brands offer such services, which shows their confidence in their products. After all, these are supplements. They are not medications, and the FDA takes no responsibility for them. So, if you do not get the benefits, you should have the right to ask for your money back. The least the brand can do is allow easy returns and refunds.
Read all the customer testimonials you can find to know whether your chosen product is at all effective. See how many of them have benefitted from the product and in what way. If people have not received any benefits from a product, they will report it online by way of reviews.
Q: What are nootropics? Nootropics are drugs or supplements that may help improve your cognitive function, memory, concentration, and brain health in general. Nootropics are often known as “smart drugs,” but you may also see them being sold as “cognitive enhancers” or “intelligence boosters.” The term “nootropic” itself was coined in 1972, combining the Greek words “nous” (meaning mind) and “trepein” (meaning bend). Here are some of the effects of these supplements:
Q: How do nootropics work for healthy brain function? To understand that, you have to understand first how your brain works. Some of the key elements in your brain functioning are neurotransmitters. You may have heard some of their names, such as serotonin, dopamine, acetylcholine, and glutamate. Neurotransmitters are nothing but chemicals that pass on information from one brain nerve cell to the other. These brain cells are called neurons. The signals from these neurotransmitters to your brain make sure all your organs and body parts do the work they are supposed to do.
Neurotransmitters also play a key role in your cognitive functioning, which determines memory, attentiveness, communication, etc. Most nootropics work by interacting with or rather altering these neurotransmitters, which is how they improve your brain’s cognitive functions.
Some nootropics can also boost the flow of blood and oxygen to your brain or encourage nerve growth in the brain. The most efficient nootropic brain supplement will have a combination of several of these ingredients to ensure optimal results.
Q: Do nootropics really work? Yes, they do. In this article, we have given you links to several studies to prove how each ingredient works to boost brain function and cognitive functioning. Nootropics are even used by doctors to treat brain-related conditions such as Huntington’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or at least improve their condition.
However, everyone’s brain is different, and so is their ability. Not everyone will enjoy the same results from the same dosage. Someone may need a higher dose to get the same effects. That is why most manufacturers suggest starting with the recommended dosage and mentioning the maximum number of pills you can take.
You may experience better coordination, better mood, greater learning ability, better memory, enhanced cognitive abilities, and increased attention by taking these dietary supplements regularly. Need we explain the significance of these factors in today’s office environment?
Q: What are nootropics made from? Nootropics can be made with chemicals or with natural substances. Natural nootropics usually contain herbal compounds that have been known to enhance cognitive ability and health for ages. One of them is Bacopa Monnieri or Brahmi leaves, which has been used in Indian medicine for generations as a memory booster. Modern nootropics just combine several such ingredients and make one super-potent product.
Some of the best herbal nootropics are Bacopa monnieri, Alpha GPC, L-theanine and L-tyrosine, Huperzine A., lion’s mane mushroom, maritime pine bark extract, Rhodiola Rosea, and cat’s claw. Herbal nootropics are safer than synthetic ones, and the results can be just as sound.
Q: Are nootropics safe for brain cells? All-natural nootropics have no side effects unless you are allergic to one of the ingredients. You can take them every day for months, and they should not pose you any harm.
Q: How do I enhance the effects of a nootropic? You can get better results from a nootropic if you follow certain practices. Here is what you can do:
Get enough sleep: Since a good nootropic will make your brain more active and alert, you may have trouble sleeping. But, it would be your duty to allow your body enough time to rest. Try to get at least six hours of sound sleep.
Adhere to a healthy diet: Avoid processed and fast food. Eat more fish, especially fatty fish like salmon. It contains a high amount of Omega-3 fatty acids. Also, eat your fruits and veggies, and drink a lot of liquids, especially water and green tea.
Q: Can I fail a drug test by taking nootropics? Drug tests screen your body for metabolites of banned substances, such as cocaine, amphetamines, opiates, and THC (marijuana). Since nootropics do not usually contain any of such banned or scheduled substances, there is no reason why you should fail a drug test.
However, synthetic nootropics could pose a risk of a false positive. Sometimes, the metabolites of certain synthetic brain chemicals could resemble some of the banned substances and create a false positive. That could happen in the case of prescription drugs as well. So, you must check the chemical components and verify that they are safe and would keep you clear of a false positive. Since that is a lot of work, your best bet would be to tae natural nootropics — like the ones we have suggested.
Q: What is “stacking” nootropics? If you can figure out what is causing your unique cognitive deficit, you can combine nootropic ingredients to mitigate it. But for that, you have to know exactly what you need and in what amounts. When someone talks of “stacking” in the nootropics industry, they generally refer to stacking natural, synthetic drugs, or both to create a specific nootropic formula.
Q: Will a nootropic make me smarter and improve cognitive function? No. Nootropics will merely optimize your existing cognitive pathways but will not really boost mental energy and your IQ. Your memory may get a boost, and so may your learning ability. So, you may be able to remember what you have learned even better. If you are a student or preparing for a competitive exam, nootropics may fetch you better grades. But, you still have to work hard.
Q: Can a nootropic get me high? No. Nootropics are not hallucinogenic or psychoactive, so they will not get you high.
Q: Do nootropics cause depression or anxiety? Nootropics are meant to fight conditions such as depression and anxiety, not cause them. Many nootropic ingredients may boost your mood and motivate you.
Q: Are nootropics addictive? If a nootropic is made with quality natural and stimulant-free ingredients, it should not be addictive. However, some nootropics contain caffeine or synthetic stimulants, which may be addictive.
A good nootropic may give your brain that extra push it needs. Especially as we age, like all other parts of our body, the brain, too, starts weakening. That is why we have trouble learning new things or keeping things in mind. But, an effective nootropic may keep your brain functioning properly for a longer time.
But while choosing a nootropic, it is best to look for natural products. No chemical brain supplement should be used in the long term because they may have one side effect or the other. Natural supplements usually have no side effects. They may take longer to show results, but the effects are more long-lasting and consistent.
However, we urge you to consult your doctor before putting yourself on a nootropic or any other supplement. Weakening memory or cognitive function may have many causes, and a doctor is the only one who can detect it. If they permit, you can always take nootropics and get a big thanks from your brain.
The news and editorial staff of the Bay Area News Group had no role in this post’s preparation.
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