If you’re only going to take one nootropic supplement, there’s a good case to be made for taking creatine.

Like your muscles, your brain fatigues when it works hard without a break. Creatine’s mental benefits come from delaying the amount of time before you become mentally fatigued during mentally intensive activities.

There’s also research on healthy adults supporting that creatine can reduce symptoms of sleep deprivation, may improve neurodegeneration, and may increase your working memory.  

Creatine is one of the cheapest nootropics supplements available even though it’s one of the most effective. It’s also unlikely you’ll have to worry about side effects while taking creatine. It’s considered to be extremely safe, and there have been no clinically significant side-effects reported.

If you’re new to nootropics, creatine makes a great supplement to start with to support your brain health. Even if you’re already taking several other nootropics, adding creatine to your stack may still be worthwhile.

We’re going to jump into the science behind creatine supplementation and then go over the health benefits. Keep following along if you want to learn about how to maximize your brain’s full potential.

How Can Creatine Help You?

Creatine is one of the most widely studied supplements. A quick search of ‘Creatine Supplementation’ on the PubMed database of peer-reviewed research brings up almost 2000 studies examining the effects of creatine.

What Is Creatine Exactly?

Creatine is a molecule made up of the amino acids glycine, arginine, and methionine. It’s found in every cell in your body and is made by your kidney, liver, and pancreas.

95% of creatine is stored in your skeletal muscles, and a 70kg person has about 120 grams of creatine in their body. The remaining five percent of creatine in your body is in your brain, liver, testes, and kidneys.

Although creatine plays a critical role in maintaining your overall health, creatine is considered non-essential because your body can make it from dietary protein.

So we’ve established that it’s a molecule made from three amino acids. But what does it do?

We’re going to briefly refresh you on your body’s energy systems. You may have learned this more in-depth in high-school biology class, but we’ll keep it simple.

Your Body’s Energy Systems

Your body has three primary energy systems. If you run a marathon or exercise for hours, your body relies primarily on burning fat for energy. The primary function of body fat is to provide your body energy when food isn’t available. However, burning body fat isn’t particularly efficient for short bursts of energy.

When you need to produce energy for roughly 12 seconds to 2 minutes, like when sprinting, your body relies mostly on carbohydrates. Carbohydrates stored in your muscles for are known as glycogen.

Breaking down glycogen provides quicker energy than breaking down fat. However, if you relied on this energy system exclusively, it would take you about 12 to 15 seconds to move your body. There’s a quicker energy system.

For very short bursts of energy that last less than 12 to 15 seconds, your body uses what’s referred to as your phosphocreatine energy system or ATP-PCR system. This is where taking a creatine supplement comes in.  

The Importance of the Phosphocreatine Energy System

Your muscles and neurons store a molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). When this molecule is broken, energy is released, which your body uses to contract your muscles or fire neurons. However, your body can only store a finite amount of this molecule (about three to five seconds worth).

Once your body breaks down ATP, you’re left with a molecule called ADP and a phosphate molecule. To synthesize more ATP for energy, your body breaks down a molecule called phosphocreatine. The energy released from breaking apart this molecule resynthesizes ATP.

Hopefully, you can see why this might be important for your neurons. A neuron fires in quick bursts so the phosphocreatine energy system allows them to replace the potential energy that they use and they can fire more times before fatiguing.

So what does all this have to do with a creatine supplement?

When you ingest creatine as a supplement, your body stores the creatine as phosphocreatine, which saturates the amount of this molecule available to make energy. Having more phosphocreatine available allows your body to use the phosphocreatine energy system longer before having to switch to the slower energy system.

If you’re having trouble picturing it or want a more in-depth explanation of how these three energy systems work, this video does a good job at explaining it.

Running out of phosphocreatine is like being in the checkout line at the grocery store when the guy two rows in front of you forgot to write the codes on his bulk items and the cashier has to manually input every item. The line isn’t going anywhere until all his groceries get scanned.

Where Do We Get Creatine?

Your body naturally produces creatine from the amino acids we mentioned earlier. However, the amount of creatine produced by your body is insignificant compared to the amount you get through your diet (in most people).

The best dietary sources of creatine are meat or fish. There’s some research that supports that vegetarians may have a higher response to creatine supplementation than carnivores because they’re getting less in their diets (will look at the research later).

Here is the creatine content in a pound of some common foods:

Herring 3.0-4.5g

Pork 2.3g

Salmon 2.0g

Beef 2.0g

Tuna 1.8g

Codfish 1.4g

Milk 0.05g

Fruits/Vegetables Less than 0.01g

Types of Creatine Supplements

When it comes to creatine supplements, more expensive isn’t necessarily better.

Creatine Monohydrate is the most common form of creatine on the market. It’s also the cheapest form. If you walk into your local supplement store, this is the form of creatine you’re most likely going to find.

You can take creatine monohydrate as a powder or in capsules. Taking it as a powder is generally a little cheaper.

Creatine Ethyl Ester is a form of creatine thought to have better bioavailability than creatine monohydrate. However, there’s some evidence suggesting that’s it’s either less or equally as well absorbed.

Creatine Hydrochloride is more soluble in water than creatine monohydrate but there’s no research looking comparing its absorbability on humans compared to creatine monohydrate. If there is any additional benefit, it’s probably limited.

You may see some creatine supplements that are buffered to increase bioavailability. However, they’re probably not worth spending extra money on.

How to Take Creatine Supplements

You can take creatine in one of two ways. You can either start with a loading phase where you take a large amount of creatine upfront and lower your amount after the temporary loading period or you can just take a consistent amount.

If you’re doing a loading phase, you can take about 0.14g/lb of body weight. For a 180lb adult, this translates to about 25g of creatine per day. For the maintenance phase, you can reduce your dosage ten times to 0.014g/kg of body weight.

If you want to saturate your creatine stores, you may want to increase your dosage to about 5g, which should be enough for almost everybody.

There’s no need to cycle on and off creatine. You get most of your creatine from your diet. Creatine monohydrate is also the type of creatine most often used in research.

Who Should Take Creatine?

Basically anybody can benefit from creatine. However, certain demographics may benefit more than others. As we touched on already, we get most of our creatine through our diet.

If you’re vegan or vegetarian, you can probably benefit more from creatine supplementation than people who eat meat.

Everybody responds differently to creatine. Some people may notice a big effect right away while other people might not notice any changes.

There’s also some evidence that creatine can also prevent neurodegenerative disease and maintain cognitive ability with age. 

If you’re over 60, creatine may help prevent these diseases. Research also shows that it can help older individuals maintain muscle mass as they age when coupled with regular physical exercise.  

If you have a history of kidney disease in your family or if you’re at high risk for kidney disease, you might not want to take creatine. There’s no evidence that shows that it’s harmful to the kidneys of healthy individuals, but until more long-term research comes out it’s best to be safe.

Why Creatine Is One of The Top Nootropic Supplements

Often supplements get overhyped based on a few animal studies or in vitro studies. But when it comes to creatine, there’s tons of research on young, healthy adults to prove that it has benefits.

We already went over the science of why creatine can help you. Let’s look specifically at how allowing your neurons to fire longer can improve your mental health and cognitive function.

Creatine Supplementation May Improve Memory and Intelligence

Research on the effects of creatine for mental health is relatively new compared to research on its effects on the body. However, research published in Experimental Gerontology sought to examine the relationship between creatine and the cognitive function in healthy individuals

The experimenters performed a systemic review of six studies and 281 participants. They found evidence to suggest that taking creatine can improve short term memory, intelligence, and reasoning ability.

People who have a genetic creatine deficiency often have delayed childhood development, speech problems, low IQs.

Creatine May Decrease Mental Fatigue

There’s strong evidence that taking a creatine monohydrate supplement can decrease symptoms of mental fatigue.

A study published in the journal Neuroscience Research examined the effect of creatine supplementation on mental fatigue. The researchers performed a double-blind placebo study looking at the effect of 8g of creatine supplementation for five days on healthy individuals.

At the end of the five days, they measured significantly less mental fatigue in subjects who took creatine versus a placebo as measured by repeated mathematical calculations. Using spectroscopy, they also found that the participants who took had increased oxygen consumption by their brains.

Creatine May Improve Mental Function During Sleep Deprivation

Sleep deprivation leads to lower levels of creatine in your brain. It’s thought that taking a creatine supplement can help reduce mental impairment when you haven’t been sleeping properly 

In a study trying to prove that creatine may improve sleep deprivation, nineteen subjects were divided into either a control group or placebo group.

The participants in the creatine group took 5g of creatine per day four times a day for a week. They were then given several mental tests along with a light exercise program after 6, 12, and 24 hours of sleep deprivation.

The group that took creatine along with exercise had less impairment in their reaction time, balance and mood than the group that only exercised. The researchers also concluded that creatine improves performance in tasks that stress the prefrontal cortex.

Creatine May Improve Mood

Creatine may improve symptoms of depression by interacting with the hormone serotonin. In a study published by researchers in Seoul, South Korea, 52 women with major depressive disorder enrolled in an 8-week double-blind placebo study.

After taking 5g of creatine per day for the length of the study, the participants had significant improvements in symptoms of depression compared to a placebo group.

Creatine May Be More Effective for Vegetarians

Creatine is probably particularly beneficial for vegetarians since meat is the main source of creatine in the human diet.

In a study published by researchers at the University of Sydney, researchers gave vegetarians either 5g of creatine per day for six weeks or a placebo. Participants given creatine had significantly higher scores on intelligence and working memory scores.

Creatine May Improve Mental Alertness

One study found that taking dietary creatine may improve mental alertness. The 2011 experiment examined the relationship between creatine and skill execution in rugby players under sleep deprivation.

The researchers gave ten rugby players either creatine or a placebo before a period of sleep deprivation. They found that taking creatine led to a significant ability to maintain skill execution.  

Creatine May Improve Symptoms of Aging

Creatine is also thought to play an important role in preventing diseases related to aging. As people get older their ability to regenerate phosphocreatine declines by roughly 8% past the age of 30. 

One study that examined the effect of 20g of creatine supplemented daily to elderly individuals with an average age of 76. The researchers found that the participants had improved quality of life after one week of creatine supplementation.

Creatine Safety

You may have heard that creatine is bad for your kidneys. However, there’s no research to support this and the warning is usually given based on a lack of long-term research.

Your body usually metabolizes extra creatine into creatinine. Creatinine is then eliminated by your kidneys. When your kidneys are damaged, creatinine builds up in your blood. If a doctor expects you may have kidney damage, they can test your creatinine levels.

Taking more than roughly 20g of creatine a day can cause creatinine levels to rise in your blood in the absence of kidney damage. So even though creatine hasn’t been found to be damaging to the kidneys of healthy adults, it may cause a false positive reading.

The most common side-effect of creatine is water retention.

Taking a creatine supplement often leads to weight gain since your body stores creatine with water in your muscles. The total increase in weight gain can be over 4 lbs in some individuals. However, water retention varies widely between people.

There are no significant side-effects reported with short term creatine supplementation.

One study published in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry looked at the long-term effects of creatine supplementation. The researchers gave college football players 5g of creatine monohydrate for 21 months. They found that there were no negative health markers recorded in the almost two years that the football players took creatine.

Take Creatine to Improve Mental and Physical Health

The research on creatine is pretty definitive. No matter whether you’re an athlete or just want to have a little extra energy to play with your kids, you can almost definitely benefit from creatine.

You can take creatine all year round without having to do any cycling on or off, and research supports that it can improve both your mental and physical health.

For most adults, a serving size of about 5g should be enough to provide you with benefits from creatine. You’ll likely retain a little water after starting creatine. However, the water retention is in your muscles, so if anything, it may improve your muscular definition.  

Daniel Yetman

Daniel grew up in Halifax, Canada. He completed his Honours Kinesiology degree at Dalhousie University where he received an education in topics such as nutrition, exercise physiology, strength training, and sports psychology. He graduated with his MFA in Writing from the University of Saskatchewan in spring 2019. Through his writing career, he’s developed a particular interest in endocrine and mental health research.

The post Think Creatine Is Only for Building Muscle? Check Out These Nootropic Benefits appeared first on Nootropics Resources.

Modafinil is one of the most common nootropic drugs for a reason. There’s research that suggests it boosts your mood, cognitive function, motivation, and focus.

Who takes modafinil?

It’s a common nootropic for people who want to increase their productivity without exposing themselves to drugs that are addictive like amphetamines.

Several well-known entrepreneurs or public figures have said they have taken modafinil including Dave Asprey, Joe Rogan, and Tim Ferris.

If you’re looking to increase your productivity with a nootropic drug, modafinil may be a drug worth trying. Some nootropics don’t have research to support their use for humans, but modafinil has been researched extensively.

Keep reading to find out what it can do for you, how you should take it, and the potential risks.

Modafinil’s Origin Story

Like most nootropics, it was originally created to do something unrelated to increasing your focus and productivity.

The French scientist Michel Jouvet invented modafinil in 1976. By the mid-1980s, it was being used in humans to combat narcolepsy, which is a disorder where you have trouble staying awake during the daytime. Right now, it has FDA approval in the United States for narcolepsy and several other sleep disorders.

Somewhere along the way, somebody looking to get an edge found that modafinil can be used to stimulate brain function in individuals with normal sleeping habits.

Nowadays it has become a popular nootropic for CEOs and other business professionals trying to get a mental edge on the competition. It’s still unregulated for any use other than correcting sleep disorders, so if you live in the United States, you’ll likely have to order it from out of the country and get it shipped (we’ll talk more about this later).

Why Might You Want to Try Modafinil?

You may think that you’re stuck with the intelligence your born but that’s not entirely true. Your ‘functional’ intelligence varies widely from moment to moment due to fatigue and nutritional status among other factors.

Imagine that you have to write a mentally challenging test at 5:00pm on two back to back days. On the first day, you write the test as soon as you get home from work. You feel dehydrated, exhausted, and have trouble focusing.

On the second day, you write the test after sleeping in and relaxing for the entire day. You feel mentally fresh, are in a good mood, and have no problems focusing on the questions.

On which day do you think you’ll do better?

Modafinil and other nootropic supplements can you transform more of the first type of day and turn it into the second by stimulating wakefulness.

Last year, in the United States, there were over 37,000 deaths caused by motor vehicle accidents. Alcohol is a major contributing factor to the number of deaths caused by car accidents. However, another major contributor is mental fatigue. It’s scary to think how many people are on the roads when they’re mentally exhausted.

You can’t change the way everybody else is driving, but you can drastically increase your own safety by taking care of your own mental state. Taking modafinil might be useful when you need to drive when you’re feeling mentally tired.

Research also shows that taking modafinil can increase your reaction time.

The most common reason people take modafinil is to increase productivity. The best way to increase your mental function is to make sure your diet and sleep habits are on point. However, sometimes you still need an extra boost.

Taking modafinil in the short-term may help you increase your productivity when you need to go through a brief but mentally intense period of work.

We’ll look more in-depth at how modafinil does this below.

How does Modafinil Improve Your Productivity?

Modafinil has a complex interaction with the chemicals in your brain and the exact way it affects you is not completely known.

It may interact with several neurotransmitters in your brain including adrenaline, noradrenaline, serotonin, histamine, and hypocretin.

Rat studies have found that modafinil increases levels of dopamine in the part of the brain known as the nucleus accumbens. This part of your brain is responsible for giving you feelings of reward.

Modafinil’s ability to increase wakefulness in patients with narcolepsy is thought to be caused by modafinil acting on orexic (hypocretin) neurons. Orexin is a molecule that stimulates arousal, appetite, and feelings of wakefulness. Most of the cells that created orexin are found around the hypothalamus.

Other studies have looked at the effect of modafinil on sleep deprivation. Research shows that 300mg of modafinil is about the equivalent as 20mg of an amphetamine.

It also raises histamine levels in the brain. This altered level of histamines may be one of the main ways that modafinil affects your cognition.

If the word histamine sounds familiar, it may be because you recognize it from the group of medications known as antihistamines, which are often used to fight allergies.

If you’re curious about why antihistamines can reduce symptoms of allergies, here’s a good video to explain it.

In your brain, histamines control parts of your brain that regulate your circadian rhythm.

Is Modafinil a stimulant?

The main benefit that you can expect from taking modafinil is decreased sleepiness and increased alertness.

Modafinil may produce similar effects as many stimulant drugs, but it isn’t a stimulant itself.

People who take modafinil say that it gives them a ‘clean’ energy enhancement compared to stimulant drugs. Modafinil is a eugeroic supplement, meaning it stimulates wakefulness by specifically targeting neurotransmitters in the brain.

Stimulates like caffeine stimulate your entire body. This stimulant effect becomes obvious when you get the ‘caffeine jitters.’

Another nootropic drug that’s classified is Adderall. We’ll compare Adderall with modafinil more in depth later.

Here’s Why You May Want to Take Modafinil

As we’ve already mentioned, most of Modafinil’s benefits come from stimulating wakefulness. Here’s a full list of benefits with a description of the research that’s been done to date.

Modafinil May Boost Your Memory

Research shows that modafinil may improve two types of memory, episodic and working memory. Episodic memory is the ability to recollect things that have happened to you personally (as opposed to reciting lists of facts or second-hand knowledge).

You use your working memory when you have to recall temporary information like a list of numbers.

In one study, healthy participants were given either 100mg or 200mg of modafinil two hours before a test that measured their working memory, reaction time, and visuospatial planning. The researchers found that both dosages improved all three aspects of cognition.

Other studies back these results. A 2004 Psychopharmacology study examined the effects modafinil on sixteen healthy participants in their 20s who weren’t sleep deprived. The researchers gave the participants either 200mg of modafinil or a placebo.

The participants had to complete two tasks after taking modafinil: they had to perform a number sequencing test and a matching test.

The researchers found improvements in working memory and processing efficiency from taking modafinil.

Not Feeling Like Getting Off the Couch? Modafinil Might Motivate You

We all go through periods when our motivation is lacking. With all the distractions in our daily lives, it’s amazing that we’re able to get anything done.

Other research has found that modafinil might also increase task enjoyment. Researchers at Cambridge found that a group of 32 participants scored significantly higher on task enjoyment during neuropsychological tests compared to a placebo group.

Modafinil May Improve Your Impulse Control

We live in a world where almost everything we want is available at the touch of a button. Want pizza? There’s an app for that. Want a date tonight? Swipe right. Want to binge-watch five seasons of your favorite show on Netflix? No problem.

A study published in the journal Psychopharmacology found that modafinil may help improve your impulse control.

No matter whether your goal is to save money or to stay on task, improving your impulse control may help you target your goals by eliminating distractions.

Modafinil May Improve Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis

Research shows that modafinil might be useful for older individuals who suffer from multiple sclerosis. If you’re not familiar with multiple sclerosis, it’s a disease that causes demyelination. Basically, the fatty sheaths that wrap around the axons of your neurons break down and electrical signals can’t be conducted as easily.

In a double-blind placebo study published in 2012, participants 17 patients with multiple sclerosis were given either 250-mg of modafinil or a placebo two hours before a mental testing session.

The researcher found that participants had a significantly improved memory on a list-learning memory task after taking modafinil.

Research has also shown that the part of the brain that controls wakefulness may be damaged in people with multiple sclerosis.

Modafinil May Help People Transition Off Methamphetamines

Methamphetamines are a group of drugs that are often abused for recreational use. It’s also known as speed or meth. Methamphetamines are highly addictive and quitting them can be extremely difficult.

Another study published in the American Journal of Addiction found that modafinil improves working memory in people addicting to methamphetamine drugs. Prior research has already proven that modafinil can increase memory in healthy individuals or people with ADD and ADHD.

Researchers gave participants either 400mg of modafinil over three consecutive days or a placebo. They found that participants had a significantly improved working memory compared to the placebo group.

How does Modafinil Compare to Adderall?

Some people use modafinil as an alternative to Adderall. It’s thought to be safer and less addictive than Adderall, which contains amphetamines.

First, let’s examine the effectiveness of each of these drugs.

Research comparing the effects of Modafinil to Adderall show that both drugs may have similar effects.

A study published in the Journal of Sleep Research examined how much both of these drugs improve cognitive function in military workers who have undergone 64 hours of sleep deprivation.

The researchers gave 41 subjects either 300mg of modafinil or 20mg of amphetamine and measured mood, perceived fatigue, reaction time, short-term memory, logical reasoning, and tiredness.

The researchers found that both the amphetamine and modafinil groups had improved mood and cognitive ability compared to a placebo group. The researchers concluded that modafinil may be as effective as amphetamines for undoing the effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance and may cause fewer side-effects.

Why is modafinil considered safer?

Structurally, these medications are quite different from each other even though they have similar effects. Adderall is primarily used to treat people with symptoms of ADHD by changing the dopamine reward centers in the brain. It’s a combination of amphetamines and dextroamphetamine.

Adderall is known to cause side effects such as high blood pressure, heart palpations, and an elevated heart rate.

When people stop taking Adderall after using it regularly, they often experience extreme discomfort and hallucinations. There is also a much higher risk at bigger addicted to Adderall than modafinil because it contains amphetamines.

Dave Asprey on Modafinil

Dave Asprey, the founder of the company Bulletproof Nutrition Inc., has written about Modafinil on his blog. He has reported that he is a user himself.

According to his blog, he took between 300-400mg per day before he started his company Bulletproof. After that, he decreased his dose to 0-100mg per day in the mornings or at lunchtime.

He said that in the ten years he personality took modafinil, he never noticed any side effects.

He recommends that it’s best used by people after the ages of 23-25 when the brain is fully formed. He also mentions that a very small number of people, about five out of every million, can develop a dangerous rash.

How to Get Modafinil and Proper Dosage

Since modafinil isn’t currently available by prescription for cognitive enhancement, there’s no specific dosage recommended by doctors.

If you’re taking modafinil for the first time, you may want to take a dose around 100mg. If you react to it okay, you can work up to 200mg. In the United States and Canada, you need a prescription to buy Modafinil.

If you suffer from a sleep disorder such as narcolepsy or shift worker sleep disorder, you may be able to get a prescription from your doctor. You may also be able to get a prescription if you have ADD or ADHD.

The legality of modafinil varies from country to country. If you’re interested in taking modafinil and based in North America, your best option is to order online from a retailer based in a country where it’s legal and have it shipped to you.

Before ordering it, definitely read about the regulations before ordering it. If you’re worried about the legality, you can also try several other nootropics that may offer similar effects.

The nootropic adrafinil may be the best alternative. It’s a prodrug to modafinil, which means that your body metabolizes it into modafinil. It’s legal to buy and use in Canada, the United Kingdom, and America. Although, it is a banned substance with the World-Doping agency, so if you’re a competitive athlete, you shouldn’t take it.

Modafinil Possible Side Effects

Research shows that you’re unlikely to become addicted to modafinil. However, whenever you take any new drug or supplement, you should monitor how it affects your body. One of the most common side-effects of modafinil is a loss in appetite that may cause weight loss.

If you’re trying to lose weight, you may see this as a benefit. However, if you already have trouble maintaining your bodyweight, you may want to be aware of it.

Some of the most common side effects reported from taking modafinil in trial studies include dizziness, heart palpitations, restlessness, anxiety, and headaches. It may also affect your sleep if you take it too close to bed. If you notice any of these effects, you can try reducing your dose or stopping altogether.

It’s worth noting that, overall, modafinil is considered to be well-tolerated.

As we mentioned earlier, a very small percentage of the population may develop a severe rash that can be potentially dangerous.

Should I Take Modafinil?

Research shows that taking modafinil may increase your feelings of wakefulness although the exact mechanism of how it works isn’t fully understood.

Should you take it?

Modafinil offers a safe alternative to Adderall. If you’re tempted to try Adderall (or already taking it), but you’re worried about the side effects, you might want to try modafinil instead.

If you know that you have a high-work period coming up, you may benefit from taking modafinil temporary to go through a short period of productivity.

Taking modafinil may also help you increase your motivation, so if you find you’re having trouble staying focused on your work it may benefit you.

If you decide you want to take modafinil, start with a small dose around 100mg and increase only once you know how it affects your body. Using modafinil smartly can elevate your cognitive performance to your full potential.

Daniel Yetman

Daniel grew up in Halifax, Canada. He completed his Honours Kinesiology degree at Dalhousie University where he received an education in topics such as nutrition, exercise physiology, strength training, and sports psychology. He graduated with his MFA in Writing from the University of Saskatchewan in spring 2019. Through his writing career, he’s developed a particular interest in endocrine and mental health research.

The post Here’s Why Everybody is Taking Modafinil appeared first on Nootropics Resources.

You may get a new laptop every few years with a larger processor, but you’re mostly stuck with the brain that you were born with. Your intelligence is formed through a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

Obviously, you don’t get to choose your parents, but you can choose what you put into your body and how you spend your time.

Including nootropics into your daily supplement regime can help you maximize your brainpower. If you’re not familiar with nootropics, they’re a collection of drugs and supplements that enhance your cognitive ability.

Many supplements can be loosely considered nootropics, but they don’t all have the same capability to enhance your focus. Below, we’ve listed some of the top nootropics that you can use to achieve the same level of focus as top CEOS and other people who have reached the pinnacle of their careers.

Are you ready to learn how to unlock your full potential?

Let’s start by discussing some ways you can improve your focus even before you think about taking any nootropics.

Boost Your Focus by Removing Yourself from Distractions

You shouldn’t underestimate the way your environment affects your focus.

If you want to get quality work done, you’re going to have to relocate yourself somewhere without distractions.

Imagine you’re trying to study at home but your family is watching TV loudly in the next room, your phone keeps buzzing every thirty seconds, and the sound of a jackhammer is reverberating from across the street.

How much of your brainpower does that leave for the task at hand? Probably not very much.

Compare the above scenario to sitting in a quiet room with only a desk, no access to social media, and your phone in another room. There’s a good chance that in this scenario you’ll be more productive and your mind won’t wander as quickly.

Research backs this idea that removing yourself from distractions can improve your focus.

In one study published in Frontiers of Psychology, researchers tested child participants’ memory in four ways. In each situation, the children watched a five-minute video that showed a thief.

The researchers asked the children to recollect what they saw in one of four ways:

1. The children closed their eye
2. They stared at a blank screen
3. They watched a distracting visual stimulus
4. They listened to a distracting audio stimulus

Which children do you think could recall the most information?

You’d be correct if you guessed the children with their eyes closed and those who stared at a blank screen.

Give Your Brain a Break and Boost Focus

How does your brain feel at the end of the day when you get off work? Most of us have just enough mental energy left to plop ourselves onto the couch.

Imagine you go to the weight room and you load up the maximum amount of weight you can lift on a barbell in the squat rack. You’re able to lift it, but it takes all your energy. You grind out the rep with the help of two of your friends yelling at you to get it up.

The next day, you brag to one of your friends about how much weight you lifted, but they don’t believe you. The two of you go back to the gym and try to lift the same amount of weight. This time, you can’t lift near as much.

What gives? You were able to lift it yesterday. Why can’t you lift it today?

The neurons that control your muscles get fatigued when you stress them. The result of this fatigue is obvious in the context of the weight room.

The neurons in your brain fatigue in the same way. However, it’s not as easy to monitor the decline of your cognitive function.

Researchers in China examined the effect of mental fatigue on visual attention.

The researchers gave participants the mentally draining task of tracking a ball randomly moving on a square screen for 63 minutes. The participants had to keep the center point of a tracking ball as close to the center of the ball as they could by using a joystick. Periodically, a red dot appeared on the screen and participants had to respond as soon as they noticed it.

The researchers found that the participants’ mental fatigue increased with time (as expected). When mental fatigue accumulated, participants became slower at reporting the presence of the red dot that appeared on the screen.

So what?

If you want to maximize your focus, make sure you keep your mind fresh by starting your work with a fresh mind.

If You Eat Garbage, Your Focus Will be Garbage!

In the same way that your muscles need protein to repair themselves, your brain needs nutrients to perform optimally.

According to this literature review published in the journal Nature Reviews Neuroscience, the following nutrients play a role in supporting your brain health and may have benefits for increasing your cognitive function.

● Omega 3 fatty acids
● Curcumin (active ingredient in turmeric)
● Flavonoids (phytonutrients in fruits and vegetables)
● Saturated fat
● B vitamins
● Vitamin D
● Vitamin E
● Choline
● Beta-carotene (vitamin A)
● Vitamin C
● Calcium
● Zinc
● Selenium
● Copper
● Iron

How can you make sure you’re getting all of these nutrients in your diet?

Minimize your consumption of processed foods and stick to whole foods like fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish. As long as you’re eating a balanced diet, there’s no need to count your micronutrients.

Supplementing nutrients that are difficult to get in your diet like curcumin and omega 3s may also increase your focus and mental function.

Omega 3 fatty acids, like those found in fatty fish such as salmon, decrease inflammation in your brain and body. In fact, more than half the weight of your brain is fat, and the majority of that fat is the omega 3 DHA.

If you want to learn more about why omega 3s are vital for your brain health, check out this great YouTube video that explains the science:

Curcumin is a potent anti-inflammatory that is thought to prevent your risk of developing Alzheimer’s and may improve attention and memory.

Keep reading to find out why you should be taking these two nootropics and learn which other nootropics boost your attention and concentration.

Take Omega 3s to Support Your Brain

Processed foods made from hydrogenated vegetable oils increase inflammation in your body and brain. People who eat a typical Western diet get far too many of these unhealthy oils and not enough anti-inflammatory omega 3s.

The two types of omega 3s you’ll find in a fish oil supplement are called EPA and DHA.

In 2014, researchers investigated the effect of Omega-3 supplementation on the cognition of young adults.

In this double-blind crossover study, the researchers gave participants either an EPA or DHA supplement and measured their cognitive function. After a 30-day washout period, the participants took the opposite supplement.

The participants found that taking an EPA supplement led to the participants achieving better cognitive performance.

Use omega 3s for the following:

● Improving focus
● Supporting brain aging
● Improving cognitive ability

Use Curcumin to Reduce Brain Inflammation

Curcumin is a powerful anti-inflammatory. Besides helping you managing joint pain and reducing your colorectal cancer risk, curcumin has several benefits for your mental health.

These benefits include improving cognitive strength, reducing cognitive decline, and improving mood.

Curcumin probably won’t give you the same kind of acute concentrations as some of the supplements on this list, but it can help support your brain throughout your life.

In one double-blind study, the effect of curcumin supplement on the memory decline of people over 50 years old was tested.

The researchers found that taking a daily curcumin supplement daily significantly reduced forgetfulness with age.

Use Curcumin for the following:

● Supporting brain aging
● Improving cognitive ability
● Improving mood

Try Aniracetam to Stimulate Your Brain

Aniracetam is known to increase your mood, focus, and memory. By binding to receptors in your brain known as AMPA receptors, it may prolong the among of time you can use your brain for mentally stimulating tasks before it becomes fatigued.

In a study published in the Journal of Physiology, researchers found that aniracetam might be particularly effective at decreasing desensitization in the hippocampus, which means it likely has benefits for improving memory formation as well.

Aniracetam has a fairly low bioavailability, so the daily dosages are large compared to some other nootropics. A standard dose is about 750mg per day divided into three daily servings.

In research, even dosages around 400 mg have been found to have a slight cognitive boosting effect.

Aniracetam is generally safe and rarely leads to side effects. The most common side effects are stomach discomfort and mild headaches. It’s also thought to potentially increase blood flow to your associative cortex, which is used in complex mental tasks.

Use aniracetam for the following:

● Improving focus
● Delaying cognitive fatigue
● Increased mental clarity

Improve Your Brain Health with N-Phenylacetyl-L-Prolylglycine

N-Phenylacetyl-L-Prolylglycine is often sold under the brand name Noopept.

Noopept is a powerful nootropic that’s thought to have benefits for increasing concentration, learning capacity, and memory. It was invented in Russia and has only recently become available in North America.
It’s been associated with improvements in almost every part of your brain health including short term and long-term memory.

Research on rats shows that taking 0.5mg/kg (equivalent to about 38mg for a 165 lb person) was associated with significant improvements in memory by stimulating the release of the two neurotrophic factors NGF and BDNF.

A neurotrophic factor is a substance that regulates the growth or survival of neurons in your brain.

A daily dose of 10-30mg is enough to have a neuroprotective effect.

Mild side effects may include fatigue, nausea, and headaches. Cutting back on the dosage may help reduce these symptoms.

Use N-Phenylacetyl-L-Prolylglycine for the following:

● Improve problem-solving
● Improve mental clarity
● Improve focus

Take Adrafinil to Reduce Sleepiness and Improve Mental Clarity

Adrafinil was originally invented to combat narcolepsy.

When your body metabolizes adrafinil, it becomes modafinil so the two nootropics have similar effects.

Adrafinil is a stimulant that fights against sleepiness. It’s known to increase wakefulness and feelings of alertness. It may also improve your memory.

Adrafinil may have neuroprotective effects that help with its effects of wakefulness.

Canine research has found that the effects of a single dose are long-lasting, and adrafinil seems to be effective over multiple dosages without losing its impact. The researchers also concluded that adrafinil might have cognitive enhancing potential.

The standard dose for adrafinil is roughly 300-600 mg taken daily. You shouldn’t take it in the late afternoon because it can affect your sleep.

Adrafinil is banned for athletes because of his stimulant properties, so keep that in mind if you compete professionally or collegiately.

Use adrafinil for the following:

● Decreasing sleepiness
● Improved concentration
● Feeling more awake

Boost Your Brain with Pramiracetam

Pramiracetam’s concentration-enhancing benefits are thought to be due to its ability to increase blood flow to your brain. It may also help increase mental energy by enhancing oxygen uptake and glucose metabolism in your brain.

Specific effects you can expect are an improved attention span, better focus, and improved thinking rate.

Unlike some other supplements that rely entirely on animal studies, pramiracetam has some human evidence to back its usage.

One study published in Brain Injury examined the effect of pramiracetam on young males who suffered from head injuries. The researchers gave the four young men in the study 400 mg three times per day. They found that the participants had improved rate of recall when compared to a placebo.

In another study, researchers injected participants with scopolamine hydrobromide, a substance that can induce amnesia. Participants given 600mg of pramiracetam twice a day had improved memory-recollection compared to a control group.

Use pramiracetam for the following:

● Improve memory recall
● Increase attention
● Faster thinking speed

Improve Focus and Muscle Strength with Alpha GPC

Alpha GPC is a precursor to choline, which is a vital nutrient that your body needs for survival. It seems to have various brain-boosting properties. It’s also of interest to athletes for its potential to increase muscular power output.

In a study published in Clinical Therapy, researchers examined the effect of Alpha GPC on people with Alzheimer’s. The researchers found that 1200mg of Alpha GNC significantly improved the symptoms of this degenerative brain disease over six months.

In another study, American researchers found that Alpha GNC taken along with caffeine and phosphatidylserine significantly increased the attention and reaction time of people who self-reported chronic stress. In the study, participants consumed 1500mg of the supplement.

Use alpha GPC for the following:
● Improving focus
● Slowing cognitive decline
● Increasing muscle power

This Well-Studied Nootropic Modafinil May Improve Your Focus

Modafinil is closely related to adrafinil and is one of the most common nootropic supplements on the market. It’s considered one of the best drugs for improving concentration.

The effects of modafinil are similar to Adderall except causes fewer side effects. Adderall also has the potential to lead to addiction. When you take modafinil, you can expect to feel like you took a very powerful caffeine supplement. It can also lead to feelings of motivation.

In a study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Sleep Research, researchers examined the effect of modafinil on 64 hours of sleep deprivation.

Military personnel who missed two straight nights of sleep took 300mg of modafinil daily. The researchers found that the 41 participants had less of a decline in mood and cognitive function compared to a placebo. The effect was similar to taking about 20mg of an amphetamine.

In another double-blind placebo study, researchers compared the effect of 200mg of modafinil daily in people suffering from multiple sclerosis. The intervention group that took modafinil had significantly higher measures of alertness compared to the control.

Researchers think that modafinil may also be useful for people with a cocaine addiction ease off of the drug.

Use modafinil for the following:

● Improving concentration
● Reducing drowsiness
● Enhancing alertness

How to Start Taking Nootropics to Improve Your Focus

Including nootropics into your diet can greatly enhance your brainpower and allow you to become more productive. Try to slowly incorporate nootropics into your diet to enhance your brain function.

Which nootropics should you include first?

Fish oil and curcumin are two supplements that almost everybody can benefit from. You’re not going to notice any acute changes with these supplements, but they work by reducing inflammation in your brain and may help your brain become a slightly more efficient.

Think of taking these two supplements like ‘eating your vegetables.’ They support your health over the long-term with few short-term effects.

If you’re looking for something more acute—like a stronger caffeine—try modafinil. Modafinil is well-research and proven to increase alertness and diminish symptoms of fatigue.

Alpha GPC is the best of the rest of the supplements. It has documented health benefits for improving both your mental and physical health.

You can experiment with all the supplements on this list if any of them sound particularly interesting to you. Everyone’s body is different, so you don’t know how these supplements are going to affect you until you try them.

Daniel Yetman

Daniel grew up in Halifax, Canada. He completed his Honours Kinesiology degree at Dalhousie University where he received an education in topics such as nutrition, exercise physiology, strength training, and sports psychology. He graduated with his MFA in Writing from the University of Saskatchewan in spring 2019. Through his writing career, he’s developed a particular interest in endocrine and mental health research.

The post How Nootropics Can Boost Your Brainpower and Supercharge Your Focus appeared first on Nootropics Resources.

You may have aspirations to reach the top of your career, become rich, famous, or build your own company. But you’re not going to do any of those things if you stay at home watching Netflix in bed.

Sure, it would be great if we could be successful while staying home and binge watching our favorite shows. However, for most of us, that’s a great way to watch our bank account quickly empty

But how do you find the motivation to do all the things on your to-do list when all you want to do is sleep?

You may think that motivation is a matter of will-power, but the science behind motivation is quite interesting. In the upcoming section we’ll look at some habits you can change to naturally increase your productivity so keep reading if you’re the type of person who likes to get stuff done.

Just Do It… Is It That Simple?

No two people have the same levels of motivation. We all have at least one high-achieving friend who seems to have 30 hours in their day.

However, it may not be as hard to become like that friend as you think.

Here’s a quick animation that shows a few interesting factors that can influence motivation:

Can you think of one day in your life when you were a productivity master?

Motivation ebbs and flows with your levels of mental freshness and other factors in your life. The key to becoming more motivated and productive in the long-term is to have more motivated days and fewer days where you spend the entire day on the couch.

Science behind Motivation

If you want to increase your motivation, you’ll have to realign your dopamine levels. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that’s principally responsible for giving you feelings of reward—in particular—dopamine in a part of your brain called the nucleus accumbens.

John Salamone, a professor at the University of Connecticut examined the effect of manipulating dopamine levels in the brains of mice. In one of his studies, he presented mice with two options. In the first option, mice had to either walk down a corridor for a small pile of food. The second option was the mice could jump over a small fence for a pile of food twice as large.

The study found that mice with low levels of dopamine were less likely to jump the fence for the larger reward.

Dopamine plays a similar role in human motivation. So how can you keep your dopamine levels optimal? Eating a healthy diet, exercising, sleeping properly, and taking certain nootropic supplements (we’ll examine which ones below) can all help.

How Does Fatigue Affect Motivation?

Ask any athlete who has gone through a period of overtraining what their motivation levels were like, and they’ll probably tell you that they didn’t even want to get out of bed. Fatigue caused by overwork, physical stress, mental stress, or poor sleeping habits can all negatively affect your motivation.

In a study published in the journal Behavioral and Brain Functions, researchers examined the effect of mental fatigue on the motivation of ten healthy participants. The participants performed several mentally stimulating tasks for eight hours.

At the end of the eight hours, researchers measured elevated levels of sympathetic nervous system activity and mental fatigue associated with lowered self-motivation.

How Do Nootropics Affect Motivation?

Some Nootropics improve your motivation by acting as stimulants.

If you’ve ever used coffee to increase your productivity, you’re probably already familiar with how stimulants increase your motivation levels.

Research shows that stimulants like Adderall have only mild effects on actual cognitive ability but increase motivation to finish mental tasks. Some of the nootropic supplements on this list act as stimulants to lower your sleepiness and increase mental vigilance.

Some of the other nootropics on the list may improve motivation by decreasing your risk of developing symptoms of depression. It’s worth noting that they shouldn’t be used as medications to combat depression unless recommended by your doctor. However, some of these nootropics may lower your risk of developing depression.

No supplement is going to make up for poor lifestyle habits, but if you’re already sleeping well and eating right, nootropics may give you a mental edge over your competitors.

Let’s dive into the top supplements for improving your motivation and productivity.

Improve Motivation with N-Phenylacetyl-L-Prolylglycine

You might recognize this nootropic under the brand name Noopept. It’s considered to be one of the best supplements for increasing your motivation and enhancing your cognitive ability.

It’s structurally similar to another nootropic on this list, piracetam. However research shows that’s it’s 1000 times stronger, so the dosage is much lower.

It was originally created in Russia about 25 years ago to treat traumatic brain injury.

A study published in 2008 by Russian researchers found that Noopept can increase levels of the two chemicals nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in rats.

Both these chemicals play critical roles in preserving your brain health.

NGF helps repair neurons and maintains the fatty myelin sheath that wraps around the axons of neurons. Essentially, it slows the breakdown of your brain caused by age or poor habits.

Low levels of NGF is common in individuals with type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and obesity, so if you’re in one of these demographics, you may particularly benefit from taking steps to keep NGF high.

BDNF is a chemical active in your hippocampus, forebrain, and cortex. These areas help your brain play a role in memory and learning.

The usual dose of Noopept is about 20mg split into two daily dosages. It’s best to take it early in the day because some people report that it affects their sleep if taken in the evening.

Wake Up by Taking Modafinil

Modafinil is a nootropic that may improve several areas of your cognition including motivation, mood, memory, and reaction time.

It falls under the category of drugs known as eugeroics, meaning that it stimulates wakefulness.

Modafinil was originally created to combat narcolepsy, which is a condition characterized by an inability to stay awake in the daytime.

Research published in Neuropharmacology has found that 200 mg per day given to healthy young adults improved their cognitive performance and memory on an intelligence test.

In another study, researchers found that the administration of 200 mg of modafinil improved reaction time and cognition in all participants, but it had a particularly strong effect in people with methamphetamine-dependence.

Modafinil may also interact with the dopamine transporter called DAT. By blocking this transporter, Modafinil may increase the amount of dopamine that’s available in your brain.

The typical dosage is generally between 50-200 mg daily. Clinical Trials show that it appears to be safe to take for at least 40 weeks in dosages up to at least 400 mg. It also seems to be low risk for causing addiction.

Optimize Your Dopamine Levels with Tianeptine

Earlier, we talked about how dopamine in the part of your brain called the nucleus accumbens can influence your motivation. Tianeptine can improve the release of dopamine in this part of your brain.

Tianeptine has also been found to potentiate the dopamine receptors called DRD2 and DRD3. Essentially, tianeptine increases the amount of dopamine these receptors uptake.

Tianeptine may also indirectly improve motivation by decreasing symptoms of depression. It was originally developed as an antidepressant drug in the 1960s.

One study published in 2014 examined the cognitive effects of tianeptine and other supplements. They found the researchers concluded that it may have promising effects for reversing cognitive declines caused by depression.

Generally, tianeptine doses range from about 25-50 mg per day. If you’re taking a tianeptine powder, you can take a lower dose because your body absorbs it better than capsules.

Try This Stimulant Phenylpiracetam if You’re Feeling Sleepy

We already touched on how stimulants may increase your motivation by reducing sleepiness. Phenylpiracetam has similar stimulant properties to modafinil. Essentially, it’s like a powerful caffeine replacement that enhances feelings of motivation for about six hours by increasing the availability of dopamine and norepinephrine.

It increases dopamine receptors in your brain which allows more dopamine to bind to your reward centers. Research also shows that phenylpiracetam may also inhibit the reuptake of dopamine, meaning that dopamine is available in your brain longer.

The same study found that phenylpiracetam may inhibit the reuptake of the excitatory hormone/neurotransmitter called epinephrine which means that it increases your sympathetic nervous system activity (again, think the effects of caffeine).

Scientists originally created it to help Russian astronauts stay alert while on missions.

It’s banned by athletes for its stimulant and anxiety-reducing effects, so keep that in mind if you’re in the NCAA or compete professionally.

The general dose of Phenylpiracetam is between 100-250 mg. It’s not recommended that you take more than 750 mg per day.

Try Semax for its Neuroprotective Ability

Semax may help increase motivation by decreasing feelings of depression.

Semax is another nootropic that was created in Russia.

Like, Noopept, it may increase levels of BDNF in your brain, which can help signal for the creation of new neurons. BDNF may also increase neurogenesis in the hippocampus. In animal studies, Semax enhanced dopaminergic and serotonergic neurotransmission.

The effects of Semax are similar to tianeptine even though they act in different ways on your brain. Most of the benefits of Semax for motivation come from reducing your symptoms of depression.

Research published in CNS Spectrums has found that it may increase play a role in fighting against depression.

Semax isn’t absorbed well when taken orally. It’s generally consumed in a dosage of 100-150 mcg taken as a nasal spray one to three times a day.

The Form of Vitamin B1 Called Sulbutiamine May Enhance Motivation

Sulbutiamine is a synthetic molecule that’s made from two vitamin B1 molecules bound together. Its benefits on motivation come from reducing symptoms of fatigue.

Vitamin B1 helps maintain the health of your nervous system and plays a critical role in energy production.

In one study researchers examined the mechanism behind sulbutiamine’s fatigue relieving effects. Researchers found that it likely improves energy levels by upregulating the neurotransmitter glutamate.

In another study, researchers looked at the effect of either 400 or 600mg of sulbutiamine daily for four weeks on participants recovery from an infection. The researchers found that the participants who took sulbutiamine had a significantly lower amount of fatigue than a placebo group.

If you’re starting to take sulbutiamine, you can start with a dose around 250mg and work up to 750 mg if you tolerate it well.

Boost Mood with Aniracetam

Aniracetam has been around since the 1970s. It’s thought to increase your mood and focus. It may indirectly improve motivation by decreasing symptoms of depression.

In Canada and America, aniracetam is available as a supplement. In Europe it’s a prescription drug.

Rat studies show that aniracetam can reduce symptoms of anxiety by modifying levels of dopamine, serotonin, and choline in the brain. Research has also found that taking aniracetam can lower the desensitization rate of receptors in the hippocampus, the part of the brain that helps with memory formation.

Taking aniracetam may also upregulate BDNF, which we already explained helps repair neurons and maintains the myelin sheaths

Aniracetam has several mild side effects including causing irritability, insomnia, or abdominal pain.

A standard daily dosage of aniracetam is about 1500 mg per day divided into a morning and afternoon dose.

Improve Focus, Memory, and Motivation with Oxiracetam

Besides potentially improving your motivation, it’s thought that oxiracetam may also improve memory, attention, and learning capacity. It works by providing mild stimulant properties.

It’s best to take oxiracetam early in the day so that it doesn’t disrupt your sleep schedule.

In a study published the peer-reviewed journal Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, found that oxiracetam has the ability to increase blood flow to your brain, which may be why it helps improve your focus.

Oxiracetam may also increase the amount of the chemical called ChAT in your brain, which aids in the creation of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Acetylcholine is used in the formation of memories and for periods of concentration.

The standard dose is between 600 and 3000mg

Try Uridine to Enhance Your Mood and Motivation

Uridine plays a role in carrying genetic information in each cell in your body. Uridine crosses that blood-brain barrier when taken as a supplement and has good bioavailability.

It’s thought that taking a uridine supplement can improve your mood, boost the release of dopamine in your brain, and act as a neuroprotectant.

In one study, adolescences with symptoms of bipolar disorder took uridine for six weeks. The researchers found that the administration of uridine was well-tolerated by the participants.

In another study, elderly individuals with memory problems were given a uridine supplement for twelve weeks. The participants had improved memories when remeasured at the end of the study compared to the baseline.

Boost Your Brainpower with Omega 3s

Omega 3s have the most research to back them of any nootropic supplement. The majority of the fat in your brain is made from these fatty acids that are commonly found in fatty fish like salmon.

Omega 3 supplements don’t provide the same short-term effects as other nootropics. However, taking them long-term may support your brain health and increase your motivation by reducing your risk of developing depression.

The two types of omega 3s found in fish oil are DHA and EPA.

In a 2015 study analyzing the results of 26 studies and 1400 participants, the researchers found that omega 3 EPA is likely more beneficial than DHA for decreasing symptoms of depression.

In a review of scientific evidence for omega 3 supplements, the authors explain that a diet high in omega 6 fats (found in vegetable oils primarily) and low in omega 3s can cause inflammation in the brain.

Fish oil isn’t meant as a cure for depression, and if you are suffering from depression, you should speak to a medical professional. However, fish oil may be useful when used in a preventative way.

Using Nootropics to Increase Your Motivation

If you want to increase your motivation, you should first take steps to improve your habits. Try eating a diet high in fruits, vegetables, proteins, and healthy omega 3 fats. You should also make sure your sleeping properly.

If you’re already eating healthy and sleeping well, you may want to add an omega 3 supplement to your daily routine to improve your ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids.

If you need something a little stronger than coffee to help you stay focused short-term, you may want to try modafinil. Modafinil increases wakefulness and can engage you in the task at hand.

No two people are going to respond to nootropics the same way, so you can experiment with other supplements as well. Oxiracetam and phenylpiracetam are two good choices and may improve your motivation by acting as stimulants.

Nootropics shouldn’t be used as a replacement for healthy lifestyle habits, but if you are already living a healthy lifestyle, they may be the icing on the cake.

Daniel Yetman

Daniel grew up in Halifax, Canada. He completed his Honours Kinesiology degree at Dalhousie University where he received an education in topics such as nutrition, exercise physiology, strength training, and sports psychology. He graduated with his MFA in Writing from the University of Saskatchewan in spring 2019. Through his writing career, he’s developed a particular interest in endocrine and mental health research.

The post Wasting Time? Recapture Your Motivation with These Nootropics appeared first on Nootropics Resources.

Some of the common mental benefits include increasing cognitive capacity, improving focus, and enhancing memory.

How can supplements that boost your brainpower help you lose weight?

Your mind and body are more closely related than you think. Without your brain, your body wouldn’t be able to regulate its metabolism and wouldn’t know how much fat to store. No two nootropics have the same effect on your body.

Let’s dig deeper into some of the specific ways that nootropics may help you improve your weight loss.

Lose Weight by Taking Control of Your Hypothalamus

You’ve probably heard that losing weight is a matter of eating fewer calories than you burn. While this is true, hormonal influences make weight loss much more complicated. Focusing on caloric balance alone might cause you to lose fat, but you might also lose lean muscle as well.

Arguably the most important organ in your body for weight loss is your brain—more specifically—your hypothalamus.

Your hypothalamus is located deep in your primitive brain. It’s constantly regulating various hormones in your body to decide how to store the calories you consume through your diet. The release of most hormones in your body is dependent on hormones released in the hypothalamus.

Are you familiar with your thyroid gland? It’s the butterfly-shaped gland in the front of your throat that’s responsible for regulating your metabolism. It can’t properly function without your hypothalamus first producing thyrotropin-releasing hormone.

One of the most critical hormones for determining how much fat and muscle your body stores is called human growth hormone (HGH). Your hypothalamus regulates HGH release by producing growth hormone-releasing hormone.

If you’re interested in the science behind how stimulating HGH improve your body composition, check out this video by Dr. Eric Berg.

Nootropics that can stimulate your hypothalamus can increase your metabolism and decrease the amount of fat you store. Alternatively, supplements that stimulate the release of hormones that normally requires stimulation of the hypothalamus may also increase your fat loss.

For example, the hormone norepinephrine increases the rate your body breaks down fat and carbohydrates. Normally, it’s only released from your adrenal glands after your hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing hormone. However, some nootropics may directly cause your body to release more norepinephrine.

Green Tea Extract: The Nootropic that Stimulates Norepinephrine for Fat Loss

If you’re a regular tea drinker, you might be happy to find out that research shows green tea has benefits for both your mental and physical health.

The green tea plant is also known as Camellia Sinensis. It has a range of health benefits including stimulating your metabolism. The fat burning benefit of green tea comes from a group of molecules called catechins.

The most powerful catechin for fat burning is called epigallocatechin (EGCG).

Many green tea extracts contain about 50% EGCG. Researchers have found weight loss benefits from consuming high dosages over 400mg per day.

Green tea also contains the stimulant caffeine, which stimulates the release of norepinephrine.

Does Drinking Green Tea Cause a Pound of Fat Lose Per Month?

In an interesting metanalysis published in Obesity Reviews in 2011, researchers examined the complete body of literature available on green tea extract for fat loss. They concluded that the combined catechin and caffeine content in green tea causes your body to burn about 5.7 grams of body fat per cup of tea.

There are 454 grams in a pound. So to put that in perspective, drinking about 80 cups of tea could lead to a pound of fat loss compared to not drinking any green tea.

If you’re a consistent tea drinker, it’s reasonable to drink this amount over a month. Alternatively, taking a green tea extract supplement may speed up the process.

Put Down the Coffee if You Want to Maximize Green Tea Benefits

In another meta-analysis published in the International Journal of Obesity, researchers set out to see if being a regular caffeine consumer affected the weight loss caused from consuming green tea. They found a non-significant effect showing that regularly consuming caffeine may dampen the weight loss effect of green tea.

There was also non-significant evidence showing that green tea consumption might have a greater weight loss effect on Asian people. More evidence is needed to confirm these two findings.

A study published in 2010 by researchers based out of Shanghai looked at the effect of catechin enriched green tea on body composition. The researchers found that participants given 88mg of catechins per day had 1.2kg more weight loss over 90 days compared to a control group.

It’s worth noting that although caffeine has widely studied metabolism-boosting effects, it’s not considered a nootropic itself. It’s considered a stimulant drug.

Green Tea Extract Bottom Line:

• Has a metabolism boosting effect
• May have a stronger impact on Asian people
• May have a stronger effect on people who consume little caffeine

Are You Keeping Your Hunger Hormones in Check?

Are you familiar with the two hormones leptin and ghrelin? Both of these hormones are responsible for regulating your hunger even though they have opposite effects.

When your stomach is empty, ghrelinergic cells produce the hormone ghrelin, which stimulates hunger. After eating, your stomach expands, and ghrelin production declines.

Fat cells produce leptin. When your body fat percentage increases, your body produces more leptin, and your appetite becomes suppressed. As you lose body fat, your hunger increases because your fat cells produce less leptin.

These two hormones are collectively known as your hunger hormones. Remember how we mentioned earlier that your hypothalamus regulates your hunger? You can thank these two hormones for that.

When your hunger hormones bind to receptors in your hypothalamus, it signals to the rest of your brain that it’s time to stop eating.

If you’ve ever tried a starvation or crash diet, you probably know how hard it is to lose weight that stays off. Have you ever had a friend who constantly alternates between dieting and binging?

The presence of these two hormones makes starvation diets nearly impossible to sustain no matter how strong your willpower is. Even if you managed to stay in a caloric deficiency for a week or a month, eventually your brain is going to panic and tell you it’s time to binge.

So what’s the answer?

Slow, consistent weight loss will keep your hunger levels regulated better than quick binge dieting. Certain nootropic supplements like Modafinil may also be able to decrease your appetite to make weight loss easier.

Boost Your Brainpower and Control Your Appetite with Modafinil

Modafinil is a drug that’s designed to increase feelings of wakefulness. It was originally created to counteract sleep disorders like narcolepsy. The standard dose of Modafinil is 100-200mg.

If you want to lose weight, you need to eat less and move more. Modafinil may help you lose weight by decreasing your feelings of tiredness and directly reducing appetite.

Shortened or disturbed sleep is associated with decreased leptin secretion and increased ghrelin. People with narcolepsy are particularly prone to obesity because of their disrupted sleep patterns. Modafinil increases daytime wakefulness which may improve hunger hormone function.

Modafinil Decreases Appetite in Children

Researchers in the Department of Pediatric Psychopharmacology at Massachusetts General Hospital looked at the effects of Modafinil on children and adolescents. Participants took a dose of 170-425mg of Modafinil per day over six weeks.

Sixteen percent of the participants reported that they had a suppressed appetite. Participants who took Modafinil lost weight, but the weight loss didn’t reach statistical significance.

Modafinil Decreases Symptoms of Fatigue

In a double-blind placebo study published in the Journal of Sleep Research, participants took 300 grams of Modafinil and then had to complete a cognitive task immediately after the dosage. The research team concluded that participants who took Modafinil had significant increases in cognitive function and reduced symptoms of fatigue.

Modafinil Bottom Line

• Modafinil seems to have a moderate effect on decreasing appetite
• Modafinil improves symptoms of fatigue.

Try Taking Nootropics to Improve Your Self-Control

While some nootropics may have more direct weight loss benefits from stimulating metabolism (like green tea extract), other nootropics may have an indirect benefit.

Imagine you’re sitting in your living room and there’s an apple pie you bought from your local bakery in your kitchen.

Do you think you’re more likely to resist the temptation if you’re tired or if you’re feeling mentally alert?

Unfortunately, as your brain fatigues, so does your self-control. Nootropic supplements that increase your alertness and decrease symptoms of mental fatigue may induce weight-loss by reducing your temptation to cheat on your diet.

Recharge Your Brain with Synephrine

Synephrine is naturally found in some plants like bitter orange. Its mental benefits include being able to reduce mental fatigue, speed up brain processing, improve focus, and enhance motivation.

It’s generally recommended that you take 10-20mg three times per day. Synephrine may help you lose weight in two ways. First, it decreases mental fatigue; and second, it may increase your resting metabolism.

In a study published in the International Journal of Medical Sciences, healthy participants were given a placebo or 50mg of a synephrine supplement. The researchers measured the participants’ metabolisms over 75 minutes. The group who consumed synephrine saw their resting metabolism increase by 65 calories.

Drop Body Fat with Forskolin

Forskolin is the active ingredient in the herb Coleus forskohlii, which is in the mint family. Supplementation of forskolin is thought to increase testosterone and induce fat loss. Consumption of this supplement increases levels of cAMP, a molecule linked to weight loss.  

In a double-blind study published in Obesity Research, researchers gave overweight and obese participants 250 grams of Coleus forskohlii (which contains about 10 percent of the active ingredient Forskolin) for 12 weeks.

At the end of the study, the participants had a significant increase in lean body mass and a decrease in body fat, with an average of 4.52kg compared to the control group that only lost 0.51kg.

The researchers also found that testosterone increased in the group who consumed forskolin, although there was a high amount of variance, so it’s difficult to say how significant the hormonal change was.

Testosterone is a hormone that’s critical for both men and women to lose weight. Testosterone has a muscle building and fat burning effect. Men have much higher amounts of testosterone than women on average.

Forskolin Bottom Line

• May increase testosterone levels
• May increase fat loss in overweight individuals

How Seniors Can benefit from the Nootropic Muscle Builder Acetyl-L Carnitine

Acetyl-L Carnitine is a nutrient produced in your kidneys and liver. It’s commonly found in high-protein animal foods such as beef, milk, pork, and fish. It’s thought that this supplement can improve memory, mental alertness, and muscle gain in elderly people.

The supplement L-Carnitine may be particularly noteworthy for aging populations. In a double-blind placebo study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers examined the effects of L-Carnitine on people over 100 years of age.

The researchers found that giving participants two grams of L-carnitine daily for six months lessened effects of mental and physical fatigue. Participants also had increased muscle mass and decreased amounts of body fat compared to a placebo group.

In another study published by researchers in Italy, the team examined the effect of L-Carnitine on 84 elderly subjects. The researchers looked at the effect of two grams per day for thirty days. They found significant improvements in the participants’ body composition and symptoms of mental fatigue.

Acetyl-L Carnitine Bottom Line

• Seems to increase muscle mass and decrease body fat in elderly individuals
• Seems to improve symptoms of mental and physical fatigue in elderly individuals

Could Raspberry Ketones be the Secret to Weight Loss?

Raspberry ketones are the chemicals that give raspberries their delicious smell. They’re often used in perfumes or processed foods give them a pleasant aroma. When consumed in high dosages, it’s thought that raspberry ketones can have a metabolism-boosting effects.

There’s a caveat though. Extracting enough raspberry ketones from raspberries to benefit humans is impractical. When you buy a raspberry ketone supplement, it’s generally synthetically made (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing).

The structure of these ketones is similar to capsaicin in spicy peppers, which has known metabolism-boosting benefits.

Right now, research is limited, but a study performed on rats offers promising results. In the study, which was published in Life Sciences, rats were divided into a control group and a ketone group.

Both groups were given a fatty diet. At the end of the study, the mice given ketones weighed an average of 50 grams while the mice in the control group weighed an average of 55 grams.

There’s only one study looking at the effect of raspberry ketones on humans, and it’s hard to make a conclusion from it.

In the study, participants were given a mix of caffeine, raspberry ketones, garlic, capsaicin, ginger, and synephrine. The group who took the mixture did lose almost three times more fat than the control group, but it’s hard to say how much of an effect each ingredient had.

Raspberry Ketones Bottom Line

• One study on rats shows they may have benefit for weight loss
• More research needs to be done on humans, but raspberry ketones can plausibly induce weight loss

Can Roasting Your Coffee Beans be Robbing You of Coffee’s Health Benefits?

Green coffee beans are coffee beans that haven’t been roasted yet. Coffee contains a substance called chlorogenic acid, but much of this compound is lost during the roasting process. Studies show that orally consuming green coffee extract has a slight body fat reducing effect in overweight and obese individuals.

Dosage is usually based on the total amount of chlorogenic acid present. The general dosage is about 120-300mg per day.

In a study published in Norway, researchers looked at the effect of chlorogenic acid enriched coffee on the body mass of overweight participants. The researchers found that after 12 weeks the group that consumed the chlorogenic acid coffee had a significantly higher amount of weight loss compared to the control group.

Green Coffee Beans Bottom Line

• Seem to increase weight loss in overweight people

How to Add Nootropics to Your Diet for Weight Loss

The primary function of nootropic supplements is to enhance your cognitive function. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t also reap the benefit of weight loss from them as well. Each nootropic supplement has different effects on your body.

Nootropics can improve your body composition by improving your ability to resist temptation, by physically reducing your appetite, or by stimulating the production of hormones that cause weight loss.

We’re not recommending that you try taking every supplement at the same time. Actually, that would be a terrible idea because you won’t know which supplement is working.

A better strategy would be to include one nootropic into your supplement routine at a time for about a month and monitor the effects it has on your body.

If you feel it’s increasing your mental function or weight loss, you can add another supplement to your diet as well. If you don’t think it’s working for you, try alternating with a different nootropic.

Green tea extract and Modafinil are two good choices to start you weight loss stack with.

Daniel Yetman

Daniel grew up in Halifax, Canada. He completed his Honours Kinesiology degree at Dalhousie University where he received an education in topics such as nutrition, exercise physiology, strength training, and sports psychology. He graduated with his MFA in Writing from the University of Saskatchewan in spring 2019. Through his writing career, he’s developed a particular interest in endocrine and mental health research.

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