Creatine, a popular ingredient in pre-workout mixes and touted as a great supplement for building muscle, also supports cognition.  How does it do so much, and what exactly is creatine?  Below we outline the basics of creatine and how you can use it as a nootropic. The amino acid Creatine is formed from glycine, L-arginine, and methionine.  It is commonly referred to by the name Creatine Monohydrate, which is the salt form of the amino acid.  You can find creatine in both human and animal muscle tissue and organs, but most of the creatine in the body is found in...

Medicinal mushrooms are earning their place in the journals of the scientific and medical community and more is being learned about them every day.  Once only known as a traditional, folkloric and alternative medicine solution, medicinal mushrooms are becoming commonplace.  If you’ve walked into a natural health food store and have seen mushroom coffee, you might be wondering what mushrooms are doing in coffee, and can they really benefit you? Medicinal mushrooms have many cognitive benefits which is why they are included in the new wave of nootropic beverages and foods.  It’s common to see nootropic beverages lining the shelves...

The keto diet can provide you with many benefits but restricting large food groups can mean that you might be missing key nutrients.  Here are 5 ways to supplement your diet and make sure you’re getting the most out the keto way of life. Magnesium Can we say enough good things about magnesium?  It’s an important mineral and electrolyte, and because the keto diet increases the amount of water you lose, you can be lower in all of the electrolytes (sodium, magnesium, and potassium). Magnesium is found in whole grains, leafy green vegetables, avocados, and dark chocolate.  Without consuming whole...

Taking supplements is a good way to provide full coverage for health benefits that can be gained from vitamins, minerals, herbs, and amino acids.  Supplements are more popular now than ever, but did you know that adding a simple black pepper extract can increase your absorption? No matter how many supplements you take, they can only be as effective as their absorption and how bioavailable they are to the body.  It’s the very reason that some people feel taking supplements is both a waste of time and money; but adding in one more supplement to your routine can make all...

We have heard the old adage “You are what you eat,” but the more appropriate saying might be “You are what eats what you eat”.  Each of us has approximately 100 trillion bacteria in our intestinal tract.  The bacteria comprise a large amount of our immune system and helps digest foods, such as starchy carbohydrates that were not completely broken down before reaching the large intestine.  We are learning more about the role our intestinal bacteria play in our wellbeing and health—but what if the bacterial population we host is lacking in the correct microorganisms? Despite eating a well-balanced diet...

We know that fish oil is a great source of Omega 3 fatty acids which can protect your brain, but did you know that pairing fish oil with Uridine can also increase the amount of acetylcholine in your brain by 30%? We could all use more acetylcholine because it is a neurotransmitter which signals within the brain in areas, like the hippocampus, which control learning and memory.  The body can synthesize acetylcholine from dietary choline, but it also uses a cycle called the Kennedy Cycle which utilizes Uridine (a nucleotide necessary for the Kennedy cycle) to make more phosphatidylcholine. When...

Medicinal mushrooms have been used in traditional folk medicines in cultures that range from Siberia to China and Japan.  Mushrooms are enjoying recent popularity as many nootropic coffees and teas are now adding medicinal mushrooms to their ingredients.  While they look catchy on labels, what are some common medicinal mushrooms and how can they help you? Medicinal mushrooms can boost the immune systems, hormones, antioxidants, sexual health, well-being, cognition, energy, and exercise performance. One of the uniting benefits of most medicinal mushrooms is that most of them boost or stimulate the immune system.  Some of their immune system effects are...

Nootropics are amazing for productivity--but did you know that some of them can also help us get a restful nights’ sleep? 1. Magnesium (especially Magnesium Glycinate)  Magnesium really is a wonder mineral.  It is required by over 300 enzyme processes in the body and is one of the best supplements you can take.  Magnesium supports bone and heart health, a positive mood, and it works amazingly well for sleep. Magnesium is a natural NMDA receptor antagonist (N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor) and a GABA agonist.  Magnesium increases sleep time, sleep efficiency, and melatonin, while simultaneously decreasing the time it takes to fall asleep...

Did you know that some of your beloved antioxidants are also nootropics?  As if the antioxidants we regularly consume and supplement weren’t already doing enough for us, there are 3 we can also add to the list of optimizing our cognition! What exactly is a nootropic?  A nootropic is a natural or synthesized substance that must meet 5 criteria:  enhance memory, improve behavior, protect the brain, improve mechanisms in the brain, and have low side effects and toxicity. Alpha-Lipoic Acid acts as an antioxidant that is created in the mitochondria of cells, primarily in liver cells. It can reduce oxidized glutathione, the...

Which websites are your best bets for learning about nootropics? A simple internet search for just about anything related to nootropics, smart boosters, or cognitive enhancement will return hundreds of thousands of results, but it’s hard to know which ones you can trust. Here are some of the best websites you can count on for the information you need. PubMed PubMed is the grand-daddy of biomedical internet research. A project of the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, PubMed is a free search engine that accesses a vast and comprehensive repository of biomedical information. The core...

  Spend long enough in a place like Silicon Valley and conversations will frequently turn to anti-aging and longevity. Within wealthier circles of the biohacking elite, concentration, memory enhancement, and even creativity often take a backseat to longevity. It makes sense. Humans almost universally fear death. This consistent self-awareness of our own mortality combined with a God-like ego lends itself to seeking tools that increase our lifespan. One such tool among biohacking communities is NAD+ precursors like nicotinamide riboside, and nicotinamide mononucleotide, which studies show may be common and potent precursors for the NAD+ cofactor. If more NAD+ is better (for reducing aging),...

For millions of Americans, the early morning alarm means a straight shot to the coffee maker. As the cliché goes, many people simply cannot get started in the morning without a cup of coffee. In this situation, a cognitive enhancer has become a necessity with few positive effects beyond the baseline. Drinking coffee every day (or more so) is the most common example of overusing a substance. Some people can get away with it no problem, but others require ever higher doses of caffeine to simply get through the day. Not for Regular Use A perfect example of using something...