What’s the deal with patented Nootropics?
When I first got into the Nootropics game 8 years ago there was a systemic ethics issue with the industry. Almost as soon as I put my website and my first video, companies selling Nootropics or health supplements began reaching out to me, offering me free products in exchange for reviews. Troubling though was that almost none of those companies proved that their products contained the advertised ingredients. I would ask them…
“Hey, could you send me over the certificates of analysis with a 3rd party lab verifying that this is pure, uncontaminated stuff?”
And they would either respond…
“Yeah, sure. We have COAs for our stuff, we’ll try to find them and send them over.”
Or
“We have a super-secret formula and if we revealed what the ingredients are then our competitors would try to copy it.”
Both responses I found disappointing. If I were going to buy a Lexus (I did once) I would definitely want to make sure that it was Lexus and not a just a Kia that had just gotten a great wax job. So, I began aggressively promoting a couple of vendors I found that did sell COA verified Nootropics, whose products I had personally tried and was impressed by. I released dozens of videos and podcasts exhorting smart consumers to ask vendors to show their COAs. Also, as newer companies came into the space, I would have a heart to heart talk with their founders about the importance of proving the quality of their products. In the past 2 years, I’ve noted a positive trend, a lot of Nootropics companies are a whole lot more transparent and upfront, publishing their COAs right on their websites. I’m wondering if we can put a little bit of pressure on one of the biggest companies in the Nootropics space, Onnit, their flagship product, Alpha Brain, to be very charitable, has some room for improvement.
Please watch and share this video on Facebook: The Truth about Joe Rogan’s Alpha Brain. It’s a Facebook video so if you share it on your Facebook or in health, personal growth or fitness related groups it will do that autoplay thing and will be seen by enough people that hopefully Onnit will start the get the message that they should at least prove their products contain the advertised ingredients. Might this make me a few enemies? Cause a little a scandal? Maybe. I could certainly make more money promoting Onnit products than critiquing them for using substandard ingredients but it would be great to see a big company like Onnit which is almost a household name taking some ethical leadership in the health supplement industry.
The next step towards higher integrity Nootropic products…
Is, I think, patented Nootropic ingredients, these are derivatives of common Nootropics like caffeine, Ashwagandha or Bacopa which are tweaked for higher potency or bioavailability. Now, the international patent system is imperfect but the patents create a positive economic incentive for companies and scientists to invest serious time and resources developing innovative, safe, quality products that will stand the test of time as opposed to gimmicky cash grabs. We have things like the telephone, light bulbs, GPS and 3D printing thanks to the patent system. For Nootropics, it means that there is a company and a team of scientists standing behind a Nootropic economically incentivized to ensure its quality for at least 20 years in huge contrast to non-patented ingredients that could be produced in a toxic factory in China by the very cheapest labor that communist, fiat currency can buy! What would you rather be putting in your body?
A few examples of patented Nootropics…
- Bacognize®
- Cognizin®
- RHODIOLA5PLUS™
- Curcumin C3 Complex®
- Bioperine®
- Sensoril®
- Quatrefolic®
These are the ingredients are in a product, Neuro-Stack, I’ve been using for several months now which has certainly enhanced my productivity, memory, and resilience to stress. This is a high integrity product that satisfies my very high standards.
- They’ve proven ALL of their ingredients to me with COAs from reputable sources.
- As far as I can tell, they aren’t cutting any corners by using questionable cost-cutting red flag ingredients like Huperzine or DMAE
This is more of a holistic Nootropic stack than a stimulating one. With a number of ingredients that support mitochondria, memory, cognition, immunity, and neuroplasticity. I’m a bit bearish on Nootropic stacks that include stimulants like caffeine. I like caffeine quite a bit, which is why I drink a lot of great coffee. I don’t need more caffeine from my Nootropics. Also, there’s sleep quality cost from consuming caffeine within 6–10 hours of bedtime. An afternoon dose of Nootropic is problematic if they contain caffeine. In the afternoons and evenings, I prefer to use Nicotine in propylene glycol solution as a stimulant because it’s half is so much shorter than caffeine. Neuro-Stack has no caffeine which is great in my book.
Recently I’ve received a number of emails and messages asking…
“Hey Jonathan, I searched on Youtube and couldn’t find your channel? What’s going on?”
It was a real setback when Youtube terminated my very loved channel without warning, recourse or cogent explanation. I’ve been really hustling to move my video library of hundreds of well-produced, educational videos to another video platform that will work great and respects free speech. I’ve identified two pretty good options; Bitchute, this works almost the same as Youtube, you can find almost all of my videos here and I’ve discovered that the Castbox.FM app actually works to host and watch video content, the advantage with Castbox is you can download my videos to your device and watch them at your leisure sans buffering! Subscribe to my Castbox video feed here, if you have some summer travel coming up I suggest that you pop in an SD card and load your device up with a couple of hours worth of my biohacking video curriculum instead of binging on Netflix or whatever.
New Video
Neuro-Stack vs Mind Lab Pro [Nootropics Comparison]
An honest comparison of the pros and cons of Mind Lab Pro vs Neuro-Stack, two popular Nootropic stacks. I discuss COAs, patented Nootropic ingredients, Lion’s Mane, Turmeric and how a savvy Biohacker should research and select an effective Nootropic stack.
New Podcast
July Biohacking Q&A #25: NAC Demystified at 40hz
I’ll be answering some of the July Biohacking and lifehacking questions about NAC and the potential of the 40hz frequency as a biohack for performance enhancement and antiaging.
Updated Article
Boycott Bayer! Alternatives to Bayer’s Drugs & Products
“You don’t need to be an ethics philosopher to see the significant moral hazard in the unholy marriage of a company that makes people very sick & a company that sells drugs to treat sickness.”
Lately, I’ve been getting some awesome sleep…
I’ve long had real issues with sleep, insomnia has been a sporadic uninvited guest in my bedroom, but not recently. I’ve figured out a pretty awesome stack for seriously restorative sleep that works even when I’ve had a stressful day or stayed up too late working on my computer.
- Ashwagandha, Apple cider vinegar, honey and Chamomile tea — What you drink before bed can have a real effect on your sleep. About an hour before I enjoy a steaming hot steeped tea. I dump a gram or two of Ashwagandha in it along with
- Magnesium — A few of the higher-end forms of Magnesium (perhaps the most important nutrient) don’t really make you tired or have a discernable anxiolytic effect but they feed your slumbering mind just what it needs to reach deep sleep.
- CBD — I’ve been experimenting with CBD for a few weeks now and I get some great sleep on this stuff. I find that 10 milligrams just takes the edge off or puts me into a more social and upbeat mood. 20 milligrams makes me notably tired, relaxed and ready for bed. 30 milligrams is what I’ll when I’m tired and a bit sore from a gym session, this dose puts me soundly to sleep even if I’ve stayed up too late doing things on the computer.
My book How to Be Cross Eyed: Thriving Despite Your Physical Imperfection — a mémoire and lifehacking manifesto
“Over the past 10 years, I spent more time with personal development practitioners than theorists, specifically entrepreneurs and seducers. By entrepreneurs, I mean people who are actually doing business, who own and operate businesses, not wantreprenuers — people trying to figure out how to start a business, who I certainly don’t have anything against, I’ve been a wantreprenuer, I just don’t hang out with them that much. By seducers, I mean men who are devoted to the art, practice, and science of seducing women.
You don’t have to be an entrepreneur or a seducer to thrive despite having a physical imperfection, but hanging out with these types of people produces the most interesting experiences that make the best stories.
These are not the kinds of people that are going to while away an afternoon smoking weed and playing video games, nor are they going to spend hours debating politics over dinner. They are a whirlwind of action, they are just busy.”
Please order it today on Amazon https://amzn.to/2VQwJdq ($9.99)
or
Directly on my own website https://www.limitlessmindset.com/books/231-how-to-be-cross-eyed (Hint: It’s a dollar less here!)
Please Respond
Recently, I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus from writing and research, reason being, I really sunk a lot of time and creativity into the book I released this year and having my Youtube channel nuked has taken a lot of my time away from more creative pursuits.
What kind of writing and research would you like to see more of out of me?
- Meta-analysis article of the state of art research on Nootropics?
- More stuff on lifehacking? I did huge video on lifehacking losing one’s virginity. Who would be more interested in this sort of thing?
- Recently, I’ve kind of gotten into more of a prepper mindset. I’m interested in everything that might ensure my survival in some kind of catastrophe. Right now I’m looking at how I might biohacking myself to be resilient to an ebola outbreak.
- What about medical tourism? Recently, I gained some real insight into medical tourism. I found a place where medical care is good and ridiculously affordable (NOT Thailand). Would you maybe want to hear more about this?
Nicotinized in the night,
Jonathan Roseland
