Supplements/medication to boost brain power

[Anonymous]

So, I’m at the point where I’m having more frequent brain farts and inability to process information as quickly as I used to. I’m in my late 30’s, this shouldn’t be happening. What supplements or meds can I take to help me? I need to keep my job!!

[Anonymous]

I take a giant fish oil pill daily. It is supposed to help.

[Anonymous]

The most important thing for your brain is sleep. Also stress management and an anti inflammatory diet. Dr Amen and Andrew Huberman are good resources to learn more.

[Anonymous]

I’d probably talk to your primary care about this. Also fish oil is good.

[Anonymous]

Research "nootropics".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The most important thing for your brain is sleep. Also stress management and an anti inflammatory diet. Dr Amen and Andrew Huberman are good resources to learn more.

Omg no. Amen is a crock. Huber man has some good stuff but tends to be a bit overconfident in his assertions because that’s more interesting than the truth which is that the evidence for effectiveness of nootropics is not super strong. There are some things that may help but results are mixed. It’s also important to pay attention to whether the participants in studies were people with documented cognitive decline vs. healthy adults. Something that helps people with decline won’t necessarily do anything for healthy people. The placebo effect is a big issue when looking at anything other than double blind experiments. Adequate sleep, nutrition, and reducing stress and still the most effective based on the evidence. Good old caffeine works too.

The neurobiology of cognition is incredibly complex. Memories are stored as patterns of activity within neural networks. Interestingly a recent study showed that targeted brain stimulation improved performance on a verbal memory task. Presumably the stimulation protocol activated neural networks that support this type of learning and memory. No drug can produce this type of targeted activation and most people aren’t going to sign up for brain stimulation on a regular basis. But the developments in the realm of noninvasive brain stimulation (e.g. transcranial direct current stimulation) are fascinating from a scientific standpoint.

[Anonymous]

Look at the MIND diet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at the MIND diet.

So basically the Mediterranean Diet - https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/improve-brain-health-with-the-mind-diet/art-20454746

[Anonymous]

CoQ-10/ubiquinol.

[Anonymous]

Meds - vyvanse

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most important thing for your brain is sleep. Also stress management and an anti inflammatory diet. Dr Amen and Andrew Huberman are good resources to learn more.

Omg no. Amen is a crock. Huber man has some good stuff but tends to be a bit overconfident in his assertions because that’s more interesting than the truth which is that the evidence for effectiveness of nootropics is not super strong. There are some things that may help but results are mixed. It’s also important to pay attention to whether the participants in studies were people with documented cognitive decline vs. healthy adults. Something that helps people with decline won’t necessarily do anything for healthy people. The placebo effect is a big issue when looking at anything other than double blind experiments. Adequate sleep, nutrition, and reducing stress and still the most effective based on the evidence. Good old caffeine works too.

The neurobiology of cognition is incredibly complex. Memories are stored as patterns of activity within neural networks. Interestingly a recent study showed that targeted brain stimulation improved performance on a verbal memory task. Presumably the stimulation protocol activated neural networks that support this type of learning and memory. No drug can produce this type of targeted activation and most people aren’t going to sign up for brain stimulation on a regular basis. But the developments in the realm of noninvasive brain stimulation (e.g. transcranial direct current stimulation) are fascinating from a scientific standpoint.

Amen is a crackpot.

[Anonymous]

Everyone’s genetics is different plus I suspect some effects stem from correcting deficiencies (which is also highly individual), so be warned that there’s a lot of trial and error even if other people swear by X or Y…

For me, I have chronic illness type problems that don’t respond to much of anything. With that caveat, the three things that really made a noticeable difference were B12 shots (to correct low B12 levels, they were a miracle at first but didn’t do much once corrected), testosterone (ditto, raised it via DHEA supplements, and yes women need sufficient testosterone for optimal health), and Acetyl-l Carnitine.

[Anonymous]

You're going to think this is nuts, but try cutting back your cell phone use. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/is-your-smartphone-making-you-less-smart-distraction-addiction-is-real

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The most important thing for your brain is sleep. Also stress management and an anti inflammatory diet. Dr Amen and Andrew Huberman are good resources to learn more.

Omg no. Amen is a crock. Huber man has some good stuff but tends to be a bit overconfident in his assertions because that’s more interesting than the truth which is that the evidence for effectiveness of nootropics is not super strong. There are some things that may help but results are mixed. It’s also important to pay attention to whether the participants in studies were people with documented cognitive decline vs. healthy adults. Something that helps people with decline won’t necessarily do anything for healthy people. The placebo effect is a big issue when looking at anything other than double blind experiments. Adequate sleep, nutrition, and reducing stress and still the most effective based on the evidence. Good old caffeine works too.

The neurobiology of cognition is incredibly complex. Memories are stored as patterns of activity within neural networks. Interestingly a recent study showed that targeted brain stimulation improved performance on a verbal memory task. Presumably the stimulation protocol activated neural networks that support this type of learning and memory. No drug can produce this type of targeted activation and most people aren’t going to sign up for brain stimulation on a regular basis. But the developments in the realm of noninvasive brain stimulation (e.g. transcranial direct current stimulation) are fascinating from a scientific standpoint.

Why do you say he's a crock? What he shares makes sense. Sleep deprivation, diet and stress affect the brain. I didn't hear anything out of the ordinary that would give me pause.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The most important thing for your brain is sleep. Also stress management and an anti inflammatory diet. Dr Amen and Andrew Huberman are good resources to learn more.

Physicians Daniel Amen and Andrew Huberman are both brilliant researchers, unafraid to step outside the AMA box. Americans would be less sick if we integrated their advice.