Stress may be the ultimate mind-numbing agent. But there is no doubt that the best nootropics for stress have a significant positive effect on relieving stress.
But then, the irony is that many people who take stress pills do so through anesthesia, which means that conventional stress medications and supplements frequently work at the expense of brainpower, leaving people calm but with a cognitive fog that makes it difficult to concentrate clearly and do tasks.
The best nootropics for stress include organic ashwagandha root extract, organic bacopa monnieri leaf extract, uridine, taurine, N-acetyl L-tyrosine, and L-theanine. These nootropics are bioavailable in Maximum Mind in their purest forms. Read on to find out how they can lower your stress levels.
The best nootropics for stress promote various modes of relaxation, which may help alleviate tension while sharpening the mind.
This post highlights the finest stress-relieving cognitive boosters and their potential benefits for mental clarity.
“You Were Born to Win, but to Be a Winner You Must Plan to Win, Prepare to Win, and Expect to Win.”
― Zig Ziglar
What Are Nootropics?
“The only difference between the master and the novice is that the master has failed more times than the novice has tried.”
―Stephen McCranie
First things first, what are nootropics? Corneliu Giurgea, a Romanian neuroscientist, coined the term nootropic (pronounced new-tropic) in 1972. He believed that smart drugs should be invented and made widely available for enhancing the general population’s brain health and increase human intelligence.
According to Dr. Giurgea’s findings, nootropics enhance cognition, memory, alertness, concentration, creativity, and attention. They became known as cognitive enhancers, which amplify the way the brain’s many cognitive functions operate and how we process information.
Simply put, cognitive enhancers (or nootropics or smart drugs) are prescription or off-the-counter drugs or supplements that enhance cognition. Some nootropics contribute to brain health, while others can be quite dangerous.
Since Marco’s Grounds only works with safe and natural compounds in their purest forms, we will restrain ourselves to natural nootropics that increase cognition safely for most of our discussions.
Cognition Under Stress
“There is no passion to be found playing small, in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”
— Nelson Mandela
Stress, whether acute or chronic, decreases short-term cognition.
Anyone who has attempted to think clearly under duress is aware of the detrimental effects of acute (short-term) stress on cognition.
Sure, researchers attempt to corroborate these worries by arguing that different physical and emotional stressors — when experienced acutely — might destabilize neurotransmitters and have a detrimental effect on cognitive functions such as:
- memory formation
- memory recall
- attention span and focus
- logical reasoning
- situational awareness
- decision making
- learning
Acute stress may be particularly detrimental to mental performance since it occurs when we are most in need of our brainpower and may have a wide-ranging negative effect on a variety of different cognitive functions.
Stress initiates a cascade of physiological reactions that prepare the body and mind for “fight or flight” – an impact that can be useful and destructive to cognitive performance.
Chronic Stress May Harm the Brain.
“Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness.”
— Alejandro Jodorowsky
Stress is also sneaky. It can develop gradually, clouding the intellect and eroding all facets of brainpower.
It’s therefore unsurprising that researchers in Biological psychiatry have found that longer-range stress may cause harm to the brain’s hippocampus – including decreased hippocampal size and associated cognitive difficulties with learning and memory. [1]
Additionally, a study by researchers in Biological psychology has hypothesized that persistent stress may result in chronic burnout syndrome, a collection of cognitive impairments marked by severe declines in [2]
- nonverbal memory
- auditory attention
- visual attention
The best nootropics for stress may be uniquely equipped to assist the cognition required in high-pressure settings by counteracting stress’s mind-numbing effects while simultaneously promoting overall brain health and stress resistance.
Maximum Mind as the Best Nootropics for Stress
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
— Thomas Edison
Organic Ashwagandha Root Extract
Known as “Indian Ginseng,” Ashwagandha is a typical Rasayana or medicinal plant in Ayurveda (tonic). Rasayana is regarded as a supplement that can assist high achievers to feel better physically and emotionally when it comes to their mental and physical wellness.
As one of the best nootropics for stress, ashwagandha can considerably aid with stress and anxiety relief by decreasing cortisol, the essential stress hormone.
According to the Journal of Traditional, Complementary, and Alternative Medicines, ashwagandha improves cognition and memory and the ability to do daily tasks [3].
As a result, ashwagandha’s stress-relieving benefits, paired with its memory and cognition-enhancing abilities, make this ancient root one of the best nootropics for stress.
Note: there’s an effective dose of organic ashwagandha full-spectrum root extract, standardized at 10% withanolides, and less than 1% withaferin A in each dose of Maximum Mind.
Read more about ashwagandha on the Marco’s Grounds Deep Dive or dig deeper into the benefits of ashwagandha here.
Organic Monnieri Bacopa Monnieri Leaf Extract
Bacopa Monnieri is a nootropic herb well known for its memory-enhancing properties, which also extend to learning and knowledge retention.
Bacopa monnieri is considered an adaptogen plant. It appears to alleviate stress; specifically, it dampens brain chemicals that often surge in reaction to stress.
Along with dampening the production of stress hormones, it has been hypothesized that bacopa monnieri may promote “calming” brain chemicals, such as serotonin and GABA, which may aid in stress relief and resistance. This makes bacopa monnieri a potent nootropic for stress.
The plant has been likened to anti-anxiety medications in animal experiments. Researchers in phytotherapy and phytopharmacology appear to have made a big discovery about bacopa monnieri’s potential in this study: [4]
Unlike anxiety medications, which relieved tension but also caused amnesia and motor impairments, bacopa monnieri relieved stress while increasing cognition.
Note: there’s an effective dose of organic bacopa monnieri leaf extract at 50% minimum bacosides, in each dose of Maximum Mind.
Read more on bacopa on the Marco’s Grounds Deep Dive or find out more about the benefits of bacopa here.
Uridine
Dietary uridine is converted to uridine monophosphate in the liver and then excreted in the blood.
Dietary uridine is found in a wide variety of foods. In order to reap the numerous outstanding benefits—particularly those associated with cognition—that come from uridine, which is primarily absorbed through diet, supplementation may be essential.
Supplementation with uridine has been found to penetrate the blood-brain barrier easily. To obtain CDP choline, uridine must be transformed in the brain. Additionally, choline is required to synthesize acetylcholine, a critical neurotransmitter involved in memory, mood regulation, muscle control, and other brain and nervous system functions.
According to a study published in Nutrition Reviews, the combined effects of uridine promote and increase neuroplasticity, or the brain’s ability to reconstruct and adapt in response to learning and brain training [5]. A practice that is undeniably healthy to mitigate stress.
Uridine is one of the best nootropics for stress because of its various advantages. Through assisting in the regeneration of neurites, the primary process by which neurons grow into axons or dendrites.
Note: there’s an effective dose of uridine at 99% purity in each dose of Maximum Mind.
Read more about uridine on the Marco’s Grounds Deep Dive or dig deeper into the benefits of uridine here.
Taurine
Taurine is likewise one of the best nootropics for stress. It is an amino acid that is important for many chemical reactions in the body. It can be found in scallops, tuna, tilapia, octopus, turkey, chicken, seaweed, and beef.
As taurine protects the membrane of neurons, it helps the cells stay together better. When neurons aren’t damaged by stress, they have a better ability to remember things. So, after taking taurine, you will be more active and more aware of the world around you. This substantially reduces stress levels and boosts confidence in our day-to-day lives.
Supplementing with taurine can help improve short-term memory by making it easier for neurons to communicate with each other. According to a study found in Taurine, It will also help with long-term memory because it will help keep the brain’s neurons healthy [6].
Taurine has a wide range of benefits, from being a permeation enhancer that helps other substances get into your body faster to being a powerful antioxidant. Yet, the main reason taurine is one of the best nootropics for stress is because it can help you remember things better and, in turn, lowers your risk of having mental breakdowns, which results in increased stress.
No doubt, forgetting or not being able to remember simple things can sweep us off our mental stability. Supplementing with taurine, however, can help boost our memory and help us regain our calm.
Note: there’s an effective dose of taurine in its free form at 99% purity in each dose of Maximum Mind.
Read more about taurine on the Marco’s Grounds Deep Dive or dig deeper into the benefits of taurine here.
N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine
According to a study found in the Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism, stress can also throw the brain chemicals norepinephrine and dopamine, which are catecholamines, out of balance in the brain. [7]
When you have to do a lot of thinking during stressful situations, your brain burns through catecholamines more quickly to keep up with the stress-driven demands. This could leave these performance-critical brain chemicals at suboptimal levels.
According to the Catecholamine Hypothesis, people who have low levels of catecholamine brain chemicals have problems with their mood balance and attention.
Stress-induced brain chemical depletions that weaken brainpower tend to make people more stressed, which leads to a downward spiral of mental performance:
- You can’t do as well because of the brain fog caused by stress.
- You fall behind at work or school, which adds more stress and pressure.
- Mental performance gets even worse when there is more pressure and stress. This causes more stress, which causes more catecholamines to be used up.
So on and so on.
If you want to break the cycle of stress-induced brain fog and attention problems, you might want to take L-tyrosine in the advanced N-acetyl-L-tyrosine (NALT) form, which is more advanced than regular L-tyrosine.
Stress makes your body produce less of the catecholamine brain chemicals that make you feel good. You can use L-tyrosine, which is a natural precursor, to make them.
It’s thought that taking L-tyrosine as a nootropic can help the body keep its catecholamine stores full, especially when there is a lot of stress and high-level thinking. L-tyrosine enables you to keep up with the brain chemicals that stress takes away from your body.
Further, L-tyrosine has been shown in Life Science to help regulate stress hormones that harm healthy catecholamine levels. [8]
L-tyrosine is one of the best nootropics for stress, especially extreme stress. In supplement form, L-tyrosine has been shown to improve memory, information processing, mood, and overall mental performance in people who are under a lot of stress, like when they are in a job interview.
- cold exposure
- low oxygen
- sleep deprivation/fatigue
- combat simulation
- loud noise exposure
L-tyrosine has also been found in Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior to be useful as a nootropic for multitasking, which strengthens its role as a nootropic for keeping your mind calm and clear when you’re under a lot of stress. [9]
Note: there’s an effective dose of L-tyrosine as N-acetyl L-tyrosine in in each dose of Maximum Mind.
Read more about tyrosine on the Marco’s Grounds Deep Dive or dig deeper into the benefits of tyrosine here.
L-Theanine
L-theanine raises Alpha brain waves to help relieve stress and keep your mind calm and clear. An Alpha brain wave mind-state has been called “awake relaxation.”
The “stress-creating-more-stress” cycle hurts your brainpower and makes you moody and blue, making it even more challenging to think straight. So, one of the best things you can do to get rid of stress-induced brain fog is just to relax. L-theanine is a unique nootropic that can help you do just that.
It is a natural amino acid that is one of the nootropics in green tea. It has a lot of beneficial bioactive effects, but the most interesting one is L-theanine’s ability to raise Alpha brain waves, which makes people feel calm, clear, and creative while they’re still awake.
In brief, L-theanine’s Alpha brain wave enhancing action provides a direct and considerable “chill out” impact that aids in the reduction of stress.
A study in the Journal of Herbal Pharmacotherapy found that L-theanine also addresses stress directly through its soothing effect on brain chemicals: evidence suggests it may aid in the stabilization of “agitating” neurotransmitters while increasing “relaxing” neurotransmitters. [10]
A human study in Biological Psychology indicates that L-theanine’s ability to calm excitable neurons is reflected in a reduced heart rate and decreased stress chemical indicators in human volunteers during high-stress mental performance tasks. [11]
Additionally, this nootropic provides additional benefits for stressed-out brains.
L-theanine helps to alleviate the uneasiness and jitteriness associated with excessive caffeine usage.
If you get behind at work, you may begin drinking mugs of coffee in an attempt to increase attentiveness and catch up. The downside: all that extra caffeine places more strain on the body and mind and may result in the dreaded caffeine jitters, making optimal performance impossible.
L-theanine has been demonstrated to help alleviate the jittery adverse effects that might occur when caffeine is used.
As a result, L-theanine combined with caffeine is one of the most often utilized nootropic stacks.
The natural combination between L-theanine and caffeine also explains why drinking green tea is so popular: It creates a more lucid and attentive state of mind than that produced by highly caffeinated coffee.
Green tea contains the coveted “Theanine + Caffeine” nootropic combination naturally.
Have you ever gone to bed stressed and awoke to feel sluggish and with a fuzzy brain? By promoting restful sleep, L-Theanine indirectly benefits other nootropics for stress.
Stress can interrupt good sleep patterns by activating the sympathetic nervous system, which releases fight-or-flight stress hormones meant to keep you aware, awake, and alive – even when it’s time to sleep.
The subsequent lack of quality sleep may increase stress, brain fog, sleep problems, and even health problems. Stress-induced vicious sleep cycles are difficult to interrupt and necessitate the use of a specialized sleep aid.
In clinical studies found in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, L-theanine has been established to be a safe, natural, and effective sleep aid that may dramatically improve sleep quality. [12]
Unlike tranquilizing sleep aids, researchers are now discovering that L-theanine promotes sleep onset without sedation. This shows that L-theanine may assist you in waking up without the sluggish side effects associated with more potent sleep aids.
Healthy, restful sleep can contribute significantly to overall stress reduction, providing yet another layer of nutritional support for L-theanine’s nootropic activity.
Note: there’s an effective dose of L-theanine from organic green tea leaf extract in each dose of Maximum Mind.
Read more about L-theanine on the Marco’s Grounds Deep Dive or find out the best caffeine and L-theanine combination here.
Conclusion
“An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.”
— Niels Bohr
The best nootropics for stress, such as Maximum Mind, help you preserve mental acuity by increasing calm and stress resistance without drowsiness. The unique nootropic architecture of Maximum Mind aids in optimizing the entire brain.
This innovative combination contains specific nootropics for stress that aid in optimizing peak mental performance under duress while also shielding the brain from the detrimental effects of chronic stress, hence promoting long-term mental clarity.
Why not benefit from the best nootropics for stress in their purest form along with other clinically studied compounds for increasing brain and physical performance and health with Maximum Mind?
Literature
- Bremner J. D. (1999). Does stress damage the brain?. Biological psychiatry, 45(7), 797–805.
- Sandström, A., Rhodin, I. N., Lundberg, M., Olsson, T., & Nyberg, L. (2005). Impaired cognitive performance in patients with chronic burnout syndrome. Biological psychology, 69(3), 271–279.
- Singh, N., Bhalla, M., de Jager, P., & Gilca, M. (2011). An overview of Ashwagandha: a Rasayana (rejuvenator) of Ayurveda. African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines, 8(5S).
- Bhattacharya, S. K., & Ghosal, S. (1998). Anxiolytic activity of a standardized extract of Bacopa monniera: an experimental study. Phytomedicine: international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology, 5(2), 77–82.
- Wurtman, R. J., Cansev, M., Sakamoto, T., & Ulus, I. (2010). Nutritional modifiers of aging brain function: use of uridine and other phosphatide precursors to increase the formation of brain synapses. Nutrition reviews, 68(suppl_2), S88-S101.
- Idrissi, A. E. (2019). Taurine regulation of neuroendocrine function. Taurine 11, 977-985.
- Ranabir S, Reetu K. Stress and hormones. Indian J Endocrinol Metab. 2011 Jan-Mar; 15(1): 18–22.
- Reinstein DK, Lehnert H, Wurtman RJ. Dietary tyrosine suppresses the rise in plasma corticosterone following acute stress in rats. Life Sci. 1985 Dec 9;37(23):2157-63.
- Thomas JR et al. Tyrosine improves working memory in a multitasking environment. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1999 Nov;64(3):495-500.
- Nathan PJ, Lu K, Gray M, Oliver C. The neuropharmacology of L-theanine(N-ethyl-L-glutamine): a possible neuroprotective and cognitive enhancing agent. J Herb Pharmacother. 2006;6:21–30.
- Kimura K. L-Theanine reduces psychological and physiological stress responses. Biol Psychol. 2007 Jan;74(1):39-45.
- Rao, T. P., Ozeki, M., & Juneja, L. R. (2015). In Search of a Safe Natural Sleep Aid. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 34(5), 436–447.