Today, brain supplements are a multibillion-dollar industry a year, and it’s likely to grow. Adults may use the best brain supplements to increase their focus, productivity, and learning while also maintaining overall brain health, and we all know how valuable a strong and healthy brain can be. Continue reading to discover which are the best brain supplements.
Aeschylus, the ancient Greek dramatist, once wrote: “Old men are perpetually youthful enough to profit from learning.” Which approximately translates as “If you are always learning, you will always be young.”
To be sure, up to a point, learning becomes less and less about choice and more about ability. In all its vast knowledge and frustration, the brain occasionally refuses to cooperate, which is why we frequently have to cajole it with brain-healthy nootropics.
After all, many of the world’s most successful individuals maintain their success by never losing their curiosity and eagerness to learn new things. Thus, for those whose curiosity endures long into adulthood, the often asked question is: “How can I maintain a healthy brain to continue learning?”
Our response: through the use of exercise, sleep, diet, and good nootropics! Since you don’t need another blog post to tell you that you should exercise, sleep properly and eat a decent diet, we’ll restrain ourselves to the best brain supplements part. For this, the answer is quite simple: the best brain supplements for adult brains are citicoline, L-tyrosine, and uridine. All of which and more are contained within Maximum Mind. Continue reading to find out why.
We’ll discuss the best brain supplements for adults in this post, as well as some ideas on how to maintain your adult brain youthfully and actively.
“If You’re Offered a Seat on a Rocket Ship, Don’t Ask What Seat! Just Get On.”
—Sheryl Sandberg
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 the purpose of enhancing the general population’s brain health and increasing human intelligence.
According to Dr Giurgea’s findings, nootropics enhance cognition, memory, alertness, concentration, creativity, and attention. They became known as cognitive enhancers, substances that 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, for most of our discussions we will restrain ourselves to natural nootropics that increase cognition safely.
The Beginner’s Guide to the Adult Brain
“The formula of happiness and success is just, being actually yourself, in the most vivid possible way you can.”— Meryl Streep
In comparison to teenage brains, adult brains are both amazing and frustrating. Have you ever felt as though, despite the lofty quality of your ideas, your brain’s obstinacy and whimsical emotions are impeding your progress?
It’s almost as though the brain is daring us to get out there and succeed, only it is capable of yanking the rug out from under us through persistently bad feelings (e.g., worry, despair) and impulsive desires.
Fortunately, there are methods for regaining control of our brain. But before we go into any of that, let’s first determine when the brain matures.
When Does the Brain Fully Mature?
“Don’t worry about being successful but work toward being significant and the success will naturally follow.”
— Oprah Winfrey
In many nations, adulthood begins at the age of 18. However, the precise definition of full-fledged maturity has been a source of contention – both legally and physiologically.
At what point in our lives are we intellectually, physically, and socially mature enough to be held intellectually, physically, and socially accountable for our actions? According to clinical studies in Neuroscience on brain growth and maturation, cognitive maturity is typically achieved in our mid-20s [1].
A study in Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment shows that variability in teenage brain maturation is influenced by diet, sleep, exercise, heredity, and drug use [2].
After reaching complete brain maturity, the term “development” in adolescence changes to “maintenance” in adulthood.
Symptoms of Age-Related Cognitive Decline
“It’s not how far you fall, but how high you bounce that counts.”
— Zig Ziglar
Once the brain has reached complete maturity, we can temporarily appreciate the view from atop life’s hill. At this point, we begin our descent towards age-related cognitive loss, as indicated by the following symptoms:
- Confusion and Doubtful Thoughts
- Inadequate Motor Coordination
- Impaired Emotional Balance
- Impaired Short- and Long-Term Memory
- Impaired Judgment
At some point in their lives, everyone will suffer some (if not all) of the symptoms of cognitive decline. However, this is not to say that there aren’t also natural and healthy strategies involving the best brain supplements to defend against age-related cognitive decline—in other words, to keep the brain youthful.
Five Ways to Maintain a Healthy Adult Brain
“You’ll always miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”
— Wayne Gretzky
Despite the brain’s limitless wisdom and limitless frustration, it is a relatively straightforward organ to maintain in general.
This may not apply to everyone reading this. After all, the brain does have the ability to malfunction on occasion inexplicably. We can adopt a few everyday routines to keep the brain young and healthy, including the following.
Stimulate Your Mind
Navigating our hypermediated world can be challenging.
Particularly considering that much of our media has been purposefully created to affect us – to mentally shut down and unknowingly let our media environment satisfy our mental stimulation demands, rather than us meeting these needs deliberately.
Maintain Awareness
Read demanding literature, educate yourself on unusual subjects, and engage in mind-bending cognitive games (e.g., Sudoku).
According to research in Frontiers in Psychology, even computer games have the ability to boost adults’ cognitive and emotional functions [3]—however, even (and possibly more so) with video games.
Maintain Physical Activity
Clearly, exercise is critical for your overall health and well-being.
For many of us, the recommendation to “increase our physical activity” is self-evident. It probably hangs over our heads like an approving judge while we devour chips and binge-watch Netflix.
However, physical activity is critical not just for physical health but also for cognitive health.
As demonstrated by the study in Neuromolecular Medicine, exercise has a considerable effect on synaptic plasticity in the dentate gyrus, an important brain area for memory and learning [4]. A regular workout program is necessary for optimal performance on both the physical and mental levels.
Improve Your Sleep Quality
As with exercise, the suggestion to improve sleep quality is self-evident.
We know that sleep is necessary for health, and hence that obtaining better sleep equates to living a healthier lifestyle.
Even still, many of us continue to function at inadequate sleep levels, demonstrating that we are unaware of the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation on our health.
According to a Neuron study, which implies that while older people require less sleep than children and adolescents whose brains and bodies are still developing, [5] maintaining adequate sleep in adulthood boosts cognitive performance and protects against age-related cognitive decline, as described in another study found in Perspectives on Psychological Science [6].
Reduce Stress
Daily stress at a healthy level, such as that linked with exercise, is necessary for maintaining synaptic plasticity and brain development.
On the other hand, excessive or chronic stress can be detrimental to cognitive health, performance, and lifespan.
While the stress response is a beneficial adaptive response to stimuli, it may potentially deteriorate into a maladaptive state under persistent stress.
According to research found in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, “the same networks that mediate neuroendocrine, autonomic, and behavioral processes during adaptive coping also serve as targets for the formation of maladaptive states.” [7]
Excessive stress has several negative consequences, one of which is decreased brain plasticity.
Take a Natural Brain Supplement
Along with exercise and sleep, a nutritious, whole-food diet is critical.
Without a doubt, most of our food has been completely depleted of nutrients due to contemporary food processing technology and techniques. The soil gets less and less nutrient-dense every year, which is why we need some of the best brain supplements in our strategy.
With our diets becoming increasingly deficient in nutrients and our professions becoming increasingly competitive, the rise of natural brain supplements makes perfect sense.
However, the emphasis on “natural” is critical here…
…Because synthetic brain enhancers, such as prescription stimulants, are also experiencing a meteoric surge in popularity.
Synthetic brain boosters do not provide the long-term health and lifespan advantages associated with natural nootropics and health supplements – just the contrary, in fact.
Adults may benefit from using a natural and the best brain supplement to help refill their diet’s nutrition and maximize their cognitive performance, resulting in an overall healthier lifestyle.
Find out more ways to increase mental processing speed here.
Best Brain Supplements: What to Look For
“It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.”
— Bill Gates
There are three essential indicators to look for in a decent brain supplement, no matter what substances are included in the mix.
- Quality: How effective and bioavailable are the ingredients?
- Quantity: How much of each item are you taking?
- Safety: Are the substances safe to use daily and for an extended period of time?
These three requirements must be completed before any further consideration can be given to ensure the substances used are the most beneficial to brain health and function.
To be fair, this may need a lot of personal study and experimentation, but we’ve done some of the legwork for you by providing a list of some of the best brain supplements for adults below.
Some of the best brain supplements for adults include the following.
Citicoline
The best cholinergic for stimulating the brain has been related to several cognitive advantages.
Citicoline is one of the finest nootropic cholinergic (choline donors) on the market because of its combination of:
Choline: Choline is a precursor of the neurotransmitters phosphatidylcholine and acetylcholine, responsible for memory, learning, and higher-order thinking.
Cytidine: Cytidine is a nucleoside molecule involved in synaptic plasticity and ATP synthesis and is a precursor to the nucleoside complex uridine.
Citicoline has several cognitive advantages, the most important of which are increased mental acuity, better neurotransmitter function, improved blood flow to the brain, and improved neuroprotection. The Cognizin® brand of citicoline was studied in a meta-analysis of all clinical trials involving the substance.
There was enough evidence from a study in Clinical Interventions in Aging to suggest “the numerous biological activities of citicoline in restoring certain neurotransmitter functioning” after examining the studies [8].
For these reasons, citicoline comes naturally into the list of the best brain supplements to take.
Note: there’s an effective dose of citicoline as Cognizin® in each dose of Maximum Mind.
Read more about citicoline on the Marco’s Grounds Deep Dive and about the benefits of citicoline for brain power here.
Uridine
The liver produces uridine monophosphate from dietary uridine and excretes it in the blood.
Dietary uridine may be found in a wide range of foods. The supplement may be necessary to obtain its exceptional effects and advantages, particularly those connected to cognition, assuming that uridine is consumed by food.
Additional uridine has been shown to cross the blood-brain barrier. CDP choline is the end product of uridine metabolism in the brain. CDP choline is subsequently converted into phosphatidylcholine and acetylcholine.
To safeguard and strengthen new synapses, the brain needs to make additional CDP choline, which is made possible by uridine. By encouraging the development of brain cell projections or branches known as neurites, which are crucial for neural signaling, Uridine leads to the production of new synapses.
In a Neuroscience study, uridine supplementation significantly increased the number of neurites per cell and the branching of these neurites [9]. Neuronal expansion and branching are closely linked to improved cognition.
According to a nutrition review study, uridine’s combined actions to enhance and strengthen neuroplasticity, or the brain’s ability to reconstruct and alter in response to learning and brain training [10].
For this reason, uridine is, of course, one of the best brain supplements to incorporate into your supplementing strategy.
Read more about uridine on the Marco’s Grounds Deep Dive or dig deeper into the benefits of uridine here.
N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine (NALT)
This fast-acting amino acid replenishes restored catecholamines lost due to stress and intensive brain activity.
Lysergic acid tyrosine (L-tyrosine) levels in the brain decrease at times of high stress, intensive brain activity, or sleep deprivation because the body synthesizes tyrosine stores into the attention-promoting catecholamines.
As a result, L-tyrosine is a potent mental performance booster that comes in handy when the stakes are high.
L-tyrosine helps ease the tension that builds up in the last seconds of a nervous presentation after a long night of study or following a grueling sporting contest. L-tyrosine appears to be particularly beneficial for maintaining competitive cognition and calm in people who operate in a highly distracted, multi-tasking workplace.
According to one intriguing research in Sports medicine, ” L-tyrosine may preserve working memory when conflicting pressures to execute other tasks simultaneously deteriorate performance [11].
For these reasons, NALT is one of the best brain supplements to take year-long and incorporate into your daily routine.
We’d like to note there are many other supplements besides citicoline, uridine and L-tyrosine that would make it to the “best brain supplements” status, e.g. organic ashwagandha root extract, organic lion’s mane mushroom extract, L-theanine, huperzine A, organic ginkgo biloba leaf extract to name a few. Yet, for length issues we restrained ourselves to the top three in this post.
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.
Maximum Mind Formula Analysis
“Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.”
— Lance Armstrong
Maximum Mind is the best brain supplement. It contains 16 plant-based, gluten-free, and non-GMO active compounds combining:
- 10 neuro-enhancing compounds
- 5 nature-identical neuroprotective vitamins
- 1 permeation enhancer
Numerous nootropic aficionados stack various brain health pills to ensure complete coverage of all brain bio-pathways, which takes up a lot of time researching and shopping. However, regardless of how your brain health supplement stack is customized, you will always want an essential nootropic pill.
Maximum Mind provides the most excellent foundations for daily brain boosts and recuperation with citicoline, uridine, L-tyrosine, lion’s mane, ashwagandha extract, and many more.
Have you ever been told to increase your choline intake if you’re getting headaches or suffer from cloudy thinking when using nootropics?
This is because many nootropics raise the brain’s cholinergic needs.
And in the absence of an additional supply of choline, such as Maximum Mind’s citicoline, alpha GPC and uridine, these brain boosters may eventually damage (rather than enhance) cognition.
Along with providing this potent cholinergic, Maximum Mind also boosts catecholaminergic activity, cerebral circulation, and cell-to-cell communication through the use of L-tyrosine, bacopa, and uridine.
“Entities should not be multiplied without necessity,” said William of Ockham.
By achieving so much with its formulation, Maximum Mind demonstrates that, despite (or maybe because of) the complexity of adult life, keeping things simple is still the wisest course of action.
Read more about Maximum Mind ingredients on the Marco’s Grounds Deep Dive.
How to Take Maximum Mind
“Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.”
— Mary Kay Ash
Adults should take four daily as a dietary supplement, ideally with a light breakfast. If you are pregnant or nursing, have a medical condition or suspect one, or are on any drugs or medication, talk to your doctor before using this or any other dietary supplement. Store in a dark, cool, and dry location.
Read how to make the most out of your Maximum Mind Experience.
Who Can Take Maximum Mind
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
— Chinese Proverb
Anyone on the quest for better mental performance and brain health should be taking Maximum Mind. Maximum Mind provides adults with a cleaner, crash-free caffeine-free choice that is safer and healthier than traditional stimulants.
Those who love the familiar, feel-good rush of coffee while also appreciating the benefits of maintaining a level, collected mind throughout the day. If you like to drink your coffee, you can still do it.
Conclusion
“Everything you can imagine is real.”
— Pablo Picasso
Adults from all walks of life can benefit from a combination of the best brain supplements, and the greatest brain nutrients in Maximum Mind, especially in this day and age of information where competitive advantages are attained and maintained by absorbing and retaining more information and displaying superior willpower.
Boosting brain health and performance is quite complex and requires expert use of synergetic effects. As a result, expert nootropic supplement consumers have begun “stacking” various brain health pills, each of which targets a distinct brain bio-pathway or bioactivity.
To experience your brain firing on all cylinders, the 16 clinically proven ingredients from Maximum Mind target all major bio-pathways in the brain.
Why not benefit from the best brain supplements in their purest form along with other clinically studied compounds for increasing brain performance and health with Maximum Mind?
Literature
- Johnson SB et al. Adolescent maturity and the Brain: The Promise and Pitfalls of Neuroscience Research in Adolescent Health Policy. J Adolesc Health. 2009 Sep; 45(3): 216-221.
- Arain M et al. Maturation of the adolescent brain. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2013; 9: 449-461.
- Pallavicini F et al. Video Games for Well-Being: A Systematic Review on the Application of Computer Games for Cognitive and Emotional Training in the Adult Population. Front Psychol. 2018; 9: 2127.
- Christie BR et al. Exercising our brains: how physical activity impacts synaptic plasticity in the dentate gyrus. Neuromolecular Med. 2008; 10(2): 47-58.
- Mander BA et al. Sleep and Human Aging. Neuron. 2017 Apr 5; 94(1): 19-36.
- Scullin MK, Bliwise DL. Sleep, Cognition, and Normal Aging: Integrating a Half-Century of Multidisciplinary Research. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2015 Jan; 10(1): 97-137.
- Radley J et al. Chronic stress and brain plasticity: mechanisms underlying adaptive and maladaptive changes and implications for stress-related CNS disorders. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2015 Nov; 58: 79-91.
- Fioravanti M, Buckley AE. Citicoline (Cognizing) in the treatment of cognitive impairment. Clin Interv Aging. 2006 Sep; 1(3): 247-251.
- Pooler, A. M., Guez, D. H., Benedictus, R., & Wurtman, R. J. (2005). Uridine enhances neurite outgrowth in nerve growth factor-differentiated pheochromocytoma cells. Neuroscience, 134(1), 207-214.
- 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.
- Kingsley M. Effects of phosphatidylserine supplementation on exercising humans. Sports Med. 2006; 36(8): 657-69.
