Best Brain Supplements

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.

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.