Photo by Innerbody Research
If you’ve ever felt your energy, focus, and motivation failing at work or in a creative endeavor, you might have reached for something to help you along. Maybe it was yet another latte or a sugary energy drink. Those can provide brief bursts of productivity, but their effects are short-lived, and you might experience a gnarly crash when they wear off.1
Many people in this situation have turned to nootropic supplements as an answer — over-the-counter formulas designed to optimize your brain function by increasing neurotransmitter activity, minimizing stress, and fighting fatigue. There are dozens of nootropic formulas on the market, but not all are created equal.
Innerbody Labs Focus Support is a complex nootropic formula that we believe offers the greatest likelihood of success for most people, with a better set of ingredients than its competitors delivered at doses supported by clinical research. In this review, we’ll break down the science behind its formulation and compare it to the market’s top competitors to help you decide if it’s right for you.
While most nootropic formulas either use only a few clinically researched ingredients or provide their well-supported ingredients at suboptimal doses, Innerbody Labs Focus Support contains 15 ingredients with significant scientific track records, each one at a dose aligned with successful human research. The result is a nootropic supplement that bolsters brain power through multiple channels, increasing focus and memory performance, decreasing stress and anxiety, improving sleep, and providing balanced energy. Given the specifics of its formula, its price point and savings opportunities deliver the best value in any nootropic supplement we've researched.
Here at Innerbody Research, we’ve covered the nootropic space for the better part of a decade, poring over hundreds of scholarly articles related to brain health, mood, energy, and the various ingredients researchers investigate to affect those areas of interest. In that time, we noticed an inevitable pattern in the marketplace in which many nootropic supplements would underdose individual ingredients in otherwise complex formulas. This created often expensive supplements that could possibly work a little better than the sum of their parts, but there wasn’t a way to validate that scientifically.
That’s what led Innerbody Labs to create Focus Support, which is simultaneously the most effective nootropic complex you’re likely to find anywhere near its price point and an apparent conflict of interest for us to write about. But the objectivity of our reviewers never takes a backseat; throughout this review, we’ll take pains to point out that, despite its quality, Focus Support isn’t for everybody. There are certain situations in which a competitor’s product will be a better choice, and we’ll be clear and honest with you when those situations arise.
To get an even clearer side-by-side comparison of the market’s top nootropics, including Innerbody Labs Focus Support, check out our complete nootropics guide page.
Additionally, like all health-related content on this website, this review was thoroughly vetted by one or more members of our Medical Review Board for accuracy and will continue to be monitored for updates by our editorial team.
Over the past two decades, Innerbody Research has helped tens of millions of readers make more informed decisions about staying healthy and living healthier lifestyles.
To evaluate Focus Support as fairly as possible against the other top nootropics on the market, we applied four criteria that would matter most to the vast majority of consumers. These include effectiveness, safety, cost, and convenience. Focus Support scores highly in each category compared to its peers, but there are some important nuances we’ll describe here so you can better understand whether it’s the right option for you.
Efficacy is where Focus Support should shine brightest for most users. This comes down to two factors.
Take a look at the chart below to see how Focus Support’s ingredients compare to some of its closest competitors:
Innerbody Labs Focus Support offers more ingredients at higher doses than Revive or Thesis. Qualia Mind has more than twice the number of ingredients as Focus Support, but there are some huge caveats here about that ingredient bill:
When compared specifically to Focus Support, Qualia’s formula has half as much PQQ, one-third the phosphatidylserine, one-tenth the citicoline, less than half the lion’s mane, and a weaker rhodiola extract at a similar dose. To be fair, it has slightly higher doses of caffeine and L-theanine, as well as an extra 50mg of NALT.
Ultimately, Focus Support is the stronger product because it doesn’t include any of the dozen or so ingredients in Qualia Mind that appear there in unreliably low doses. It’s possible they could act synergistically to create something greater, but there isn’t enough scientific support for that approach at this time. A product with clinically relevant doses of its ingredients is the smartest way to go for nootropic benefits.
Focus Support scores well for safety for similar reasons that it does so well in efficacy. Namely, its ingredients and doses align with clinical research closely enough that we can be confident in each one’s safety for most people. It’s also worth noting that Focus Support’s formula uses ingredients that have been widely studied in humans, not just in animals or petri dishes. Numerous nootropic supplements rely on a mix of ingredients that have either been studied in humans or animals, with animal studies providing far less reliable safety data.
On their own, Focus Support’s ingredients have excellent safety profiles. We’ll take a deeper dive into each in the expanded safety section further down the page, but we can highlight a couple of examples here, as well. Take saffron extract, for example. Focus Support provides a clinically supported 30mg dose of an extract standardized to 2% safranals (saffron’s most important bioactive part).2 Meanwhile, a toxicology study from 2017 found doses up to 1,000mg to be safe on a daily basis.3
As another example, Focus Support provides a relatively mild 80mg dose of caffeine, about the same as a doubleshot of espresso. And instead of using a chemically derived caffeine anhydrous, which is cheap to produce and potentially dangerous, Focus Support uses an extract from whole organic coffeeberries.4 It also balances it out with 160mg of L-theanine, and that 2:1 ratio is supported by research to work synergistically for focus and prevent jitters from the caffeine.5 Qualia Mind also includes a 2:1 ratio of L-theanine and caffeine, though it contains 100mg of caffeine.
Innerbody Labs takes one additional but crucial step toward ensuring the safety of its product, as well, and that's subjecting it to batch-specific third-party testing for purity, potency, and contamination from microbes and pesticides. That allows any customer to see an independent lab result specific to their product. Other companies, including Thesis, perform third-party testing, but Innerbody Labs provides a link to its certificates of analysis right on its product pages, increasing transparency.
Though research indicates that each ingredient is safe for healthy adults, it's also the case that the long-term safety of most supplemental nootropic ingredients alone or in combination hasn't been established by studies. The safest nootropic supplement would be a single ingredient, but that approach also inherently reduces effectiveness for vast numbers of people.
We’re confident from our research that there should be very little risk associated with this combination of ingredients and doses, but individual reactions may vary, as they would with any supplement. Be sure to talk to your doctor before adding Focus Support or any other supplement to your regimen.
When we discuss the cost of a product, we try to divorce that concept from the idea of value as much as possible; value is a function of cost combined with things like effectiveness, safety, and convenience, and we want to focus here on the price you pay. That doesn’t mean we’d give a 10 out of 10 to a $2 sugar pill at a gas station; we still confine our cost consideration within certain quality limits.
What this means for Innerbody Labs Focus Support is that it sits at a fascinating middle space between lower-tier nootropics like Focus Factor and up-market options like Qualia Mind or LYMA. From a value perspective, Focus Support is unparalleled, but there are less expensive options that are recommendable if you’re on a tighter budget
Here’s a handy chart to break things down among the products most comparable to Focus Support:
As you can see, Revive Brain+ and a very specific order from TruBrain can compete with Innerbody Labs Focus Support for a low cost per dose, while Focus Factor provides a nootropic supplement with a significantly lower cost than the rest of the field. However, Focus Factor’s value proposition is somewhat compromised, with a lackluster ingredient bill (including some dangerous additions) and billing periods that don’t align with monthly regimens.
Our measure of convenience includes things like how easy a product is to use or supplement to consume, how straightforward it is to get answers from and shop on a website, and how well-protected a purchase is. Innerbody Labs handles most of these aspects of convenience and customer service rather well, though there is room for improvement.
Nootropic supplements tend to contain a fair number of ingredients, and they often require users to consume large handfuls of pills each day. Revive Brain+ uses a 5-capsule dose. Qualia Mind is six capsules. Thesis delivers its nootropics in just two capsules. Focus Support’s dose is four capsules, right in the middle of the range.
On the website side, Innerbody Labs keeps things pretty straightforward, with a thorough breakdown of the research behind each ingredient and conveniently placed links to access an image of the supplement label or a pdf of their third-party test results. Price structures are easy to understand, and the checkout process is painless. By comparison, Thesis requires an email request to access its third-party test results, and Focus Factor's pricing is horribly designed (no purchase amount delivers a number of servings that's cleanly divisible by one month, making budgeting nearly impossible).
Finally, on the protection side, Innerbody Labs offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. That’s in line with the guarantees from Thesis and superior to the nonexistent guarantees from Revive or TruBrain. However, it’s 70 fewer days than the 100-day guarantee from Qualia.
Photo by Innerbody Research
Innerbody Labs Focus Support is a nootropic supplement designed to target various aspects of brain health, mood, and energy. It relies on a set of 15 ingredients, all delivered at doses that align with successful clinical research into at least one area of nootropic consideration.
Here’s a look at the ingredient breakdown:
With these ingredients, Focus Support has the potential to:
Some of the included ingredients are responsible for more than one effect each, while others may be more targeted in their performance. In our next section, we’ll break down each ingredient to see how it functions within the formula.
To understand the potential benefits that Innerbody Labs Focus Support can offer, it helps to break down the science behind each ingredient and compare the doses used in Focus Support to those seen in the most successful studies.
Citicoline acts as a precursor to acetylcholine, a vital neurotransmitter. Research has shown that citicoline supplementation can both increase acetylcholine levels and create improvements in things like memory.6 It also has support as a potential treatment for mild cognitive impairment.7 These studies typically use 500mg/day, the same dose provided in Focus Support from a branded and clinically tested form of citicoline called Cognizin.
Rhodiola rosea is an herb native to northern Europe and Asia that has an impressive amount of research behind it supporting things like stress reduction and cognitive improvements.8 9 Standardized extracts are the most reliable to provide clinically relevant doses of rhodiola’s bioactive compounds, rosavins and salidrosides. Most nootropic products on the market use extracts standardized to include 3% rosavins and 1% salidrosides, but Focus Support uses a branded extract called Rhodiolife in its highest concentration — a 5% and 1.8% split — at a dose that aligns with or exceeds most clinical data.
Phosphatidylserine is a phospholipid that can be derived from soy or sunflowers and that has been shown to improve memory performance in those with memory complaints at doses as low as 100mg.10 Verbal recall is often among the most pronounced improvements in these studies, but other research points to potential for mood and daily function improvements for people with Alzheimer’s disease at a 300mg/day dose. Innerbody Labs uses that higher 300mg dose, but it derives its phosphatidylserine from non-GMO soy, which presents a minuscule allergen risk for the most sensitive of soy allergies.
Ashwagandha is another botanical ingredient with impressive research supporting its potential to provide several health benefits.11 Among these are improved cognitive function and reduced stress.12 As with the rosavins and salidrosides in rhodiola, withanolides act as primary bioactive compounds in ashwagandha, and a recent study on ashwagandha’s influence over stress hormones found that a daily 500mg dose of a 2.5% extract could effectively lower cortisol and increase serotonin levels in 60 days. That equates to 12.5mg of withanolides daily. Focus Support uses 300mg KSM-66 branded ashwagandha, standardized to 5%, which delivers 17.5mg of withanolides in each dose.
Tyrosine is an amino acid that’s been shown to increase dopamine and norepinephrine levels in the brain. That can help reduce anxiety at times of stress, which research has borne out when looking at things like flexibility in complex task switching.13 Focus Support provides a 200mg dose of NALT to offset potential disruptions that can occur during periods of high cognitive demand.14
Lion’s mane is a mushroom with exciting potential for cognitive performance and neuroprotection, but research often points toward high doses, approaching at least 2g daily to see results.15 Those results are typically more pronounced when the dose combines both the fruiting body (what you see when you think of a mushroom) and the mycelium (the root structure). Innerbody Labs uses a potent 20:1 extract in its formula, the 100mg of which provides an equivalent of 2g powdered mushroom. It’s only from the fruiting body, which is disappointing but not uncommon in the nootropic market.
Caffeine provides a boost in focus and energy that most people have experienced at some point, even if they didn’t realize that it was an expression of the compound’s nootropic abilities.16 Research also indicates that caffeine pairs especially well with L-theanine, an amino acid typically found in tea that can offset things like the jitters associated with caffeine consumption. We put them together here in this list as they also may boast synergistic effects as nootropic ingredients, especially when delivered at the 2:1 ratio of L-theanine to caffeine seen in Focus Support.5 The 80mg of caffeine in Focus Support is about equal to a doubleshot of espresso.
Saffron is a popular spice in India and other Central Asian countries, but it also contains bioactive compounds that have been shown to reduce stress and anxiety while also improving sleep.17 18 As with many other botanicals, extract concentrations matter, and Focus Support uses a 30mg dose of a standardized 2% saffron extract that aligns with the vast majority of research in the area.
Pyrroloquinoline quinone is a lot like a vitamin in its construction and action within the body despite not being classified as a vitamin. Instead, it’s considered a coenzyme because of its role aiding in various enzymatic functions. Taken as a supplement, it’s been shown to improve cognitive performance in healthy populations and increase mitochondrial biogenesis at just 20mg/day.19 20 Still, most nootropic supplements stop at a dose of 10mg/day. Focus Support provides the clinically relevant 20mg dose.
Because there is so much data behind B vitamin consumption, researchers are able to perform complex systematic reviews and meta-analyses of studies to synthesize vast amounts of information into reliable recommendations. One such review of B vitamins concluded that supplementation could both slow cognitive decline and improve cognitive function.21 There’s even enough data here to perform meta-analyses on specific patient populations, where we might see more nuance enter the picture. For example, a 2023 meta-analysis of B vitamin consumption specifically in older adults saw improved markers of inflammation but didn’t show improvements in cognitive function.22
Ultimately, this may come down to variations in baseline B vitamin levels or other diet variables for which even these large amounts of data couldn’t account. But individual studies from within these analyses suggest that B vitamin supplementation could benefit individuals seeking to improve cognitive performance and brain health, and Focus Support provides sufficient doses of B3, 5, 6, 9, and 12 without resorting to unnecessary megadoses.
Innerbody Labs Focus Support is best suited for people looking for a nutritional supplement to help them improve mental clarity, mood, and energy levels. The majority of its ingredients will work toward at least one of those goals (e.g., caffeine can work for all three), while things like neuroprotection and sleep improvement are additional benefits that a few included ingredients can also provide.
Some of the research into these ingredients tends to look at certain patient populations more than others, making it an even better proposition for people at or above middle age, as well as those under significant mental demands, like students and busy professionals. That said, the diversity of ingredients and the research behind them suggests that people from just about any population could find a benefit from Focus Support.
While there are enough potential benefits and positive research behind the ingredients in Focus Support, there are also some populations for whom it might not be the best place to start. Most obviously, this group would include anyone with a sensitivity to caffeine. Focus Support doesn’t have an especially large amount of caffeine in it (only 80mg), but that’s enough to be problematic for sensitive individuals. Innerbody Labs doesn’t offer a stim-free version of Focus Support, but there are caffeine-free competitors out there, like Revive Brain+ and certain blends from Thesis, that make excellent alternatives.
Neither Focus Support nor any other nootropic supplement is a good idea if your goal is for the product to “make you smarter” without any other changes to your lifestyle. While it’s true that nootropic supplements create the conditions for your memory to perform better or your focus to be sharper, you’ll still need to provide your brain with facts to remember or things to focus on if you want to increase your intelligence. It won’t happen of its own accord.
Innerbody Labs focus Support contains ingredients that, in isolated and some combined research, show very low risk of significant side effects, especially in otherwise healthy people. In other words, the formula should be safe for the majority of users.
That said, there are always risks associated with supplemental interventions, and there is no research looking at this specific formula that can provide definitive safety data.
With those limitations in place, we look at data associated with each ingredient to determine the potential safety implications for Focus Support, and that data is promising.
There are some specific patient populations that might consider rhodiola to be less safe than other nootropics, as case studies imply it can induce manic episodes in people with bipolar disorder.25 There is also some evidence that it could increase the effect of certain antidepressants called monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), which could exacerbate their side effects.26
Phosphatidylserine has been shown to be safe at doses of at least twice what’s found in Focus Support.27 However, it’s important to note that Focus Support derives its phosphatidylserine from soy. That soy is non-GMO, and the manufacturing process removes virtually any protein that could cause an allergic reaction, but it still may present an allergen risk for especially sensitive people with soy allergies.
Multiple ashwagandha studies repeatedly show the botanical’s strong safety profile, including a safety-specific study from 2020 and another safety and efficacy study from 2024.28 29 Both studies used daily doses of 600mg. That said, ashwagandha has been implicated in certain thyroid conditions, including the purported ability to increase thyroid hormone levels. In patients with hyperthyroidism, this could be cause for concern.30
Tyrosine is generally considered to be safe, and a toxicity study in rats showed that doses equal to nearly 8g/day should be safe for human consumption.31 Focus Support provides just 200mg/day of NALT.
According to a 2016 report from the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, “Small clinical studies suggest that lion’s mane is safe for consumption with the most common adverse effect being gastrointestinal problems.”32 A toxicity study showed no adverse effects at doses reaching human equivalents approaching 30g/day, more than ten times the amount found in Focus Support.37
Caffeine’s safety profile is very well established, especially within dose ranges native to a cup of tea or coffee. With Focus Support containing about a doubleshot of espresso’s caffeine, it should be safe for most people to consume.
L-Theanine is one of the safest supplement ingredients we’ve covered on our site, with animal studies suggesting a human could safely take up to 50g/day without side effects.33 Of course, in practice, consuming 50g of L-theanine in a sitting would likely cause some GI distress. Fortunately, Focus Support’s 160mg is well below that amount.
Saffron boasts a similarly robust safety profile to L-theanine. It should be safe for humans to consume at doses up to 1,000mg/day, though that far exceeds the 28-30mg typically used in successful studies for cognition and mood.3 Focus Support uses 30mg.
Animal studies show that PQQ has no observable adverse effects at doses equal to 5g/day in humans, with the average lethal dose in rats hovering around 20g in human terms.34 Given that Focus Support and most successful clinical research rely on a 20mg dose, PQQ can be considered safe.
B vitamins are water soluble, so the body tends to excrete what it doesn’t need through the urine.35 Megadoses might cause some imbalances among micronutrients, along with other issues specific to certain populations. Still, the doses used in Focus Support are high enough to help prevent deficiency without overloading anyone’s system.
Looked at individually, each of these ingredients should be safe for the majority of potential users. Of course, complex nootropic supplements could produce effects greater than the sum of their parts, and side effect risks follow suit. That’s why we encourage anyone interested in adding Focus Support or any other supplement to their regimen to speak with their doctor first. The supplement may not be suitable for people with heart issues, thyroid issues, liver issues, or other underlying issues.
Innerbody Labs employs a combination discount system that reduces the price for monthly subscribers and also gives you the opportunity to subscribe at longer intervals for deeper savings. Here’s how it works out:
Price | Cost per bottle | Cost per dose | You save | |
---|---|---|---|---|
One-time purchase | $115.00 | $115.00 | $3.83 | |
Monthly subscription | $87.40 | $87.40 | $2.91 | 24% |
Quarterly subscription | $234.60 | $78.20 | $2.61 | 32% |
Semi-annual subscription | $414.00 | $69.00 | $2.30 | 40% |
As you can see, the best monthly cost only comes from subscribing at the semi-annual frequency, which requires an up-front investment of over $400. That could be prohibitive for many. Fortunately, the monthly subscription cost of $87.40 is still a lot less than the one-time price of $115, and it sits comfortably between competitor prices from Qualia ($139/month) and Thesis ($79/month) while providing more clinically relevant doses of supported ingredients than either.
Innerbody Labs also provides free shipping, though it’s worth noting that the company only ships within the U.S. Customers outside the U.S. would do better to consider Revive Brain+, which ships internationally for a reasonable rate.
If you’re unsatisfied with the effects of Focus Support, Innerbody Labs has a 30-day money-back guarantee you can use to get a refund. It’s not as long as Qualia’s 100-day guarantee, but it meets or beats guarantees from Revive, Thesis, and others.
If you’re looking to improve cognitive performance, memory, mood, or any other parameter Focus Support may be able to help with, there are likely other products you can consider. You may be able to take some of these alongside Focus Support, though ingredient crossover among nootropic supplements might create a dosing and safety concern.
Let’s take a quick look at the competitive landscape in which Innerbody Labs Focus Support exists to compare it most directly with alternatives:
To get an even more nuanced view of how each of these products compares to Focus Support, let’s briefly take a closer look at each.
Thesis doesn’t have one knockout nootropic product we could full-throatedly recommend to cover most people’s nootropic needs. Instead, the company offers four smaller targeted blends it claims will do a better job of achieving specific goals. Unfortunately, the included ingredients and doses don’t quite bear this out. Its Motivation and Stress Reset blends are likely good for those specific purposes, but it’s likely that Focus Support would be just as good at achieving either.
Brain+ is the formula closest to Focus Support’s on the market, with the same doses of Cognizin and saffron and a similar B vitamin complex. Brain+ also includes some ingredients not found in Focus Support, like lithium, acetyl-L-carnitine, and alpha-lipoic acid. But Focus Support also includes ingredients you don’t see in Brain+, including ashwagandha, phosphatidylserine, caffeine, and L-theanine. And where other ingredients overlap, like PQQ and rhodiola, Focus Support provides larger doses.
If you want a high-quality nootropic that’s caffeine-free and ships outside the U.S., Brain+ is a great choice. But U.S.-based customers who can abide an extra 80mg of caffeine in their regimen would do better to stick with Focus Support.
We went into great detail comparing Qualia Mind to Focus Support in our evaluation criteria toward the top of the page, but the main takeaway is that Qualia Mind delivers too many of its ingredients at doses lower than research would suggest could be effective. Its price is more reflective of the sheer number of ingredients than it is the potential for their doses to yield results. And with Focus Support’s monthly subscription cost being more than $50 less expensive than Qualia Mind, it presents a much better deal.
Focus Factor is a popular brand with 40 ingredients in its Original formula — the highest number of the products we compare in this review. However, it obscures the doses of its botanicals, amino acids, and other key ingredients behind a proprietary blend. It also contains a combination of ingredients we explicitly don’t recommend for most people for safety reasons. Central to this blend is huperzine A, which inhibits the activity of acetylcholinetransferase, potentially resulting in excess acetylcholine levels and, in severe cases, cholinergic crisis.36 Add to that several other ingredients that can increase acetylcholine levels, like choline bitartrate and DMAE, and the risk goes up significantly. It’s an inexpensive product, but the savings aren’t worth the risk.
LYMA occupies the opposite end of the spectrum, employing just 11 ingredients and costing more than $200/month for a monthly subscription. Its price is largely due to the fact that it relies exclusively on branded ingredients, which are more expensive to include in a commercial supplement. In some cases, that branding provides extra assurance of quality or extract strength. In others, it’s less necessary and more a question of marketing. Considering that Focus Support contains more ingredients at higher doses, several of which are also branded, it’s hard to justify LYMA’s price point.
Sources
Innerbody uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Stringer, K. A., & Watson, W. A. (1987). Caffeine withdrawal symptoms. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 5(5), 469.
Marx, W., Lane, M., Rocks, T., Ruusunen, A., Loughman, A., Lopresti, A., Marshall, S., Berk, M., Jacka, F., & Dean, O. M. (2019). Effect of saffron supplementation on symptoms of depression and anxiety: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutrition Reviews, 77(8), 557-571.
Bostan, H. B., Mehri, S., & Hosseinzadeh, H. (2017). Toxicology effects of saffron and its constituents: A review. Iranian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences, 20(2), 110.
Amaducci, A. (2018, January 31). Anhydrous Caffeine: The Other White Powder. Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association.
Haskell, C. F., Kennedy, D. O., Milne, A. L., Wesnes, K. A., & Scholey, A. B. (2008). The effects of l-theanine, caffeine and their combination on cognition and mood. Biological Psychology, 77(2), 113-122.
Nakazaki, E., Mah, E., Sanoshy, K., Citrolo, D., & Watanabe, F. (2021). Citicoline and Memory Function in Healthy Older Adults: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial. The Journal of Nutrition, 151(8), 2153.
Secades JJ. (2019). Citicoline in the Treatment of Cognitive Impairment. J Neurol Exp Neurosci 5(1): 14-26.
Ivanova Stojcheva, E., & Quintela, J. C. (2022). The Effectiveness of Rhodiola rosea L. Preparations in Alleviating Various Aspects of Life-Stress Symptoms and Stress-Induced Conditions—Encouraging Clinical Evidence. Molecules, 27(12), 3902.
Darbinyan, V., Kteyan, A., Panossian, A., Gabrielian, E., Wikman, G., & Wagner, H. (2000). Rhodiola rosea in stress induced fatigue — A double blind cross-over study of a standardized extract SHR-5 with a repeated low-dose regimen on the mental performance of healthy physicians during night duty. Phytomedicine, 7(5), 365-371.
Kato-Kataoka, A., Sakai, M., Ebina, R., Nonaka, C., Asano, T., & Miyamori, T. (2010). Soybean-Derived Phosphatidylserine Improves Memory Function of the Elderly Japanese Subjects with Memory Complaints. Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition, 47(3), 246.
Mikulska, P., Malinowska, M., Ignacyk, M., Szustowski, P., Nowak, J., Pesta, K., Szeląg, M., Szklanny, D., Judasz, E., Kaczmarek, G., Ejiohuo, O. P., Paczkowska-Walendowska, M., Gościniak, A., & Cielecka-Piontek, J. (2023). Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)—Current Research on the Health-Promoting Activities: A Narrative Review. Pharmaceutics, 15(4), 1057.
Ng, Q. X., Loke, W., Foo, N. X., Tan, W. J., Chan, H. W., Lim, D. Y., & Yeo, W. S. (2020). A systematic review of the clinical use of Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) to ameliorate cognitive dysfunction. Phytotherapy Research, 34(3), 583-590.
Steenbergen, L., Sellaro, R., Hommel, B., & Colzato, L. S. (2015). Tyrosine promotes cognitive flexibility: Evidence from proactive vs. Reactive control during task switching performance. Neuropsychologia, 69, 50-55.
Jongkees, B. J., Hommel, B., Kühn, S., & Colzato, L. S. (2015). Effect of tyrosine supplementation on clinical and healthy populations under stress or cognitive demands—A review. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 70, 50-57.
Vigna, L., Morelli, F., Agnelli, G. M., Napolitano, F., Ratto, D., Occhinegro, A., Iorio, C. D., Savino, E., Girometta, C., Brandalise, F., & Rossi, P. (2019). Hericium erinaceus Improves Mood and Sleep Disorders in Patients Affected by Overweight or Obesity: Could Circulating Pro-BDNF and BDNF Be Potential Biomarkers? Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine : ECAM, 2019, 7861297.
Cappelletti, S., Daria, P., Sani, G., & Aromatario, M. (2015). Caffeine: Cognitive and Physical Performance Enhancer or Psychoactive Drug? Current Neuropharmacology, 13(1), 71.
Kell, G., Rao, A., Beccaria, G., Clayton, P., Inarejos-García, A. M., & Prodanov, M. (2017). affron® a novel saffron extract (Crocus sativus L.) improves mood in healthy adults over 4 weeks in a double-blind, parallel, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 33, 58–64.
Lopresti, A. L., Smith, S. J., & Drummond, P. D. (2021). An investigation into an evening intake of a saffron extract (affron®) on sleep quality, cortisol, and melatonin concentrations in adults with poor sleep: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-dose study. Sleep Medicine, 86, 7–18.
Shiojima, Y., Takahashi, M., Takahashi, R., Moriyama, H., Bagchi, D., Bagchi, M., & Akanuma, M. (2022). Effect of Dietary Pyrroloquinoline Quinone Disodium Salt on Cognitive Function in Healthy Volunteers: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Parallel-Group Study. Journal of the American Nutrition Association, 41(8), 796–809.
Chowanadisai, W., Bauerly, K. A., Tchaparian, E., Wong, A., Cortopassi, G. A., & Rucker, R. B. (2009). Pyrroloquinoline Quinone Stimulates Mitochondrial Biogenesis through cAMP Response Element-binding Protein Phosphorylation and Increased PGC-1α Expression. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 285(1), 142.
Wang, Z., Zhu, W., Xing, Y., Jia, J., & Tang, Y. (2022). B vitamins and prevention of cognitive decline and incident dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutrition Reviews, 80(4), 931–949.
Chang, B., Wang, Z., Xu, T., Chen, J., Zhang, Y., Huang, Y., & Sun, D. (2023). Effectiveness of vitamin-B supplements on cognition in older adults: A meta-analysis. Geriatric Nursing, 51, 143-149.
Adeyinka, A., Patel, A., & Kondamudi, N.P. (2025, April 6). Cholinergic Crisis. StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan-
Cotroneo, A. M., Castagna, A., Putignano, S., Lacava, R., Fantò, F., Monteleone, F., Rocca, F., Malara, A., & Gareri, P. (2013). Effectiveness and safety of citicoline in mild vascular cognitive impairment: The IDEALE study. Clinical Interventions in Aging, 8, 131.
Whig, R., Leo, R.J. (2022). Mania associated with Rhodiola rosea: an adaptogen with antidepressant effects. Prim Care Companion CNS Disord. 2022;24(2):21cr02980.
van Diermen, D., Marston, A., Bravo, J., Reist, M., Carrupt, P. A., & Hostettmann, K. (2009). Monoamine oxidase inhibition by Rhodiola rosea L. roots. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 122(2), 397–401.
Jorissen, B. L., Brouns, F., Van Boxtel, M. P., & Riedel, W. J. (2002). Safety of soy-derived phosphatidylserine in elderly people. Nutritional Neuroscience, 5(5), 337–343.
Verma, N., Gupta, S. K., Tiwari, S., & Mishra, A. K. (2021). Safety of Ashwagandha Root Extract: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, study in Healthy Volunteers. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 57, 102642.
Kale, S., Lopresti, A., Suri, R., Garg, N., & Langade, D. (2024). Safety and Efficacy of Ashwagandha Root Extract on Cognition, Energy and Mood Problems in Adults: Prospective, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 1–13.
Sharma, A. K., Basu, I., & Singh, S. (2018). Efficacy and Safety of Ashwagandha Root Extract in Subclinical Hypothyroid Patients: A Double-Blind, Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (New York, N.Y.), 24(3), 243–248.
Shibui, Y., Manabe, Y., Kodama, T., & Gonsho, A. (2016). 13-week repeated dose toxicity study of l-tyrosine in rats by daily oral administration. Food and Chemical Toxicology : an International Journal Published for the British Industrial Biological Research Association, 87, 55–64.
Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation. (2016, September 8). Lion’s Mane Mushroom. AlzDiscover.org
Borzelleca, J. F., Peters, D., & Hall, W. (2006). A 13-week dietary toxicity and toxicokinetic study with l-theanine in rats. Food and Chemical Toxicology : an International Journal Published for the British Industrial Biological Research Association, 44(7), 1158–1166.
Jonscher, K. R., Chowanadisai, W., & Rucker, R. B. (2021). Pyrroloquinoline-Quinone Is More Than an Antioxidant: A Vitamin-like Accessory Factor Important in Health and Disease Prevention. Biomolecules, 11(10), 1441.
Calderon-Ospina, A., Nava-Mesa, M. O., & Paez-Hurtado, A. M. (2020). Update on Safety Profiles of Vitamins B1, B6, and B12: A Narrative Review. Therapeutics and Clinical Risk Management, 16, 1275.
Qian, Z. M., & Ke, Y. (2014). Huperzine A: Is it an Effective Disease-Modifying Drug for Alzheimer’s Disease? Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 6, 104525.
Chen, S., Chang, C., Yang, M., Chen, S., Soni, M., & Mahadevan, B. (2022). Subchronic toxicity and genotoxicity studies of Hericium erinaceus β-glucan extract preparation. Current Research in Toxicology, 3, 100068.