Are you thinking about supplementing your health regimen with brain supplements?
If you’re focusing on diet, exercise, stress management, and restorative sleep to boost cognitive health, your journey may lead you toward brain supplements. It’s important to remember that the FDA doesn’t evaluate dietary supplements, so you must conduct lengthy research and consult with medical professionals to choose the right course of action.
In this article, you’ll learn how to cut through the marketing noise to make evidence-based choices with safety information, articles, ingredients, dosage recommendations, and medication considerations.
Evidence-Based Research
If the FDA doesn’t evaluate dietary supplements, how do you gather proper evidence?
The first research method is clinical trials.
Supplement companies can (and should) conduct extensive clinical studies. Brands that want to release nootropics that actually work conduct multiple trials that test mental processing speed, delayed recall, and perceptual decision-making performance. Publishing these peer-reviewed studies helps consumers make more informed decisions.
While the FDA doesn’t currently evaluate brain supplements, they do have specific information guidelines that brands must follow to legally sell supplements. For instance, supplement brands can’t make medical claims about cures or treatment. However, they can mention that their supplements promote a sense of calm to boost focus or restorative sleep.
Companies often publish studies on individual ingredients, like Vitamin B12, which people may take in supplement form to boost energy for greater focus. B12 is also an essential vitamin that’s absorbed through animal products like beef liver and dairy.
You can also look at the ingredients list for a brain supplement and conduct individual research on each ingredient. For example, if a nootropic supplement has Lion’s Mane mushroom, you can research the ingredients and find information about antioxidants, immune system support, and mood.
Review Safety Information
Review all safety information pertaining to specific supplements and brain supplements in general. Learn about appropriate dosage schedules. Most supplement safety guidelines will advise starting with a minimal dosage. Take a low dosage for about three weeks, monitoring for effects and possible benefits.
Consider Interactions With Medications
If you’re currently taking medications for any reason, consult with a physician before taking a brain health supplement.
For example, if you’re taking an antidepressant, a supplement that contains St. John’s wort could interfere with your prescription, increasing the risk of serotonin syndrome. Serotonin syndrome occurs when there is too much serotonin in the body, leading to confusion, fever, and muscle stiffness.
If you’re taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for gender care, talk to your doctor about herbal supplement ingredients like black cohosh, which can cause mild hormonal effects that may interfere with HRT treatment.
Take an Evidence-First Approach
Remember, your cognitive health is precious. Evidence-based decisions matter.
Talk to a doctor before supplementing a current health routine. Discuss possible interference with prescription medications like HRT or SSRIs.
Review all ingredients thoroughly. Read peer-reviewed studies and clinical trials. Don’t skip over safety information or dosage recommendations. Ensure products follow FDA information regulations and don’t make false claims.
Cognitive resilience starts with research.
