Best Nootropics: 3 Most Popular Smart Drugs of 2021 [Reviewed]

Have you ever felt the need to boost the function of your brain due to brain fog, feeling unproductive, or mentailly drained? As we enter adulthood, it is essential that we remain focused and alert in order to perform well at work. 

Nootropics is a supplement that may enhance one’s cognitive ability, creativity, memory, etc. The use of this supplement can play a role in improving your performance with daily tasks and responsibilities. With further research and testing, we have gathered some of the best nootropics that can help you increase your brain’s functionality. 

Best Nootropic Supplements on The Market [ Full Reviews] 

1. NooCube – Strongest Nootropic Supplement and Editor’s Pick
2. Mind Lab Pro – Best Nootropic Supplement For Brain Fog
3. Qualia Mind – Best to Improve Focus 

#1. NooCube – Strongest Nootropics Stack and Editor’s Pick

Brand Overview

NooCube is produced by Wolfson Berg Limited. This is a company with a good deal of experience in making supplements. They have a list of research done on their formula and the specific ingredients used directly on their website. They are super transparent from the very beginning. This brand supplement doesn’t;t cause any side effects.

In addition, they have a 60-day money-back guarantee, further showing how confident they are in their product. They ship anywhere in the world and have a 30-day supply per container. Furthermore, if you buy multiple containers, you may get more containers for free; pretty nice, right?

Pros:

• Made by an established brand from natural ingredients, processed into a potent nootropic stack
• The site has compiled scientific evidence on the efficacy of its ingredients.
• It has a 60-day money-back guarantee if you’re unsatisfied
• No known side effects caused by NooCube
• Free shipping to anywhere in the world

⇒ Visit the Official Website of NooCube for the Best Discount

Cons:

• Wolfson Berg Limited doesn’t fully explain what all the ingredients do.

Features and Ingredients:

NooCube is one of the best smart drugs that is said to improve memory, increase how long you can work at a time, improve multitasking ability, and increase focus and cognitive function. 

It does this by boosting neurotransmitter production and also aiding in neuron growth and repair. If you’re finding your mind declining over the years, NooCube has ingredients to help that, too.

• Alpha glyceryl phosphorylcholine: A form of choline, which can help with energy and help grow and repair brain cells and produce acetylcholine.

• Huperzine A: Made from a type of Asian moss can help stop acetylcholine from breaking down.

• Cat’s Claw Extract: This is from the cat’s claw plant. It is in NooCube as an antioxidant.

• Bacopa Monnieri: It is known for increasing the number of dendrites in nervous tissue, like in your brain. It can help increase multiple kinds of intelligence.

• Oat Straw: A traditional medicine, it is said to help think clearly, relieving stress, and reducing inflammation.

• L-theanine & L-tyrosine: A pair of amino acids, L-theanine & L-tyrosine known for boosting focus, energy, and cognitive function, as well as easing anxiety.

• Resveratrol: A neuroprotective agent that may have a sundry list of additional health benefits, though the research isn’t entirely clear on that. 

⇒ Click Here to learn more about the Ingredients of NooCube

Customer Reviews:

Customers say that NooCube is one of the best nootropic supplements and smart drugs that aid with focus, general productivity, and working through stressful situations. Notably, and as we mentioned earlier, there aren’t any mentions of side effects, which is generally a good sign.

#2. Mind Lab Pro – Best Smart Drug for Brain Fog and Anxiety

Brand Overview

Produced by Opti-Nutra, an old hand at producing nootropic supplements, Mind Lab Pro comes from good stock and has been refined over the years to make it even better. You can only buy it on their specific site, and one container will keep you supplied for a month at a time. This brain supplement doesn’t cause any side effects.

Furthermore, ordering Mind Lab Pro in bulk lets you snag some free items and discounts too. Best of all, however, is the 60-day refund policy if you don’t get results.

Pros:

• All-natural, no synthetic materials to worry about
• No known side effects
• Designed to help improve brain function, health, and stress resistance in all age groups
• Has benefited both shortly after taking and later into the day, to ensure you’ve always got a boost
• Third parties have confirmed that the formula they say they use is the formula they use.
• Mind Lab Pro can be bought from anywhere in the world and can be returned anytime within 60 days.

⇒ Visit the Official Website of Mind Lab Pro for the Best Discount

Cons:

• It doesn’t stack well with other nootropics
• Somewhat expensive, as far as nootropics go

Features and Ingredients:

Mind Lab Pro is said to improve memory, focus, motivation, calmness in trying times, and do a lot more and is the strongest brain booster and smart drugs on the market

Opti-Nutra claims it is due to their mix of 11 active ingredients, which I’ll jot down here with a quick explanation:

• Citicoline: Citicoline is already present inside you. It helps with the production of phosphatidylserine, among other chemicals such as choline. Specifically, Mind Lab Pro uses its own citicoline form, called Cognizin, which boosts your citicoline levels.

• Lion’s Mane Mushroom: A mushroom that helps your brain cells grow and repair; research says it may increase cognitive function and help repair nerves.

• Bacopa Monnieri: It is known for increasing the number of dendrites in nervous tissue, like in your brain. It can help increase multiple kinds of intelligence.

• L-theanine and L-tyrosine: Among other things, L-theanine and L-tyrosine can help produce certain neurotransmitters and aid in easing anxiety.

• Maritime Pine Bark Extract: An antioxidant helps keep the levels of the toxic free radicals in your body down to help your brain function and body operate better.

• Vitamin B6: An important chemical building block, aids in producing all sorts of important chemicals inside your body.

• Vitamin B9: Used to help process amino acids and produce the information molecules RNA and DNA.

⇒ Click Here to learn more about the Ingredients of Mind Lab Pro

Customer Reviews:

Overall, the most complimented effects were on how it aided focus, motivation, and memory and had no side effects. Most people were satisfied with this Nootropic supplement and thought that it was worth its price tag.

#3. Qualia Mind – Best To Improve Focus

Brand Overview

Qualia Mind is produced by the Neurohacker Collection, who were so confident in their product, they funded a study on its effectiveness, which has viewable results on their site. While the fact they funded the study may mean it is biased, it is still a good sign to see that there is research done on the products.

This brain supplement has minimal to no side effects. With worldwide shipping and a 100 day back refund, if the nootropic supplement doesn’t work for you, it’s quite good for the customer. However, it should be noted the refund is only for the first order, and there isn’t a way to get free shipping. In addition, each container is only 22 days of nootropic, not 30 days.

Pros:

• It boosts energy, willpower, clarity, focus, memory, and creativity
• Minimal to zero side effects
• All-natural ingredients, synthetics not found in this supplement
• The brand has shown itself to be reliable and has even supported a study of their product which proved its effectiveness
• It has a money-back guarantee if it doesn’t satisfy you

Cons:

• 7 capsules for one serving is quite large
• Only 22 days of supplement per package
• Most expensive on the list

⇒ Visit the Official Website of Qualia Mind for the Best Discount

Features and Ingredients:

Qualia Mind is one of the best smart drugs that aim to work on your brain’s health above all, improving your performance by patching up the old cogitate. It also has a laundry list of ingredients, at a whopping 28 ingredients.

• B-Complex Vitamins (Vitamin B1, B3, B5, B6, And B12): Among the other listed benefits, B vitamins are very important for energy production within the body.

• Acetyl-L-Carnitine HCI: This amino acid increases the production of neurotransmitters.
• Artichoke Leaf Extract: An antioxidant, it also shares the property of increasing bile production.

 

• Bacopa Monnieri Leaf Extract: It is known for increasing the number of dendrites in nervous tissue, like in your brain, which can increase multiple kinds of intelligence.

• Rhodiola Rosea Root Extract: A plant that can help with your mental performance and cognitive function, such as easing depression and anxiety, in addition to helping with fatigue.

• Dl-Phenylalanine: A helpful chemical building block that helps your body produce a number of neurotransmitters, like adrenaline.

• Uridine Monophosphate: An important molecule for constructing RNA, which your body uses all the time.

• N-Acetyl-Tyrosine: A type of tyrosine, which can aid in the production of certain neurotransmitters and aid in easing anxiety.

• Taurine: It is an amino acid, which is used in a wide variety of internal biological, chemical syntheses. 

• Alpha-GPC: A form of choline, which can help with energy and help with growing and repairing brain cells.

• Cognizin: A form of citicoline, which helps with phosphatidylserine production, among other chemicals such as choline.

• Organic Coffee Berry: Another antioxidant, which helps in fighting free radicals in your body.

• Velvet Bean Seed Extract: A traditional medicine used in Qualia Mind for its properties as an antioxidant.  

• Phosphatidylserine: Phosphatidylserine is known for aiding in the production of memories and being involved in the release of certain neurotransmitters.

• Theobromine: A mild stimulant that is quite similar to caffeine, with a low and slow energy boost that lasts for quite a bit longer. It can also improve blood flow to the brain and has antioxidant properties. 

• Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA): DHA is a specific sort of omega-3 fatty acid, one that is particularly helpful in the brain. 

• Celastrus Paniculatus Seed Extract: Another traditional medicine, it is said to have neuroprotective effects. 

• Ginkgo Biloba: Known for high antioxidant levels, anti-inflammatory properties, and for its ability to open up blood vessels leading to the brain.

• Coleus Forskohlii: The extract from this plant may help hinder the enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine, which is produced from citicoline.

• Pyrroloquinoline Quinone: An antioxidant and neuroprotective agent. It can be found naturally in quite a few places.

• Huperzine A: It can help stop acetylcholine from breaking down.

⇒ Click Here to learn more about the Ingredients of Qualia Mind

Customer Reviews:

Reviews indicate that it particularly helped with concentration, motivation, and lessening anxiety, with others saying that it enhanced their creativity. Overall, people who used it seemed to rate it more highly compared to other nootropics they’d used in the past.

The Best Nootropics Ingredients to Make Your Own Stack

If you’d prefer to make your own stack, you’re going to need to know about the individual nootropics themselves. To better inform you, then, we’re going to go over some of the best and most commonly used nootropics, though it should be noted this is a non-exhaustive list. 

We’ll also go over what other nootropics in the list they stack well with, so you have some combinations to keep in mind, but you should still do your own research. 

Citicoline

Starting off the list, we have what may be the most popular nootropic, citicoline. Now, this one chemical is actually equivalent to 4 nootropics in 1, because not only is it a nootropic itself, but it can be converted into 3 others: uridine, choline, and phosphatidylcholine. 

Furthermore, choline is a nootropic as it is itself converted into acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter. Citicholine is good when mixed with tyrosine and phosphatidylserine.

Tyrosine

Tyrosine, the second on the list, is a type of amino acid that is vital in producing a variety of other important chemicals, like dopamine and epinephrine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter thought to be responsible for happiness, while epinephrine is also known as adrenaline. 

Tyrosine has a reputation for helping deal with anxiety, which can help a lot if you’re under a lot of stress or have an important deadline coming up fast. Tyrosine works well with citicoline, ashwagandha, and Rhodiola Rosea.

Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha is traditional medicine, which was thought to be adaptogenic, meaning it stabilizes your body’s homeostasis; in other words, people thought it helped maintain the state of your body. 

While adaptogenic products are disputed on a governmental level, ashwagandha is believed to help perform under stress, both by acting as a nootropic and limiting cortisol levels, which you may know as the stress hormone. Ashwagandha is best used with tyrosine and lion’s mane mushroom extract.

Lion’s Mane Mushroom Extract

Lion’s mane mushrooms are another product used in traditional medicine, which, nowadays, is said to have compounds that help grow new brain cells. 

The suggested mechanism is that the compounds cause your body to make more nerve growth hormones, which makes your brain cells grow, multiply, and repair themselves faster; all of these are good traits for having a brain that works fast and well. 

Lion’s mane extract is an exceptionally versatile nootropic, that among other nootropics it stacks well with, includes ashwagandha, maritime pine bark extract, and tyrosine.

Maritime Pine Bark Extract

Maritime pine bark extract is an antioxidant, which means that it fights free radicals. Free radicals are a double-edged sword utilized by the body, and antioxidants help keep them in check. Too many free radicals cause all kinds of damage and would lead to death if you have no antioxidants. 

However, they’re everywhere in our diet, so don’t worry. More antioxidants mean your body is safer from free radicals and can repair the damage caused faster, leading to less damage from free radicals at any given time. Maritime pine bark works well with citicoline and tyrosine. 

DHA

DHA is a type of omega-3 fatty acid, which is used all over your body, but especially in your brain. DHA can help alleviate depression and anxiety and can also help keep your mood in check. 

It’s possible to obtain through foods rich in it, like fatty fish or via dietary supplements. However, you get it, it’s good with maritime pine bark extract, vitamin B12, and citicoline.

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12, or cobalamin, is a type of B vitamin and has a laundry list of benefits. Among them are boosting mood, providing energy, and improving both mental clarity and focus. Like DHA, you can get it through diet alone, though vitamin B12 is easier to get through diet than DHA. It works well with DHA and maritime pine bark.

Pterostilbene

Pterostilbene, like maritime pine bark extract, is an antioxidant, sharing many of the same benefits. Pterostilbene is known for being easy to process in the body and pair well with vitamin B12 and DHA.

Ginkgo Biloba

Ginkgo biloba is another commonly used ingredient, seen in all kinds of stacks, but is especially prevalent in ones aimed at the older population. Ginkgo also has a lot of benefits to both body and mind, with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. 

In addition, it can help open up the blood vessels to your brain and increase overall cardiovascular health, which is both quite good! It works well together with citicoline, bacopa monnieri, and phosphatidylserine.

Bacopa Monnieri

Bacopa monnieri is a nootropic known as a straight brain-booster, capable of improving memory, spatial awareness and helping your brain process information faster. 

It does this by increasing the number of dendrites you have, basically increasing how interconnected the cells in your nervous system are, meaning information spreads faster and with greater ease. 

The compounds that do this in Bacopa monnieri are called bacosides, so you want extracts rich in bacosides. It is often paired with citicoline and phosphatidylserine.

Phosphatidylserine

Phosphatidylserine is a type of neurotransmitter, that helps regulate emotions and can help with depression. Molecularly, it is a phospholipid, which composes the vast majority of your cell membranes, and it goes well with all kinds of nootropics, like citicoline and Ginkgo Biloba.

Rhodiola Rosea

Rhodiola Rosea is another plant that improves your mental performance and cognitive function. It works by dealing with depression and anxiety and helping fight fatigue and possessing anti-inflammatory properties. 

I should note here that when your brain works hard, it becomes inflamed, which can cause a headache and will most likely cause your brain not to work until it has time to heal up. It is good to mix Rhodiola up with DHA and Tyrosine in a stack.

Caffeine 

Finally, caffeine, the one we all know and love. Loved and worshipped by college students everywhere, you probably already know that caffeine increases productivity by increasing alertness, battling fatigue, and giving you a shot of energy. 

However, it should be known that caffeine in large doses will mess with your ability to focus hard and using it too often and too much can lead to caffeine dependence, which isn’t good. However, it’s usable in just about every nootropic blend out there, which is a plus.

General Advice on How to Build Your Own Stack?

Nowadays, as nootropics get more and more popular, we’re seeing more and more premade nootropic supplements, which have quite a number of good candidates. Some people, however, may prefer to make their own blends for whatever reason. 

Perhaps you simply enjoy customizing, or you have a particular set of needs, or it may be cheaper to make your own blend. Whatever the case, here’s a quick guide on putting the stack together. Note, actually selecting individual nootropics is covered in the next section, but this is just as important.

Basic Elements of a Stack

When making your stack, there are a few things to keep in mind about the very basics of the stacks. 

First, you need to make sure none of your nootropics have negative interactions because it may be harmful to you if some of the nootropics you pick have a bad interaction together. 

Next, you need to look at their dosages and ensure everything is dosed properly. Too low a dose will make them ineffective, and too high a dose may lead to negative effects. 

Finally, check the forms of the nootropics you’re taking, and make sure they come in whatever state you need them to be in. 

There are powders, liquids, and pills that they generally come in, and if you can’t swallow pills, you may want to get a powder or a liquid, for example.

How to Build your Stack?

When building a personalized stack, you need to keep in mind what you want your stack to do and work to get to that result as best you can. Now, this, we’ll go over in the next section, but you should keep in mind that nootropics don’t just have negative interactions, but they can have synergistic effects. 

These synergistic effects come in two forms; either a nootropic enhances the effects of another, or two nootropics have the same effect through different mechanisms. Synergy is good, and you should keep this in mind when building a stack.

Guide to Selecting Buying Nootropic Supplements and Using Nootropics Effectively 

With nootropics, buying the right ones is a step-by-step process and looks somewhat similar to whether you’re buying individual nootropic supplements for your own stack or looking for a premade stack. 

Note, if you’re buying individual nootropics, that you’ll want to do more research and look at what I’ve mentioned above. Without further preamble, let’s take a look at the process.

Firstly, one needs to determine what they want. For example, let’s compare two men. Man number 1 has found that, while his faculties are mostly up to snuff, he has some issues with memory, and he finds his motivation flagging. His mood, likewise, drops to low levels, making it harder to muster the will to keep working at the end of a long day. 

Man number 2, on the other hand, has perfect memory, his mood is great, and he has no issues motivating himself. However, he finds himself lacking creativity and finds his attention scattered, making it hard for him to focus on one task. These two men could use entirely different stacks, and what works for one may do nothing for the other.

Secondarily, you need to research, then do more research, and top it off with yet more research. First, you need to find what stacks/individual nootropics fit your criteria, then do research on whether or not they actually work, such as if any studies support their assertions, then finally look at customer reviews. Remember the placebo effect; just because it works doesn’t mean it’s because of the substance’s actual effect.

Third, you need to ease into using the nootropics you got in the previous step. This is done for two reasons; the first is safety. Not all nootropics work the same for everyone, and there may be adverse effects, up to and including a severe allergic reaction. Secondarily, you don’t know how it may affect you; the exact functions of the stack can be observed with less system shock from a new substance if you ease into your full dosage.

Fourth, you should compile alternative recipes/alternative supplements to use, as perhaps another nootropic in place of, say, caffeine does the job of caffeine better with additional benefits. 

Furthermore, you may be surprised by what different nootropics may do, given their variable effects on individuals; this includes different forms of the same nootropic, which may have slightly different effects, or maybe be ingested more readily. Finally, having alternatives prepared should help you if you run out of your nootropic of choice and have difficulty re-acquiring more of it; you have alternatives you can order.

Fifth, the best way to support nootropics and have them work optimally is to live a healthy life and get enough sleep. Ideally, you should have a set sleeping schedule where you get 8 hours a night, a workout plan you stick to, and a relatively healthy diet with everything you need in terms of calories, nutrients, and minerals, but not too much for your workout plan and lifestyle. 

Remember, balance is the most important, and you don’t need to have washboard abs to be healthy! 10-20% body fat is an excellent range to shoot for.

Finally, sixth is not to get discouraged if you don’t succeed the first time you make a stack. Making a nootropic stack isn’t easy and often requires trial and error to figure out what works for you. If you don’t succeed at first, try again, but remember to keep notes on what worked, what didn’t, etc. 

You could also try individual mixes of synergistic nootropics and see what each little blend does for you. If it works, you can keep it in your next prototype stack. If it doesn’t or isn’t effective enough, replace or modify the small, synergistic bundle of nootropics until it works.

FAQs About Nootropics Supplements 

Here’s where I’ll put some important assorted information and tell you what you need to know, but it doesn’t quite fit anywhere else. These are some of the most important questions to have answered, so I recommend not just skipping past them.

Q. What Are Nootropics Supplements, And What Are They Actually Doing to Make My Mind Better?

In the broadest sense, nootropics supplements are ingredients that take you above what your normal brain power would be. If your brain was working at 100% peak efficiency, a nootropic would bring it to 110%, for example. 

They also tend to help stave off fatigue and other negative states that would lower your brain’s ability to function. Note, nootropics are not medications; while some can be used medicinally, their goal is not to aid the infirm, sick, or diseased, but to help the healthy achieve more.

Now, their exact mechanisms aren’t all entirely known, and they may do a bunch of other things, but here are a few of the common ways they support you:

• Firstly, they can help your body clear out accumulated toxins from your brain, in addition to letting more antioxidants in, which are important for managing free radicals and keeping oxygen from being too reactive.
• Secondarily, they can dilate your blood vessels in the brain, increasing blood flow to the brain, allowing it to operate with more resources it can use. 
• Third, they can increase the rate at which your brain cells work, using the increased nutrients to operate faster and more efficiently.
• Fourth, they can help repair your central nervous system tissues of minor wear and tear via aiding some of the membranous tissues present.
• Fifth, they can both increase neurotransmitter production, which has a bevy of positive effects if well managed and can help keep neurotransmitters intact and functional for longer.

Q. What Are the Effects of Nootropics Or Smart Drugs on A Macroscopic Level?

If you have a well-built stack, regular ingestion may provide a number of mental benefits, depending on what you built for. This is a non-exhaustive list but should give you an idea of what to expect. 

First, the logical benefits, where you see improvements in base performance. This includes improving memory, heightened focus, greater creativity, more efficient processing of information, ease of speech, and being able to focus long before you need to decompress. 

Next, we have the emotional benefits, the stuff that is very important, as we are not machines, but people; low motivation is just as bad for productivity as thinking slow. 

Among the more emotional benefits, we have a general improvement in mood and motivation. However, it should be noted that all of these effects are somewhat variable due to everyone having slightly different biochemistry.

Q. This Sounds Too Good to Be True. Do These Nootropics Supplements Actually Work?

For the most part, yeah, they do work. Of course, there are variables and other things to consider. The body of research in the field is somewhat limited. Not every nootropic works for everyone, certain forms of a nootropic substance work better than others, and finally, low-quality nootropics aren’t as likely to work.

Q. How Long Do Nootropics Take To Kick In?

Depends on the specific nootropic. Some kick in faster; others take more time to activate. Generally, it ranges from a few minutes for the really fast ones and a few hours for the really slow ones. It might be something to keep in mind for your nootropic stack if you make one yourself.

Q. How Often Should I Take Nootropics?

Usually, about every day. If you’re taking a commercial supplement stack, take a look at dosage instructions; if you’re using your own homemade stack, research the ingredients to figure it out.

Q. Are Nootropics Hazardous to My Health?

As far as my research says, not really unless you’re overdosing or using contaminated products. Keep in mind dosages, buy from reliable and trustworthy sellers, and keep in mind that they’re still being researched; there isn’t any harm that we know of, but we may discover something later on.

Q. Are Nootropics Addictive?

Real short answer: no, other than caffeine which can be slightly addictive, to my knowledge. Nootropics are about promoting health, not damaging it.

Q: Does Bacopa monnieri Improves Cognitive Function?

Bacopa Monnieri is a cholinergic compound that improves your memory, brain, and cognitive function.

Q. Will I Fail A Drug Test If I Take Nootropics?

No, you will not. Theoretically, if you bought super-shady nootropics with illegal drugs in them, maybe, but that’s no longer a nootropic.

In Conclusion: Which Nootropics Supplements Should You Go For?

For whatever reason, you’re looking into the best nootropics or smart drug whether that be for personal use, so you can build your own stack, for advice on how to buy ready-made supplements, or just out of curiosity, this article should’ve given you a firm place to start. 

I hope that my explanations of what I consider to be the best nootropic supplement, of what various ingredients do, how to make a stack, what are its side effects, and the general FAQ helped you on your journey to getting the best stack for you. For us, NooCube is the best Nootropic stack.

Before buying any brain supplement, just remember to always do your research, make sure your stacks do what you want them to do, and stay healthy, because as they say. A healthy mind rests within a healthy body!

 

For access to exclusive gear videos, celebrity interviews, and more, subscribe on YouTube!