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Alpha brain review: Does a combination of nutrients help you focus or is it too good to be true?
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Your brain functions at an astonishing speed and deals with 16 movies worth of information each day [1]. Every task in your personal and professional life needs brain power, sometimes it is worth considering supplements. There is a huge area in the brain supplements market that is focused on developing new products to maximise your focus and memory power. Due to this field still in its infancy, new nutrients are often proposed as the next best thing. Alpha BRAIN has come up with a brain supplement aimed to boost memory and focus with its combination of nutrients like Alpha GC and 10 other ingredients, some of which are herbal. It is also supported by Joe Rogan, founder of the Top 100 podcasts, The Joe Rogan Experience. Does alpha brain work? A small study resulted in the affirmative, continue reading for more on this. This article discusses Onnit alpha brain & UK based brain feed’s Work Enhancement - 500mg 99% Alpha GPC. Read more about the science behind boosting your memory and focus.
How to boost your memory brain chemical to maximise productivity?
Attention, memory, time management, and planning are some high-level thinking skills that are indispensable in all areas of life. Many areas of the brain liaise together to bring these skills to life. The brain chemical that plays a central role in these skills is called acetylcholine. The building block of this brain chemical is a nutrient called choline. Choline is found in foods like beef liver, eggs, almonds, and baked beans. Your brain takes up choline and uses it to produce acetylcholine. If these foods are consumed less regularly and if you have demanding cognitive needs, supplements can step in to ensure adequate intake. One of the best and well-studied acetylcholine supplements is Alpha GPC. It is 41% choline by weight and has easy access into the brain for optimal production. Alpha GPC increases choline levels faster than other forms, with evidence of increase in acetylcholine levels 1-3 hours after consumption [7] brain feed has created the world’s 1st 500 mg Alpha GPC capsule containing 99% Alpha GPC* (the purest form of Alpha GPC).
Alpha GPC and its brain superpowers.
Alpha GPC as a nutrient has been well-researched to increase acetylcholine levels.
Supplementing with Alpha GPC increased attention scores, due to increase in acetylcholine [2]. It has also shown to reduce stress-induced memory loss in animal studies [3]. Another study found that Alpha GPC strengthened the brain’s entry system and improved brain cell growth [4]. An important point to note is that the majority of these studies on Alpha GPC have shown benefits when supplemented in isolation. This also seems like that reasonable route to establish the benefits of a particular nutrient.
|
Alpha BRAIN |
brain feed’s Alpha GPC |
|
|
Alpha GPC dosage |
69.8mg/capsule |
500mg/capsule |
|
Nutrients |
Vitamin B6, L-tyrosine, L-theanine, oat (straw) extract, phosphatidylserine, cat’s claw, Alpha GPC, Bacopa extract, Toothed clubmoss extract, L-leucine, Pterostilbene. |
99% Alpha GPC |
|
Price and availability |
$79.95/90 tablets (£62.67) + shipping. This equates to 1.1mg Alpha GPC/ £1. |
£21.99/30 capsules with free international shipping. This equates to 22.7mg Alpha GPC/ £1. |
|
Features |
caffeine free, dairy free, gluten free. |
sugar-free, vegan, caffeine free, dairy free, gluten free, and free of unnecessary fillers and flavours. |
Cognition supplements: picking the right one.
Alpha BRAIN is one of the brain supplements on the market that contains Alpha GPC. However, this contains Alpha GPC as a part of their 3 ingredients focus blend. Other Alpha brain ingredients include Vit B6, their flow blend, cat’s claw, and their fuel blend. This particular combination needs more research to establish its effectiveness. So does alpha brain work? They have conducted a small study where 63 participants took Alpha BRAIN for 6 weeks and found improvements in some cognitive tests, though specific details were unavailable [5]. In terms of Alpha GPC, alpha brain alternative, uk version is brain feed. So how does brain feed and alpha BRAIN compare? Let’s dive deeper:
- Alpha GPC dosage:
brain feed provides 500 mg Alpha GPC per capsule. This is more than 50% of your recommended choline needs (400mg) in one capsule.
Alpha BRAIN provides 240mg of an Alpha GPC blend that contains 100 mg bacopa extract and 0.4mg toothed clubmoss in 2 capsules. Though the amount of Alpha GPC is unspecified, it can be estimated to be 139.6mg/2 capsules or 69.8mg/capsule (7% of brain feed’s Alpha GPC)
- Nutrients:
brain feed’s Alpha GPC contains 99% Alpha GPC as the sole nutrient, and in research studies, Alpha GPC is tested as a sole ingredient.
Alpha BRAIN contains Vitamin B6, L-tyrosine, L-theanine, oat (straw) extract, phosphatidylserine, cat’s claw, Alpha GPC, Bacopa extract, Toothed clubmoss extract, L-leucine, Pterostilbene. Though there is evidence of benefits of these compounds individually, this combination as a whole needs more research. This is important because herbal ingredients in Alpha BRAIN like cat’s claw, bacopa and toothed clubmoss can have varied levels of active ingredients owing to the differences in nature, it is harder to ascertain exact levels. Addition of Vitamin B6 is a good choice due to its effectiveness for reduction of tiredness and contributing to normal physiological functioning [6].
- Price and availability:
brain feed’s Alpha GPC costs £21.99/30 tablets with free international shipping. This equates to 22.7mg Alpha GPC/ £1.
Alpha BRAIN costs $79.95/90 tablets (£62.67). This equates to 1.1mg Alpha GPC/ £1.
- Features:
brain feed’s Alpha GPC is sugar-free, vegan, caffeine free, dairy free, gluten free, and free of unnecessary fillers and flavours.
Alpha BRAIN is caffeine free, dairy free, gluten free.
If you are looking for a combination brain supplement, Alpha BRAIN might be a good option to try. If you are looking for evidence-based single nutrient high potency Alpha GPC, brain feed’s Alpha GPC is more economical and a better option.
References
- Heim, S. and Keil, A. (2017). Too Much Information, Too Little Time: How the Brain Separates Important from Unimportant Things in Our Fast-Paced Media World. Frontiers for Young Minds
- Klinkenberg, I. et al. (2011). Acetylcholine and attention. Behavioural brain research, [online] 221(2), pp.430–42.
- Jeong Yu, H. et al. (2022). The effect of choline alphoscerate on non spatial memory and neuronal differentiation in a rat model of dual stress. Brain research, 1786, 147900.
- Lee, M. et al. (2018). Unexpected Effects of Acetylcholine Precursors on Pilocarpine Seizure- Induced Neuronal Death. Current neuropharmacology, 16(1), 51–58.
- Solomon, T. M., Leech, J., Murphy, C., DeBros, G., Budson, A., & Solomon, P. (2015). A randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, parallel group, efficacy study of alpha BRAIN® administered orally. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 12(Suppl 1), P54.
- Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to vitamin B6 and contribution to normal homocysteine metabolism (ID 73, 76, 199), maintenance of normal bone (ID 74), maintenance of normal teeth (ID 74), maintenance of normal hair (ID 74. (2010). EFSA Journal, 8(10), p.1759. doi:https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2010.1759.
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