Ginkgo biloba is one of the most-tested brain supplements — which is exactly why the gap between its marketing and its evidence is so clear. The two big dementia-prevention trials failed, the healthy-adult memory boost is thin, and the “blood-thinner” scare is overstated. Here’s what the evidence really shows.
L-tyrosine is marketed as a daily focus pill, but the evidence tells a narrower story: it’s a catecholamine precursor that protects cognition specifically under stress — cold, sleep loss, heavy load — and does little otherwise. Here’s what the trials actually support, where it can backfire, and how to use it situationally rather than every day.
The most effective, best-researched cognitive enhancer available costs pennies and is already in your kitchen. Here’s what caffeine genuinely does for focus and reaction time, where its reputation outruns the evidence, and how to use it without wrecking the sleep that matters more.
Bacopa has the stronger human evidence; Lion’s Mane has the stronger mechanism. An honest look at what each actually does — and why, if memory is the goal, sleep and retrieval practice beat both.
Lion’s Mane mushroom (Hericium erinaceus) is the most important neuroplasticity compound available through supplementation—its dual hericenone and erinacine mechanism stimulates NGF and BDNF, supporting the structural health of the cholinergic neurons that every other cognitive enhancement compound depends on. This complete guide covers the mechanism, the Mori 2009 RCT (including its striking withdrawal reversal), the Docherty 2023 acute effects trial in healthy adults, the fruiting body vs mycelium quality debate, and the dosing protocol with honest onset timeline expectations.
Working memory is the cognitive function most directly responsible for how intelligent you seem — and how intelligent you feel. Understanding its biological capacity limit (4 ± 1 chunks), why the prefrontal cortex is uniquely vulnerable to stress and sleep deprivation, and the specific interventions with RCT evidence for improvement is the difference between vague advice and a precision protocol. This guide covers the neuroscience, the clinical evidence, and the four-layer optimisation protocol that Peter has refined across 40+ Creyos testing sessions.
Bacopa is sold as a memory supplement, but the pooled evidence supports something narrower. What the trials actually found, why the systematic review and the meta-analysis disagree, the overlooked anxiety result, and the 12-week protocol that matches the research.
“Nootropics” isn’t one category with one safety profile. An honest assessment of the actual risks — the regulatory gap, the contamination problem, the compounds with documented harms, and who shouldn’t self-experiment at all.
Evidence for ingredients is not evidence for a stack. An honest look at what nootropic combinations are actually tested, why most aren’t, the real safety data — and how to build a stack that teaches you something.
Five nootropics worth a beginner’s time — ranked by human-trial evidence rather than hype. What each actually does, how long it really takes, the honest caveats, and how to test your first pick without fooling yourself.
