Nootropics Basics
“Lifestyle medicine” has been recognized as an appropriate potential front-line clinical application alongside pharmacotherapies and psychological techniques to better manage depression. Mental health is multifactorial, and understanding how modern lifestyle factors such as obesity, diet, sleep, chemicals, and stress play an integral part in the formation of cognitive disorders can help us begin to heal more effectively.
Understanding the power that altering lifestyle habits and nutrition has in improving mood, even alongside pharmaceutical medication, can make a tremendous difference in your life.
What Are Nootropics and What Do They Do?
Nootropics are cognitive enhancing supplements. The term nootropic can be applied to any exogenous nutrient or supplement that promotes cognitive enhancement. Cognitive enhancement can be defined as the use of drugs and other means with the aim to improve the cognitive functions of healthy subjects — in particular memory, attention, creativity, and intelligence — in the absence of any medical indication.
Nootropics can be anything from prescription drugs that help with ADHD and Alzheimer’s to over-the-counter vitamins, herbs, and even products like honey.
Nootropics vs. Smart Drugs
Because the term nootropic is still relatively new, you will hear people refer to nootropics as smart drugs. For the sake of this course we will make a distinction between the two.
While nootropics can span a whole host of different types of supplements and nutrients, smart drugs are given on a prescription basis and have a more pharmacological effect. These include drugs like Modafinil, Ampakines, Ritalin, and Adderall, among others. The effects of smart drugs can be more pronounced but also come with more side effects.
How Nootropics Help
Nootropics are really the fifth gear of cognitive enhancement. Once you have supported your body’s foundational processes, a supplement can take you into optimal performance.
The fact is that we live in a world that requires supplementation. Our two-million-year-old bodies and brains are not equipped for the amount of toxicity that we encounter throughout the day. Our brain is constantly sending stress signals to our bodies as a way to protect us, and as a result it affects many biological processes along the way.
We’re burning through important minerals like magnesium, calcium, and potassium just to keep up. The cellular process of methylation is not happening properly because we don’t have enough methyl-donor vitamins. Our cells are breaking down faster than ever before and as a result, our organs are underperforming and this manifests into neurological insufficiency or even mental health problems.
While many aspects of mental health, cognition, and consciousness are still unknown, there is a lot of evidence that points to mental health being an end result of specific physiological processes. A great example is being hangry. The physiological process of being hungry due to blood sugar levels dropping can directly affect your mood. Another example is depression. A lot of recent research on depression points to the root cause coming from inflammation. Inflammation can be controlled through proper gut health. The feeling of stress comes from the production of cortisol and epinephrine through the HPA axis and adrenal glands.
So when we discuss cognitive enhancement, we are really discussing making your body work optimally to deliver the right hormones and neurotransmitters in your brain to give you your desired mindset.
Bio-Individuality and SNPs
You must also understand and respect your body’s own bio-individuality. This is the idea that your body is unique and responds to nutrients in a unique way. This is important because when you hear about a nootropic, supplement, or diet that worked for one person, you have to understand that you may not get the same results. Your body’s specific physiology and genetic code determine this.
Single nucleotide polymorphisms, frequently called SNPs (pronounced “snips”), are the most common type of genetic variation among people. These are variants in your DNA that instruct certain genes to behave in specific ways. You find these all along your entire genome and everyone has them. The typical person has between four to five million SNPs across their genome.
There is a new field of microbiology called genomics which studies specifically genetics and how things like SNPs affect your overall biology. The most exciting part of genomics is the idea that you can build a lifestyle around your SNPs to optimize your health. This can all be done with a simple genetics test like 23andMe and having your results interpreted.
This is why there is no perfect one-size-fits-all diet. For example, a high-fat keto or paleo diet might not work for someone who has the TCF7L2 SNP where saturated fat has shown to be associated with an increase in type 2 diabetes. On the other hand, a plant-based vegan or vegetarian diet might not be the best for someone who has the rs2282679 polymorphism which is associated with a possible vitamin D deficiency.
Who Are Nootropics Good For?
Anyone who wants to achieve a higher level of cognitive brain function. These are supplements that help the function of your brain. They can be helpful for focus, memory, learning, boosting mood, energy, and calming. They’re not magic pills that will solve your problems. They are supplements to use in conjunction with a healthy diet and lifestyle.
Are Nootropics Safe?
Most nootropic supplements are safe when used correctly and come with minimal serious side effects. Most nootropics can be bought over the counter in stores and online. Some smart drugs are available only by prescription and must be used according to your doctor’s orders.
Side effects from certain nootropics can vary. Some can be stimulating and need to be taken earlier in the day and in the right dosage so they don’t disrupt your sleep. Some can be very relaxing and are better taken at night, away from any exhaustive tasks.
The History of Nootropics
The term nootropics was coined in 1972 when memory-enhancing properties of piracetam were observed in clinical trials. The term was coined by the father of piracetam, Corneliu Giurgea: NOOS meaning “mind” and TROPEIN meaning “toward.”
Since then, clinical trials have been performed to find cognitive enhancing properties in different pharmaceuticals, nutritional supplements, herbals, stimulants, and everyday foods.
Some popular over-the-counter nootropics include caffeine, L-theanine, Ginkgo biloba, Omega-3s, mushroom extracts, Bacopa monnieri, phosphatidylserine, and racetams like piracetam, oxiracetam, phenylpiracetam, and aniracetam.
Racetams are thought to be more potent in nootropic effects but this varies from person to person. Nootropics have gained more popularity in the last ten years especially due to people looking for alternatives to pharmaceutical drugs and the rise of biohacking. Nootropics aren’t new — it’s just a new focus on marketing of certain nutrients to highlight their nootropic effects.
The fact is that you can achieve cognitive enhancement by improving the physiological function of your body with diet, movement, and breathing to produce the appropriate neurotransmitters. However, due to the circumstances of the world we live in, supplementation may be necessary to achieve your desired results.
Types of Nootropics
- Stimulants — substances that increase alertness and energy
- Herbals — plant-based compounds with cognitive benefits
- Dopaminergic — substances that increase dopamine-related activity in the brain
- Cholinergic — substances that work with the action of acetylcholine, a powerful neurotransmitter that is the final product of the parasympathetic nervous system
- Memory enhancers — compounds that support recall and retention
- Focus aids — substances that improve attention and concentration
- Calming agents — compounds that promote relaxation without sedation
Why Nootropics Don’t Work
The most common reason nootropics don’t work is that the body isn’t set up correctly. Your gut may not be properly absorbing nutrients. Blood sugar dysregulation can undermine cognitive function. And overdosing — while not necessarily a medical emergency — can lead to diminishing returns and toxicity. Sometimes moderation or cycling different nootropics is necessary.
The Three Pillars of This Course
The main objective of this course will be to focus on three main pillars of health to increase cognitive function.
Pillar 1: Gut Health. “All disease begins in the gut,” Hippocrates said this 2,000 years ago. While the quote isn’t entirely accurate when it comes to mental health, he seems to have been ahead of his time. Researchers are finding more and more links between the gut and the brain, even going so far as to refer to the gut as the “second brain.” This is in large part due to the constant lines of communication between the gut and the brain through the interwoven enteric and central nervous systems.
Pillar 2: Blood Sugar Regulation and Stress. The main biological purpose of stress hormones, otherwise known as glucocorticoids, is to maintain blood glucose homeostasis. In other words, the point of stress hormones is to keep a steady amount of blood sugar in your body ready for use. Many stress-related psychological disorders can be tied back to things like sugar, grain, and caffeine consumption — including anxiety, panic, worry, PTSD, depression, and exhaustion. In this lesson we’ll explore the dynamic between diet, stress, and offer ways to use this knowledge to improve chronic stress conditions.
Pillar 3: Detoxification. Exposure to environmental toxins and heavy metals is unavoidable today. There are strong links between these toxins and psychiatric disorders. Regular detoxification practice should be at the heart of any regimen to improve mental health and optimize brain function. In this lesson we discuss the role of detoxification in mental health and offer tips on how to best go about a safe and successful detox protocol.
It’s important to understand that the function of your body can directly affect your mental health. Examples of this include inflammation and depression, autoimmunity and bipolar disorder, obesity and anxiety and depression, high-glycemic and standard American diets and overall mood, nutrient deficiencies and mood disorders, and B12 deficiencies.