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2024's 5 Supplements for Enhancing Focus & Memory and Combatting Brain Fog
Your Guide to Choosing an Effective Supplement to Improve Cognitive Performance.
As we get older, our mind’s ability to keep up with the pace of life diminishes. Moments like forgetting your keys or making obvious mistakes can leave people feeling uneasy, overwhelmed, and even lost.
Thankfully, scientists have been studying a number of promising ingredients for the past few decades. And as a result, there are now more than 80,000 “brain boosting” supplements on the market today. But only a few have been recognized to improve your cognitive function.
That’s why we created this guide to show you exactly what to look for and what to avoid in a cognitive supplement. We also reveal our 5 product recommendations for 2024.
Benefits of a Quality Brain Health Supplement
Short & Long-Term Memory
A high-quality brain health supplement can help maintain cognitive function and promote short-term & long-term memory, attention, and processing speed. These brain nutrients also help increase memory and learning.
Focus, Sharpness & Alertness
If you've ever wondered how people in their 70s and 80s are still sharp as a tack with laser-like focus, it's probably because they've invested in brain-healthy nutrients.
Learning & Accuracy
Once you meet the nutrient demands of your brain, learning can feel easier. Afterall, quality brain health supplements can help promote attention, memory, and retention.
Better Mood & Mental Clarity
A highly rated brain health supplement can help balance “neurotransmitters” which can lead you to feel more stable, focused, mentally clear, and full of "brain power.”
Brain Defense & Confidence
Effective brain ingredients can reduce age-related oxidative stress and promote the growth of new brain cells.
While there are dozens of ingredients that can support your brain health, the list below shows cutting-edge and time-tested ingredients found in quality brain-health supplements with stellar customer results.
These powerful nutrients can help you with everything from memory and focus to overall cognitive enhancement that includes lifting some of that fogginess.
Key Ingredients in a High-Quality Brain Supplement
Phosphatidylserine — Focus & Attentiveness
Sometimes referred to as "the messenger," this phospholipid is a fatty substance produced in the body that helps transmit messages between nerve cells in the brain.
Bacopa Monnieri — Memory & Learning Acuity
Bacopa monnieri has been described as a calming cognitive enhancer. Clinical studies demonstrate the role of this important nutrient in supporting verbal learning, word recall, memory retrieval, and stress reduction.
Folate — Mood Support
A growing body of evidence suggests that folate is critical for proper brain function and plays an important role in mental and emotional health. That’s because it plays a key role in aiding the production of neurotransmitters.
B-Vitamins — Overall Brain Health
B-vitamins perform essential roles in cellular functioning and promote numerous aspects of brain function, including the synthesis of neurochemicals and signaling molecules.
Watch Out For
“Other” Ingredients
Even when a brain supplement contains great ingredients, it’s also important to check the “other ingredients” within a formula. These add-ons can include sweeteners, colors, preservatives, and other unnecessary additives that provide zero nutritional value.
Unapproved Drugs
We wish it wasn’t true, but many brain supplements contain unapproved drugs — and sometimes they’re not even listed on the label! So make sure to research the ingredients and the company behind any brain health formula you are considering.
Now that you know what to look for and avoid in your brain health supplement, it’s time to shop. Check out our Brilliant recommendations below, including our own 1MD Nutrition MindMD™.
2024’s Highly-Rated Brain Health Supplements
What We Like:
Room To Improve:
Final Thoughts
Product Specs
What We Like:
Room To Improve:
Final Thoughts
Product Specs
What We Like:
Room To Improve:
Final Thoughts
Product Specs
What We Like:
Room To Improve:
Final Thoughts
Product Specs
What We Like:
Room To Improve:
Final Thoughts
Product Specs
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the benefits of folate?
Folate (vitamin B9) helps us make new cells every day, including neurons. This key nutrient is important for the synthesis of DNA, which is essential for the growth and maintenance of the brain. Adequate folate intake is critical for a healthy, aging brain.
What is phosphatidylserine?
Phosphatidylserine is a phospholipid produced by your body. This fatty substance helps better transmit messages between nerve cells in the brain to help your memory and cognitive function.
Can green tea leaf extract help focus my attention?
Green tea leaf extract helps improve your capacity for attention while also supporting whole-brain wellness, including concentration, accuracy, learning, memory, energy, and more.
A high quality green tea leaf extract will include 75% catechin by HPLC and 30% EGCG by HPLC., a measure of the level of catechins present.
Catechin are naturally occurring plant compounds called flavonols that are well-demonstrated antioxidants.
EGCG is the major type of catechin found in green tea.
Studies on EGCG show their potential to promote healthy aging by improving alterations that can occur in a natural aging brain, their ability to increase the learning ability and fight against oxidative stress in the brain.
How We Choose Products
Like you, we’re picky about products — and serious about quality.
Whether we’re featuring an award-winning product from one of our five beauty and wellness brands — or somebody else’s — a Brilliant recommendation doesn’t see the light of day until it has been medically reviewed for accuracy and has fulfilled our Brilliant Criteria.
At Brilliant, although we often feature products that we sell, we’re not afraid to highlight and celebrate other brands who are doing things right.
Brilliant Criteria
We take great care in handpicking high-quality products to feature on Brilliant. Here’s how we choose them:
- Research-Based Ingredients: We dig deep into the latest research and look for products that contain science-based ingredients for optimal impact.
- Pure, Holistic Formulas: We prioritize products that contain clean, wholesome ingredients shown to be effective. A product should only contain what it needs and nothing else — period.
- Brand Credibility: Each product on our list is produced by a company with trusted credibility. We've also verified that each brand adheres to labeling requirements set forth under current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP).
- Value: We evaluate products based on industry averages and price per serving or application. We also consider quantity and return policy.
Why Trust Us?
As veteran leaders in the wellness space with an award-winning brand portfolio of 100+ health and beauty products, we are committed to honesty and transparency, providing unbiased insights into the benefits and limitations of the information and products we evaluate — including our own. Every Brilliant Buying Guide is thoroughly vetted for medical accuracy prior to publication.
With our discerning selection process, you can feel confident that the products we recommend meet the highest benchmarks of quality, transparency, and efficacy. If we wouldn’t use a product ourselves, it’s not Brilliant.
Citations
1. Kim, Hee-Yong, et al. Progress in Lipid Research, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Oct. 2014. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4258547
2. Baba, Yoshitake, et al. Journal of Medicinal Food, vol. 24, no. 4, 1 Apr. 2021, pp. 333–341, https://doi.org/10.1089/jmf.2020.4803.
3. Attipoe, Selasi, et al. Military Medicine, vol. 180, no. 7, July 2015, pp. 754–765, https://doi.org/10.7205/milmed-d-14-00594..
4. Liwinski, Timur, and Undine E. Lang. Nutrients, vol. 15, no. 17, 1 Jan. 2023, p. 3859, www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/15/17/3859, https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15173859.
5. Kato-Kataoka, Akito, et al. Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Nov. 2010, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2966935/.
6. Mount Sinai Health Library https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/supplement/vitamin-b9-folic-acid
7. Kennedy, David O. Nutrients, vol. 8, no. 2 Feb. 2016, p. 68, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4772032/
8. Walker, Eric A., and Mark V. Pellegrini. “Bacopa Monnieri.” PubMed, StatPearls Publishing, 2023, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK589635/.
9. Chan, Nicholas. Being Patient, 22 June 2023, www.beingpatient.com/study-your-brain-supplements-may-contain-dangerous-unapproved-drugs/
10. NBC News, 23 Sept. 2020, www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/brain-boosting-supplements-may-contain-unapproved-drugs-study-says-n1240880. Accessed 4 Dec. 2023.
11. Pervin, Monira, et al. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, vol. 20, no. 15, 25 July 2019, p. 3630, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20153630..
12. Singh, Neha Atulkumar, et al. Nutrition Journal, vol. 15, no. 1, Dec. 2015, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-016-0179-4.
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