Chris D’Adamo, director of the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, uses caffeine as an example.
“Caffeine is an old school nootropic that works as an adenosine antagonist (adenosine makes us tired). It bumps up acetylcholine, dopamine, and serotonin,” he says referring to neurotransmitters associated with learning and well-being.
Nootropics, whether botanical or synthetic, can enhance memory and improve cognitive function while demonstrating zero or low toxicity and side-effect profile. The term was coined decades ago by Dr. Corneliu Giurgea, a Romanian chemist and psychologist, who tried to synthesize a sleeping pill but invented something called piracetam, a nootropic which some scientists believe to be efficacious and safe.
D’Adamo, is a leading authority on nootropics, having headed up research for the past 10 years at the first academic institution in the world to study integrative medicine. He’s quick to clarify that nootropics are not ‘smart drugs,’ though some use the terms interchangeably.
“Drugs like Adderall, Ritalin and Modafinil, a drug for narcolepsy made popular by those in Silicon Valley looking for performance enhancement, require prescriptions; nootropics don’t,” he says.
While not all scientists are convinced of nootropics’ cognitive enhancing powers, chalking the findings up to the placebo effect, D’Adamo believes they work to improve performance and may stave off mild cognitive impairment. (Mild cognitive impairment is the intermediate stage between healthy aging and dementia.)
It’s recommended that anyone with a preexisting condition consult their physician before trying new supplements, though some people might already be ingesting nootropics without even knowing about it.
Here are some common, and not so common, nootropics:
“Caffeine should not be consumed 6–10 hours before bedtime because of its long half-life,” D’Adamo says.
“As time goes by, our mitochondria doesn’t work as well. Creatine gives us a boost, and they’re finding it helps with depression,” D’Adamo says.
Because creatine monohydrate draws water into the cells (including the muscle cells), anyone taking it should drink more water.
“Most studies have been conducted in older populations, but it may still help younger adults,” says D’Adamo.
D’Adamo cautions against purchasing nootropics online as many sites purporting to be independent studies of various nootropics are actually companies selling their own special blend.
“You have to verify the source,” he says.
“Half of Americans take a dietary supplement, but the funding for research can be challenging,” he says. “Few are funded by the NIH and none are patentable, so the onus falls on the industry.”
D’Adamo advises looking for brands that have been independently tested by third-party labs guaranteeing purity and potency. Also important, he says, is to cycle on and off the supplements since it’s easy to build up a tolerance.
As our world becomes increasingly complex and competitive, all of us seek to boost cognitive function, regardless of age. Some nootropics may be a safe way to do that.