The [Revised] Essential Nootropics Stack

My wife thinks I have a supplement problem.

She might be right.

It’s been about a year since I posted my nootropics/supplement regimen.

Accordingly, perhaps an update is due.

Listed roughly in order from what I consider most to least essential, I’ve included the daily quantity, which sometimes fluctuates depending on my mood and whether I remember.

But, on balance, this stuff definitely does something (daily dose in parentheses):

• Creatine (5 g)
• Methylated B-complex + 500 mg niacin
• Magnesium glycinate (1.6g)
• Lion’s mane mushroom extract (fruiting body) (
• NAC (600 mg)
• Vitamin D (10,000 IU)
• Vitamin K2 (200 mcg)
• Nattokinase (65 mg)
• MCT oil (30 mL)
• Turmeric extract (I prefer to chew on the root when I can get it, which is usually in supply in Southeast Asian markets. In powder form, I drop about a teaspoon’s worth in water with added black pepper for 2000x the absorption)
• Nascent iodine (250 mcg)
• Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ)* (40 mg)
• Quercetin (500 mg)
• Piracetam (2,400 mg)
• Noopept* (20 mg)
• Shilajit* (500 mg)
• Alpha-GPC* (400 mg)

*Asterisks indicate new additions to the stack.

Here are a few studies backing them up.

Shilajit

Shilajit — translated as “conqueror of mountain” from the original Sanskrit — is an organic, resin-like substance found in the Himalayas and other high altitudes.

In addition to containing more than 20 elements, it also contains unique amino acids and other compounds, including fulvic acid and humic acid.

Shilajit is most popularly used as a testosterone-enhancer, a natural alternative to anabolic steroids.

Related: Men’s Health Crisis: Unprecedented, Generational Decline in Testosterone Levels

Via Andrologia (emphasis added):

“Purified Shilajit, an Ayurvedic rasayana, was evaluated in healthy volunteers of age between 45 and 55 years for its effect on male androgenic hormone viz. testosterone in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study at a dose of 250 mg twice a day. Treatment with Shilajit for consecutive 90 days revealed that it has significantly (P < 0.05) increased total testosterone, free testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEAS) compared with placebo. Gonadotropic hormones (LH and FSH) levels were well maintained.”

Related: Little-known Southeast Asian Herb Boosts Testosterone Naturally

Fulvic acid, which comprises up to 80% of shilajit, is also confers potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, and potential anti-cancer, action.

Via Journal of Diabetes Research (emphasis added):

“The information gathered in this review indicate that FvA [fulvic acid[ can act as an immune modulator, influence the redox state, and potentially affect gut health. FvA is shown to decrease proinflammatory markers but also activate the immune system to kill bacteria. It is shown to reduce oxidative stress and even induce apoptosis in hepatic cancer lines. FvA is shown to also influence the microbiome and possibly improve gut function. FvA appears to have a yin-yang effect when it comes to these physiological states.”

*Warning: shilajit sold in supplement form is often tainted with toxic heavy metals like lead — so buyer beware.

Alpha GPC

You might be familiar with choline, an underappreciated essential nutrient intimately involved in brain function.

Alpha GPC — alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine — is the most bioavailable form of choline, which readily crosses the blood-brain barrier more efficiently than other forms of choline.

Via Nutrients (emphasis added):

“A-GPC supplementation significantly increased cognitive performance in a group of young, healthy males as measured by changes in the Stroop Total Score and completion time of the Stroop test.”

Research published Neurobiology of Aging suggests that choline, in tandem with piracetam — another member of my stack that I’ve had in rotation for a while —works synergistically in their nootropic effects.

Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ)

An enzymatic cofactor and epigenetic tonic, the research backing up the potential anti-aging and DNA-reparative benefits of PQQ grows by the month.

Via Biomolecules (emphasis added):

“Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) is associated with biological processes such as mitochondriogenesis, reproduction, growth, and aging. In addition, PQQ attenuates clinically relevant dysfunctions (e.g., those associated with ischemia, inflammation and lipotoxicity). PQQ is novel among biofactors that are not currently accepted as vitamins or conditional vitamins. For example, the absence of PQQ in diets produces a response like a vitamin-related deficiency with recovery upon PQQ repletion in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, potential health benefits, such as improved metabolic flexibility and immuno-and neuroprotection, are associated with PQQ supplementation. Here, we address PQQ’s role as an enzymatic cofactor or accessory factor and highlight mechanisms underlying PQQ’s actions. We review both large scale and targeted datasets demonstrating that a neonatal or perinatal PQQ deficiency reduces mitochondria content and mitochondrial-related gene expression. Data are reviewed that suggest PQQ’s modulation of lactate acid and perhaps other dehydrogenases enhance NAD+-dependent sirtuin activity, along with the sirtuin targets, such as PGC-1α, NRF-1, NRF-2 and TFAM; thus, mediating mitochondrial functions. Taken together, current observations suggest vitamin-like PQQ has strong potential as a potent therapeutic nutraceutical.”

PQQ, as indicated above, is seen to catalyze greater nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide+ (NAD+) activity via the increased expression of the much-vaunted “anti-aging” Sirt genes.

Via Nutrition Research (emphasis added):

“Sirtuin (Sirt) 1 and Sirt 3 are nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide ((+))-dependent protein deacetylases that are important to a number of mitochondrial-related functions; thus, identification of sirtuin activators is important. Herein, we hypothesize that pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) can act as a Sirt1/Sirt3 activator. In HepG2 cell cultures, PQQ increased the expression of Sirt1 and Sirt3 gene, protein, and activity levels (P < .05). We also observed a significant increase in nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase gene expression (as early as 18 hours) and increased NAD(+) activity at 24 hours. In addition, targets of Sirt1 and Sirt3 (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1α, nuclear respiratory factor 1 and 2, and mitochondrial transcription factor A) were increased at 48 hours. This is the first report that demonstrates PQQ as an activator of Sirt1 and Sirt3 expression and activity, making it an attractive therapeutic agent for the treatment of metabolic diseases and for healthy aging. Based on our study and the available data in vivo, PQQ has the potential to serve as a therapeutic nutraceutical, when enhancing mitochondrial function.”

Given how expensive NAD+ supplements are, alternative methods to increase levels in the body — whether through saunas, exercise, or supplementation with PQQ — represent a more cost-effective option.

(Niacin, vitamin B3, another cheap and integral component of my stack, also stimulates NAD+ production.)