Known by many different names such as smart pills, brain supplements, and memory enhancers, the Nootropics belong to a class of drugs known as nutraceuticals. Assuming that you are new to the concept of natural nootropics, we have compiled a detailed guide about these so-called cognitive enhancers. Throughout this post, we will focus on the natural alternatives to these mental enhancement drugs.
Nootropics-What are they
The term nootropic has been around since the early 1970s, but still there exists no concrete definition of what these drugs are. The most common explanation of the nootropic drugs is the cognitive skills enhancing substances that have low toxicity and are safer to use over the long term. The difference with other enhancing drugs is that these are expected to show a slow and cumulative effect with minimal or no side effects.
Humans have always gravitated towards increasing their mental capabilities. Natural alternative medicines have used foods, tonics, and various natural supplements to alter the capabilities of the human mind. Since the advent of the internet, nootropics have become more mainstream as they touted to amplify human cognition and people started talking about them over the Internet. However, still we do not have a deep understanding of how these drugs actually work.
Known mechanism of nootropics
There is no one definite agreed-upon mechanism that experts agree on but nootropics are known to work in several ways just like our brain. The existence of several mechanisms through which these cognitive enhancement supplements work is attributed to the fact that there exist different kinds of nootropics in nature. According to their biology and chemistry, all these nootropics have different working methods. In the lack of concrete evidence as of how they work, nootropics are found to:
Protect and preserve the neurons in the brain Increase and improve the level of chemicals that are associated with memory and learning Increase the vasodilation of the human brain
As the human brain is nothing but a cluster of neurons that communicate and control our cognitive functions in the presence of endogenous chemicals that are known as neurotransmitters, it is no wonder that nootropics are able to improve the capabilities of our brain by preserving the neurons and increasing level of neurotransmitters.
Natural Nootropics
As mentioned before, there are hundreds of natural nootropics in existence, and each of them is classified into categories depending on their mechanism. Any natural nootropic substance can be classified as a:
- Stimulant
- Metabolic
- Cholinergic
- Racetam
- Dopaminergic
- Adaptogen, or
- Serotonergic
- Nootropic Stacks
Interestingly, the best cognitive enhancement benefits are seen when the various nootropics are stacked together to utilize their different mechanism for improved results. Fortunately, as there are so many natural nootropics available you are no dependent on synthetic stacks for results. You can prepare your own natural nootropic stack using brain boosters availed by Mother Nature like Ashwagandha, Creatine, Ginseng, Kava Kava, and Passion Flower.
From the evidence available, nootropics can boost mental capabilities, but it is best in interest to stick with natural supplements.
