Articles & Guides

Evidence-led articles on focus, nootropic ingredients, and cognitive performance. A qualified doctor reviews every article — see our medical reviewer.

• Caffeine Anhydrous: What It Is, How It Works, Safe Doses
  Caffeine anhydrous is dehydrated caffeine, the same molecule as in coffee. What it does for focus, safe doses, and where the risks start, with primary sources.
• Citicoline Benefits: What the Clinical Trials Actually Show
  What citicoline actually does for memory, attention, and brain energy: doses from clinical trials, honest limits of the evidence, and safety, with sources.
• Citicoline vs Alpha-GPC: Which Should You Take?
  Citicoline and alpha-GPC compared head to head: choline content, mechanisms, the human trials behind each one, doses, and safety, all cited to primary sources.
• How Long Does Caffeine Stay in Your System?
  Caffeine has a half-life of about 5 hours, so half of your last dose is still working long after the lift fades. What that means for focus and sleep.
• How to Get Rid of Brain Fog: Causes and Fixes That Work
  Brain fog usually has a findable cause. What short sleep, stress, dehydration, and diet do to your focus, and the fixes with real evidence behind them.
• How to Increase Acetylcholine: What the Evidence Shows
  The brain builds acetylcholine from choline, and nine in ten adults eat too little. What food and supplements do to it, and how exercise and sleep change it.
• How to Increase Dopamine: What Actually Works
  Dopamine is the brain's motivation signal. What protein, sleep, exercise, sunlight, and caffeine each do to dopamine signaling, according to human studies.
• How to Increase Norepinephrine: What Actually Works
  Norepinephrine runs on tyrosine and a few nutrient cofactors. Human trials show how far exercise and cold water raise it, and what sleep does to the system.
• L-Theanine and Caffeine: Why the Pairing Works for Focus
  What happens when you combine L-theanine and caffeine: the studied doses and ratios, what clinical trials found, timing and safety, with sources.
• L-Tyrosine Benefits: What It Does and When It Works
  What L-tyrosine actually does for focus and working memory under stress: doses from human trials, when it helps, when it does not, and safety.
• N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine vs L-Tyrosine: What the Data Show
  NALT dissolves far better than L-tyrosine, but human infusion studies show most of it leaves in the urine. What that means for choosing a tyrosine supplement.
• When to Take L-Theanine: Timing, Dose, and How Long It Lasts
  L-theanine peaks in the blood about 50 minutes after a dose and clears within hours. When to take it for focus, stress, or sleep, and how much, from trials.

Looking for a recommendation instead? Read our guide to the best nootropic supplement.