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Looking for a nootropic that will help you that will give you an edge when tackling mentally-draining problems?
NeuroFuel by Natural Stacks is claimed to contain natural ingredients that improve brain performance, like enhancing your focus and memory retention.
But can this formula deliver on these claims, or is it just a marketing ploy from the Natural Stacks brand? What is the evidence behind its ingredients and what is the feedback from those who have tried it?
In this article, I’ll be answering those questions and giving you my own take on the situation to help you figure out whether NeuroFuel is actually effective.
Main Takeaways
- Although NeuroFuel contains a variety of ingredients that play a role in neurology, there isn’t sufficient evidence to prove their effects on young, healthy people.
- With this being said, I was surprised by the number of positive reviews on third-party websites suggesting how effective NeuroFuel is from cognitive standpoint.
- NeuroFuel is quite pricey at $2 per serving, and one bottle (assuming you’re taking it every single day) will only last you two weeks.
Ingredient Analysis
NeuroFuel is a nootropic supplement with a handful of ingredients, which makes its formulation simple when compared to most nootropics.
The ingredients in NeuroFuel are:
- Vitamin B6
- Artichoke Leaf Extract
- Acetyl L-Carnitine
- L-Phenylalanine
- Coleus Forskohlii
Some of the ingredients in this formulation are probably familiar to those that are into nootropics, but I’ll go over each one nonetheless.
The goal here is to understand how effective each ingredient is— by analyzing whether there’s enough scientific evidence to back it up, and determine, as per the evidence, if it’s dosed appropriately.
Vitamin B6
This is a crucial vitamin for brain health because it contributes to the production of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and norepinephrine, which regulate mood and stress responses.
Additionally, B6 aids in the formation of myelin, a protein layer that protects nerve cells.
However, most of the studies pointing to B6’s cognitive benefits involve subjects who have a deficiency.
While a deficiency can impair cognitive function, there’s not much evidence to suggest that supplementation beyond the recommended daily intake provides additional benefits in terms of cognition enhancement for those who are not deficient.
For instance, this review looks at two studies that tested whether vitamin B6 supplements could improve mood or thinking skills in healthy older people.
In one study, 12 women aged 65 to 92 took 75 mg of vitamin B6 each day for five weeks, but it didn’t make any difference to their mood or thinking skills compared to 21 women who didn’t take the supplement.
In the other study, 76 men aged 70 to 79 were split into two groups. One group took 20 mg of vitamin B6 each day for 12 weeks and the other group didn’t take the supplement.
And well, the review found no evidence that vitamin B6 supplements can improve mood or thinking skills in healthy older people. However, they did increase levels of vitamin B6 in the blood.
Artichoke Leaf Extract
The primary compound of interest in artichoke extract is luteolin, a flavonoid with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.
The inhibition of PDE4 and consequent increase in cAMP can theoretically enhance neuronal signaling, promote neuroprotection, and improve long-term potentiation (LTP) which is crucial for memory formation.
While these mechanisms are promising, the majority of research on artichoke extract and cognition has been done on animals or in vitro.
For example, one study found that AFB1, a harmful substance, can cause damage to the brain and disrupt its normal functioning.
The researchers saw signs of this damage when looking at things like sugar and fat levels, inflammation, and the activity of various brain-related enzymes.
Artichoke leaf extract seemed to protect the brain from some of this damage by reducing the production of harmful molecules called free radicals and boosting the activity of protective antioxidant enzymes.
It seems to do this thanks to its phenolic compounds, which are natural chemicals found in certain plants that often have beneficial health effects.
But as I said, its efficacy as a neuroprotector in humans is not well established.
Acetyl L-Carnitine
ALCAR can cross the blood-brain barrier, where it acts as a powerful antioxidant and helps energy production in neurons by transporting fatty acids into the mitochondria.
It has shown some effectiveness in treating some neurological conditions and age-related cognitive decline.
In terms of cognitive enhancement in healthy individuals, the research is not as robust.
In fact, I found this review that analyzed two studies.
One study gave L-carnitine or a fake pill (a placebo) to about 200 people for three days. The other study only included 18 people and gave them just one dose of L-carnitine. Both of these studies involved young, healthy people around 21 years old and tried to measure different types of thinking skills using various tests.
The smaller study didn’t provide any useful data, but the authors mentioned they didn’t see any improvements in thinking skills from taking L-carnitine.
The larger study was missing some important information, but the researchers didn’t find any evidence that L-carnitine improved any type of thinking skills. The larger study did note that there were some minor side effects, but these were the same for the people taking L-carnitine and the people taking the placebo.
In other words, it’s quite likely that ALCAR doesn’t produce the cognitive-enhancing effects that are often claimed.
L-Phenylalanine
This amino acid is the precursor to tyrosine, which in turn is converted into the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine.
These neurotransmitters are vital for alertness, focus, mood regulation, and reward processing. Yet, it’s important to note that simply increasing the availability of a precursor doesn’t always result in increased neurotransmitter production because the body tightly re