Hello. I was wondering about your thoughts on this product Neurogenex.
Per Capsule:
Huperzine A .................50mcg
Vinpocetine ......................2mg
Bacopa (20% bacosides) ....50mg
Galantamine ........................1500mcg
Choline Bitartrate ...............100mg
2-oxo-pyrrolidone ...............400mg
DMAE ................................50mg
Pyridoxal-5-Phosphate .........5mg
Nicotinamide ........................5mg
Calcium Pantothenate .............5mg
Vitamin C...............................25mg
Acetyl-l-Tyrosine ..................25mg
Acetyl-l-Carnitine ..................50mg
The dosages don't seem to make sense. If you took 8 capsules a day, you would be within the clinically-tested range for most of these nutrients, and while you would likely not want to take a full 8 due to the likelihood of synergistic interaction and the known inverted-U response curve of many cognitive-enhancement supplements, you would still be far too low in ALCAR to expect a benefit, andn be taking nearly a full day's dose of galantamine -- which would be a bad idea as you'd also be taking a very high dose of huperzine.
Moreover, I don't understand why they've included acetyl-L-tyrosine. All of the studies that I could find tended to show that it is no better than, and apparently
inferior to, tyrosine itself In particular, Topall and Laborit found that when “mice had been treated with L-tyrosine, O-phospho-L-tyrosine, L-tyrosine methyl ester or N-acetyl-L-tyrosine …. After the intraperitoneal administration of O-phospho-L-tyrosine or the methyl ester, there was a substantial increase in bioavailability in terms of the effect of tyrosine. The two prodrugs were as powerful as tyrosine following oral administration. N-Acetyl-L-tyrosine was the least effective prodrug tested.” Now, if after oral administration O-phospho-L-tyrosine or the methyl ester were only “as powerful as tyrosine,” and if acetyl-L-tyrosine “
was the least effective prodrug tested,” that seems to indicate that it is actually
less effective than tyrosine itself. Since the clinically-tested dose of tyrosine is typically 9 grams, it’s hard to see what one can get out of this ingredient.
Taking DMAE, ALCAR, and choline in one pill is counterproductive, because of the competition for absorption and blood-brain barrier transport of quaternary amines; moreover, taking pro-cholinergic (choline, huperzine, galantamine) and anti-cholinergic (DMAE) supplements in one serving seems to guarantee the least possible benefits from all of the ingredients in question.
The vitamins don’t seem to be well-chosen or -dosed, either. P5P is not an effective supplement. The body dephosphorylates it before it can pass through cellular membranes; thus, 5 mg of P5P is equivalent to less than 5 mg of plain pyridoxine (vitamin B6). The doses of B5 and vitamin C seem unlikely to add to the intake of people taking a quality multivitamin.
More importantly: in my opinion, life extensionists should not take nicotinamide, due to the potential issue of
niacinamide’s nullification of the potential anti-aging effects of sirtuins.
(Ker-plug): You may want to have a look at AOR’s
OrthoMind formulation, which (of course
) I consider to be much better-designed. It includes pyroglutamic acid, the root molecule of the ‘racetams.
Since I live in Canada, this is the only product I can find that has piracetam and that's on a Canadian website. I would like to buy some piracetam in bulk from the USA, but i'm afraid that it might not go through customs.
Again, you may want to consider pyroglutamic acid instead. But if you prefer piracetam: while
I am not a lawyer or n agent of Health Canada , and you should double-check with your local Therapeutic Products Directorate enforcement officer, I do not believe that piracetam will be stopped at the border. Several years ago, I spoke with mine, and he informed me that since piracetam is not on Schedule F, a small personal supply would be allowed through. I did order some piracetam for myself some time back and had no problems with the process.
To your health!
AOR
Van Goudoever JB, Sulkers EJ, Timmerman M, Huijmans JG, Langer K, Carnielli VP, Sauer PJ. Amino acid solutions for premature neonates during the first week of life: the role of N-acetyl-L-cysteine and N-acetyl-L-tyrosine. JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 1994 Sep-Oct;18(5):404-8.
Topall G, Laborit H. Brain tyrosine increases after treating with prodrugs: comparison with tyrosine. J Pharm Pharmacol. 1989 Nov;41(11):789-91.
Magnusson I, Ekman L, Wangdahl M, Wahren J. N-acetyl-L-tyrosine and N-acetyl-L-cysteine as tyrosine and cysteine precursors during intravenous infusion in humans. Metabolism. 1989 Oct;38(10):957-61.