Do you take any supplements which increase the brains capacity / function?
I take atm:
Ginkgo Biloba
soon: red ginseng

I also considered getting piracetam or aniracetam.

What do you eat, besides healthy food, to boost your brain?

I like DMAE for my acetylcholine supplement. Having tried aniracetam, oxiracetam and piracetam, would say that piracetam has the most bang for the buck - mostly because it's so cheap compared to the others. If had enough for two, would go with piracetam/aniracetam combo, twice a day. An even bigger fan of rhodiola. Also, fish oil and multivitamins with higher levels of B-vits.

daily...... fish oil, ginko, and B complex

the rest I get from a great diet and being outdoors.

Nothing better for the mind than country livin, down on the farm!

Great diet consisting of nearly nothing but vegetables, legumes, seeds, nuts and fruits. I also cycle or walk a long time each day, to and from work and my dog need to get some air. This I find to be greatest brainbooster of them all. I also currently take ginseng, rhodiola rosea and schisandra. Some periods I take ginkgo, but not at the moment.

Of anything I've tried my favorite is piracetam. Aniracetam works pretty well. The "cetams" actually help tremendously with memory and actually eliminates "brain farts." 700-1400mg of piracetam is subtle, but definitely noticeable.

I like most of the above mentioned stuffs.

Additionally, I like to supplement often with curcumin+piperine (piperine may alter the pharmacokinetics of different drugs) & bacopa extract, both of which encourage good brain health.
Vinpocetine is also excellent. It always gives me a pleasant rush.

I like to make a psychic salad to eat when tripping.
This consists of aniracetam dissolved in grapeseed oil and mixed with balsamic vinegar, poured over greens, reds, purples, yellows, and other colors of vegetation. It would be interesting to try with DMAE or even Alpha GPC Choline dissolved in the dressing as well.

Huge b-12 fan personally, also a fan of 5-htp, kava, and beta-glucan, to name a few!

This: http://ayurveda-herbs.com/20.htm

or

this: http://www.naturesformul...cts/55-shankhpushpi.aspx

....the first one preferably, the second one if I run out of the first one.

Also, I take Mucuna pruriens and small doses of Caapi daily, sublingually.


Singular herbs that are renowned in the brain tonic realm:

- Bacopa monneira
- Gotu Kola (Centella asiatica)
- Shankhapushpi (either: Evolvulus alsinoides, Convolulus pluricaulis, Clitoria ternatea & Canscora decussata...various species are listed in various texts for Shankhapushpi...I've tried Evolvulus, Convolvulus & Clitoria (in a formula)...all three work great.)
- Vacha (Acorus calamus)
- Gingko biloba

Different ones are recommended for different types of people....depending on their natural psychosomatic temperament.

I've taken a lot of the DMAE, vinpocitine, phosphatidylcholine, ginkgo, tyrosine, phenylalanine, co-factors, this, that and the other type supplements over the past several years.....and none of it compares to a well-formulated Ayurvedic Medhya Rasayana (Mental Rejuvenative/Brain Tonic). My particular favorite being the Shankhapushpi Rasayana in the first link or a formula, that I usually improvise, based on Shankhapushpi.

For some people, Bacopa, Gotu Kola or Calamus will be more appropriate. Depends on the person's "Prakruti". (google it)

I can't recommend the Ayurvedic Medhya tonics enough.

Edit: And yeah, a lot of the "ginsengs" are great: Panax ginseng, American ginseng, Ashawagandha, Suma, Rhodiola rosea, Siberian ginseng, etc... all go great with the Medhya herbs....but again, personal Prakruti.

Good diet (hemp seed, spirulina, raw cocoa, bee pollen, lots of fresh fruit and veg), exercise (running), green tea + ginseng, and last but not least occasional Iboga root bark micro dosing. Would like to dabble with caapi at some point.

piracetam/aniracetam, phosphatidyl choline, and vinpocetine (it's more effective than ginkgo). B-complex vitamins are are also essential.
haven't tried Alpha-GPC, but that one is probably a more effective sub for phosphatidyl choline.

Check out this information on Gotu Kola:

http://www.mdidea.com/pr...act/gotukola/data01.html


These are some other good formulas:

http://www.banyanbotanic...amp;aitem=3&mitem=56

http://www.ruved.net/Memoren_p_167.html#

http://organicindiausa.c...Brahmi-Gotu_Kola_Formula


Here, you can get the herbs in bulk:

http://www.banyanbotanic...m/products.asp?dept=1044

...they carry Gotu Kola, Bacopa, Shankhapushpi, Ashwagandha, Tulsi (Holy Basil), Kapikacchu (Mucuna; not a pokemon character), and Calamus.

Also, here: http://ayurveda.com/shop...bs.html?limit=48&p=1 ....they carry a lot of those ^^ herbs by the ounce.

As much as possible: fruit, yoga, cycling, Ayahuasca, and DMT.

I rather liked E3 Live, but it was too expensive to continue regularly.

Too expensive, anyway, for a supplement that won't talk to me after I take it.

I would defintely consider white ginseng (in Asia, it means the kind that is NOT steamed and cooked) if you are looking more for the brain and spirit benefits....particularly the spiritual side. Not that many of the same benefits aren't in the red...but I believe those benefits are more abundant in the white variety. But most importantly, it should come down to whether your body is more yin or yang. As I mentioned yesterday in the ginseng discussion, I am naturally a cooler person - tee shirts in the winter kind of thing - so white ginseng is more suitable for me....you can either chew the dried roots themselves (bitter and hard, but not really that bad), or gelcap the powdered variety. You need to take ginseng regularly for a month or three ... it's not like aspirin ... but a few thousand years of positive results are on your side.

Before you even think about brain-boosting supplements, you've got to ask yourself if you're getting an adequate amount of sleep every night. There is absolutely no way you're going to come close to maximizing your grey matter's potential if you're sleep deprived. You probably know that -- just want to drive the point home.

"Adequate" means waking up with no desire to go back to sleep.

That is so true. I need more of that....sleep. I feel like that every morning....but that's what multitasking to help several different people and having intestinal trouble does to a body/nervous system.

Good exercise, good food and amazing sleep cannot be overemphasized enough. Herbs and supplements are just on top of that. Not to mention our use of ayahuasca, dmt, mushrooms, lsd, cacti, this, that and the other....meditation....nature walks/sits.....pranayam/breathing exercises.....massage (ahhhh)....loving embrace of other human beings...sudden cosmic shifts in perception....but I'm getting carried away. Damn that cacao!

I do keep getting these repetitive commands from above... THOU SHALT SNUGGLE.

I guess it just comes down to using our bodies as they were meant to be used (exercise), eating as we were meant to eat (fresh whole foods from the earth, sacred herbs), and living as we were meant to live... loving each other!!

Ohhhh, yes. I read somewhere too that playing an instrument can ward off dementia?

The simple and sweet things in life... the best way to stay healthy.

Haha, yeah...it's too bad my only snuggling I get is my pillow, when I'm trying to sleep.



Exactly.



Left hand and right hand playing together in a synchronized fashion, balancing the right and left hemispheres of the brain and enkindling the fire in the heart. And depending on the type of music, stirring the juices of the adrenals and giving you a workout!

Alright, my dietry changes are made:

Rhodolia/B-Complex,
Red Ginseng,
Lecitin,
Piracetame (2400 mg daily),
Ginkgo Biloba/Guarana

Thank you for your advice.

update:
I'm doing 2 weeks now, with the Piracetame and all the other supplements!

It works pretty well. I'm feeling more clear-headed, and my brain seems to work a little elevated.

Great stuff

It's an old thread, but I didn't want to start a new one on this topic. I'm having a rough period with lots of exams and assignments (yeah, I have to be a brainiac ), and as I was searching for different natural brain boosting methods, I came across Gamma Binaural Beats. It's said that these brainwave frequences improve concentration, performance and cognitive functions in general.

Two days ago, right before an exam, I meditated to it for one hour, and, placebo or not, I could remember every detail so clearly, that I was truly amazed. I did study, of course, but I'm not in my early twenties when I had absolutely no problem remembering loads of stuff. And I think weed on the long term really affects cognition and short term memory, at least in my case.

Did anyone here experiment with binaurals? I'm curious of your opinions.



Have a blissful day!

a lot of us have. meditating is key for it to be effective.