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Ingredient & advertising guide

This page has two jobs. First, it explains every line printed on the panel of the bottle we sell, what each ingredient is, and what the research does and does not say about it, including who was in each trial, at what dose and who paid for it. Second, and this is the part most advertising pages leave out, it lists the headlines we run, tells you which ones are exaggerated, and separates the small number of things that are genuinely supported by evidence from the many that are not.

1. Our headlines, and what is actually true

These are the headlines we have run, grouped by the claim they make. The right-hand column is our own plain assessment. We have marked each family of headlines as Exaggerated, Partly true, Withdrawn, Our headline was wrong or Broadly supported.

The headline as you saw it	What is actually behind it
"Mental Decline Begins When Seniors Can't Spell These 3 Words. Test Now""Top Doctors Say Mental Decline Begins When Seniors Can't Pronounce These 3 Phrases. Can You?""MDs Say Mental Decline Begins When Seniors Can't Pronounce These 3 Phrases. Can You?""Memory Decline Begins When Seniors Say These 3 Phrases (See The List)""Declining Memory Begins When Seniors Say These 7 Phrases. See Which Ones"	Exaggerated There is no set of three words, three phrases or seven phrases whose spelling or pronunciation marks the beginning of anything. Nothing "begins" at a word. Word tasks do appear inside the short memory checks clinicians use, but those checks are given in person and read alongside your history, your medicines and your age. Failing a word online means nothing on its own: plenty of people stumble over a word when they are tired, nervous or being timed. "Top doctors" and "MDs" refer to no specific doctor. See section 4.
"Japan's Oldest Doctors Say Memory Loss Isn't Age: Just Avoid Drinking These 3 Beverages""Japan's Greatest Doctors Say Memory Loss Isn't Age: Just Avoid Drinking These 3 Beverages""Japan's Oldest Doctors Say Memory Loss Isn't Age: Just Avoid Eating These 3 Foods""Japan's Oldest Doctors Say Memory Loss Isn't Age: Just Stop Eating These 3 Foods"	Exaggerated No group of Japanese doctors issued this statement. There is no such panel, no such list, and no source we can point you to. Japan appears in the headline because it is widely associated with long life, which makes the claim feel credible. That is a marketing decision, not a citation. The second half is also wrong. Memory changes with age for everyone, and no diet removes that. What is true is narrower: certain long-term drinking and eating patterns travel with faster slippage on thinking tests in large population studies. [2] [3] Association is not proof of cause, and "just avoid these three" is not how any of it works.
"Nobel Prize's Doctors Say Memory Loss Isn't Age: Just Stop Eating These 3 Foods"	Withdrawn We retract this one outright. No Nobel laureate has endorsed this page, this product, or any list of three foods on our behalf. Attaching the Nobel Prize to an advertisement implies an authority that does not exist and we should not have run it.
"The Overlooked Boxed Cereal Now Tied to 8 Out of 10 Memory Cases"	Our headline was wrong There is no such statistic. No study ties any cereal to eight out of ten cases of anything, "memory cases" is not a category any researcher uses, and no cereal has been "overlooked" by anyone: the sugar figure is printed on the side of every box. The number was invented for the headline and we withdraw it. The grain of truth is the same as for the other cereal headlines below: a diet heavy in ultra-processed food, the sweet cereal shelf included, travels in a large Brazilian study with somewhat faster slippage on thinking tests over eight years. [3] That is a modest association across thousands of people, not eight in ten of anyone. See section 3.
"Brain Experts Now Say These 3 Cereals Age the Brain Faster Than Time""Scientists Now Say This 1 Cereal Ages the Brain Faster Than Time"	Exaggerated No food ages the brain "faster than time." That phrase was written for effect and it is not a finding from any study. It is also internally inconsistent: in one version it is three cereals, in another it is one, because the number is something we test for click-through, not something we measured. The grain of truth: diets high in ultra-processed food are associated with somewhat faster slippage on thinking tests over years. [3] That is a modest effect across a population, not a fate sealed by a bowl of cereal. See section 3.
"Doctors Now Say This Popular Evening Drink Is Behind Memory Loss""Doctors Now Say This Popular Evening Drink Is Behind Brain Health Decline"	Partly true The "evening drink" is alcohol, and of everything our ads point at, this is where the evidence is strongest. In British civil servants followed for thirty years, higher drinking went with shrinkage of the hippocampus, the region most involved in forming memories, and with faster decline in word fluency; light drinkers had no edge over non-drinkers. [2] What is overstated is the word "behind." Alcohol is one contributing factor among many, not the cause of memory slips. Cutting back is a genuinely good idea. It is also worth saying plainly: the bottle we sell contains no alcohol; it does contain 50 milligrams of caffeine, which the label compares to half a cup of coffee.
"Doctors Name 5 Popular Drinks Now Tied To Memory Decline. Coffee Tops The List""Seniors: These 4 Drinks May Be Aging Your Brain Faster""The 4 Drinks Brain Doctors Want Seniors to Quit""Neurologists Say Cognitive Decline Isn't Age: Just Stop Drinking These 2 Popular Drinks""Doctors: 3 Popular Drinks Now Tied to Memory Loss in Seniors"	Exaggerated Notice that the count changes: two drinks, three, four, five. It changes because it is an advertising variable we rotate, not a number that came out of a study. No neurologist is named in any version, because none was consulted. "Coffee tops the list" is the clearest thing we have got wrong: none of the studies on this page is about plain coffee. If you drink coffee and enjoy it, this headline gave you a reason to worry that the evidence does not support. Our own article about this bottle keeps your coffee in the morning and counts the bottle's 50 milligrams of caffeine along with it: 400 milligrams a day is the figure the Food and Drug Administration cites for most healthy adults. [4] See section 2.
"Brain Doctors: Quit These 4 Drinks Before It's Too Late"	Exaggerated No brain doctor was consulted for this headline, and there is no "too late." The deadline was invented to make you click. The four drinks are the ones in section 2: alcohol, sugar-sweetened soft drinks, energy drinks and sweetened coffee-shop drinks. Cutting back on them is sensible for your sleep, your weight and your wallet, and heavy drinking travels with poorer memory outcomes over years. [2] There is no evidence that quitting them on any particular day changes anything about your memory, and there is no age after which the change stops being worth making. See section 2.
"Memory Slipping? Check These 4 Everyday Drinks First"	Partly true Half right, in the wrong order. If your memory is slipping, the first thing to check is not a drink; it is a conversation with your own clinician about sleep, hearing and the medicines you take, none of which is fixed by changing what you pour. The four drinks are the everyday ones in section 2: alcohol, sugary soft drinks, energy drinks and sweetened coffee drinks. Reviewing them is a reasonable second step, mostly for sleep. Not enough plain water belongs on the list too. See section 2.
"America's Top Experts Say Mental Decline Isn't Aging: Just Avoid These 5 Kitchen Drinks"	Exaggerated The same construction as the "Japan's doctors" headline above, with the country changed. No panel of American experts issued this statement, and we cannot point you to one. Memory changes with age, and no drink removes that. The five kitchen drinks are alcohol, sugar-sweetened sodas, diet sodas, energy drinks and sweetened coffee-shop drinks, all in section 2, where the honest version of each is written out. "Just avoid" overstates what any of that evidence shows. See section 2.
"Still Sharp at 90? Seniors Are Rethinking These 3 Everyday Foods"	Partly true The gentlest of our headlines, and still an overstatement. Nobody knows what keeps a particular person sharp at 90, and no single food does it. The three everyday foods are sugary breakfast cereals, processed meats and packaged baked goods, all in section 3. Eating less of them is part of the long, slow habits in section 5, and no food is a promise at any age. See sections 3 and 5.
"Drink one cup a day and watch your memory change"	Exaggerated The product is a small bottle, not a cup, and nothing about it has been tested as this bottle. Its clearest effect is its caffeine, 50 milligrams, which makes most people more alert for a while; [5] that is alertness, not memory. The one trial with the brand's name tested Alpha BRAIN capsules, a different product, for six weeks in 63 adults aged 18 to 35, paid for by Onnit. [1] Of the other lines, the theanine and the citicoline sit at the doses of small trials that measured word fluency and attention, not memory, [6] [7] and the lion's mane sits at about a thirteenth of its trial. [8] "Watch your memory change" should not have been written. See section 6.
"A Field Guide to One Peach Bottle: the Leaf, the Log and the Moss"	Broadly supported This is the reading our article is built on. It takes the seven names printed on the panel and writes each one up the way a field guide writes up a plant: where it comes from, where you already meet it, how much of it is in the bottle, what the best study measured and when to leave it alone. The writer signs with a pen name, and the woodlot is his; the headline describes a way of reading a label, not a result. Each entry sets one line of the panel beside its source and its evidence: the 50 milligrams of caffeine against the coffee in the cup and the 400 milligrams a day the Food and Drug Administration cites, [4] [5] the theanine from the tea leaf at the 200 milligrams of a four-week trial, [6] the caffeine and theanine pair beside a one-dose study of 27 volunteers, [9] the citicoline, which the body makes from the choline in eggs, at the dose of a 28-day attention trial and half that of a memory trial, [10] [7] [11] the lion's mane from old beech and oak at about a thirteenth of its trial, [8] and the club moss sent to the pharmacy counter because huperzine A slows the enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine. [12] It is not a claim that the bottle works.
"Neurologists Name 5 Popular Prescriptions Now Tied to Memory Decline"	Partly true, and the one not to act on alone No neurologist named a list for us, and we will not print one. What is true is that pharmacists keep lists of everyday medicines, some sold over the counter for allergies and for the night, that are often a poor fit after 65, and that a yearly look at everything you take is worth having. But an advertisement is the worst possible reason to change a medicine: never stop or change one because of something you read in an ad, including ours. Put everything you take in one bag, this carton included, and ask your pharmacist. See the box at the end of section 2.

2. Every drink our ads point at

Our headlines have referred, in different versions, to "3 beverages", "4 drinks", "5 popular drinks", "2 popular drinks" and "this popular evening drink" without ever naming them. Here is the complete list of what we were pointing at, and what the research actually supports for each one. Where a study is cited, it is observational unless stated otherwise: it can show that two things travel together in a population, not that one causes the other.

3. Every food our ads point at

The food headlines referred to "3 foods" and to "cereals": one cereal in some versions, three in others. Again, the number was ours, not a finding. Here is what was meant, and what stands behind it.

4. The "3 words" and "7 phrases" tests

Several of our headlines invite you to test yourself on words or phrases: spell these three words, pronounce these three phrases, see whether you say these seven phrases. There is no such validated test, and we cannot give you a real one, because a real one does not work that way.

What an actual memory check looks like. Clinicians use short structured checks. They do include word tasks: recalling three unrelated words after a delay, naming animals, repeating a sentence. But three things make them different from an online quiz:

• They are given in person, in a standard way, by someone trained to do it.
• The score is read against your age and education, not against a fixed pass mark.
• A low score is a reason for a longer conversation with your clinician, never a verdict by itself.

These checks also produce false alarms. Poor sleep, trouble hearing, pain and simply being nervous all lower scores in people whose memory is fine. This is precisely why an online word quiz is meaningless: it has none of the context that makes the real check useful.

5. Everyday habits worth more than any bottle

If we only had one section to be useful in, this would be it. None of these is a supplement, a bottle, or a list of three foods, and none of them can be sold to you by us.

• Sleep enough, at regular hours. Keep caffeine, this bottle's included, to the morning; our article keeps it before noon.
• Get your hearing and your eyesight checked, and use hearing aids or glasses if you need them: straining to hear or see looks a great deal like not remembering.
• Walk, most days. Regular walking counts.
• Drink less alcohol. ^[2]
• Eat more like the MIND pattern and less from the ultra-processed shelf. ^{[14] [3]}
• Stay in touch with people. Conversation is exercise for memory.
• Keep learning something: a language, an instrument, a route you have never driven.
• Once a year, take everything you take to the pharmacist.
• Ask your clinician for a B12 level if nobody has checked it in a few years; the stomach absorbs less of it with age. ^[15]

These are unglamorous. They cannot be delivered in a headline, they take years, and they are, by a wide margin, the most useful things on this entire page.

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6. Ingredient guide: what is actually in the bottle we sell

What each line printed on the panel of the Onnit (Alpha BRAIN®) Alpha BRAIN Focus Shot is, what it is traditionally used for, and what the cited research says, including who was in each trial, at what dose and who paid for it. One bottle is one serving and the label says one a day. The two panels side by side. Printed on the retailer's listing, and on the maker's own product page: caffeine (anhydrous) 50 milligrams, L-theanine 200 milligrams, citicoline 250 milligrams, lion's mane 250 milligrams, Huperzia serrata extract 10 milligrams (0.1 milligrams of huperzine A), vitamin B6 5 milligrams, vitamin B12 500 micrograms, 5 calories and 25 milligrams of sodium, sweetened with rebaudioside M. Printed on the carton in the retailer's photographs: the same citicoline, lion's mane, club moss and vitamins, plus 1,000 milligrams of N-acetyl L-tyrosine and 300 milligrams of an ashwagandha root extract, with L-theanine at 100 milligrams, caffeine from a green tea extract at 50 milligrams, 10 calories, 30 milligrams of sodium and a stevia leaf extract, in a 75-milliliter bottle. Read the panel on the carton you receive, and take that panel to the pharmacist.

Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine HCl)

A water-soluble vitamin present in many foods that the body uses in more than 100 enzyme reactions involved in metabolism. Adults over 50 are advised to get 1.7 mg (men) or 1.5 mg (women) a day; one squeeze carries 0.5 mg (30% of the daily value).

Traditional and everyday use. Comes from poultry, fish, potatoes, chickpeas, bananas and fortified cereals.

What the research says. A Cochrane review of 14 trials in 27,882 cognitively healthy adults concluded that B-vitamin supplements (folic acid, vitamin B12, vitamin B6 or combinations) probably have little or no effect on global cognitive function.^[16] The National Institutes of Health notes that people with higher blood levels of B6 tend to have better memory, but that supplements have not been shown to improve cognition in older adults.

Amount per serving in Alpha BRAIN® Focus Shot, Peach · 6 bottles, 2.5 fl oz (74 ml) each. 5 mg, 294% DV (per bottle)

Good to know. Very high doses from supplements over long periods (1,000 mg a day and more; the upper limit for adults is 100 mg a day) can cause nerve damage in the arms and legs; five squeezes give 2.5 mg, far below that.

Vitamin B12 (methylcobalamin)

A vitamin found naturally only in animal foods — meat, fish, eggs and dairy — and in fortified products. The body absorbs it through a two-step process in the stomach and small intestine that becomes less efficient with age, which is why supplement doses are often many times the daily requirement: only a small percentage of a large oral dose is taken up.

What the research says. A Cochrane review of 14 trials in 27,882 cognitively healthy adults concluded that B-vitamin supplements, including vitamin B12, probably have little or no effect on global cognitive function up to five years.^[16] That review says nothing about people who are actually short of B12; in the European Union the vitamin carries authorised claims that it contributes to normal psychological function, to normal functioning of the nervous system and to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue.

Amount per serving in Alpha BRAIN® Focus Shot, Peach · 6 bottles, 2.5 fl oz (74 ml) each. 500 mcg, 20,833% DV (per bottle)

Good to know. No upper limit has been set, because unabsorbed vitamin B12 is not stored. A blood test is the only way to know whether you are short of it; ask your doctor rather than guessing.

Citicoline (CDP-choline)

A compound the body makes from choline and cytidine on the way to building the phospholipids of cell membranes; sold as a supplement (the Cognizin brand is common) and used as a medicine in some countries.

Traditional and everyday use. No traditional use; studied since the 1970s.

What the research says. In a 12-week trial of 100 healthy adults aged 50 to 85 with age-associated memory impairment, 500 mg a day of citicoline was associated with greater improvement in episodic memory (a paired-associate test) than placebo; overall memory improved in both groups.^[11] Mind Lab Pro provides half that dose. In a 28-day trial of 60 healthy women aged 40 to 60, 250 mg a day of the Cognizin form was associated with fewer errors on a computerized attention task than placebo; several authors were affiliated with the ingredient's maker.^[7]

Amount per serving in Alpha BRAIN® Focus Shot, Peach · 6 bottles, 2.5 fl oz (74 ml) each. 250 mg (Daily Value not established)

Good to know. Well tolerated in trials at 500-2,000 mg a day; occasional stomach upset or headache. Ask a pharmacist if you take daily medicine.

Lion's mane (Hericium erinaceus), fruiting body

An edible mushroom with long, white, downward-hanging spines that grows on older beech and oak trees in temperate forests across the Northern Hemisphere. It is eaten as food, especially in East Asia and the United States, with a texture often compared to crab or lobster.

Traditional and everyday use. Known as yamabushitake in Japan and houtougu in China, it has a long history of use as a food and in East Asian and Native American traditions.

What the research says. In a 12-week placebo-controlled trial of 31 healthy adults over 50, a daily lion's mane fruiting-body preparation (3.2 g/day) was associated with higher scores on a standard mental-status test compared with placebo.^[8] A visual-retention test in the same trial did not change, and the dose was far larger than most blends and extracts deliver. In a separate pilot trial in 41 healthy adults aged 18 to 45, a single 1.8 g dose was associated with faster performance on the Stroop task an hour later, while 28 days of it produced only a non-significant trend on self-rated stress.^[17]

Amount per serving in Alpha BRAIN® Focus Shot, Peach · 6 bottles, 2.5 fl oz (74 ml) each. 250 mg (Daily Value not established)

Good to know. Generally regarded as safe as a food. Stomach discomfort, nausea and skin rash were reported by a few participants in one clinical study. Avoid if you are allergic to mushrooms.

L-theanine

An amino acid found almost exclusively in tea leaves (Camellia sinensis) and in a few mushrooms. A cup of brewed green tea contains roughly 25 to 60 mg of it. It is what gives green tea its savoury, brothy taste.

Traditional and everyday use. Consumed for centuries as part of everyday tea drinking in China and Japan; isolated and named in Japan in 1949.

What the research says. In a placebo-controlled study in men and women aged 50 to 69, a single dose of l-theanine was associated with a faster reaction time on an attention task and with more correct answers and fewer omission errors on a working-memory task.^[18] The published summary of that study does not state the dose used, so no comparison with any product amount can be made from it. In a four-week crossover trial of 30 healthy adults averaging 48 years, 200 mg a day was followed by better verbal-fluency and executive-function scores; against placebo the verbal-fluency gain showed in the half who started lower, and two authors worked for the supplier.^[6]

Amount per serving in Alpha BRAIN® Focus Shot, Peach · 6 bottles, 2.5 fl oz (74 ml) each. 200 mg (Daily Value not established; the box in the retailer's photographs prints 100 mg)

Good to know. Generally well tolerated. If you are pregnant, nursing, or take anything daily, talk to your doctor before adding any supplement.

Caffeine

The world's most widely used stimulant, found in coffee, tea, cocoa, yerba mate and guarana. A cup of brewed coffee holds roughly 80 to 100 mg; a cup of tea, 30 to 50 mg.

Traditional and everyday use. Coffee and tea have been drunk for alertness for centuries.

What the research says. The European Food Safety Authority concluded in 2015 that single doses up to 200 mg and daily intakes up to 400 mg do not raise safety concerns for healthy adults, and that caffeine in moderate doses increases alertness and reduces sleepiness.^[5] That is the honest size of the claim: it wakes you up; it is not a memory ingredient. The US Food and Drug Administration cites 400 mg a day, about two to three 12-ounce cups of coffee, as an amount not generally associated with negative effects in most healthy adults.^[4]

Amount per serving in Alpha BRAIN® Focus Shot, Peach · 6 bottles, 2.5 fl oz (74 ml) each. 50 mg ("the same amount of caffeine as half a cup of coffee", per the label)

Good to know. Can cause jitteriness, faster heartbeat, stomach upset and trouble sleeping, especially later in the day. Count it together with your coffee and tea. People sensitive to caffeine, pregnant women and people with heart rhythm concerns should ask their doctor.

Huperzine A (from the club moss Huperzia serrata; the label prints "Club serrata")

A purified alkaloid isolated from a Chinese club moss. It slows the enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine, so it acts on the nervous system in a way most botanical ingredients do not, and it is the one ingredient on this label that behaves more like a medicine than like a food.

Traditional and everyday use. The moss has a history of use in Chinese herbal practice; the purified compound is a twentieth-century isolate.

What the research says. In a placebo-controlled study of healthy adults (12 per group), single doses of 100 or 200 µg of huperzine A slowed the enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine, measured in the blood; the 200 µg dose held declarative recall steady across sessions, but neither dose improved overall performance.^[12] Most other research on huperzine A has been done in people with a diagnosed condition and is not cited here.

Amount per serving in Alpha BRAIN® Focus Shot, Peach · 6 bottles, 2.5 fl oz (74 ml) each. 10 mg (0.1 mg huperzine A) (Daily Value not established)

Good to know. Because it acts on acetylcholine it can cause nausea, sweating, a slow heartbeat or muscle twitching, and it can add to the effect of anything else that acts on the same system. Not for pregnancy or breastfeeding. Talk to your doctor before use if you take anything for your heart, your breathing or your nervous system.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This information does not constitute medical advice and it should not be relied upon as such. This product is not a substitute for medication or other treatment prescribed by a physician or health care provider. Consult your doctor before starting any dietary supplement.

7. What we can and cannot promise

Set against the headlines that brought you here, this is the complete and honest position.

Things we cannot promise, and that nobody selling you a supplement can:

• That this bottle will improve your memory, your attention or your concentration.
• That it will stop memory from changing with age.
• That it offsets alcohol, sugar, processed food, or any drink or food named on this page.
• That it can replace anything a clinician gave you, or make a yearly look at your medicines unnecessary.
• That any doctor in Japan, any Nobel laureate, any neurologist or any "brain expert" recommends it. None has.
• That a word or phrase quiz can tell you anything about your brain.
• That the brand's trial settles anything about this bottle. The one trial with the Alpha BRAIN name tested the capsules, a different product, for six weeks in 63 adults aged 18 to 35, sponsored by Onnit. ^[1] The lion's mane in the bottle is about a thirteenth of the 3.2 grams a day in its trial in adults over 50, ^[8] and the huperzine A dose is the lower of two single doses in a study that found an enzyme change and no gain in overall performance. ^[12] Nobody has tested this bottle.
• That the phrases on the carton or the listing, or the fourteen ratings, describe a proven benefit. The listing calls the drink an evolution of a well-known formula and names no study; the carton's two lines about how you feel are ones our advertising rules do not let us repeat; the maker's own comparison table lists the bottle for focus and energy and places memory beside its capsules; and the same carton carries the FDA disclaimer.

Things we can say honestly:

• It is a carton of six 2.5-fluid-ounce bottles of a peach-flavored drink, made for Onnit Labs, Inc. of Austin, Texas and sold by iHerb, LLC of Irvine, California, which publishes a street address and a customer-support email. Every line printed on the panel is listed above.
• Each bottle carries 50 milligrams of caffeine, half a cup of coffee by its own label, 5 calories and about a gram of carbohydrate, sweetened with rebaudioside M. The other ingredients are water, natural flavors, citric acid, L-malic acid and sodium citrate.
• The label's direction is one bottle a day for adults, shaken well and served chilled, never more than one in 24 hours and never combined with another Alpha BRAIN product; it says to consult a physician first if you have a medical condition or take medications, and not to use it at bedtime, while pregnant or while nursing. A carton is six days.
• The price and the shipping and return terms are the ones on the retailer's listing on the day you look. We print no price, because the listing sets it by country and it changes; the retailer's listing says returns and refunds follow its own posted policy.
• We quote no customer reviews. The retailer's listing showed fourteen ratings averaging 4.4 stars, all with its purchase mark, but served the reviews only in an automatic translation, so we cannot give any buyer's words exactly as written. Individual experiences are not evidence.
• We earn a commission if you buy. That is our interest in this, stated plainly.
• Nothing here is medical advice, and none of it replaces your own clinician.

8. Questions people ask us

Did a Japanese doctor, a Nobel laureate or a neurologist really say this?

No. Those attributions are advertising language. No named or identifiable expert made those statements, and none has endorsed this product.

So is coffee bad for my memory or not?

None of the studies on this page is about plain coffee, and our "Coffee Tops The List" headline overstated it. What is worth watching is added sugar in coffee drinks, and caffeine late enough in the day to spoil your sleep. The bottle we sell carries 50 milligrams of caffeine, half a cup of coffee by its own label, so count it with your coffee and keep it out of the evening. ^[4]

Should I stop a medicine because of your "5 prescriptions" headline?

No. Not on your own, and not because of an advertisement. Take everything you take to your pharmacist and ask whether anything is a poor fit for your age.

What is the club-moss line, and why does it matter?

The panel lists 10 milligrams of a Huperzia serrata extract standardized to 1% huperzine A, which is 0.1 milligrams. Huperzine A slows the enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine, a messenger between nerve cells; a small study in healthy adults confirmed the effect in the blood at 100 and 200 micrograms and found no gain in overall performance. ^[12] Some everyday medicines act on the same enzyme, in one direction or the other, so the pharmacist should see the carton before the first bottle.

How much caffeine is in it, and how does that compare with coffee?

Fifty milligrams per bottle; the label calls it half a cup of coffee. A 12-ounce cup of brewed coffee holds 113 to 247 milligrams, and the Food and Drug Administration cites 400 milligrams a day as an amount not generally associated with negative effects in most healthy adults. ^[4] The European Food Safety Authority reached the same daily figure and puts 200 milligrams as a single serving. ^[5]

Which of the lines does something?

The caffeine, which makes most people more alert for a while. ^[5] The theanine and the citicoline sit at the doses of small trials of word fluency and attention, ^{[6] [7]} and the citicoline at half the dose of a memory trial. ^[11] The lion's mane is about a thirteenth of its trial dose. ^[8] The B12 matters if a blood test says you are short of it, which is more common after 65; ^[15] the largest review found B vitamins do little or nothing for the thinking of people who are not short. ^[16]

Can I drink it with the Alpha BRAIN capsules?

The label says no: do not combine it with any other Alpha BRAIN product, and never more than one bottle in 24 hours. The capsules carry the same club moss.

Why do the retailer's photographs show a different panel?

We cannot tell you why. The retailer's printed panel and the maker's product page match each other; the photographs of the carton on the same listing show a panel with N-acetyl L-tyrosine, ashwagandha, 100 milligrams of theanine and caffeine from green tea. Read the panel on the carton you receive.

What if it arrives and I don't like it?

The bottle is sold by iHerb, LLC, and returns and refunds follow the retailer's own posted policy. Read it on the retailer's site before you buy; its customer-support email is customersupport@iherb.com.

Are there reviews?

Fourteen ratings on the retailer's listing, an average of 4.4 stars, all with its purchase mark: nine at five stars, four at four and one at one. We quote none, because the store served them only in an automatic translation.

If your own headlines are exaggerated, why should I believe this page?

A fair question. Do not take our word for it. The references below are real, published sources you can look up yourself, and nothing in sections 4 and 5 requires you to buy anything or trust us. If this page and our headlines disagree, believe this page.

Does this page cost anything?

No. There is nothing to sign up for, and you are welcome to read it, close the tab and never come back.

Can I check these claims myself?

Yes, and you should. Every numbered reference below can be found by searching its authors and journal. For general information, the National Institute on Aging (nia.nih.gov) publishes plain-language material and sells nothing.

References

These are the sources behind the claims marked with a number above. Several are observational studies, which can show association but not cause. The Alpha BRAIN trial was sponsored by the company that sells it, run in adults aged 18 to 35, and tested capsules, not this bottle; the theanine and citicoline trials had authors from the ingredients' suppliers; the huperzine study gave single doses; the fact sheets are the governments' own; none of them tested this bottle. We have deliberately not cited anything for the claims we describe as exaggerated, because there is nothing to cite.

1. Solomon T.M. et al. (2016). Human Psychopharmacology 31(2):135-143 doi.org
2. Topiwala A. et al. (2017). BMJ 357:j2353 doi.org
3. Gonçalves N.G. et al. (2023). JAMA Neurology 80(2):142-150 doi.org
4. US FDA Consumer Update. "Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine Is Too Much?" (updated 2024-08-28) fda.gov
5. EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (2015). Scientific Opinion on the safety of caffeine. EFSA Journal 13(5):4102 doi.org
6. Hidese S. et al. (2019). Nutrients 11(10):2362 doi.org
7. McGlade E. et al. (2012). Food and Nutrition Sciences 3(6):769-773 doi.org
8. Saitsu Y. et al. (2019). Biomedical Research 40(4):125-131 doi.org
9. Owen G.N. et al. (2008). Nutritional Neuroscience 11(4):193-198 doi.org
10. Poly C. et al. (2011). American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 94(6):1584-1591 doi.org
11. Nakazaki E. et al. (2021). Journal of Nutrition 151(8):2153-2160 doi.org
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Citing a study does not mean the study is about this product. The trials above tested one ingredient or one formula, in other people, at doses this bottle matches only in part, not the bottle itself; none of the research tested the Onnit (Alpha BRAIN®) Alpha BRAIN Focus Shot, and none of it supports it.

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