If you have issues with concentration or memory, or if you feel like your mental energy is never where it needs to be, you might benefit from trying a nootropic. A nootropic is a type of supplement that works to target your overall brain health and cognitive function. One such option for a nootropic is NooCube. Here is a breakdown of what NooCube is, how it works, and how it stacks up to the competition.[/vc_column_text]
Who Makes NooCube?
NooCube is developed and manufactured by Wolfson Berg Ltd. Their products are fairly well known, especially in the fitness world, and they are also the ones behind Testogen, Male Extra, and PhenQ as well, so they have a lot of experience in the health supplement business. Not only is NooCube FDA and GMP approved, but it was also developed by neuroscientists through vigorous research, and the doses and results are backed up by clinical studies. Thanks to this, you can rest assured the product is safe for your brain and body, and not just a concoction of supplements formulated through guesswork.
What Can You Expect When Using NooCube?
Since NooCube is a cognitive enhancer, you can expect a lot of benefits related to your mental fortitude and cognitive abilities. According to the official website, NooCube plays a role in helping to:
- Boost brain function and wellness
- Improve memory and learning abilities
- Enable better communication
- Enhance concentration
- Improve multitasking
- Increase mental performance
While NooCube does have a lot of benefits, it is missing one thing that other nootropics also provide, and that's stress relief. Many other nootropics include ingredients that help calm the mind and reduce stress, in addition to boosting cognitive abilities. Their site claims that NooCube doesn't include caffeine because they don't want to increase the jittery and anxiety-inducing effects caffeine has. This means the extra adrenaline from the caffeine rush won't be causing more stress, but the formula is also missing out on the benefits of caffeine as well. The fact that NooCube is missing those stress relieving benefits puts it a step below other nootropics right from the start, but if no caffeine isn't an issue, then this might be the best mental performance supplement for you.
How Does NooCube Work?
Healthy brain and nerve function ultimately boil down to the use of neurotransmitters by the cells of the nervous system. When a signal or stimulus triggers a nerve cell, neurotransmitters are released and picked up by receptors in the surrounding cells, sending the signal down along the chain of cells towards its destination.
Due to age, diet, stress, disease, or other ailments, the abundance of neurotransmitters can start to diminish, leading to slower reaction times, poor concentration, brain fog, memory and recall problems, and overall slower brain function, which can sh ow itself in other side effects, too. NooCube reintroduces neurotransmitters like dopamine, glutamine, acetylcholine, and serotonin back into the nervous system, helping to bring cognitive performance back up to where it should be. On top of this, it also includes ingredients to help with blood flow to help reduce oxidative stress as well as ensure the brain has a consistent flow of nutrients carried to it by the bloodstream.
Are There Any Dangers or Side Effects?
With the exception of a few ingredients which may be considered allergens (mostly in the capsule coating than the supplement formula itself), there are no reported side effects of taking NooCube to improve your memory and learning. The ingredients have been tested in clinical studies and all show to be safe for long term human consumption.
There is one minor concern to be aware of though. Huperzine-A is used to allow for more acetylcholine in the brain, as it is used to block the enzyme responsible for breaking down acetylcholine. The issue with this is that acetylcholine, while great for the brain, can cause issues if it isn't properly regulated. If your acetylcholine levels in the brain get too high, you could begin feeling symptoms such as:
- Headaches
- Loss of focus
- Confusion
- Poor mood
This is pretty much the exact opposite effect you'd want from a nootropic. Thankfully, the makers of NooCube are aware of this issue as well, and as part of their instructions, they recommend cycling NooCube to prevent your acetylcholine levels from climbing too high.
How Do I Take This Supplement?
The recommended dosage for NooCube is to take two capsules per day at breakfast to start, and based on how you react to it individually, adjust your dosage from there. The maximum number of capsules recommended is four per day though, as taking more than the recommended dose may lead to some side effects. In addition to this, they also recommend you cycle NooCube, basically alternating between periods of time where you are taking the nootropic and periods of time where you give your body a break. This is to prevent your acetylcholine levels from building up too high.
What is in NooCube?
NooCube has a variety of ingredients that boosts cognitive abilities and brainpower for better focus and concentration. While many of these may seem familiar to those who have taken or looked into nootropics before, there are a few ingredients that might stand out as well. NooCube consists of nine main ingredients:
One of the best natural memory enhancers out there, Bacopa Monnieri, has been shown to improve performance in cognitive-based and memory focused tests. Bacopa Monnieri works by encouraging dendrite growth in the neurons, allowing for better nerve connections. While the dosage will show some improvement over the course of 6-12 weeks, the extract in other nootropic supplements is generally more refined and more potent.
L-Tyrosine is commonly used to help improve focus and concentration when under stress. Acting as an anti-anxiety agent, L-Tyrosine helps reduce anxiety and helps hone the mental focus of those under both mental and physical stress, including sleep deprivation, cold exposure, noise exposure, or who are required to perform intense multitasking. The dosage of L-Tyrosine in NooCube is comparable to other nootropic health supplements.
Cat's Claw is believed to be rich in antioxidants, helping to protect the brain from damage due to free radicals. Free radicals destroy body cells, resulting in aging effects such as cognitive decline, memory loss, an inability to learn new information, and low concentration. Studies as to whether or not Cat's Claw actually improves cognitive function is still inconclusive though, so how much this ingredient truly adds to the formula is still a bit of a mystery, although Cat's Claw is in many similar types of supplements.
Another ingredient that is still a bit inconclusive is Oat Straw. While it does offer some soothing and anxiolytic effects to help reduce stress, its use as a nootropic is still far from clear. One study did show that Oat Straw may have helped in boosting the concentration of older individuals, but there's just not enough information out there yet to say for sure if it is also known as a way to improve brain health.
L-Theanine is a great sleep enhancer, but the benefits don't end there. It also pairs extremely well with caffeine, something that many nootropic users are already getting quite a lot of. L-Theanine helps boost the positive effects of caffeine while curbing its downsides, helping you to stay focused on the task at hand without the jittery hyperactivity that comes with a caffeine high.
It's hard to say whether or not L-Theanine has any nootropic properties on its own, but it certainly works well in conjunction with the rest of the mix for memory and learning. Most other nootropics include L-Theanine in their mix, but they also have the caffeine to pair with it to increase mental energy.
Alpha-GPC increases choline levels to help boost vital neurotransmitters and chemicals to make the brain function even better. This extremely effective ingredient is one of the key players in a lot of nootropics, and where a good portion of their benefits come from. For such a powerful ingredient though, NooCube uses hardly any. Most other nootropics use over four to five times the dosage used in NooCube, severely cutting NooCube's effectiveness compared to other nootropics on the market.
Huperzia Serrate, a plant found throughout India and southeast Asia, is well known for its nootropic effects and is used in a variety of brain health supplements. This is due to the small concentration of Huperzine A. As mentioned earlier, Huperzine A helps boost acetylcholine levels by blocking the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, which destroys acetylcholine after it has passed between neurons. The problem is that this ingredient alone requires NooCube to be cycled.
While this is a great antioxidant, its effects are somewhat diminished while taken orally. This antioxidant is usually found in fruits and vegetables, though it is most famously known for being in red wine. Why such a small dosage was included is a bit questionable, since it will have very little impact, but it's better than nothing and works to help you improve learning.
Another great antioxidant, this one is very similar to Resveratrol, so much so that it is often described as the supercharged version of Resveratrol. It is far more bioavailable and structurally similar. With Pterostilbene being far and above the better antioxidant to use, and the fact that the two are so structurally similar, why include Resveratrol in the first place?
That Feeling of DejaVu
If you've got that nagging suspicion you've seen this all before, then you're absolutely right. NooCube uses almost all of the exact same ingredients as Alpha Brain, which was likely used as their main inspiration for their formula. While the ingredients are essentially the same, there is one key difference between the two. NooCube is completely transparent with their doses and ingredients, while Alpha Brain uses blends which combine the core ingredients with other additives for more benefit. The main issue is that it's hard to say just how much of their blend is the active ingredient and how much is the additive. If pressed to recommend one over the other, the transparency of NooCube's formula dosages makes it the slightly better choice in this NooCube review.
How Does It Measure Up?
While the NooCube isn't a bad nootropic by any means, it has some questionable design choices in regards to its formula and how to take this supplement. The biggest issue is the way that NooCube needs to be cycled due to Huperzine A. Most, if not all of the other ingredients in NooCube, benefit from being consistently in the system and using NooCube to maintain constant levels that the supplement supplies the brain. Not only that, but the benefits of many of the core ingredients can take a long time to become noticeable, as you're building up the levels of neurotransmitters over time. The cycling of NooCube comes with a massive tradeoff. You get the fast-acting short term benefit of Huperzine A at the expense of essentially neutering the effectiveness of all the other nootropic ingredients in the mix.
On top of that, the dosages for some ingredients simply don't make sense either compared to other nootropics. Only having 50mg of Alpha-GPC, one of the best nootropic ingredients out there, while having three times as much Cat's Claw and Oat Straw Extract, ingredients that don't even have a proven benefit as nootropics, seems backwards.
Thanks to core ingredients like L-Tyrosine and Bacopa Monnieri it'll certainly get the job done and help cognitive ability, but there are better nootropics out there for the same price. Although this NooCube review does support the use of this supplement to improve brain health, learning, and memory, perhaps they can improve their formula just a little.
Cost And Purchasing
Speaking of the price, NooCube goes for about $55 on the official website and regularly is marked down on flash sales helping to offset the price a bit. It might be worth trying out if you get a really good sale just on a whim, but paying full price is not recommended. There is also a full 60-day money-back guarantee, so if you're not satisfied within 60 days, you're entitled to a full refund including shipping and handling. This at least makes it risk-free to try if you're willing to give it a chance. They also offer bulk deals, with a buy 2 get one 1 deal and a buy 3 get 3 free deal as well if you do find that this supplement works well for you.
Pros and Cons
As with all products, NooCube has its pros and cons. It is a very middle of the road product, which gets the job done, but doesn't exactly excel at it, either.
Pros:
- Staple ingredients that can work in an effective brain supplement
- Inclusion of antioxidants
- 60-day money back guarantee
- Works as a nootropic to improve things like memory and focus
- Delivers on initial promises of better brain function
- Transparent with ingredients and doses
Cons:
- Some NooCube ingredients feel redundant, like including both Resveratrol and Pterostilbene
- Woefully small does of Alpha-GPC compared to other nootropics
- Cycling sacrifices the effectiveness of most of its formula just for higher acetylcholine levels
- Formula feels too similar to other less effective products on the market
- Improper cycling can lead to the opposite effect, reducing cognitive function
Overall Rating - 6.8/10
The NooCube ingredients do work together to make it an effective supplement, so I can't take too much off for that. It has no side effects, and it's also relatively safe if you cycle it properly. Its results are just so middle of the road that there are just better options out there if you're looking to increase your brain health and cognitive function.
Final Thoughts
NooCube is an average nootropic with a lot of core issues. It gets the job done, but it's nowhere near the top of the line. If you're sensitive to other nootropics or supplements in general, the lower doses included in NooCube might work well for you in providing something a little less potent that your body can more easily adjust to. If you're looking for a stronger nootropic that will help with both concentration and stress relief though, NooCube might not be the best choice for you.
At the end of the day, the NooCube is a very middle of the line product with a formula that is counterproductive and seems to get in its own way. With over half of the ingredients working well being taken consistently and building up a steady level of neurotransmitters over time, the whole inclusion of Huperzine A kills the potential for NooCube being a highly effective nootropic.
The reliance on questionable ingredients like Cat's Claw and Oat Straw Extract that have no proven nootropic benefits gives the impression they were following a bit too closely to Alpha Brain's formula without fully understanding the reason, or if Alpha Brain was an effective nootropic in the first place. Alpha Brain also seems to suffer from many of the same cycling issues that NooCube does, so they share a lot of the same flaws and middling results.
However, this is a great supplement to increase learning and focus, and this supplement is safe to take. If you're looking for something and haven't yet found other appealing options, you should try this to start. NooCube reviews are fairly positive, and you always can utilize the money-back guarantee if you aren't satisfied with the product.
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