Want your brain to work better: should you rely on supplements and nootropics?
Pharmacy shelves are packed with promises: “improves memory,” “relieves fatigue,” “helps the brain work faster.” Nootropics, glycine, plant extracts — students take them before exams, parents give them to children for school, and people buy them for elderly relatives hoping to delay dementia or simply regain concentration. But most of these products lack independent studies proving any benefit whatsoever. And some are actually unsafe on top of that. We looked at what a pharmacist has to say about these supplements and found out why a “brain pill” is most often just a well-crafted advertisement.
Why nootropics don’t make you smarter
Nootropics are drugs that supposedly improve brain function: memory, concentration, and resilience to mental strain. It sounds magical: take a pill and get smarter. The problem is that not a single nootropic drug has independent studies confirming this effect. All that exists are advertising promises and manufacturers’ assurances.
This doesn’t mean the brain doesn’t need anything. Quite the opposite — it requires a lot of oxygen and glucose, and for that, the blood vessels in the neck and head need to function properly. But a pill doesn’t magically fix blood vessels — preserving brain health requires entirely different things. The belief in a “smart pill” is sustained mainly by how beautifully its effects are described on the packaging. Let’s break down the most popular ones.
Why ginkgo biloba is dangerous when taken with other medications
Ginkgo biloba is a true sales leader. It’s added to medications, dietary supplements, and herbal blends (for example, Tanakan, Ginkoum, Bilobil, Memoplant). But here’s what’s interesting: the French journal Prescrire placed ginkgo biloba preparations on its list of products to avoid — due to high risk of complications and lack of proven benefits.
The issue isn’t even the herb itself, but its combinations. When taken together with certain medications, ginkgo biloba increases the risk of bleeding and disrupts blood clotting. Its dangerous interactions include:
- warfarin, aspirin, NSAIDs, clopidogrel, antidepressants
- supplements based on garlic, ginseng, and ginger
Sometimes our body signals that something is wrong. But with supplements, the signal often comes too late — already in the form of a complication. That’s why the same rule applies to all dietary supplements as it does to vitamins: it’s better not to self-medicate, especially if you’re already taking medications.
Three real situations where supplements and nootropics harm your health
To make it clearer, here are ordinary cases where a seemingly harmless “memory herb” becomes a problem:
- a grandmother takes blood thinners daily and also a “memory” supplement containing ginkgo biloba
- a student during exam season takes a “brain” herbal blend that contains both ginkgo biloba and ginseng “for energy”
- a young woman was prescribed sedatives for stress and adds ginkgo biloba to restore concentration
In all three cases, the person is sure they’re helping themselves, but in reality they’re increasing the risk of bleeding.
And ginkgo biloba is far from the only unproven ingredient in such supplements. Under the guise of “natural and plant-based,” they often sell herbs with no evidence base, including: Bacopa monnieri, ashwagandha, gotu kola.
Does glycine really work as promised?
Glycine is perhaps the most popular supplement among the general public. In Russia, it’s registered both as a medication and as a dietary supplement, and it’s believed to have calming effects and improve mental performance. In practice, its effectiveness is mainly claimed by the manufacturer itself.
Simple biology is at work here. Glycine is an amino acid that the body can produce on its own, and the brain doesn’t need what it already makes. Additionally, glycine from a pill barely reaches the brain — it’s blocked by the blood-brain barrier (a natural filter between the blood and the brain). So the pill dissolves more in your belief than in any real effect.
Glycine is not toxic, but you shouldn’t expect noticeable brain benefits from it either
Formally, glycine is safe — it’s not toxic. But it has a hidden downside: people take it for severe stress, depression, and high blood pressure instead of visiting a doctor, and they lose precious time. By the way, other amino acids are also marketed as “brain” supplements — GABA, arginine, cysteine, alanine. All of them are important for the body, but their benefits specifically in supplement form have never been confirmed.
What are release-active and homeopathic preparations?
A separate story involves so-called release-active products or preparations without an active ingredient, which are sometimes presented as “next-generation nootropics.” The concept works like this: they take a solution containing a substance and dilute it repeatedly. Not 3–5 times, but tens and hundreds of thousands of times, after which they apply it to lactose (milk sugar). Essentially, this is the same market of hope that sustains many medical myths.
Imagine sweetened tea. Dilute it several times — the sweetness nearly disappears. Here, the dilution goes to 10,000 and 100,000 times. That means the only thing remaining in the tablet in any measurable quantity is lactose — essentially sugar in a pill for about 500–1,000 rubles per package. Formally safe, but not much use either.
The pharmacist includes in this category everything where the instructions contain the word “homeopathic.” It’s especially frustrating that such products are often purchased for people after a stroke or heart attack — in hopes of restoring brain function.
What actually helps the brain instead of supplements and nootropics
The bad news: a magic pill that will make you a genius doesn’t exist. But there’s good news too: there is still a way. To make your brain work better, you’ll have to do some boring things:
- reduce stress levels and get enough sleep
- eat foods rich in vitamins and minerals, especially if you want to slow brain aging
- stay active and exercise
- watch your weight
- train your brain — solve logic puzzles
This isn’t as flashy as drug advertisements promise (“take it and your brain will fire up”), but it’s the only thing that has been proven to work in practice. And if you specifically want to train your memory, it’s better to start with simple techniques that help you remember more without pills.
