Day 22 - Nootropics - N-Pept10

So, bro, when you're heading down the road to self-improvement, you occasionally head down to local iron temple and pray to the all-father, Brodin, and offer up to him a set of squats or deads in exchange for those holy gainz, the blessings he grants to you that manifest as increased muscle size, density and strength.

But for some people, myself included, muscle gainz are not enough. For us, our goals also include the coveted Brain Gainz.

There is an exciting field of drug and supplementation aimed at this very idea. Most of these supplements are referred to as "nootropics," latin for "brain bender."

There are a wide variety of nootropics available, and they can range from debatably legal stimulants, to simple herbs and vitamins that may or may not be in your diet already.

The biggest, and one of the most researched kind of nootropic, is a racetam. Piracetam, and the others in the family are chemicals derived from GABA that enhance neural and vascular brain functions. Studies demonstrate that using these drugs can alleviate symptoms of alzheimer's, dementia, depression and other diseases, as well as simply increasing memory ability, including storing and retrieving. Also, the drug is shown to cause permanent positive changes in the users, and has a cumulative effect. Racetams in particular have shown little to no negative side effects.

There are many other kinds of nootropics. Here is an extremely shortened list:

• vitamin B
• choline
• Omega-3
• vitamin D
• Biopterin
• L-DOPA
• amphetamines
• adrenergics
• nicotine
• caffeine
• rosemary
• sage
• serotonergics
• lemon balm
• kava
• theanine
• ginkgo biloba
• DHEA
• royal jelly
• noopept

That last one is an interesting one to take a look at. The russians have been playing with noopept for a while. Their studies indicated an effectiveness that exceeds 1000x that of piracetam, the most widely used nootropic in the world. It shows an increase in cognitive function, improved memory, and it is said to completely wipe out symptoms of anxiety, irritability and sleep disorders.

Guess which one I got?

Yep, I will be taking N-Pept10, a noopept that was recommended to me by Jamie Lewis. I have been taking it before my writing sessions every day, and I will continue to use them daily until I run out of them.

My writing has been incredibly productive lately. Only time will tell.