jswain34
Well-known member
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First off, huge thanks to Hyde, Sean1332, and everyone else at CL for letting me test out their new noot, Orange Brainwash.
I do not log products very often, so please let me know if there is anything in particular that you would like me to specifically review or comment on (to the reps as well as anyone who decides to follow along).
I will start by reviewing the profile and my thoughts on it at first glance (to the best of my ability - I'm honestly not going to do too much research for this, everyone else is capable of that on their own - I will look up a few things on examine though) and commenting on my thoughts about the profile.
Profile:
- Acetyl-L-Carnitine: Examine shows reduction in mental fatigue, general fatigue, and improved concentration - this was at the 2g dose used in Brainwash. This study WAS in patient's with chronic fatigue syndrome. It also shows improved cognition capacity in ELDERLY subjects, but I don't see any studies which were performed in "normal" subjects for this. There is also a study in patients with chronic depressive disorder ("dysthymia") which showed ALCAR being equal in efficacy to a common pharmaceutical antipsychotic drug used for this.
- Alpha GPC: im assuming they're just using this as their choline source, it's best evidence is for increasing power output which I am also cool with. Choline, from NIH.gov, "is needed to produce acetylcholine, an important neurotransmitter for memory, mood, muscle control, and other brain and nervous system functions". Some people get the poops with choline sources (I have had it with choline bitartrate) so ill be keeping an eye on that.
-Lion's mane: In a study in overweight females, who consumed 2g daily of the whole mushroom, the study showed that Lion's mane "has significant improvements in regards to the parameters of 'anxiety', 'concentration' and 'irritating', as measured by depression/anxiety rating scales relative to placebo. There are also studies showing decreased cognitive decline with aging (study age was 50-80) and decrease in depression.
-L-theanine: from memory it is shown to "balance out" the stimulatory effects of caffeine and kind of take the "edge off of caffeine" I have a good amount of experience with the caffeine + L-theanine combo and can absolutely tell a difference when it isn't in there.
-Bacopa (50% bacosides): has been shown by multiple studies to increase working memory with chronic usage (4-6 weeks) in HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS. It has also been shown to have minor anxiolytic effects, mild anti-depressive effects, and a small reduction of "acute forgetting". This would be a good time for me to note that I HAVE BEEN TAKING the Synapse Bacopa since the end of October, 4 weeks before I started PA school. I have stopped the Synapsa for the duration of this log and will essentially be attempting to notice if I can tell any differences between the two. I am a huge fan of this ingredient so i am very happy that it was included in the formula. I have 100% seen a difference in my working memory and processing speed compared to before I started supplementing it.
-Caffeine: not much to say about this one. It lowers fatigue/increases alertness, increases subjective well-being, and may or may not have a slight positive effect on memory. I will comment that I feel that this is in the range of what I consider to being the perfect amount of caffeine for a noot. I think between 100-150 gives all of the benefits of the "pick me up" that caffeine provides without the jitters or anxiety that higher doses can cause. I also like this amount as I can take Brainwashed when I get home from class (between 4 and 5) and it doesn't necessarily keep me up or affect my sleep in any noticeable way (I typically go to bed around 10 and will be passed out by 1030).
-SerinAid (yielding 50mg phosphatidylSerine: examine shows a minor boost in cognition, minor decrease in fatigue, minor increase in attention, minor increasing in "processing accuracy" and "processing speed" (although at a higher dosage), minor increase in working memory.
-Astragin: i'm not really getting any nootropic effects from this off of examine, but it does show that it "Appears to activate T-cells to a degree higher than the reference drug echinacea" which indicates a boost in immunity which would be "depressed" (to what degree I don't know) in a high fatigued, high stressed state.
Theobromine: not gonna lie I don't know much about this other than it is related to caffeine and from cacao. No idea on the effects.
Huperzine A 1%: acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, so theoretically provides all the benefits that acetylcholine does as noted above since it inhibits the enzyme that breaks it down at the synapse level.
I should mentioning that I actually received the product on 1/24 and began taking it on 1/25, I just never got around to getting the log up due to being extremely busy putting this stuff to use while studying for a pharmacology test which I had today. I'll describe my first use in a subsequent post, but I'm glad to finally have this thing up and running.
I do not log products very often, so please let me know if there is anything in particular that you would like me to specifically review or comment on (to the reps as well as anyone who decides to follow along).
I will start by reviewing the profile and my thoughts on it at first glance (to the best of my ability - I'm honestly not going to do too much research for this, everyone else is capable of that on their own - I will look up a few things on examine though) and commenting on my thoughts about the profile.
Profile:
- Acetyl-L-Carnitine: Examine shows reduction in mental fatigue, general fatigue, and improved concentration - this was at the 2g dose used in Brainwash. This study WAS in patient's with chronic fatigue syndrome. It also shows improved cognition capacity in ELDERLY subjects, but I don't see any studies which were performed in "normal" subjects for this. There is also a study in patients with chronic depressive disorder ("dysthymia") which showed ALCAR being equal in efficacy to a common pharmaceutical antipsychotic drug used for this.
- Alpha GPC: im assuming they're just using this as their choline source, it's best evidence is for increasing power output which I am also cool with. Choline, from NIH.gov, "is needed to produce acetylcholine, an important neurotransmitter for memory, mood, muscle control, and other brain and nervous system functions". Some people get the poops with choline sources (I have had it with choline bitartrate) so ill be keeping an eye on that.
-Lion's mane: In a study in overweight females, who consumed 2g daily of the whole mushroom, the study showed that Lion's mane "has significant improvements in regards to the parameters of 'anxiety', 'concentration' and 'irritating', as measured by depression/anxiety rating scales relative to placebo. There are also studies showing decreased cognitive decline with aging (study age was 50-80) and decrease in depression.
-L-theanine: from memory it is shown to "balance out" the stimulatory effects of caffeine and kind of take the "edge off of caffeine" I have a good amount of experience with the caffeine + L-theanine combo and can absolutely tell a difference when it isn't in there.
-Bacopa (50% bacosides): has been shown by multiple studies to increase working memory with chronic usage (4-6 weeks) in HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS. It has also been shown to have minor anxiolytic effects, mild anti-depressive effects, and a small reduction of "acute forgetting". This would be a good time for me to note that I HAVE BEEN TAKING the Synapse Bacopa since the end of October, 4 weeks before I started PA school. I have stopped the Synapsa for the duration of this log and will essentially be attempting to notice if I can tell any differences between the two. I am a huge fan of this ingredient so i am very happy that it was included in the formula. I have 100% seen a difference in my working memory and processing speed compared to before I started supplementing it.
-Caffeine: not much to say about this one. It lowers fatigue/increases alertness, increases subjective well-being, and may or may not have a slight positive effect on memory. I will comment that I feel that this is in the range of what I consider to being the perfect amount of caffeine for a noot. I think between 100-150 gives all of the benefits of the "pick me up" that caffeine provides without the jitters or anxiety that higher doses can cause. I also like this amount as I can take Brainwashed when I get home from class (between 4 and 5) and it doesn't necessarily keep me up or affect my sleep in any noticeable way (I typically go to bed around 10 and will be passed out by 1030).
-SerinAid (yielding 50mg phosphatidylSerine: examine shows a minor boost in cognition, minor decrease in fatigue, minor increase in attention, minor increasing in "processing accuracy" and "processing speed" (although at a higher dosage), minor increase in working memory.
-Astragin: i'm not really getting any nootropic effects from this off of examine, but it does show that it "Appears to activate T-cells to a degree higher than the reference drug echinacea" which indicates a boost in immunity which would be "depressed" (to what degree I don't know) in a high fatigued, high stressed state.
Theobromine: not gonna lie I don't know much about this other than it is related to caffeine and from cacao. No idea on the effects.
Huperzine A 1%: acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, so theoretically provides all the benefits that acetylcholine does as noted above since it inhibits the enzyme that breaks it down at the synapse level.
I should mentioning that I actually received the product on 1/24 and began taking it on 1/25, I just never got around to getting the log up due to being extremely busy putting this stuff to use while studying for a pharmacology test which I had today. I'll describe my first use in a subsequent post, but I'm glad to finally have this thing up and running.
. Ill be mixing with 16-20oz from here on out. 
