Vitality Now Youthful Brain Review
Product Name: Youthful Brain
Product Description: Youthful Brain is sold as a kind of all-in-one brain supplement, enhancing focus, learning, memory and more. It is predominantly sold on Amazon, and like most Amazon nootropics, it uses proprietary blends!
Brand: Vitality Now
Offer price: 64.95
Currency: $
Availability: InStock
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Focus, Learning & Memory
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Neuroplasticity & Brain Health
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Safety
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Value For Money
Summary
Like many second-rate nootropics sold exclusively on Amazon, Youthful Brain hides a weak, cheap formula behind proprietary blends and presents it as a premium brain supplement. But don’t be fooled; like all nooropics using proprietary blends and basic ingredients, Youthful Brain is a complete rip-off. Far better nootropics are available.
See our top rated nootropic right now: https://www.ijest.org/nootropics/mind-lab-pro/
Overall
2.1Pros
No real filler ingredients
Cons
Proprietary blends – ALWAYS A SIGN OF A RIP-OFF!
Unknown extract potencies across the board
Unknown Huperzine A dose makes safe cycling difficult
What Is Youthful Brain?
Vitality Now Youthful Brain is currently one of the most talked about nootropics online. This brain supplement hasn’t been on the market for that long, but it is provoking an out sized response from the biohacking community. Some nootropics websites are calling Youthful Brain a scam, while others say it is a solid brain supplement with many merits.
According to Vitality Now, Youthful Brain can:
- Increase mental energy
- Clear brain fog
- Increase focus and concentration
Does Youthful Brain really do these things? Is it safe? How does it compare to other nootropics on sale right now? You’ll find answers to these questions in our full Youthful Brain review below! We kick things off with a look at the formula. To compare with our current top rated nootropic, see our Mind Lab Pro review.
Vitality Now Youthful Brain ingredients
Let’s take a look at this nootropic’s formula to see what it’s really capable of doing. Here is the Vitality Now Youthful Brain ingredients list as it appears on the bottle:
In case that image doesn’t appear, here is a list of Youthful Brain’s ingredients with doses:
- Bacopa leaf powder – NO DOSE GIVEN
- Algae complex (19% DHA) – NO DOSE GIVEN
- DMAE – NO DOSE GIVEN
- Asian ginseng root – NO DOSE GIVEN
- L-Glutamine – NO DOSE GIVEN
- Ginkgo biloba extract – NO DOSE GIVEN
- Soy lecithin (20% phosphatidylserine) – NO DOSE GIVEN
- Vinpocetine – NO DOSE GIVEN
- Huperzine A – NO DOSE GIVEN
What’s the first thing you notice about the Youthful Brain formula? That’s right – NO DOSES GIVEN! Vitality Now have not given us any dosing information whatsoever. All we know is that the “Clear Mind Formula” is 400mg in total size, which is a pathetically small serving for all those ingredients! Stay away from proprietary blends; they’re always a complete rip-off.
We’ll now go through the Youthful Brain ingredients one-by-one. In each case we’ll discuss the positives, the negatives, and what the clinical data has to say on the matter. Please post your questions in the comments section at the end and our team will get right back to you.
Bacopa leaf powder – NO DOSE GIVEN
Bacopa monnieri is, without question, one of the most effective natural nootropics in existence. Bacopa contains compounds called bacosides which drastically improve memory function if taken consistently for 6-12 weeks. These bacosides work by stimulating the growth of new dendrites (the branches that connect your neurons), and by protecting the brain from oxidative damage.
The only problem is that you need to be taking a good serving of high-bacoside Bacopa monnieri extract to see benefits. Youthful Brain provides whole leaf powder, which is low in bacosides, and we have no idea how much Bacopa we’re getting. With a 400mg total blend size, we doubt you’re getting the ideal 200mg dose, and that’s when using a bacoside-rich extract.
Algae complex (19% DHA) – NO DOSE GIVEN
DHA is one of the building blocks of your brain’s gray matter. In fact, DHA constitutes a massive 25% of the total fat content of your brain (and 90% of the Omega-3 fatty acid content). Few people consume adequate amounts of DHA, so supplementation is usually a good idea.
However, once again Youthful Brain lets us down. We don’t know how much of this algae complex we get per serving, so the fact that it is 19% DHA tells us nothing – 19% of 10mg is not much DHA at all! Furthermore, we have no idea what else is in this algae complex. We’d have preferred it if Vitality Now just used pure DHA and dropped the gimmicks.
DMAE – NO DOSE GIVEN
DMAE is a cholinergic, which means it delivers choline to the brain. This is an important function of nootropics. Choline is a primary component of two very important molecules: acetylcholine, the brain’s main executive neurotransmitter, and phosphatidylcholine, a brain cell component and regulator of memory formation.
Unfortunately, DMAE is one of the least effective cholingerics, and the one most prone to causing side effects. It is far less effective at raising brain choline availability than, say, CDP-Choline, and it is way more side effect-prone than choline bitartrate. It seems Vitality Now Youthful Brain prioritizes cost of ingredients over end-user results.
Asian ginseng root – NO DOSE GIVEN
Asian ginseng can be said to be a nootropic, but it is not a particularly interesting or powerful nootropic. It has been used for a long time as a general wellness and immune system booster. Studies have confirmed that Asian ginseng consumption improves immune system function, physical stamina, vitality, and mood.
However, no clinical trial has found ginseng to have a significant effect on any measures of cognitive function. Nor does it seem to have a very noticeable effect on any measure of vitality when taken in doses below 100mg, and that’s when using an extract high in ginsenosides (the active ingredient). Once again, we don’t know how much of this ingredient we get in Vitality Now Youthful Brain.
L-Glutamine – NO DOSE GIVEN
L-Glutamine is a simple amino acid. It is one of the most abundant amino acids in the human diet, if not the most abundant. The idea that consuming a few hundred milligrams of L-Glutamine will in some way enhance cognitive function is laughable. You get more than 400mg of L-Glutamine when you eat a bowl of pasta or a chicken sandwich, and the Youthful Brain formula is 400mg in total!
Whenever a nootropic has a proprietary blend for a formula, it’s usually so they can hide the fact they’ve stuffed their formula with a cheap filler ingredient. Glutamine is a prime suspect for a filler in Youthful Brain; useless, cheap, and readily available.
Ginkgo biloba – NO DOSE GIVEN
Ginkgo biloba is a highly effective nootropic. It is widely used around the world as a cognitive enhancer and as a palliative for age-related cognitive decline. Ginkgo has plenty of clinical backing; dozens of trials have shown that Ginkgo biloba consumption improves cognitive function, particularly with regards to memory retention and recall.
Ginkgo works by increasing cerebral blood flow, both by triggering vasodilation and by making your blood more viscous. This leads to better oxygenation and nourishment of brain cells, and by extension, improved cognitive function. However, to see these effects you need to take more than 50mg of Ginkgo biloba. That is also assuming that the Ginkgo biloba you are taking is rich in terpenes and glycosides. Youthful Brain gives us a whole leaf powder, and we bet not a lot of it!
Soy lecithin (20% phosphatidylserine) – NO DOSE GIVEN
Phosphatidylserine is a major structural component of your brain cell membranes. It is also involved in cell signalling (when it is time for an old cell to die and be replaced, phosphatidylserine acts as the signal). Phosphatidylserine levels have been closely linked with cognitive function. Our phosphatidylserine levels decline as we age, so to ensure optimal cognitive function, supplementation is a very good idea.
However, as with all the other Youthful Brain ingredients, there is a big problem here – we don’t know how much phosphatidylserine we get per serving! Consuming an extra 10mg of phosphatidylserine per day isn’t going to do a thing for your mental performance. Not only that, but Vitality Now force us to consume useless lots of soy lecithin to get a small amount of phosphatidylserine. This doesn’t compare well to other nootropics on sale today!
Vinpocetine – NO DOSE GIVEN
Vinpocetine is definitely an old school nootropic. This nootropic used to be found in just about every brain supplement. Today though, it has fallen out of favor. We aren’t sure why – vinpocetine is a reliable, effective, proven cognitive enhancer. Its main mechanism of action is anti-oxidant; it protects brain cells from oxidative damage. It also seems to increase the metabolic efficiency of brain cells. But again, dosage is key; without accurate dosing information, we don’t know if there’s enough vinpocetine in Youthful Brain to have any effect!
Huperzine A – NO DOSE GIVEN
This is probably the most problematic Youthful Brain ingredient. Huperzine A is a potent brain-booster. It raises acetylcholine levels by inhibiting the enzyme that normally destroys it: acetylcholinesterase. While this does produce rapid increases in focus, memory, and information processing in the short term, it cannot be used long-term. Your brain needs acetylcholinesterase, as too much acetylcholine causes problems (more on this in the side effects section).
So not only do you need to cycle Vitality Now Youthful Brain, but it is actually impossible to know how long those cycles should be as we don’t know the Huperzine A dose.
Our verdict: Does Vitality Now Youthful Brain work?
If you’ve read the full ingredients section above, then you’ll already know we are far from impressed with Vitality Now Youthful Brain.
In our opinion, this nootropic is highly unlikely to work. We doubt that Youthful Brain can deliver on any of the promises made by Vitality Now.
The main issue is unequivocally the proprietary blend. There is just no good reason for a nootropics manufacturer to hide the amount of each ingredient in their products. All of the best-selling nootropics on sale right now have full formula disclosure, doses and all. If they can do it and make money, so can everyone!
So why has Vitality Now hidden the ingredient servings in Youthful Brain?
We think the answer is obvious – to hide the fact you’re being ripped off!
The fact that Youthful Brain contains glutamine – a completely useless, inert, cheap ingredient – tells us that we’re being ripped off here. Clearly, Vitality Now is stuffing the Youthful Brain formula full of Glutamine, and then hiding behind their proprietary blend.
The end-user has no idea that they’re paying good money for a product that is 70, 80, maybe even 90% Glutamine, with a few milligrams of the other ingredients thrown in to jazz up the label.
Why else include glutamine?
Why else hide the servings?
The rest of the Youthful Brain formula is nothing to write home about anyway. We have full plant powders instead of potent extracts, DMAE instead of a cholinergic that works, and Huperzine A which demands constant breaks and is a major side effect concern.
Is Youthful Brain a good nootropic?
We certainly don’t think so.
If you want a quality brain supplement, stay well clear of cheap proprietary blends and opt for a professional nootropic which discloses all serving sizes on the label. All the best nootropics do this, so when a product doesn’t, you should be very suspicious! Read our review of our current top rated nootropic and you’ll see the difference!
Youthful Brain side effects: Is it safe?
Is Vitality Now Youthful Brain safe? That is probably the one question that many of you want a straight, simple answer to.
So does Youthful Brain cause side effects?
The answer is: no if used infrequently, but yes if used daily for a prolonged period of time.
The only real side effect concern with Youthful Brain is the Huperzine A.
As mentioned in the ingredients section, Huperzine A shuts off the brain’s “release valve” for acetylcholine. By inhibiting the enzyme which normally destroys excess acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter begins to build up in the brain. Initially, this causes improvements in focus, learning, working memory, and so on.
But too much acetylcholine interrupts normal cognitive function. If you continue to take Huperzine A without a break, then eventually your acetylcholine levels will flip from high to excessive, leading to a range of side effects including:
- Headaches
- Confusion
- Lack of motivation
- Short-term memory impairment
- Muscle cramps
- Muscle spasms
We cannot advise you on how long you can safely use Youthful Brain before you need to take a break as we have no idea how much Huperzine A we’re dealing with, and cycle length is dictated by dose.
We are therefore forced to advise people to avoid taking Youthful Brain altogether. The fact that we don’t have any accurate dosing information for the other ingredients just seals the deal for us on this one – the risks far outweigh the potential benefits.
Youthful Brain review conclusion: Is it a good nootropic?
We believe Vitality Now Youthful Brain to be an awful nootropic. Even when compared to the cheap, generic stacks you see on Amazon these days, Youthful Brain doesn’t come out on top.
Obviously our main issue is the proprietary blend. We don’t see why any manufacturer would use a proprietary blend unless they were hiding a terrible formula. All of the best nootropics on sale today disclose their formulas in full on the label. That tells you that formula theft doesn’t happen. So it’s clear to us that Youthful Brain hides serving sizes to mask the fact that you’re being ripped off.
Aside from the proprietary blend, Youthful Brain is replete with problems. L-Glutamine is an obvious filler, it uses whole plant powders instead of extracts, and Huperzine A requires constant cycling or else you’ll experience serious side effects.
If you want a high quality brain supplement to help improve focus, learning, memory function, and stress resistance, leave stacks like this alone.
Opt for a professional-grade nootropic that gives you complete formula transparency and quality ingredients.
Check Out Our Current #1 Rated Nootropic
Nooceptin
Nooceptin is the single best nootropic supplement on the market right now. We have reviewed dozens of natural nootropic stacks, and Nooceptin offers by far and away the best combination of cognitive enhancements, long-term benefits, low side effect risks and excellent value for money. Taking Nooceptin daily for several weeks has been shown to significantly improve memory function, sharpen focus and improve overall cognitive performance. It also supports brain health and neuron development.
Check Out Our Current #1 Rated Nootropic
Nooceptin
Nooceptin is the single best nootropic supplement on the market right now. We have reviewed dozens of natural nootropic stacks, and Nooceptin offers by far and away the best combination of cognitive enhancements, long-term benefits, low side effect risks and excellent value for money. Taking Nooceptin daily for several weeks has been shown to significantly improve memory function, sharpen focus and improve overall cognitive performance. It also supports brain health and neuron development.