There’s a global demand now for so-called smart drugs. They are, in essence, a means or your brain to optimally perform with the given nutrients available in your body. Naturally, with such products, there is a spin towards marketing ploys. Yes, they can potentially help you if you use them. Yes, they’ve been shown to increase performance in many aspects of human cognition. But they’re not super pills. Movies like Lucy and Limitless create a pretty clear and often misleading narrative. Here are some of the popular myths and misconceptions about smart drugs. 

You Need To Buy The Most Expensive One 

You don’t need to spend a ton of money on fancy nootropics in order to get that “executive edge.” You can do your research, stack nutrients, and eat it with food to yield a much more synergistic and natural physiological response. They are, after all, modeled after food. They just have formulated concentrations of certain vitamins and nutrients that have been proven to help your brain. All you need to do is a bit of research. If you check out Nootropics Advisor, there are plenty of options within every price range, all of which have the ingredients necessary. The backbone for many smart drugs, for instance, is a compound called Alpha-GPC. It’s a highly bioavailable form of choline that directly contributes to brain function. Another amazing source of choline are eggs. L-theanine, an amino acid that’s been touted to calm people down and allow one to blast past writer’s block, is found most commonly in green and black tea. These are just two examples.

They Work Immediately

Nootropics, like any other supplement, can have a potential fast and slow acting component to it. And like any other supplement, nootropics are based on giving your body the nutrients it needs to perform at its best. This is primarily done through counteracting any potential micronutrient deficiency or un-optimized amino acid profiles. They’re meant to patch the holes that the average, modern “American diet” or even popular fad diets like “plant based” simply cannot. And because of this, one will notice the difference in their mental performance over time. Often times, one doesn’t even see much of an improvement until they realize they’ve taken on extra shifts and their grades have gotten better. The point is, nootropics are not an immediate fix.

They’re A Quick Fix 

You cannot replace bad dietary habits and lack of sleep with smart drugs. It just doesn’t worth that way. Smart drugs, as mentioned above, isn’t. Quick fix for someone who wants to pass a test. There are very few, and often controlled pharmaceuticals for that. Nootropic supplements do not fall in that category. If you’re not sleeping or eating right, you’re impairing the pathways by which the nutrients can do its magic. You’re giving your brain an immeasurable handicap—essentially tying its cognitive processing arm behind its back. Do not fall into the narrative that you can get away with just using supplements. Like fitness and athletics, that simply will not work. And the ones that can work in that manner are often unsavory to a sports commission. 

Getting ahead in the world seems like a challenge that needs supplementation. How can we fit exercise and sleep into lives that demand an unreasonable amount of time from us? Especially when we’re trying to make a name for ourselves in the professional world. Smart drugs can definitely help you, but give yourself a fighting chance as much as possible. A consciously healthy life, in conjunction with nootropics, will absolutely yield amazing results. 

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