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Our brains are working harder than ever, as we spend more time sitting at the computer or fiddling on our phones. The brain fog you feel at the end of a long day is a real thing, a symptom of your brain running low on certain key resources.
Unlike tired muscles, rest may not be the only answer. Nootropic supplements, like Performance Lab Mind, may help your brain refuel, clearing the fog so you can think clearly again.
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Unlike a lot of supplements, Performance Lab Mind’s formula seems to be based on reliable science. If you’re looking for a genuinely effective, but safe nootropic, this might be a good option.
Interested in trying a nootropic with scientifically proven ingredients? Find out more here.
Nootropics in general are smart drugs, compounds intended to improve cognitive performance. Performance Lab Mind attempts to provide benefits to mental performance using a formulation that includes nutrients and herbal remedies.
Many nootropics are powerful drugs that, at the least, require a prescription. Performance Lab Mind, on the other hand, is less powerful but also safer, so it can be sold over the counter. It might be better to think of Performance Lab Mind as a ‘brain supplement,’ providing nutrients required to improve brain function and maintain good brain health over time.
Performance Lab Mind, as well as all the other Performance Lab products, are made by a UK-based brand called Opti-Nutra. In addition to making Performance Lab multivitamins and other products, they also manufacture the Mind Lab Pro brand products.
Each of the ingredients has slightly different effects, which we’ll look at in detail in a moment. In general, Performance Lab Mind works by leveraging the benefits of nutrients and herbs. These ingredients have been associated with various benefits.
As an example, citicoline is associated with an increase in memory, focus, and other aspects of cognitive performance. Once it crosses brain cell membranes, it is part of creating an important neurotransmitter called acetylcholine.
The idea with nootropics is to help your brain achieve peak performance, improving cognitive function. Specifically, it’s a class of drugs that produce significant improvement in practical ‘thinking skills’ we depend on throughout our day, and throughout our lives [1]. Nootropics should:
The most powerful nootropics focus on increasing the supply of dopamine to increase motivation, which in this context can be thought of as mental energy. When you get tired and it becomes more difficult to think, a nootropic would charge you back up again.
Supplements like Performance Lab Mind are also nootropics for motivation. However, due to their mixture of ingredients, they may have additional benefits. It’s possible to also use some nootropics for weight loss, for example.
The risks of adverse effects when taking the Performance Lab Mind formula are low. While there is some risk whenever taking a pharmaceutical, the ingredients in Performance Lab Mind are largely safe when used as directed. Most nootropics for memory and focus use ingredients that are safe.
With that said, it’s a good idea to be cautious. Remember that when pursuing cognitive enhancement, you’re going to be messing with brain chemistry. Your mental health and overall health may potentially be affected. Additionally, using nootropics may have consequences in regard to brain development, particularly for younger adults.
Other nootropics, like the powerful racetams, can be dangerous and will require a prescription.
The four main ingredients in Performance Lab Mind nootropic include:
The Performance Lab Mind formula combines a number of ingredients that are commonly used in nootropic supplements. It doesn’t include any synthetic additives, instead, deriving everything from natural sources. Additionally, Performance Lab uses a process to standardize ingredients, so that every pill and bottle is equally effective.
Citicoline is involved in brain cell membrane formation and therefore has been indicated as being important in the regeneration of brain cells. Furthermore, it is also required for reactions among some brain chemicals [2].
While its importance and functioning are not fully understood, it seems to be associated with an improvement in overall brain function. It has also been shown to be effective for improving working memory. Think of it this way, if your brain was a computer, citicoline would temporarily increase the processing speed.
Tyrosine is an amino acid that is a precursor to the neurotransmitter dopamine [3]. Dopamine is vital to the reward pathway in the human brain, giving us a pleasant feeling whenever we solve a problem or meet a need. It’s therefore important to the mental motivation which nootropics are often trying to provide.
The amino acid has been associated with an increase in focus. However, it may only have that effect when your brain is already short of dopamine, either because of an illness or because you’ve just been thinking a lot. If you’re not lacking brainpower, it may not be helpful [4].
Maritime pine bark extract may help maintain brain health in a number of ways.
First, maritime pine bark extract has some antioxidant properties, which can help prevent accumulated damage over time. It also reduces nitric oxide levels, thereby reducing inflammation [5].
Both oxidative damage and inflammation have been associated with cell damage [6]. Particularly in the brain, inflammation has been cited as a possible cause of mental illness. Pine bark extract may be able to reduce or prevent that damage [7].
Phosphatidylserine is a phospholipid, a compound that’s related in some ways to omega-3 fatty acids. Phospholipids make up the membranes of nearly all cells, but it’s also been indicated as being helpful for long-term brain health [8].
It’s also important to the immune system, as well as controlling levels of the stress hormone cortisol [9]. It’s produced in stressful situations, but decreasing levels of cortisol in older people can help improve cognitive functions [10][11].
Performance Lab Mind comes in a vegan and gluten-free friendly capsule. It’s best to take it in the intended form, rather than opening the capsule or finding some other method of using the product.
The recommended Performance Lab Mind dosage is one or two capsules a day on an empty stomach.
It seems intuitive that if one pill is good and two pills are better, then 10 pills must be great. It’s not unusual for people using nootropics to try to get the most out of their purchase by taking a much higher dosage than recommended.
However, taking too high of a dosage can put you in greater danger of side effects or adverse reactions—taking more pills won’t produce a better mental performance.
Benefits Performance Lab Mind delivers include:
Everyone may not experience the same benefits. Additionally, not all of these benefits have strong scientific evidence supporting them.
They say the memory is the first thing to go as you age, but most people wish they had better memories. Memory retention is considered to be a cornerstone of cognition and learning, so improving it may have a cascading effect creating other benefits.
In particular, citicoline improved working memory, the retention of small bits of information that are retained to assist in other cognitive functions [12].
As we’ve mentioned, cognition is a number of related skills that we normally associate with practical intelligence. Memory retention, perception, reasoning, and language skills are aspects of cognition. This supplement can help in a number of ways, from supporting brain cell regeneration to supplementing neurotransmitters.
Performance Lab Mind also effectively boosts brain function by preventing oxidative damage and inflammation, reducing cognitive decline.
The energy it provides isn’t the same boost you’d get from a cup of coffee. Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant, which revs up many different bodily systems. Ingredients like maritime pine bark extract don’t have the same sort of effect.
Instead, they are focused on boosting brain energy. If you’ve ever had a hard time thinking straight after a difficult day at work, you may want to try Performance Lab Mind to give you a mental boost.
Performance Lab Mind will dilate blood vessels to improve blood flow to the brain. Cerebral blood flow is obviously important as the brain needs a constant supply of oxygen and nutrients to do its job. It also may allow a greater proportion of the ingredients to reach and pass through the blood-brain barrier in order to take effect.
Brain fog is a real thing with a basis in brain chemistry. When you run low on supplies of certain compounds and nutrients, mental fatigue will set in until levels rise once more. Ingredients like tyrosine and citicoline provide raw materials to make the resources you need to think clearly.
Side effects of Performance Lab Mind may include:
When taking the recommended dosage, the chances of side effects should be low. However, you might experience certain effects at any dosage level. Additionally, some ingredients may interact with other supplements or prescription medication.
The full range of side effects of some of these ingredients is not fully understood. As a result, it’s impossible to give a complete list of potential side effects [13].
You might want to avoid taking Performance Lab Mind if you are taking:
If you are only interested in how Performance Lab Mind can help you and how it might hurt you, we’ve added up the pros and cons so it’s easy to decide if it’s right for you.
Performance Lab products seem to only be available directly from their website. It’s not offered in major retailers or online stores like Amazon.
The cost for a single month is $69, which is a single box with 30 doses. Additionally, you’ll have to cover the cost of shipping when buying a single bottle.
If you decide to go for multiple bottles, your shipping will be free—that’s the only benefit you’ll see if you buy two bottles, as together they’re $138, which adds up to be $69 per bottle. If you opt for a three-month supply, it will cost you $207. This option provides a bit of saving, as each bottle is about $50 at that price.
If you decide Performance Lab Mind isn’t the best thing for your brain cells, you do have some options. Within 60 days of delivery, you can get the cost of a single opened bottle refunded. Additionally, you can return any unopened bottles within 14 days of delivery. Note that if you buy more than one bottle and wait the 60 days, you can not get a refund for the unopened bottles.
You may want to give nootropics a shot, but our Performance Lab Mind review hasn’t convinced you. Not to worry, there are a number of other options available.
First, the same brand has a range of other formulations. If health is your goal, you may want to check out the Performance Lab Multivitamin, with a separate formula for men and women. Performance Lab Energy may provide the whole body boost some users are looking for, instead of just fueling up your brain cells.
There are also a lot of different nootropics available if you’re interested in trying a different formula. Here are a couple of our favorites.
Mind Lab Pro has a fairly similar set of ingredients, relying on tyrosine for brain energy and citicoline for focus. However, if the environment is a concern for you, Mind Lab Pro may be the better option. Their ingredients come from sustainable sources and it’s always shipping in recyclable and environmentally-friendly materials.
Compare it to the competition in our Mind Lab Pro review.
If you’re looking for a completely different formula, NooCube might be the answer. This supplement can preserve brain health using antioxidants and other neuroprotective ingredients, such as alpha-GPC, which is similar to citicoline but more potent. Other ingredients like bacopa monnieri aren’t found in Performance Lab Mind, but are popular in other nootropics for memory.
Find out how it stacks up in our NooCube review.
Here are some straightforward answers to common questions.
Yes, Performance Lab Mind is safe as long as you use it responsibly. It may even help preserve long-term brain health, with antioxidants to prevent damage to brain cell membranes, among other things.
There are some circumstances in which you should probably not take Performance Lab Mind, particularly if you’re taking an MAO inhibitor, a blood thinner, or some other medications. Check with your doctor before starting a new supplement.
You can check out the rest of our Performance Lab Mind review for more information.
The word ‘nootropic’ is actually two Greek words combined and basically means smart drug. Ideally, they improve cognition so that your memory works better, you’re able to think more clearly, and you generally become more intelligent.
Science hasn’t quite figured out how to do all of that safely and consistently. However, replenishing brain energy may have a similar effect, helping you be your smartest even when you’re tired.
Our team has found that Mind Lab Pro ranks at the top of our list, both for its benefits to brain health and its environmentally responsible attitude.
There are some short-term benefits that you may feel kick in fairly quickly, depending on a few factors. However, it’s difficult to say how any individual may be affected. With its benefits to brain cell formation, proper blood flow, and neuroprotection, the effects may be more noticeable over a longer period.
Most people start running out of steam after a few hours of hard mental labor, but at that point, the work day may just be getting started. If you need your brain firing on all cylinders throughout the day, give Performance Lab Mind a try.
