Periodically I get comments or messages from people wanting to know my opinions about certain pre made nootropics stacks. Many people do not want to buy raw nootropics powder for a number of reasons. The thing is, I completely sympathize with them even though the majority of my supplementation is powder. With the powder I can easily control my dose and experiment with my own stacks. A big slice of the people who follow my videos and blog however will never get this deep into nootropics. They want a pre made stack that just works and don’t want to mess with powder and scales.

To this day the only pre made stack I’ve tried and reviewed is Alpha Brain so I sent emails out to multiple companies to see about getting samples of their product. Many are in the process of sending me product. Today I’m excited to review a stack many of you have asked about – TruBrain.

TruBrain was very quick about reading my email and sending me some of their products. They sent me a 10 day supply of both their nootropic drinks and their capsule blend. Both arrived today and I decided to begin experimenting with the drinks which had some very attractive and familiar ingredients I talk about often. The box comes with 2 different drinks each packaged in their respective color coded pouches. The blue pouches are their original nootropic blend and contain a powerhouse racetam stack. The orange pouches are called “Boost” and appear to be based on Noopept and Uridine Monophosphate – 2 other extremely potent nootropics.

TruBrain original drink ingredients

• Piracetam – 1000mg
• Oxiracetam – 800mg
• Acetyl-L-Carnitine – 500mg
• N-Acetyl Tyrosine – 350mg
• CDP-Choline – 250mg
• Magnesium Glycinate – 200mg
• L-Theanine – 160mg
• Caffeine – 80mg

First impressions and initial concerns

Scanning the ingredients I was first excited to see Piracetam and Oxiracetam on the list. These nootropics alone can boost mental performance, memory, and verbal memory to insane levels. They’re some of my favorite nootropics. Piracetam is much more subtle while Oxiracetam has very pronounced energizing effects. They also both stack well together. I was also happy to see the dosage amount was clearly listed and each nootropic generally had enough to deliver a kick. Many pre made stacks only include a small amount of each nootropic and compensate with a ton of caffeine to cover up their tracks.

ALCAR (Acetyl-L-Carnitine) is something I’ve never experimented with before but have heard a lot about. It’s supposedly great stuff for reducing fatigue and slowing the rate of cognitive decline. It’s something a lot of athletes take to boost physical performance and there’s a ton of studies proving its efficacy for loads of applications.

N-Acetyl- Tyrosine is a precursor to crucial neurotransmitters like Dopamine and Noradrenaline. I frequently discuss L-Tyrosine which is structurally somewhat different and thought to have poor absorption rates compared to NAT. There is still little evidence to suggest N-Acetyl Tyosine is a superior version. I’m curious to investigate further.

CDP-Choline is a familiar friend to my brain and it’s my favorite source of Choline. Lot’s of nootropics companies like to include Choline in their stacks for good reasons. Choline is well studied and produces significant neuroprotective effects. CDP-Choline also has positive effects on Dopamine signalling and increases attention.

Magnesium is an interesting inclusion in the stack. I’m a big fan of using Magnesium oil for anxiety and making sure I’m getting enough of this crucial mineral. It’s involved in over 300 processes. You need magnesium for nerve signalling and energy production. Not enough magnesium can lead to anxiety, poor memory, muscle twitches, insomnia, and a host of brain and body problems. If you’re a heavy drinker you are no doubt deficient. It’s known as the original chill pill for its calming effects which can be felt almost immediately with the oil. This is a very stimulatory stack and I can see how Magnesium could level out the intense mental stimulation with its calming properties.

L-Theanine is of course a tried and true nootropic. This is another very anxiolytic nootropic and calms the mind. It literally increases Alpha Brain waves which are associated with calm and relaxed states. It’s also famous for completely eliminating the negative effects of caffeine.

This of course leads us into the final ingredient – Caffeine. I was happy to see they also have a non-caffeinated version. I’m not a big fan of including caffeine into stacks because it’s one of those things that’s so easy to get. It’s also an ingredient companies use to cover up the fact that their stack sucks. Plus one of the first things I recommend cutting out for anxiety issues is both caffeine and alcohol. That being said, 80mg is a somewhat moderate dose of caffeine and with the L-Theanine there shouldn’t be any issues. Once again, the Magnesium will also tone down the stimulation of this stack and take the nervous edge off. Caffeine IS a great cognitive enhancer and stacks well with most nootropics if you can tolerate it.

Like an enthusiastic young boy about to lose his virginity, I was ready to dive balls deep into this new experience.

Day 1 blast off

I’ve got to say this first off. It’s taking me a long time to write this because I keep picking up my guitar or playing songs on You Tube. Music sounds so good. This is definitely the Oxiracetam. It’s been 7 hours since I took the drink and I’m actually wondering if I’ll get any sleep tonight. I’ve spoken before how Oxiracetam makes me super speedy and energized. It’s almost like Modafinil in its ability to wake you up and charge the brain.

Today I did not have much planned but decided to fill up my schedule with tasks and chores to test the stack. I took the stack and then went for a walk. My first stop was the bank. About 30 minutes into my walk I felt the signature effects of the caffeine. But there was something more lurking under the surface. I was feeling a slight pressure and fogginess in my head. This lasted only about 10 minutes and then it was like the window shields of my mind were completely squeegeed and cleaned. A certain energized clarity took over. It felt similar to my usual Piracetam and Choline stack but this experience was uniquely different. I felt very amused by life and the people around me. I was walking on the sidewalk and noticed another guy walking across the street the other way. His demeanor and the way he walked triggered a fit of laughter and there I was jaunting down the street laughing like a maniac. Now, I am usually a very self amused person but the personality trait seemed amplified. Everything took on this amusing glow. Visually the world appeared brighter even though the day was foggy. Edges stood out prominently. The world was FUN to look at and I took great pleasure in simply observing people. While I was energized I was also calm. Like the calm but powerful energy of a wave that slowly builds on the ocean. Overall there was a significant boost in mood.

Then came a wave of irritation…

As I was waiting to cross the street there was this guy also crossing who was blasting rap music out of one of those backpacks with bluetooth speakers. This annoyed me to a quiet rage as I sat there and brooded about his behavior, forced to endure the terrible music out of even worse speakers. I thought deeply about the type of mindset a person like him has to blatantly annoy the people around him. I questioned his choice in music, his social intelligence, and immediately had him stereotyped as a complete failure of humanity. A biological dead end. I imagined his future 5, maybe 10 years down the road and where he might be. I imagined him floating aimlessly through life making a bunch of useless noise and being of little use to anyone or society in general. All this happened in my mind very fast and the thoughts came in floods, much faster than usual. Later I reflected on my thoughts and realized I certainly blew the whole thing out of proportion. I wanted to return to the poor guy and apologize, possibly introduce him to good music and teach him general practices to make him a better person. Maybe give him some TruBrain! I also thought about how most of us would be locked up in loony bins if there were thought police that could see what we were thinking.

That’s one thing about the racetams. For me I have zero tolerance for annoying behaviors in others and I can dive deep into dark thoughts and general brooding. My first reaction is to get as far away from the annoying thing as possible. My threshold for bullshit drops to dangerously low levels. This is one side effect of the racetams that others have reported as well. While some see this effect as a negative, I think a low tolerance for annoying people and things is a good thing – especially if you have work to do. If you have a high tolerance to annoying situations you will always give the thing your energy. The racetams allow me easily to identify the elements of my environment that do not align with my current mission.

I decided to do some shopping. This is where I really noticed my visuals had been sharpened to a razors edge. First off, everything was bright and I couldn’t help but notice just how many different colors there were. I had mental list of things I needed. Eggs, Sweet potatoes, onions, avocadoes, bagels. Usually when I pick produce I hastily grab whatever is on top or closest to me and roll with that. This time I carefully examined each sweet potatoe, looking for the best selection. I had a moment of clarity where I realized my attention to detail had been boosted significantly. I was like a calm and discerning machine, hand selecting each item with precision. Where I was usually mindless at the store there was now mindfulness.

It was at the self check out line where I noticed my irritation had completely subsided. I was once again amused at how confused people became at the machines. They have to hire a worker to stand at the machines to help people which in my mind defeated the purpose. The machines themselves were also a source of fascination. I realized the machines were inherently flawed by design in many ways. I thought to myself all the ways the machine could be exploited. Anyone could easily take a choice cut of meat and weigh them as bananas. I thought of that scene in the Matrix where Councelor Hamann explains to Neo the relationship between man and machine. My mind was thinking deeply fascinated and engaged. The thing I love about nootropics is they seem to cleanse your mind of low energy thoughts and allow you to think abstractly on many levels. They make life interesting.

On my walk back home I noticed the physical effects. I’m not a stranger to walking and I know that on a certain part of my walk back to the house I get tired. I had stores of stamina and actually wanted to keep walking past my normal limit. Oxiracetam certainly can provide physical energy but I’m starting to think some of the other ingredients played a key role. ALCAR as I mentioned is popular among athletes for its physical component.

Concluding thoughts

It’s almost midnight as I wrap up this post and I could go on writing for hours. I’m still fully energized. This could be a problem if I had morning engagements or needed sleep for anything beyond basic biological needs.

What do I think so far? TruBrain is on par with any decent Oxiracetam/Piracetam/Choline stack. I’m very familiar with the effects of these powerhouse compounds but there does seem to be a mood element in the TruBrain I do not get with a basic racetam/choline stack.

I’m excited to explore the stack further.