Nootropics are various substances and supplements that are meant to keep the brain healthy and support a range of mental functions, from improving your memory to keeping you focused while you work. As you might expect, this has left the market flooded with different brands – and not all of them are great.

Like any supplement, it is important to understand what you are buying. Finding a safe, reliable, and trustworthy mental supplement can be extremely important, especially since fake products or cheaply-made scams could be outright harmful.

How to find Nootropics

In most cases, you can buy nootropic supplements directly online or in some physical stores. However, before you get into the specifics, you will want to do your research and know what they actually are if you are a first-time buyer.

Nootropics are generally made up of a range of substances that all support your mental functions in some way. This could be all-natural ingredients, heavily processed ones, or even a mixture of natural and artificial supplement ingredients.

If you have tried searching for nootropics before, you have probably found it hard to figure out exactly which combination of ingredients is the standard choice. This is because nootropics have quite a lot of variety between different types and brands, and there is not really a “basic” formula that all types are based on.

An online search is the easiest way to find hundreds of different supplements, each of which claims to offer a specific set of benefits or health advantages. However, finding them is not the hard part: it is telling which options are actually worth using.

What Makes a Good Mental Health Supplement?

A good nootropic supplement is designed to help you focus, stay motivated, and retain information. They can also be helpful in enhancing mood, reducing stress, improving sleep, and supporting other mental functions.

While nootropics might have highly varied ingredients depending on the specific type you are buying, the effects are generally always meant to be the same. This means that most of these supplements focus on brain-health-promoting ingredients, similar to things like fish oil.

Picking out a good supplement means understanding what they are actually supposed to achieve. Reviews and product breakdowns are a good way to get an understanding of what a certain supplement is meant to offer and whether or not it actually does achieve that goal.

Some notable elements that separate the good supplements from the bad ones include:

1. Ingredients

It is quite important to check on what ingredients you are actually consuming. With nootropics, it is even more important than with other types of supplements since the ingredients are meant to be focused on improving mental functions and general awareness.

For example, not many nootropics contain things like caffeine since that is meant to give energy but does not necessarily make the user any more focused or aware. The best nootropics usually contain natural and easily-absorbed substances that are known for boosting brainpower, even only by a small amount.

2. Quantity and Price

There is no shame in considering the price of the supplement and the amount that you get. If you are on a budget or just do not want to commit too much money towards buying something like this, then it can be important to consider the amount you are paying for each dose.

Paying more for something better is not a bad thing, but you want to be sure that you are paying a fair amount for whatever you buy. Some supplements will cost more for the same effect as a cheaper option, and that is not always easy to judge just by looking at the ingredients list.

3. Effects and Benefits

When shopping around, it is also good to have an idea of what the nootropics are expected to do. While they all boost your mental functions in a general sense, some are specifically marketed as a way to improve things like memory or focus and usually have ingredients aimed at that purpose.

This can be a good thing to consider since you might have specific goals in mind that require certain supplements. For example, if you really need to focus on studying, a focus and motivation-based supplement would be more appealing than a general-purpose one that tries to improve everything.

Of course, supplements can’t always be that specific. In general, all of these nootropics are going to improve your mental functions as a whole. The important part is understanding which ingredients are best for your needs, then finding supplements that match that general goal.

Always Use Reviews

While you can get nootropics from any number of online sources, the best way to determine if a supplier is legit is to find honest reviews of them and their products. Not only does this help you avoid fakes and scammers, but it also means you get a complete picture of what the supplement is actually like.

In general, if a supplement has been getting good reviews from multiple unconnected sites, then that is probably a sign that it is good. Even looking at one or two independent reviews can be a great way to see what third parties think of a supplement.

For example, John Bartholdi analyzed VyvaMind, Mind Lab Pro, and a range of other supplement products and companies as part of the Nootropicology site. As one of the more notable nootropic review sites on the internet, these reviews are great for finding out how a supplement worked when it was actually used by somebody.

Of course, doing your research is also important. Always make sure that you understand what you are buying and what it is meant to do, and do not be afraid to look up individual ingredients or specific details that you might need to know about nootropic supplements that you are considering buying.

The more you know and the better you prepare yourself, the easier it gets to find supplements that suit your needs quickly. Whether you have used these supplements before or are completely new to the idea, you want to be confident in the purchase that you make, and that requires at least a basic understanding of what these supplements are.