Despite being the best part of a decade old, Optimind remains one of the most sought-after nootropics on the internet. It is easily one of the most talked about nootropics online – thousands of people search for reliable information on this brain supplement every single month.
There’s good reason for this – the Optimind website isn’t very helpful.
Nor is the bottle.
The makers of Optimind don’t tell us a great deal about what is actually in this supplement.
All we are given is a proprietary blend.
Obviously, this makes some people very concerned about side effects. This is absolutely right; if you don’t know what is in something, or how much of a certain ingredient is present, then you can’t predict what the side effects are going to be like.
So is Optimind safe?
Will Optimind cause side effects?
Let’s take a closer look at the formula and see if Optimind users have anything to worry about on the side effects front.
Is Optimind Dangerous? – The problem with proprietary blends
We think Optimind poses a lot more risks than other nootropics which contain the same ingredients.
The reason for this is that Optimind does not display dosing information on the bottle like most other nootropic supplements do.
Instead, they only display a total serving size, and list every ingredient as part of one big proprietary blend. Take a look:
This means we have no way of knowing how any one ingredient is dosed. All we know is what the ingredients are, and that they can be dosed at no more than 1,287mg.
Apart from that, we know nothing about the Optimind formula.
Any single ingredient could be dosed at 1,287mg, with a few micrograms of the remaining ingredients thrown in on top to make up the final milligram.
We don’t think any one ingredient is dosed that high, but it remains a possibility. The manufacturer has refused to state otherwise, so we must consider it as a possibility. After all, Optimind are hiding this information for a reason!
This is a serious issue; it poses several concerns regarding side effects and long-term health risks.
We’ll now go through what these major risks are one by one.
Optimind Side Effects Risks
In our opinion, the main side effect risks with Optimind are:
- Potential caffeine overdose
- Risk of headaches from too much Huperzine A
- Potential for stomach trouble from too much Bacopa monnieri
Here is a quick overview of each potential health and safety concern.
Caffeine Overdose
As stated above, any single Optimind ingredient could be dosed at 1,287mg.
And as you can see from the formula, Optimind contains caffeine.
Caffeine is an extremely powerful stimulant. About 90mg is enough to cause noticeable physiological effects in most people. Over 150mg and practically every person alive will start experiencing some side effects.
At doses of more than 150mg, most people will experience serious side effects, including:
- Sweating
- Anxiety
- Jitters
- Hypertension
- Heart palpitations
- Shortness of breath
- Headaches
- Nausea
- Insomnia
- Loss of focus
- Dizziness
The severity of side effects will depend on dosage and your tolerance.
Now, anything above 300mg of caffeine in a single dose is liable to start causing serious side effects.
Acute caffeine overdoses can be fatal, and consuming large amounts of caffeine on a regular basis is thought to elevate your risk of heart attack or stroke.
For all we know, Optimind could contain 1,000mg of caffeine. This would constitute an absurd dose of caffeine; enough to put you in hospital.
We don’t believe that Optimind contains this much caffeine, but we do wonder why the manufacturer has chosen to keep the caffeine dose a secret. Many scam nootropics stuff their formula with caffeine to trick users into thinking it has real power.
Is Optimind doing the same at the expense of your health?
Maybe!
Huperzine A Cycling
Huperzine A blocks the enzyme acetylcholinesterase. This enzyme breaks down acetylcholine between synapses. By inhibiting it, Optimind increases acetylcholine levels in the brain.
But Huperzine A needs ot be used properly; if you don’t cycle it regularly, you will inevitably experience side effects.
You see, your brain needs to be able to get rid of excess acetylcholine. Too much causes problems in the brain. Common side effects of too much acetylcholine include:
- Headaches
- Confusion
- Loss of focus
- Low mood
- Muscle cramps
We don’t know how much Huperzine A is in Optimind, so we can’t actually determine how long the cycle should be.
If there is more than about 150mcg in Optimind, then any dose will probably cause side effects.
Find out more from our full review of Optimind.