NeuroIGNITE
Positives
- Good serving of Bacopa monnieri
Negatives
- St. John's Wort has weak scientific backing
- Key ingredients dosed relatively low
- DMAE is a poor focus enhancer
- No real cholinergic
Summary
Although this is an improvement on the original formula, Havasu NeuroIGNITE is still far from a good nootropic. Not by today’s standards. It is weak. It contains too few proven ingredients. There’s just not enough firepower, and not enough areas of cognitive enhancement are covered. This was quite a good nootropic when it came out, but the market has come a long way in the last few years. Today, NeuroIGNITE can’t compete.
Havasu Nutrition NeuroIGNITE Review: What does it do?
Havasu Nutrition NeuroIGNITE is one of the biggest names in the nootropics industry. It has been around for years, and has remained extremely popular for all that time. NeuroIGNITE was originally launched by Organic Stride. At some point, the brain supplement was bought by Havasu Nutrition (or Organic Stride became Havasu), the formula was updated, and the NeuroIGNITE we have now was born!
So what does this nootropic claim to do exactly?
Like all of the older nootropics, NeuroIGNITE claims to enhance the classic triad of cognitive performance:
- Focus
- Memory
- Clarity
Havasu NeuroIGNITE is billed as a complete brain supplement. It is explicitly sold as a daily, long-term nootropic for people who want total brain optimization. The official website also talks about increasing energy levels and mood support.
But how much of this is actually true? We’ve all seen these claims before, and we know that very few supplements deliver on their promises.
Does Havasu NeuroIGNITE really work? Is it worth the money? Will Havasu NeuroIGNITE cause side effects? How does it compare to the best products on the market today? Find out by reading our detailed Havasu NeuroIGNITE review below!
Havasu NeuroIGNITE Ingredients
Here is the NeuroIGNITE ingredients list as it appears on the bottle:
This is a vastly different formula to the NeuroIGNITE formula originally offered by Organic Stride. In our opinion, Havasu Nutrition made some massive improvements (although it is still far from perfect).
Here is a quick run-through of the ingredients, what they do, and how – if at all – they contribute to better cognitive performance.
Bacopa monnieri – 300mg
This is the single best memory-enhancer in existence. The research is pretty conclusive on this one; Bacopa monnieri supplementation improves memory function. Successive clinical trials have found that Bacopa monnieri is particularly effective for older people struggling with mild memory impairment. Our experience lines up nicely with this – over the years Bacopa monnieri has proven to be a reliable working memory enhancer for our review team.
St. John’s Wort – 130mg
St. John’s Wort is primarily taken for its supposed anxiolytic properties. People claim that it is a natural anti-depressant, relaxant, and sleep aid. However, our research doesn’t support this; we’ve never seen a convincing, independent clinical trial in which St. John’s Wort produced vastly greater results than placebo. We need to see multiple trials with this result before we accept that it works. Until we do, this one is on our dud list.
DMAE – 50mg
DMAE is often wrongly described as a cholinergic. It is thought to raise choline levels in the brain, but it does not do so by conferring extra choline to the brain. We actually aren’t certain how DMAE works; it seems that it might speed up acetylcholine synthesis, like a catalyst. One thing we can say is that this is a very unreliable acetylcholine booster. Many people get nothing out of DMAE supplementation. It is more side effect-prone than the true cholinergics too.
Ginkgo biloba – 50mg
Ginkgo biloba is a great nootropic. It enhances every aspect of cognitive function by increasing oxygenation of your brain cells. Gingko biloba has two distinct mechanisms which achieve this end result. First, it expands your cerebral blood vessels, allowing more blood to flow to your brain cells per second. Second, it reduces the viscosity of your blood, making it less thick and ‘sticky’. This ultimately means healthier, more efficient brain cells.
Phosphatidylserine – 50mg
Phosphatidylserine is a naturally-occurring phospholipid. It is found in very large quantities in the human brain, where it makes up a huge proportion of your brain cell membranes. Phosphatidylserine is actually a vital component of lots of brain structures – neurons, synapses, protective myelin sheaths, and more. It also acts as a cell signaller, telling killer cells when it is time for a brain cell to die and be replaced. Phospholipid levels decline as we age, so supplementation can often have a huge impact.
Acetyl-L-Carnitine HCL – 50mg
This amino acid is commonly used by athletes to boost power output and increase energy levels. It is thought to increase mitochondrial efficiency. In plain English, that means it makes energy metabolism much more efficient. However, there is no reason to think that this will translate into enhanced cognitive function. Even the large doses used by athletes don’t routinely cause noticeable increases in focus or attention. ALCAR is not a nootropic, and it has no real business being in NeuroIGNITE.
Huperzine A – 10mcg
This is an extract from Huperzia Serrata, or Chinese Clubmoss. Huperzine A works by inhibiting the enzyme which normally breaks down acetylcholine. Obviously, this causes a steady build-up of acetylcholine in the brain. This means improved cognitive function across pretty much every parameter. Make no mistake, Huperzine A is an incredibly powerful short-term nootropic.
However, excessive build-ups of acetylcholine can cause problems, so it needs to be cycled. Huperzine A is most commonly used in pre-workouts and short-term focus enhancers because of its unsuitability for long-term use.
Our take on the NeuroIGNITE formula
This is definitely an improvement on the original NeuroIGNITE formula. Havasu Nutrition have done a good job trimming back on the unnecessary, ineffective ingredients and upping the dosage of the substances with actual scientific backing.
However, Havasu NeuroIGNITE is still a nootropic with a lot of problems.
For one thing, it still contains St. John’s Wort! In the course of our research on this substance we have never come across a robust clinical trial in which this substance worked as the manufacturers promise. It is certainly nowhere near as proven or effective as the anxiolytics found in more modern nootropics – rhodiola rosea, tyrosine, ashwagandha, theanine, etc.
There’s also no potent focus-enhancer in NeuroIGNITE; not one you can use on a daily basis at least. DMAE is extremely unreliable. It’s weak when it does work. Huperzine A can’t be used every day for weeks and months on end – it needs cycling. NeuroIGNITE really needs a decent cholinergic.
In our opinion, nootropics today need a hefty dose of a powerful cholinergic as standard.
Havasu NeuroIGNITE just doesn’t cut it in today’s market. Too much useless dead weight, not enough firepower. Simple as that.
Is Havasu NeuroIGNITE safe? Will it cause side effects?
We think Havasu Nutrition NeuroIGNITE looks like a pretty safe nootropic. The vast majority of you should be able to take this brain supplement on a fairly regular basis without any problems.
NeuroIGNITE’s ingredients have all been thoroughly tested in clinical trials. They’ve all been found to be generally safe for human consumption. Our research has not turned up any reports of serious adverse effects or long-term health risks.
There are tow ingredients in NeuroIGNITE, however, which you need to be mindful of: DMAE and Huperzine A.
DMAE is unreliable and unpredictable. We’ve seen numerous reports of users experiencing side effects from DMAE, which typically include:
- Headaches
- Jaw clenching
- Muscle cramps
- Hyperactivity
- Mood crashes
- Loss of motivation
- Inability to focus
These side effects occur in a minority of users, but the prevalence is much higher than with the real cholinergics. If you experience any of these side effects, stop using NeuroIGNITE immediately and seek medical attention!
You also need to cycle Huperzine A on a regular basis. If you don’t, your acetylcholine levels will get too high and you’ll experience similar side effects to those associated with DMAE.
We recommend taking one week off every three weeks as a minimum. Longer breaks are advised after repeated cycles.
In Conclusion – Is Havasu Nutrition NeuroIGNITE a good nootropic?
When Havasu Nutrition first brought out the new and improved NeuroIGNITE, it was a decent, competitive brain supplement.
Today however, it’s a different story. The nootropics market has moved on a lot. We now expect a lot more than NeuroIGNITE gives us.
Premium nootropics today don’t contain any dead weight at all; every single ingredient needs robust scientific research behind it or consumers just wont accept it. This is absolutely right in our opinion.
Nootropics users today also expect a little more firepower than what NeuroIGNITE provides. The lack of a serious cholinergic, coupled with the dead weight, really makes Havasu NeuroIGNITE a poor choice for anyone I need of a potent brain supplement.
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Brian Johnson is a former academic researcher, psychologist, and tireless proponent of bio-hacking. Brian has dedicated all of his time since leaving academia and private practice to promoting the benefits to be obtained from the application of biotechnology and bio-hacking supplements. He has years of experience with nootropics, as well as prebiotics, probiotics, and other natural nutritional supplements. He has published scholarly research on natural nootropics; you can find his papers on his Google Scholar page.
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