Neuromaster
$55.95
Negatives
- NeuroFactor lacks conclusive scientific proof
- Coffeeberry Energy lacks conclusive scientific proof
- No information on composition of extracts used
- Unknown caffeine dose - VERY DANGEROUS!
Summary
After doing a detailed review of Bulletproof Neuromaster, we’ve come to the conclusion that it is one of the biggest wastes of money currently in the nootropics market. Paying $55 for a product that is just coffee bean extracts – what is in the extract precisely is anybody’s guess – is not something we advise. We don’t see how Neuromaster can ever deliver on its extensive promises. To enhance focus, learning, memory, and long-term brain health, use a professional-quality, comprehensive nootropic.
Neuromaster Review: What does Bulletproof’s brain supplement do?
Neuromaster is a natural nootropic stack from Bulletproof; makers of various biohacking products, and brainchild of self-proclaimed business guru Dave Asprey. Like all “productivity hackers”, Dave’s main success is as a productivity hacker – as far as we know, his main achievement is convincing others that he is very successful. These things always reek of pyramid schemes and MLM schemes. But that’s neither here nor there right now. We’re here to discuss Neuromaster, Bulletproof’s main nootropic.
According to the Bulletproof website, Neuromaster delivers some impressive benefits, including:
- Supports memory
- Enhances cognition
- Promotes sharp, sustained focus
- Supports cognitive function as you age
These are things which you can definitely achieve with a good brain supplement. The question is, does Neuromaster actually deliver on these promises?
Does Neuromaster work? Is it safe? Is it worth the money? Are there better options for enhancing cognitive function, memory and brain health? Find out by reading our detailed Neuromaster review below!
Neuromaster ingredients
Let’s take a look at the Neuromaster formula to see what we’re working with here.
Here is the Neuromaster ingredients list:
Here is a list of the ingredients with doses in case that image doesn’t load properly:
- NeuroFactor Whole Coffee Fruit Extract – 200mg
- Coffeeberry Energy Coffee Fruit Extract – 71mg
That’s right, you’re seeing that right – Neuromaster is just coffee fruit extract in two different forms! What’s more, the total dose is just 271mg; a TINY serving!
We’ll now go through both of these ingredients individually and explain what they are, what we think of them, and what the scientific evidence has to say. Please post your questions in the comments section at the end.
NeuroFactor Whole Coffee Fruit Extract – 200mg
NeuroFactor is a branded whole coffee fruit extract made by Futureceuticals. They claim that consuming NeuroFactor whole coffee fruit extract can stimulate the release of Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF). BDNF is a neurotrophic factor which controls the growth of critical brain tissues; namely, neurons. Higher levels of BDNF mean higher rates of neuron growth, maturation, and maintenance.
The problem is that we have not seen any studies proving that whole coffee fruit extract – NeuroFactor or otherwise – significantly increases BDNF levels. The official Neuromaster website doesn’t even provide any independent research. Instead, we get this joke:
The only available studies looking at whole coffee fruit extract and BDNF do look promising, but sample sizes are typically too small to draw meaningful conclusions.
We think it is telling that the only people shilling NeuroFactor are the likes of Asprey and “Doctor” Perlmutter; shills who are less interested in spreading useful information on nutrition than they are in separating you from your cash.
Coffeeberry Energy Coffee Fruit Extract – 71mg
Another coffee fruit extract? Very uninteresting from Bulletproof!
This is another branded coffee bean extract from Futureceuticals, and just like with NeuroFactor, the manufacturer provides absolutely nothing in the way of independent scientific evidence for the claims made on their website!
What we are told though is that “Organic Coffeeberry® Energy uniquely provides naturally-occurring coffee polyphenols including chlorogenic acids, organic acids, and trigonelline”. How much of these substances do we get in Coffeeberry Energy? In what ratios? How much caffeine is in this ingredient?
We have no way of knowing. This is a serious problem for anyone who wants to control their caffeine intake precisely. We have no idea why Bulletproof haven’t used straight, pure caffeine in Neuromaster. There’s nothing special about caffeine when you get it from coffee beans; caffeine is caffeine. All you gain by using Coffeeberry Energy is a higher price tag and some useless plant material!
Whenever you see the word “extract”, you should ask what is being “extracted” exactly; a good nootropic supplement manufacturer will tell you. Ingredients like “coffee fruit extract” are purposefully vague, as all you are really getting is things you get in large quantities from coffee anyway, plus some useless plant matter.
Our thoughts on the Neuromaster formula
After taking a closer look at the Neuromaster formula, we can’t say we’re impressed with this nootropic.
We weren’t expecting to be impressed with this product, given that its from Bulletproof; a company run by a self-proclaimed “biohacking expert” who seems to assume knowledge of routers means he knows a lot about nutrition. But we did expect a little more than we got from a nootropic called Neuromaster!
Neuromaster contains just two ingredients: both of them coffee fruit extracts.
Neither ingredient has any real scientific evidence backing it up. The Futureceuticals website doesn’t even provide any studies to back up its claims about NeuroFactor boosting BDNF. Even worse, there are no details at all about the extact composition of Coffeeberry Energy, which means we have no idea how much of the 71mg is caffeine, how much is polyphenols, and how much is useless plant matter.
Whenever a manufacturer declines to tell us, then we assume the worst.
We don’t believe for a second that Neuromaster can significantly boost BDNF levels. Until we see some large-scale, conclusive human clinical trials, we’re going to assume it’s bogus.
With regards to energy, we don’t understand why Bulletproof didn’t just use purified caffeine; caffeine is caffeine, and getting it from some special source doesn’t change its effects (it just brings dead weight).
All-in-all, Neuromaster is a very disappointing nootropic with little of substance to offer.
Like all Bulletproof supplements, Neuromaster makes promises that it can’t possibly deliver on.
If you’re looking for a high-quality, professional-level brain supplement to enhance focus, learning, and mental energy, there are far better options available than Neuromaster.
Neuromaster Side Effects: Is it a safe brain supplement?
Is Neuromaster safe? Is it going to cause side effects?
Both of the ingredients in Neuromaster are thought to be generally safe for human consumption. While we are far from convinced of their efficacy, trials have shown that both Neuromaster ingredients are well tolerated and do not tend to cause serious side effects.
But there is one health and safety risk we need to draw your attention to: Coffeeberry Energy.
Coffeeberry Energy is a coffee fruit extract which contains caffeine. How much caffeine? No idea! That’s the main problem with Neuromaster; it uses these “extracts”, the composition of which we know nothing about.
We cannot be certain that NeuroFactor doesn’t contain a significant amount of caffeine either, seeing as it is also a coffee fruit extract.
The side effects of consuming too much caffeine include:
- Jitters
- Sweating
- Anxiety
- Irritability
- Dizziness
- Hypertension
- Elevated heart rate
- Shortness of breath
- Insomnia
Consuming a lot of caffeine also means you are highly likely to experience a ‘caffeine crash’, where your energy levels and concentration drop to zero once the caffeine wears off.
Until we know exactly how much caffeine is in Neuromaster, we cannot call it a safe supplement. If you are planning on using Neuromaster nootropic, please assume the maximum amount of caffeine and plan your daily caffeine intake from other sources accordingly.
Neuromaster Review Conclusion: Is it a good nootropic?
Bulletproof Neuromaster is billed as a powerful, comprehensive nootropic capable of supporting focus, mental energy, and brain health as you age.
In reality, we think it is incapable of delivering on any of these promises.
Neuromaster contains two ingredients. They are both branded coffee fruit extracts from the same manufacturer. In neither case does the manufacturer provide us with details of the exact composition of the extracts. Nor do they provide us with any independent scientific research to back up their claims.
The only independent clinical trials showing that NeuroFactor boosts BDNF used about a dozen participants – hardly conclusive stuff!
If you’re looking for a potent, professional-quality nootropic to help you learn, stay focused, and to support brain health as you get older, there are better options than Neuromaster.
Our current top rated nootropic doesn’t use any ‘black box’ ingredients, and it contains a lot more than you can get from a cup of coffee!
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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.
I’ll start off the review by saying that I agree with the main tenent-Neuromaster is overmarketed garbage and Dave Asprey should be publicly shammed for selling this at such an inflated price. It’s worth maybe $7 a bottle IMO.
Also you disparage it for not listing the content of the caffeine, but based on your photo, it shows that it provides 50mg of caffeine from the 71mg of Coffeeberry extract. Also note that the Neurofactor provides about 4mg additional caffeine. (They are the same coffee fruit extract standardized for different constituents- Neurofactor is standardized to be mostly the Anthocyanins, the Coffeeberry standardized to be mostly the Caffeine)
I wouldn’t ascribe any magical properties to coffeeberries, from the evidence I have gathered, it’s likely that its effects are largely equivalent to blueberry, which has been shown to improve brain function in a consistent, though not dramatic fashion, also probably through it’s similar constituents of anthocyanins. I feel that Neurofactor is probably a nice garnishment for Preformulated stacks, a little extra antioxidant flourish that has some clinical backing, but selling it as a premium noot by itself is cringey.
Also, IIRC Anthocyanins are fat-soluble, so must be taken with fat source to absorb any significant amount.
I don’t agree with your assertion that using natural source caffeine is the same as using synthetic or highly refined caffeine. for example, studies have shown that pure caffeine usage is associated with shorter telomeres, while coffee consumption is associated with longer telomeres. I don’t think this has been researched to the point where we can definitively say “plant form better than lab form,” but the reverse is even more true, with the evidence we do have at present.
Hi Mark, thank you for your engaging and interesting reply to my Neuromaster review.
There’s one thing I’d just like to raise with regards to: “I don’t agree with your assertion that using natural source caffeine is the same as using synthetic or highly refined caffeine. for example, studies have shown that pure caffeine usage is associated with shorter telomeres, while coffee consumption is associated with longer telomeres.”
Pure caffeine and synthetic caffeine are not the same thing. You can have a capsule that is 100% caffeine and it can be derived from natural sources or it can be lab synthesized. My point is that when consuming pure caffeine, the origin of the molecule is irrelevant. Coffee consumption entails consuming lots of other compounds which may elongate telomeres. But if you are only consuming caffeine extracted from coffee, then you probavbly aren’t going to get any of those benefits even if the caffeine originated in the coffee.
I completely agree that Neuromaster being sold as a premium nootropic despite using these – as you say – extra flourish ingredients is cringey, but that is typical Dave Asprey.