Nootropics are also known as “smart drugs”. For the benefits they promise, they are not uncommon: they increase mental performance and act as cognitive amplifiers. Their popularity in recent years has soared to the point that thousands of people already include in their breakfast this golden pill that allows them to be more productive at work.
To put the nootropics a bit into context, remember the “Limitless” series. In this article, Bradley Cooper was taking an experimental drug called “NZT-48”. Shortly after consuming it, his world became more alive, his senses were exacerbated, and his cognitive ability increased to 200%, to the point that he was able to learn multiple languages fluently, be a financial genius on Wall. Street, or remember everything he had seen, read and heard.
- “Apparently.
- The human brain is something like a notebook we bought in stationery: small mechanism and many blank leaves?-Alan Turing-.
Would you allow us something like that? Apparently? Be more productive than Stephen King writing books, memorize a document in half the time, or activate neurological structures capable of awakening the musical or mathematical genius that exists in each of us. Apparently? Because the reality is different, a reality certainly more appropriate, more limited and less bright but always interesting.
The pharmaceutical industry, for example, invests millions of dollars each year in the development of new nootropics, for a very simple reason: demand is increasing.
Professional pressure is on the rise, we know that, do you need to be alert, you need to improve your concentration, be more mentally agile, more creative, more productive?Everyone wants to give themselves more without having to resort to dangerous substances, and that’s where nootropics or “smart drugs” come in.
Today, these drugs are known to be widely used by college students, military pilots, computer programmers, or creators of advertising companies looking for them in a seemingly harmless resource to expand their minds, focus their attention, and empower them. the best of themselves in their goals.
But? Do nootropics really work?
There are those who call nootropics “the drug of the future”, the product of an accelerated society that wants to go beyond its own possibilities. However, this term bothers, doesn’t like it and is not accepted why?generally ?they have no side effects and are not “psychostimulants”. That’s why they’re classified in a much more inspiring way: “Cognitive enhancers. “
On the other hand, there are also those who dare to say that nootropics will soon be our evolutionary menu, and that thanks to them we will take our brain development to another level.
As curious as it may seem, this is precisely the goal of large companies and recognized entities, in fact Silicon Valley, the global capital of the technology industry, has been working with nootropics for years, to the point of discovering new mechanisms through which to intensify their properties, their effects, their duration and even their application.
Not only will they improve attention and creativity, but it is also possible to live lucid dreams or achieve a level of relaxation similar to that achieved after several years of meditation, however, we know that for many of our readers some data may seem pure science fiction to them and that is why we have to go step by step. First let’s see its origin.
It is the 1960s and, in a Belgian laboratory called Belgian Chemical Union, Romanian neuropharmacologist Corneliu Giurgea is working on the synthesis of various chemical compounds for a very specific purpose: to induce sleep.
However, he eventually discovered a very particular type of molecule that allowed him to create the first nootropic in history: Piracetam. This drug, far from reducing neurological excitability and providing rest, has in fact done the exact opposite: alerting the mind and improving cognitive ability. functions such as memory and concentration.
The mechanism of action of nootropics varies between them. However, most of them have effects on vasodilation, i. e. they improve blood flow to the brain, giving it more oxygen, more nutrients and glucose, the essential energy source that the brain uses to ensure long periods of concentration.
Similarly, and as a curious fact to think, Silicon Valley is known to work with nootropics by combining them with biohacking, that is, they seek to “hack” certain brain functions across various chemicals to improve thinking functions.
Does it look like the door to the evolutionary leap of the human brain is starting to open its knob?
The goal of pharmaceutical industries with nootropics is twofold. On the one hand, and as we already know, the search for the improvement of basic cognitive processes, which in most cases manage to do; the second aspect is that they work as neuroprotective and that their possible side effects are minimal, if not. -existing.
But one of the biggest problems that health experts discover is that college students, entrepreneurs and others with a stress-related lifestyle acquire nootropics on the Internet, regardless of their origin or, worse, how they should be consumed.
Let’s look at an example. Caffeine is a natural nootropic, just like omega-3 fatty acids. If I drink 10 cups of coffee in one night, you will most likely have headache, dizziness and high blood pressure. Similarly, a student who buys a nootropic on the Internet without knowing its composition and form of administration, for the sole purpose of taking the test the day after tomorrow, will eventually feel the harmful effects of this improvement on attention and memory beforehand.
Therefore, it is necessary to know that nootropics help, but they are not a miracle, in addition, these benefits will be realized if they are consumed correctly and with medical advice.
On the other hand, and out of curiosity, it must be said that Russian laboratories have created a new family of nootropics, all derived from corticotropin, stress hormone and GABA receptor agonists like Phenibut or Tolibut, drugs that have been in high demand lately for their anxiolytic and anti-stress effects, but it must be said that their side effects are certainly the most dangerous on the market , because in the long run they cause addiction.
Experts say there are some basic precautions you should follow when consuming a type of nootropic:
If we want to modulate the chemistry of our brain to work at the best level, we will need to obtain a number of suitable nutrients to activate the mechanism of action of these smart drugs, so a balanced diet rich in fresh fruits, vegetables, omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids are essential for nootropics to work.
Physical activity and a varied, low-fat saturated diet are critical for these medications to achieve their goal.
“The real sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination. -Albert Einstein-
It is important to note here that not all nootropics are drugs, many of them are not subject to prescription because they contain natural components and because they are very easy to find in health food stores, however, before you start using cognitive stimulants, it is always best to consult a specialist.
To do this we must define the goal, because as we have seen, the offer of nootropics is quite wide, and everything points to that it will be even more important in the coming years.
In conclusion, it should be remembered that nootropics are not dietary supplements. It is not recommended to use them lightly, especially since the offer is increasing and its effectiveness less reliable. Therefore, even if we know that we all want to optimize our own cognitive abilities to adapt to the current demands of the labour market, it will always be better to look for other strategies, first other ways.
Despite this, we will continue to be aware of the evolution of these cognitive activators and their impact on our future.
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