Alpha brain

Our Verdict At A Glance

Alpha Brain is a reasonable pick, but not our top pick. It is one of the very few nootropic blends with a published, placebo-controlled trial of the finished product, and that trial found real (if modest) improvements in verbal memory. The trade-off is that most doses are hidden in proprietary blends, both trials were funded by Onnit, and the formula includes huperzine A, an ingredient that deserves more caution than most.

• Good fit if: you are a healthy adult who wants a caffeine-free formula from an established brand, and a product-level clinical trial matters more to you than full label transparency.
• Choose something else if: you want to see every dose on the label, you take prescription medications, or you are over 50 and concerned about cardiovascular risk. For most readers, we recommend Mind Lab Pro instead.

What Is Alpha Brain?

Alpha Brain is a caffeine-free nootropic supplement made by Onnit, the Austin-based supplement company Aubrey Marcus founded in 2010. Onnit launched Alpha Brain in 2011, and it has since become one of the most recognizable brain supplements on the market. In April 2021, Unilever agreed to acquire Onnit, so Alpha Brain is now a product of one of the largest consumer goods companies in the world.

Onnit markets Alpha Brain to support memory, focus and mental processing speed, and says it “promotes alpha brain wave activity.” We first tried the original formula back in 2016 and noticed steady, jitter-free focus. We came back to it with a more critical eye: what is actually on the label, what the published research shows and who should think twice before buying it.

Alpha Brain Ingredients: The Full Label

A serving is two capsules. Here is the current supplement facts panel for the standard capsules, as listed by Vitacost:

Ingredient	Amount Per Serving	Dose Disclosed?
Vitamin B6 (as pyridoxine HCl)	10 mg	Yes
Cat’s claw bark extract	350 mg	Yes
Onnit Flow Blend: L-tyrosine, L-theanine, oat straw extract, phosphatidylserine	650 mg total	No (blend only)
Onnit Focus Blend: alpha GPC, bacopa extract, toothed clubmoss extract (1% huperzine A)	240 mg total	Partly: bacopa 100 mg, huperzine A 400 mcg
Onnit Fuel Blend: L-leucine, pterostilbene	60 mg total	No (blend only)

Three proprietary blends make up most of the formula. That means you cannot tell how much L-theanine, phosphatidylserine, L-tyrosine or alpha GPC you are actually getting. Since the whole Flow Blend is 650 mg split across four ingredients, at least some of them are almost certainly below the doses used in clinical research.

What The Research Says About Each Key Ingredient

Huperzine A (Toothed Clubmoss)

Huperzine A is an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor: it slows the breakdown of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter involved in memory and attention. Alpha Brain discloses 400 mcg per serving, which is in the range used in clinical trials. A 2013 meta-analysis in PLoS One found huperzine A improved cognitive scores in people with Alzheimer’s disease, though the authors noted the trials were generally small and of limited quality. There is little research on huperzine A in healthy young adults, which is who Alpha Brain is marketed to.

Because it works on the same pathway as prescription Alzheimer’s drugs, huperzine A is the ingredient in Alpha Brain that most warrants a conversation with your doctor (see side effects below).

Bacopa Monnieri

Bacopa is an Ayurvedic herb with some of the better evidence in the nootropic space. A 2014 meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that standardized bacopa extract, taken daily for 12 weeks or more, improved measures of attention speed. Most bacopa trials use roughly 300 mg per day. Alpha Brain contains 100 mg, about a third of that, so it is unlikely to deliver the full effect seen in the research.

Phosphatidylserine

Phosphatidylserine is a fat-like compound found in cell membranes, concentrated in the brain. In a 2010 placebo-controlled trial in 78 Japanese adults aged 50 to 69 with memory complaints, participants took 100 mg or 300 mg of soy-derived phosphatidylserine per day for six months. Only those who started with relatively low memory scores showed significant improvement, mostly in delayed verbal recall. Alpha Brain does not disclose its dose, so we cannot say whether it reaches that range.

L-Theanine

L-theanine is the amino acid in tea associated with calm alertness. A 2019 randomized controlled trial in healthy adults found 200 mg per day for four weeks reduced stress-related symptoms and improved some measures of verbal fluency and executive function. Alpha Brain’s L-theanine dose is undisclosed.

Alpha GPC

Alpha GPC is a choline source that the body can use to make acetylcholine. Most of its cognitive research is in people with dementia, not healthy adults. It also carries a safety question: a 2021 study in JAMA Network Open following about 12 million South Korean adults aged 50 and older found that alpha GPC users had a higher risk of stroke over 10 years than nonusers. That study was observational, so it cannot prove alpha GPC caused the strokes, and it tracked older adults using alpha GPC as a prescription drug, not young adults taking a supplement. Still, it is worth knowing about if you are over 50 or have cardiovascular risk factors.

Cat’s Claw

Cat’s claw is a vine bark from the Amazon and is the largest disclosed ingredient in Alpha Brain at 350 mg. Its brain-related research is almost entirely from lab and animal studies. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health says there is not enough evidence to show cat’s claw helps any health condition, and notes it may interact with some medications. We have removed earlier claims from this page that cat’s claw repairs DNA or clears brain plaque in people; the human evidence does not support them.

L-Tyrosine, Oat Straw, L-Leucine, Pterostilbene And Vitamin B6

L-tyrosine is a precursor to dopamine and norepinephrine. Research in healthy adults suggests it may help cognition under acute stress, typically at gram-level doses far above what can fit in Alpha Brain’s blend. Oat straw, L-leucine and pterostilbene have little direct evidence for cognitive benefits at these amounts. The 10 mg of vitamin B6 is well within safe limits but is mainly useful if your diet is low in B6.

Does Alpha Brain Work? What The Clinical Trials Showed

Alpha Brain has been tested as a finished product in two published trials, which is more than most nootropic blends can claim. Both were funded by Onnit.

The 2016 cognition trial. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial published in Human Psychopharmacology, 63 healthy adults aged 18 to 35 took Alpha Brain or a placebo for six weeks after a two-week placebo lead-in. The Alpha Brain group improved significantly more than placebo on delayed verbal recall and executive functioning. The authors described it as the first controlled trial of the product and said the results “merit further study.”

The 2018 soldier trial. A double-blind, placebo-controlled study in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition gave Alpha Brain or a placebo to 43 active-duty U.S. Army soldiers for 30 days. It found no significant differences between groups in marksmanship, reaction time, mood, resilience or cortisol.

How to read these results. One positive trial in young adults and one null trial in soldiers is a mixed but honest record. Keep these limits in mind:

• Both trials were small (63 and 43 participants) and short (six weeks and 30 days).
• Both were funded by Onnit, and an Onnit Labs employee was an author on the 2016 trial.
• The formula tested in 2016 may not match today’s label exactly.
• Neither published trial reports EEG data, so the “alpha brain wave” claim is Onnit’s marketing, not a finding from these studies.

Alpha Brain Side Effects And Who Should Avoid It

Neither published trial reported serious side effects. The bigger issues are possible drug interactions and the specific groups who should not take it.

• Pregnant or breastfeeding women and anyone under 18: Onnit’s own label says not to use it.
• People taking prescription medications: the label says to consult a doctor first. This matters most for Alzheimer’s medications such as donepezil, since huperzine A works on the same pathway, and for drugs that affect heart rate or acetylcholine.
• Adults over 50 or with cardiovascular risk factors: consider the alpha GPC stroke findings above and talk to your doctor.
• Anyone with a diagnosed medical condition: again, the label advises a doctor’s input before use.

Onnit’s directions are two capsules daily with a light meal, and no more than one serving in 24 hours.

Alpha Brain Vs Alpha Brain Black Label

Black Label is not simply a stronger version of the original. It is a different formula. According to the supplement facts listed by GNC, a four-capsule serving contains velvet bean extract standardized for L-dopa (1,000 mg), lion’s mane (500 mg), citicoline (250 mg), phosphatidylserine (200 mg), L-theanine (100 mg), 25 mg of caffeine, toothed clubmoss extract (20 mg, about 200 mcg of huperzine A) and lutein and zeaxanthin from marigold extract.

Unlike the original, Black Label discloses every dose, and it does not contain bacopa or alpha GPC. But it also contains caffeine and L-dopa from velvet bean, costs about $6.25 per serving and has not been tested in a published trial. Because velvet bean supplies L-dopa, it is a particular concern for anyone taking Parkinson’s medication or MAOI antidepressants, and the label says not to combine Black Label with original Alpha Brain. If you are new to Alpha Brain, start with the original.

Onnit also sells Alpha Brain gummies and drink mixes. Their formulas differ from the capsules, so check the label of the specific product before you buy.

Alpha Brain Price And Guarantee

Onnit has listed the 60-capsule bottle (30 servings) at $57.95, about $1.93 per serving, with a discount for subscriptions. Retail prices vary: at Vitacost, the 30-count bottle has sold for $34.95 (about $2.33 per serving) and the 90-count for $83.95 (about $1.87 per serving). Onnit’s site currently advertises a 30-day money-back guarantee. Check the current terms at checkout, especially if you buy from a third-party retailer.

Alpha Brain Vs Mind Lab Pro

Mind Lab Pro is our top pick for most readers. It lists every ingredient dose, does not contain huperzine A and has a gentler ingredient profile overall. Alpha Brain is slightly cheaper per serving and has a published trial of its own formula, which Mind Lab Pro cannot match. If transparency and caution matter most to you, choose Mind Lab Pro. If a product-level trial matters most, Alpha Brain is the defensible choice. See our full Mind Lab Pro vs Alpha Brain comparison for the side-by-side breakdown.

Check Mind Lab Pro Price

Final Verdict: Is Alpha Brain Worth It?

Alpha Brain is a legitimate product from an established company, and it has more product-specific research behind it than most of its competitors. That research is limited, though: one small positive trial, one small null trial, both funded by Onnit. The proprietary blends make it impossible to judge most of the doses, and two ingredients, huperzine A and alpha GPC, call for more caution than the marketing suggests.

For a healthy adult under 50 who takes no medications and wants a caffeine-free option, Alpha Brain is a reasonable thing to try. For everyone else, and for anyone who wants to know exactly what they are taking, Mind Lab Pro is the better buy.

Alpha Brain FAQs

Sources

1. Solomon TM, Leech J, deBros GB, et al. A randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, parallel group, efficacy study of alpha BRAIN administered orally. Human Psychopharmacology. 2016;31(2):135-143. PubMed
2. Barringer N, Crombie A, Kotwal R. Impact of a purported nootropic supplementation on measures of mood, stress, and marksmanship performance in U.S. active duty soldiers. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2018;15:26. Full text
3. Yang G, Wang Y, Tian J, Liu JP. Huperzine A for Alzheimer’s disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. PLoS One. 2013;8(9):e74916. Full text
4. Kongkeaw C, Dilokthornsakul P, Thanarangsarit P, et al. Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials on cognitive effects of Bacopa monnieri extract. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 2014;151(1):528-535. PubMed
5. Kato-Kataoka A, Sakai M, Ebina R, et al. Soybean-derived phosphatidylserine improves memory function of the elderly Japanese subjects with memory complaints. Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition. 2010;47(3):246-255. Full text
6. Hidese S, Ogawa S, Ota M, et al. Effects of L-theanine administration on stress-related symptoms and cognitive functions in healthy adults: a randomized controlled trial. Nutrients. 2019;11(10):2362. PubMed
7. Lee G, Choi S, Chang J, et al. Association of L-α glycerylphosphorylcholine with subsequent stroke risk after 10 years. JAMA Network Open. 2021;4(11):e2136008. PubMed
8. Hase A, Jung SE, aan het Rot M. Behavioral and cognitive effects of tyrosine intake in healthy human adults. Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior. 2015;133:1-6. PubMed
9. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Cat’s Claw. NCCIH
10. Onnit Alpha BRAIN supplement facts, via Vitacost; Alpha BRAIN Black Label supplement facts, via GNC.
11. Unilever agreement to acquire Onnit, April 2021. Nutrition Insight