Smart Pills & Brain Pills

Brain pills, also known as smart pills, have become extremely popular in recent years as the subjects of focus and memory became hot topics.

What is in a brain pill? Is there such a thing as a smart pill? 

To begin with, the average smart pill contains at least one nootropic. Nootropics are substances believed to enhance cognitive function, memory, or in somehow enhance the brain. Nootropics can range from the common blueberry to something more advanced from exotic, faraway destinations like Russia. The brain pills that get the most attention can be compared to the movie limitless, in which a person (Bradley Cooper) takes a pill and, to put it mildly, gets a lot more done in one day than anyone ever thought possible.

Do Nootropics Work?

The nootropic substances themselves are somewhat controversial because no one really knows how they might affect the brain long term. Also, their efficacy is difficult to measure. After all, “feelings” themselves are somewhat subjective in nature.

Smart pills are arguably similar to brain pills. If there is a difference it is largely in the marketing of the nootropic brain pills. The brain pills that get the most attention are more focused on how much of a particular nootropic is in the pill. Nootropics must be present in certain quantities or their effect is negligible. Many of the nootropics are made in small quantities and have high price tags with little to no results. These somewhat experimental nootropics are still so new that there long term efficacy is obviously hard to determine. Yet this does not stop many consumers from experimenting with these nootropics in order to gain an edge. Try the nootropic blend that has the best reviews: AddieUP! 

Is the plane a toy, or just flying high? What do you think? #addieup #brainfuel #brainpill #brain #mind #energy #memory #support #focus #power #clarity #cool #plane #opticalillusion #illusion

A photo posted by addieup (@addieup) on Jul 22, 2015 at 9:05am PDT

Stupid Smart Pills

There has recently been a plethora of new smart pill manufacturers hitting the market. With nootropics getting more and more popular with professionals, students, and those seeking cognitive enhancement, the choices can be bewildering and confusing. How does one pick an ideal focus supplement when there are so many choices? 

Newer Is Not Always Better!

One needs to start by looking at the supplement’s track record. Have they been around for a while or did they just pop up? New isn’t always better, especially with nootropics. Just because a certain nootropic is new on the market does not mean it is necessarily better. 
One company is selling a nootropic stack that includes PRL-8-53. According to their website, their sales pitch reads like this:

“PLR-53 is a rather mysterious research nootropic made from a combination benzoic acid and benzylamine. It is still not widely available and very few trials have been published on its effects. However, there are reports that it has provided of pretty significant memory boost capability.” So, in other words, the company thinks that this is actually a selling point of their nootropic stack. Wow. 

Look For the Perfect Stack

Other smart pills have a long list of nootropics haphazardly put into one pill, as if the consumer will be so impressed with the long list of nootropics that they will be lulled into believing that more variety is better. The seasoned nootropic user knows by looking at the ingredients that there would be no possible way that this pill would do anything, as many of the ingredients need much more significant amounts to have any chance of efficacy. It's like having 50 pennies versus having 50 $20 bills. One manufacturer had 21 different nootropics in one “smart” pill. Stupid indeed. 

Nootropics Alone Don't Mean Energy

The other annoying aspect that keeps coming up is labeling nootropic stacks as energy pills. Most of these manufacturers seem to think that potential customers will actually think that nootropics will give them an enormous energy boost. That’s not going to happen with a nootropic stack unless there are also stimulants in the formula to actually provide the energy! Bacopa for example, is just not going to give you energy, period. Worse, some of the newer nootropic stacks have users reporting brain fog, fatigue, headaches, nausea, and other unpleasant effects. The last thing a consumer wants, that is looking for enhanced cognitive performance, is brain fog or fatigue! It’s pretty hard to focus when you get sleepy after taking the “smart” pill. 


Finally, it might be wise to look at the length of time the supplement has been on the market, and carefully read the testimonials to see if the smart pill makes sense for you. There are lots of different smart pills out there. Look at the ingredients, do your homework, and choose wisely.

Feeling Overwhelmed

One of our biggest challenges that we face is the feeling of being overwhelmed. This is different than the normal person who has a ton of tasks on his or her plate, and feels stressed and overburdened. For an ADD or ADHD individual, relatively simple tasks like assembling a toy, doing a homework assignment, or having many tasks to accomplish in a day or week can simply flood the inattentive brain. 

Waking up to a day full of tasks and challenges can put inattentive or high ADD/ADHD people affected by the disorder into a tailspin of depression and anxiety- the cousins of ADD/ADHD that you really have to experience to understand. Physicians without the disorder can talk about it, can know about it, but cannot REALLY know it unless they themselves are afflicted with the disorder. (Read about Dr. Baker, the creator of AddieUP here and his previous struggle with focus and attention.)

Why We Feel Overwhelmed

A day like this typically begins this way. After a tough night of fitful sleep, the person awakes to a "climbing Mt. Everest" feeling. There are feelings of anxiety, hopelessness, and depression. There are so many clear visions of past failures and lack of self esteem that we feel inadequate, our past failures give us a feeling that we simply can't overcome, can't achieve- that can't overcome our deficiencies. It really weighs heavy on the heart, mind, and soul.

We bear down and say, "come on, you can do it", and then something hits us, a past due bill, paperwork we must complete for work, a deadline of some sort, and we feel like failures. We get depressed. Our emotions spiral downward. We are in the state of mind that can only be clinically labeled as depression or anxiety. For many of us, it is a daily or near daily ritual. A deadline starts firing our ADD/ADHD brain, and we start the cycle of getting emotional and rattled. 

Objectively, our performance goes downhill fast, we fly off the handle, we talk fast and confuse co-workers, our tempers flare and we get in an argument with a loved one. We shell out blame, we reign an ADD/ADHD terror on people who have to deal with us, and by their reactions, we sense our own shortcomings and afflictions. We cannot cope, and we remain depressed. With all these triggers hitting our brain, we become exhausted by the cycle.

The phone rings, and in our depressed and overwhelmed state, we are short, abrupt with the caller. We feel guilty afterwards, of course. We know we just sounded like a non-caring jerk to someone who has just reached out to us. People slide away from us as a result of this behavior.

Consequences

We barely have enough energy, or with our heightened anxiety our adrenaline is flowing so much in our bodies that we try, unsuccessfully, to sleep or wind down. Some of us turn to crutches, like alcohol or prescription anti-anxiety medications like valium or xanex, or even illegal and risky street drugs. We engage in reckless behavior. Our need for escape is so great that we do things that we know, deep down, we should not do. We disappoint our friends, family, co-workers and loved ones as a result of this behavior. How do we feel after such an episode? Terribly guilty, because we are very sensitive and emotional. We know we have done wrong, and it further erodes our precarious self-esteem. It is hard to find anyone who understands what we go through. Often, our frustration is unleashed in our work or home environment. This is adult ADD/ADHD, and only those who truly have it can understand it. 

Solutions

Solutions? Here are 10 ideas you can do to break this state of mind that is so common to all of us affected with attention deficit disorder:


1. Get engaged in conversation with a child, if you don't have kids, use your natural ADD/ADHD playfulness to lighten your heavy spirit. 

2. Get outdoors. When we are outdoors, everything seems better, but winter and rain can make this idea a bad one.

3. Exercise The LAST thing many of us want to do is exercise. Will it help when your really keyed up? Maybe and maybe not. Simply getting outside on a nice day can help lift our spirits.

4. Give Yes, give our attention to someone who is worse off then us. Quit the pity party by engaging with someone else. Conversation, and also helping those less fortunate, can help.

5. Give your loved ones affection, whether it is your spouse, significant other, or pet. This can also get us back on track.

6. Read a good book with positive implications or watch a uplifting program or movie. The LAST thing we need when we are in this state is a sad, demoralizing or depressing news program or movie. Pick you programming wisely.

7. Meditate. Somehow we need to unwind, and meditation, if we are able to, can really be a blessing. Dancing to our favorite music with our headphones is also a good exercise that is easy to do and will help.

8. Eat healthy Often we punish ourselves by eating poorly. Simply pick up a piece of fruit, like an apple or banana. Doing the right thing makes us feel better.

9. Force yourself to be productive, channel the negative into a positive and get some tasks done, instead of escaping.

10. Walk with your loved one or friend, or call them. Reach out. Blog, write. Email, do something that let's your mind unwind.

AddieUP was made by someone who understands ADD/ADHD. Dr. Baker struggled with attention and focus growing up, and knew when he made the formula for AddieUP exactly what he wanted it to do. Find out more about AddieUP and it's powerful formula at addieup.com.

How to Stay Focused

Focus and Meditation

The subject of focus, how to focus and how to remain focused is a hot topic. Educators bemoan the fact that their students cannot stay focused due to the multitude of distractions in todays fast paced world. Smart phones, social media, television, friends, the list of distractors is indeed immense. Whether you are a student trying to study for an important exam or a corporate executive trying to keep your company viable, the subject of focus comes up time and time again. Focus is what AddieUP is all about.

Research on the subject of focus indicates that meditation can be very helpful in building a brain that can sustain focus for longer periods of time. Meditation may seem too new age or esoteric for some people, but it's not that difficult to understand. One simply has to allow themselves 20 minutes or so of removing all distractions and consciously allowing your body and mind to completely relax. Clearing out all thoughts except for the goal of relaxing the mind and body is certainly easier said then done. Many of us simply don’t think they have the time to meditate. Even 5 or 10 minutes of quiet meditation is better than none at all. The practice of meditating can allow the brain to get stronger in a sense, so that when the need for focus arises, our brains are able to work more effectively by filtering out mind wandering thoughts.

Reading

Reading more can help with focus. When we read we have to stay focused on the words and subject being read. This is a kind of mental exercise that helps build focusing skills, especially over a period of time. If you're in need of interesting material, addieup.com has some interesting articles about nootropics and related subjects. Sometimes it is difficult to continue to read subjects that are not interesting to us. When we feel that we cannot stay focused on reading “boring” material, it can be time to do another great focusing tool, physical exercise. Cardiovascular exercise helps bring blood and oxygen flow to the brain, has been shown to reduce stress, and helps release endorphins in the brain which makes us feel better. Feeling alert and revitalized after a work out, walk or run is a great way to renew our efforts for good focus when we need it.

Avoid Multi-Tasking

Trying to multi-task can actually harm our ability to focus. Instant messaging with friends online while trying to work is particularly counter-productive. While it would seem that this would make difficult work more enjoyable, it slows down our ability to get work done efficiently. Since communication with others is a vital necessity, use blocks of time to respond to emails, text messages, and phone calls rather then letting them interfere with your focus. By structuring your day to allow for communicating with others, you essentially become both a better communicator and also be more efficient with your work time. Also, when you have many tasks to complete, it is best to get one tasks done at a time rather then trying to do several different things at once. By focusing on one tasks and working until the task is completed, you are not focused on many different things and you achieve better focus as a result of this concentrated effort. AddieUP can help give you this focus.

Having a distraction-free environment is important when trying to achieve focus. Probably the most distracting of all is people themselves, so schedule your day around the most important things that need to be done. Your work or study environment needs to be neat, organized and distraction free. Making a to-do list the night before and prioritizing the list with the most important tasks to be done first is essential. Many suggest a simple system of putting 6 important tasks that need to be done, in order of importance, right in front of you and staying focused on the list during the day. A sense of accomplishment is felt when tasks are checked off the list, and you can give yourself rewards during the day as tasks get accomplished. The nightly ritual of writing the 6 most important things to be done the next day before going to bed gives us a great head start on the next day. 

Stay Focused

Getting proper rest, eating well, and exercise programs can assist our brains and bodies in the goal of achieving better focus. When we get proper sleep, we are able to deal with the challenges of the day better. The challenges of staying focused are always going to be present. If we take simple steps to combat distraction, we can achieve better focus. Take the first step in achieving the focus you want and start taking AddieUP.