dark chocolate
coffee
coconut oil
combo green tea and coffee
chia seeds
Ask HN: Do you take nootropics?
101–110 of 223 posts
Re: Ask HN: Do you take nootropics?
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Regardless, my experience was that its only value is the placebo effect. If a substance actually does anything real, and there is potential for a pharmaceutical company to patent and profit from it, then you can generally rest assured that it will be scheduled to require a doctor's prescription. For just about everything, the over-the-counter options consist of vitamins and quackery. So either blatantly break the la…
> Melatonin is OTC in the US (sadly not where I live) and the efficacy of melatonin on sleep quality is pretty hard to dispute. The Mayo Clinic's website doesn't quite feel as strongly as you do about Melatonin: > The hormone melatonin helps control your natural sleep-wake cycle. Some research suggests that melatonin supplements might be helpful in treating jet lag or reducing the time it takes to fall asleep — altho…
When compared to placebo, Melatonin has no significant side effects[0]
Re: Ask HN: Do you take nootropics?
#103I've been taking vyvanse(before that adderall) for the past 10 years. I wouldn't have been able to graduate from highschool without it, I can barely function at my job(devops) without it. I haven't noticed any long term affects, it definitely works though. It's scheduled so it's not easy to get but it definitely works compared to some of the more hit or miss OTC nootropics. I'm willing to answer any questions if anyo…
Okay, so I'm a college freshmen who graduated high school in three years but did that in a combination of excelling and getting absolute 0's in classes because I'm not able to concentrate. I believe I have adhd, for many reasons, how realistic is it getting diagnosed at 18? Also, is there really not many noticeable long-term side effects, because I took vyvanse once and holy god it was the first time I was able to si…
In France ADHD is not in the book of diseases for adults, so the psychiatrist didn't even want to try a diagnostic (and I guess he didn't have the standard tools to do it).
Re: Ask HN: Do you take nootropics?
#104L-Theanine. Recently went through an interview spree. Helps me get rid of nervousness and focus on solving problems. Naturally found in tea leaves but obviously in small dosage. Can't confirm side-effects but sometimes gives me headache if I drink beer on the same day, particularly IPAs!
Re: Ask HN: Do you take nootropics?
#105No, because Adderall messes with my creativity.
I was doing a math major in college, and whenever I took adderall (legally prescribed) before doing a p-set, I always came up with a long and unelegant solution to a problem. It seemed to motivate me to work very hard, but not to work smart.
No idea if this was just something I had in my head or there is some neurochemical basis for it.
Re: Ask HN: Do you take nootropics?
#106Not a nootropic per say but I've noticed a huge difference since focusing on my general health;
1) 7-8 hours sleep per night.
2) 1 hour of exercise per day (some days cardio, other days weights(focus on compounds; squat, deadlift, bench press, shoulder press, pullups, rows))
(for people thinking "I'm too busy to spend an hour of my day exercising". I think the productivity increase of clearing your head doing this exercise more than makes up for the hour it takes.)
3) balanced diet consisting of fresh natural foods. (fruit, veg, meat, fish etc. not frozen meals, microwave food where your not quite sure what's in it)
Found I've lost weight, cardiovascular endurance has increased, I'm stronger and just feel a lot better.
So my advice would be try and do all the above before taking any drugs that aren't very well researched and could cause long term issues.
Re: Ask HN: Do you take nootropics?
#107I took piracetam years ago when I was considering a career change and prepping for the LSAT exam. I believe that its legal history is somewhat similar to ephedra... 10-15 years ago you could buy it over-the-counter or online, but since then it's been taken off the market in the U.S. Regardless, my experience was that its only value is the placebo effect. If a substance actually does anything real, and there is potent…
have you tried listening to white/pink/brown noise instead of music? it works wonders for my concentration. there are numerous noise generators online, i like this one: http://www.simplynoise.com/
No. Don't use music or any other form of noise to drown out ambient sounds at work. It causes slow but irreversible damage to your hearing. In game theory terms, such an act constitutes rewarding defection (employer insisting on open plan office) with cooperation (harming yourself in an attempt to help your employer) - always a bad move.
Re: Ask HN: Do you take nootropics?
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can relate to this so well, as a person who has struggled with their sleep schedule since early childhood. People suggest going to bed at the same time every night, but I think those people have the ability to fall asleep when they're given no external stimuli. For me, no external stimuli means my brain starts working overtime, keeping me up.
The more common advice is to get up at the same time every morning, regardless of when you went to bed.
This.
Re: Ask HN: Do you take nootropics?
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
The brain is not being deprived, rather it's deriving it's energy from a different source - > the brain starts burning ketones in order to more directly use the energy from the fat stores that are being depended upon, and to reserve the glucose only for its absolute needs [1] Additionally - > Because the brain can only power 70% of its action on ketones, glucose will have to be used no matter what. However, because g…
I meant to say it's primary fuel source. Will look into this more, but I would think avoiding suppression of epinephrine has to account for some of the effect of cutting to a no/low carb diet.
Good luck with your research! Peter Attia could be a good place to start -
http://eatingacademy.com/nutrition/ketosis-advantaged-or-mis...
Re: Ask HN: Do you take nootropics?
#110I took piracetam years ago when I was considering a career change and prepping for the LSAT exam. I believe that its legal history is somewhat similar to ephedra... 10-15 years ago you could buy it over-the-counter or online, but since then it's been taken off the market in the U.S. Regardless, my experience was that its only value is the placebo effect. If a substance actually does anything real, and there is potent…
>> So that I can work without having to blast music through $300 noise-canceling headphones (which itself impairs focus, but is the lesser of all evils)?
Rather than listening to music, you can listen to brainwave entrainment audio (Neuro-Programmer 3 is a good program to generate these). The lack of words prevents distraction, and the audio can entrain your brain to whatever frequency is best for what you are doing (focus, brainstorming, etc). There are videos on YouTube that show EEG readings changing to match the frequency of the audio.
Also, Cerebrolysin or Fasoracetam + Coluracetam (especially when combined with exercise and keeping the body in ketosis) are much more likely to be effective than Piracetam.