“more acutely increase acetylcholine. And indeed, I use these myself. The most effective one I've found is alpha GPC. Alpha GPC consumed at dosages of 300 milligrams to 600 milligrams prior to a workbout or prior to a workout greatly increase one's ability to focus and concentrate.”
“At least that's been my experience. And there are some good data in humans. Now, a number of people have contacted me about a recent study suggesting that alpha GPC, when taken chronically over many years, could increase one's vulnerability to stroke.”
“And one known way to offset increases in TMAO that are associated either with alpha GPC or increases due to other things. So ingestion of particular food compounds actually can increase TMAO, is to offset that by taking 600 milligrams of garlic.”
“Now, I've been taking alpha GPC pretty consistently for a number of years. I do not take it every day. I would say I take it about four days per week, again, prior to workouts or bouts of cognitive work. I have not seen my TMAO spike, and I've evaluated that by way of blood tests.”
“capsule of garlic anytime I take alpha GPC, which again for me is about four days per week. So, if one wants to increase the amount of dopamine transmission in the brain and body for sake of increasing concentration and focus, one of the most efficient ways to do that is by ingestion of the amino acid L-tyrosine.”
“And just to summarize, there is, of course, Adderall, Ritalin, Vivance, Modafinil, R. Modafinil, a number of different compounds, all of which generally increase dopamine transmission in the brain, so increasing dopamine, and all of which generally increase epinephrine, adrenaline transmission in the brain and body.”
“And that's one of the reasons why, somewhat paradoxically, giving a stimulant like Ritalin or Adderall to a kid that legitimately needs it, obviously you don't want to do this without the oversight and careful evaluation of a psychiatrist.”
“and more distractible overall. After all, Ritalin, modafinil, armodafinil, all these things are stimulants. So you take a kid who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and give them these drugs that increase transmission of dopamine and epinephrine, you'd think, wow, it's going to make them even more distractible and hyperactive.”
“And just to summarize, there is, of course, Adderall, Ritalin, Vivance, Modafinil, R. Modafinil, a number of different compounds, all of which generally increase dopamine transmission in the brain, so increasing dopamine, and all of which generally increase epinephrine, adrenaline transmission in the brain and body.”
“And that's one of the reasons why, somewhat paradoxically, giving a stimulant like Ritalin or Adderall to a kid that legitimately needs it, obviously you don't want to do this without the oversight and careful evaluation of a psychiatrist.”
“The other thing that can positively modulate brain function and that actually works as a fuel for neurons to function and can improve cognitive performance and particularly within the brain circuits such as the prefrontal cortex that are involved in concentration and focus is creatine.”
“within the brain and specifically the benefits of creatine for prefrontal cortical networks. Again, modulating, not directly mediating, but modulating and generally supporting the brain networks that are going to allow me to generate focus and concentration.”
“So ingestion of particular food compounds actually can increase TMAO, is to offset that by taking 600 milligrams of garlic. Now, I've been taking alpha GPC pretty consistently for a number of years.”
“capsule of garlic anytime I take alpha GPC, which again for me is about four days per week. So, if one wants to increase the amount of dopamine transmission in the brain and body for sake of increasing concentration and focus, one of the most efficient ways to do that is by ingestion of the amino acid L-tyrosine.”
“by increasing focus directly. As I mentioned earlier, there are a number of different foods which contain choline. You can look those up online. Choline acting as an amino acid precursor to acetylcholine. But of course, there are compounds, there are supplements that can further and more acutely increase acetylcholine.”
“I use L-tyrosine in capsule form. I will take 500 milligrams of L-tyrosine, 300 milligrams of alpha-GPZ, and a cup of coffee. Do this early in the day before a workout or before a bout of concentrated mental work.”
“its role in improving cognitive performance. So, my read of the literature has led to a practice in which I ingest five grams per day of creatine monohydrate, the sort of standard form that's available. Really isn't geared towards muscle growth or strength or performance as much as it's geared toward tapping into the creatine phosphate system”
Also filed under Creatine
“that are going to support focus and concentration. It's not as if taking one to three grams of EPA essential fatty acids per day is going to tap directly into only the circuits for focus and concentration. The other thing that can positively modulate brain function, and that actually works”
“And the range is basically from 100 milligrams to 400 milligrams. I want to caution everybody out there: if you're somebody who suffers from anxiety or panic attacks and you're not used to ingesting caffeine and you run out and ingest 400 milligrams of caffeine in the form of espresso or yerbamate or an energy drink or in pill form, that is going to be very uncomfortable for you.”
“I use L-tyrosine in capsule form. I will take 500 milligrams of L-tyrosine, 300 milligrams of alpha-GPZ, and a cup of coffee. Do this early in the day before a workout or before a bout of concentrated mental work.”
“One of the key compounds that supports concentration and focus because it generally supports mood concentration and focus and brain function in general are the omega-3 essential fatty acids.”
“And the range is basically from 100 milligrams to 400 milligrams. I want to caution everybody out there: if you're somebody who suffers from anxiety or panic attacks and you're not used to ingesting caffeine and you run out and ingest 400 milligrams of caffeine in the form of espresso or yerbamate or an energy drink or in pill form, that is going to be very uncomfortable for you.”
As referenced on air, with the quote and the moment. Reported, not evaluated.
“There's a beautiful study that was published in Neuron not long ago that showed that the tuning, that is, the precision with which neurons in the brain represent things in our environment, is actually much greater when there is sufficient glucose in the brain.”
“It's a paper published in the journal Experimental Psychology in 2020. The title of the paper is, not surprisingly, Acute Stress Improves Concentration Performance. First author, DeGroote, D-E-G-R-O-O-T-E.”
“There's a beautiful study that was published in the European Journal of Physiology that showed that the increases in dopamine are massive, you know, a near doubling or more of dopamine levels that are very long-lasting for hours.”
“At the beginning of today's episode, I talked about the study from Dr. Wendy Suzuki's lab, where they explored a 13-minute meditation done every day for a period of eight weeks.”