Question: Do “brain supplements” work?

2 Comments

1. Dr. Michael Trayford on June 26, 2016 at 6:15

   Unfor­tu­nate­ly, there are no easy, yes/no, answers to ques­tions such as this; nor will there ever be. Fur­ther, I’m unclear as to what cat­e­go­ry of sup­ple­ments this ques­tion refers to. There are a host of sup­ple­ments in the areas of blood sug­ar han­dling, inflam­ma­tion, neu­ro-pro­tec­tion, etc. that have a great deal of research behind them and their effi­ca­cy; and they have the capac­i­ty to change lives in many cas­es. I love the info on Sharp­Brains, although these types of blan­ket opin­ions do not serve the con­sumer well, in my opinion.

   
   
   
   • Alvaro Fernandez on June 30, 2016 at 4:57

     Michael, thank you for the kind words and thought­ful com­ment. I agree that there’s no easy yes/ no answers to many ques­tions, but the post above cap­tures well the essence of much research in the last 10 years around so-called “brain sup­ple­ments” (any non-FDA-reg­u­lat­ed sup­ple­ment mak­ing brain-spe­cif­ic claims, be it Omega‑3 or Gingko or else). I invite you to take a good look at the mul­ti­ple stud­ies and meta-analy­ses we’ve been shar­ing over the last few years. What works is nutri­tion, not iso­lat­ed supplements–unless they are address­ing a clear, iden­ti­fied defi­cien­cy. (Beyond the place­bo effect, of course)