The Ultimate College Hack: Nootropics and Caffeine
Powerful, prescription-based cognitive enhancers circulating through the halls of academia in mass numbers.
This has resulted in many students wondering how to compete with their peers without having to resort to risky, synthetic stimulants.
The answer: natural nootropics.
And, of course, caffeine.
However, there are right ways and wrong ways to mix caffeine and studying. Making caffeine somewhat of a double-edged sword, if used haphazardly.
In this article, we cover all the best caffeine strategies for students, as well as a review of one of the Best Caffeine Supplements for Academic Performance.
Even better, you may stack the best caffeine supplement with Mind Lab Pro® to further improve your academic brain function and health too.
The Academic Benefits of Caffeine
No student needs convincing to take or not to take caffeine.
Either you love caffeine and you take it, or you hate caffeine but you still take it.
But, either way, if you’re wondering whether or not caffeine actually improves academic performance for students, the answer is:
Yes. If used correctly.
If used correctly - meaning if you take a modest dose of caffeine with a few specific nootropics (which we cover below) - caffeine may enhance your studying by improving:
Attention and Vigilance
Countering the claim that caffeine’s well-documented enhancement effects on cognition are just a consequence of withdrawal reversal, researchers found that, despite an increase in withdrawal symptoms, short-term withdrawal had no effect on performance measures.
In point of fact, caffeine was
“associated with faster simple reaction time, fewer long responses, greater detection of targets in the cognitive vigilance task, and faster encoding of new information.”1
Mood and Motivation
Similar to the previous study, researchers conducted a study to determine whether or not caffeine’s mood boosting effect was a consequence of withdrawal reversal.
The study’s results showed that:
“caffeine led to a more positive mood and improved performance on a number of tasks,”
Ultimately, there was evidence against the argument that caffeine’s mood boosts were merely the reversal of caffeine withdrawal.2
Early Morning Memory Performance
Of particular importance to students with early scheduled classes and exams is one study from 2016 on the effects of caffeine on memory performance in young adults.
Specifically observing the effects of caffeine during “non-optimal times of day,” which included early morning and late afternoon, the researchers concluded that:
“caffeine has a specific benefit for memory during students’ non-optimal time of day—early morning. These findings have real-world implications for students taking morning exams.”3
The Do’s and Don’ts of Mixing Caffeine and Studying
If used incorrectly, meaning if you take too much caffeine at the wrong times, caffeine may impair academic performance.
With that in mind, here are a few of the basic do’s and don’ts to consider when mixing caffeine and studying:
- Do stack caffeine with L-theanine (more on this below);
- Don’t stack caffeine with other stimulants;
- Do seek a natural—not synthetic—source of caffeine;
- Don’t take too much caffeine, natural or synthetic;
- Do replenish B-vitamins lost to caffeine’s diuretic effect;
- Don’t rely on caffeine as an alternative to sleeping.
Of course, much of this is common sense.
Even so, the temptation to “power through” studying (especially late-night studying) is a common one.
This is despite how much sleep deprivation disrupts the average student’s daily academic performance and productivity.
Likewise, many are still unaware of how caffeine’s brain boosting effects can be easily improved with nootropics.
Mind Lab Pro® Nootropics for Students
With or without caffeine, Mind Lab Pro® nootropics may help boost brainpower for both academics and non-academics alike.
To stay focused, decrease mental distractions, and retain more information while studying, take the following nootropics:
L-Theanine
Extracted from green tea leaves (Camellia sinensis), L-theanine is a relaxing amino acid that helps reduce the negative “jittery” side effects of caffeine while sustaining the stimulant’s cognitive performance enhancement benefits.
- One study found L-theanine and caffeine effective at improving speed and accuracy of performance on attention-switching tasks with a reduced susceptibility to distracting information on memory tasks, leading to the conclusion that “L-theanine and caffeine in combination are beneficial for improving performance on cognitively demanding tasks.”[4]
More on Mind Lab Pro® L-Theanine here.
L-Tyrosine
High stress and sleep deprivation, two common conditions for the busy student, rapidly deplete your bodily reserves of L-tyrosine, an amino acid involved in the synthesis of mood- and attention-related catecholamine neurotransmitters, such as dopamine and norepinephrine.
- L-tyrosine helps sustain cognitive performance during intense brain activity. For the student-athletes in particular, one study remarkably found that “supplementation with caffeine, theanine and tyrosine could potentially hold ergogenic value for athletes in sports requiring rapid and accurate movements.”[5]
More on Mind Lab Pro® L-Tyrosine here.
B-Vitamins
Involved in hundreds of metabolic pathways, B-vitamins are essential to long-term brain health and function, as well as acute boosts on mood and focus. By co-participating in the conversion processes required to synthesize serotonergic and catecholaminergic brain chemicals, B-vitamins also indirectly help facilitate the motivational “feel-good” benefits of caffeine.
Yet, due to caffeine’s diuretic effect, caffeine tends to deplete our B-vitamin levels.[6] By stacking caffeine with B-vitamins, you may better replenish and sustain your B-vitamin levels, thereby reducing the risk of a post-energy caffeine crash.
More on Mind Lab Pro® Vitamin B6 here.
More on Mind Lab Pro® Vitamin B9 here.
More on Mind Lab Pro® Vitamin B12 here.
Best Caffeine Supplement for Academic Performance: Performance Lab® Stim
The Caffeine 2.0 Stack: Performance Lab® Stim supplies Performance-Tuned Stimulation with Caffeine Balance and Recovery Vitamins and Aminos.
Performance Lab® Stim is a relatively new caffeine pill stack specially designed to maximize the performance advantages of caffeine while minimizing the stimulant’s brain-draining effects.
By boosting short-term brainpower, Performance Lab® Stim is a smart addition to Mind Lab Pro®’s long-term brain supporting benefit.
To Buy, Visit:
www.performancelab.com
However, to better understand why Performance Lab® Stim is the best, let’s take a closer look at the formula:
Performance Lab® Stim Formula Analysis
The ingredients listed on Performance Lab® Stim’s Supplement Facts include:
-
NutriGenesis® Caffeine Balance B-Complex
- Riboflavin+ (Vitamin B2), 500mcg
- Vitamin B6+, 750mcg
- Folate+ (Vitamin B9), 167 mcg
- Vitamin B12+, 2mcg
- Natural Caffeine (from Coffea robusta seeds), 50mg
- Suntheanine® L-Theanine, 100mg
- Ajipure® L-Tyrosine, 250mg
Comprising Stim’s dual-stack formula design, these ingredients split into the following two categories:
Stack 1: Performance-Tuned Stimulation. This stack includes caffeine + L-theanine, the popular nootropic duo for enhanced attention, vigilance, and alertness—call it Caffeine 2.0.
Stack 2: Caffeine Balance and Recovery. This stack supplies L-tyrosine for catecholamine replenishment and a B-vitamin complex to protect your essential B-vitamin levels against caffeine’s diuretic effect.
However, what elevates Performance Lab® Stim above all other caffeine pill supplements is Stim’s dedication to supplying only all-natural ingredients and additives. Encasing its formula in clean, green NutriCaps® capsules, this caffeine pill is completely plant-based, vegan-friendly, eco-friendly, and non-GMO—inside and out.
Where to buy Performance Lab® Stim
To buy Performance Lab® Stim, visit here.
All Performance Lab® products sell exclusively through www.performancelab.com, where you can find more health and fitness supplements that all stack well with Mind Lab Pro® and Performance Lab® Stim.
Stack Performance Lab® Stim with:
Performance Lab® Energy
With Performance Lab® Stim working as an acute energy and focus booster, Performance Lab® Energy helps complete the energy boosting profile with its rich mix of stim-free antioxidants that promote and protect mitochondrial energy production via multiple bio-pathways. Together, Stim + Energy enhance mind+body performance for academics, athletes, and everyone else looking to gain a competitive cognitive edge.
To get the best deal on Performance Lab® Energy, click here.
Performance Lab® MCT
Taken daily, MCT oil can make a huge difference in your energy levels, as well as to your relationship to food. Maintaining high levels of cognitive performance throughout the school day can be a task, but with Performance Lab® MCT, a simple, all-natural liquid stack of C8 + C10 MCTs, the school day gets much easier. Add a tablespoon to your coffee, to your salad—or, better yet, take MCT oil with your nootropics, ensuring better absorption of the fat-soluble bio-actives and better brain boosts overall.
To get the best deal on Performance Lab® MCT, click here.
Performance Lab® Sleep
By supplying a minimally effective dose of cherry-extracted melatonin, Performance Lab® Sleep may help disrupt the sleep-stress cycle students often fall into without also leaving them feeling groggy and lethargic in the morning, as is common with melatonin sleep aids. The combination of natural melatonin with L-tryptophan and magnesium improves not only sleep quality but next-morning mood and performance for better daytime productivity.
To get the best deal on Performance Lab® Sleep, click here.
Conclusion
Mind Lab Pro® + Performance Lab® Stim pack stimulant-free nootropics with nootropic-enhanced stimulation to maximize your caffeine and studying results.
A complete nootropic stack not only focuses on what feels great right now but will also leave you feeling great in the long-term. With Mind Lab Pro®’s long-lasting cognitive benefits complemented by Performance Lab® Stim’s acute brain boosts, you’ll not only feel academically prepared for next week’s exam but cognitively prepared, too.
- Mind Lab Pro®’s Universal Nootropic™ formula optimizes all key brain bio-pathways underlying cognition while also maximizing the brain boosting potential of Performance Lab® Stim’s caffeine-powered stack.
Taken independently or together, these two supplement stacks are solid options for the hard-working student to take while studying and on exam day—or, really, every day. Thanks to their high quality and all-natural formulas, Mind Lab Pro® and Performance Lab® are safe and legal to use for long-term supplementation.
To get the best deal on Mind Lab Pro®, click here.
To get the best deal on Performance Lab® Stim, click here.
References
- Smith AP et al. Acute effects of caffeine on attention: a comparison of non-consumers and withdrawn consumers. J Psychopharmacol. 2013 Jan; 27(1): 77-83.
- Smith A et al. Effects of repeated doses of caffeine on mood and performance of alert and fatigued volunteers. J Psychopharmacol. 2005 Nov; 19(6): 620-6.
- Sherman SM et al. Caffeine Enhances Memory Performance in Young Adults during Their Non-optimal Time of Day.” Front Psychol. 2016; 7:1764.
- Owen GN et al. The combined effects of L-theanine and caffeine on cognitive performance and mood. Nutr Neurosci. 2008 Aug; 11(4): 193-8.
- Zaragoza J et al. Effects of acute caffeine, theanine and tyrosine supplementation on mental and physical performance in athletes. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 16, 56 (2019).
- Ulvik A et al. Coffee consumption and circulating B-vitamins in healthy middle-aged men and women. Clin Chem. 2008 Sep; 54(9): 1489-96.
