Best Nootropics for Gaming 2019

Nootropic supplements are the biggest emerging trend in gaming. They’re new, they work and they’re here to stay for the foreseeable future. Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of them – nootropics have only recently made an entrance into the gaming world.

Research into the cognitive effects of these supplements may have only taken place recently, but many nootropics have been used for hundreds of years around the world. Today we’re taking a look at which nootropics are best for gaming.

What is a Nootropic?

Let’s get one thing straight, nootropics are not drugs. They’re supplements with an entirely different chemical structure to drugs like stimulants. You can’t get physically addicted to a nootropic supplement.

A nootropic is a cognitive enhancer – it improves how our mind and body functions for a known period of time. After you take one, you may experience increased mental clarity, improved mood, enhanced focus and a load of other beneficial effects.

The majority of nootropic supplements are extracted from natural sources such as trees and flowers, although some are synthesized in labs to keep up with demand. You may start to feel these positive effects as quickly as 10 minutes after taking a capsule and the effects usually last for a few hours.

Here’s a look at the most common problems gamers face and how nootropics can prevent them.

Tiredness

It’s common knowledge that gaming for long periods of time, sometimes for days straight, can cause extreme fatigue. If you play games for extended periods of time, you can easily become physically and mentally drained. Your gameplay can be severely affected by just small amounts of sleep-deprivation and this could be why you don’t seem to win as often when you are tired.

Taking a natural nootropic supplement can reduce or even eliminate this fatigue. We here at GamingCypher.com recommend a nootropic called Performance Lab Mind. It is designed to keep you feeling wide-awake and refreshed for hours, with minimal side effects. Of course, this isn’t a substitute for sleep – and we wouldn’t advise you to neglect it – but when you need to game, getting 10 hours of shut-eye sometimes isn’t an option.

It’s recommended to combine sleep-promoting and alertness-promoting nootropics for the best gaming experience. You need quality sleep at night and extreme focus while gaming. Taking a product such as Performance Lab Sleep before bed and a nootropic like Performance Lab Mind while you are gaming will ensure you’re always in the right frame of mind.

Common sleeping medications are often banned by professional gaming organizations and Esports leagues, but most nootropics are not. You can take these products as often as you feel necessary without ever having to worry about failing a drugs test and losing your precious prize money – a huge concern for professional gamers.

Of course, nootropics aren’t just for pro gamers. Healthy adults of all ages and levels of gaming experience, from complete amateur to world-class gamer, can benefit from these new and exciting opportunities to improve their gameplay.

Focus

Everyone struggles to stay focused and gamers are no exception. Sometimes, listening to music or eating while playing can become so distracting you lose focus on the game – this can be avoided thanks to nootropics. Taking a mind-enhancing supplement could boost your chances of winning by stimulating the release of chemicals within the brain that are responsible for focus (like acetylcholine for example). And because nootropics are not drugs, you shouldn’t have to worry about gradually building a tolerance to their effects.

Many supplements contain ingredients which can make your mind more committed to the task at hand by increasing brain activity. For example, the ready-made nootropic stack Mind Lab Pro contains Citicoline which has been proven to boost focus. Studies show that taking Citicoline, also known as Cognizin®, can optimize brain pathways better than many other nootropics available in 2019. Although many nootropics can improve focus, few do so as effectively as a nootropic stack like Mind Lab Pro as it contains 11 ingredients picked for their brain-boosting effects.

Citicoline, also known as CDP-choline, is already present in our cells. The human body uses it when producing choline, which it then transforms into the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Although these chemicals are similar, they have completely different roles and research suggests that although Citicoline is a nootropic, choline is not. We suggest taking a Citicoline-containing supplement like Mind Lab Pro as studies have shown that taking Citicoline repeatedly improved the verbal memory of healthy adults.[i]

Stress

There’s an old saying – ‘Pressure makes diamonds’. But this isn’t true; stress and pressure can cause serious mental problems like depression and PTSD. Stress can also raise blood pressure, cause sleepless nights and insomnia and put dangerous strain on the human body. Thankfully, many nootropics are brilliant at calming the human mind in a cheap but safe way. Taking deep breaths is often not enough to make us calm, yet over-the-counter medication like Zopiclone may cause unwanted side-effects like drowsiness and bizarre tastes in the mouth.

Nootropics such as Bacopa Monnieri, a natural herb found in south-east India, can put a stressed mind at ease in minutes. They tend not to produce any serious or unwanted side effects as such small doses are being ingested. Another huge bonus is their cost. Taking a nootropic daily is a cost-effective way to ensure you continue gaming at the highest level of performance.

Bacopa Monnieri has been used in India for thousands of years as a natural cognitive enhancer. The longer you take Bacopa Monnieri, the better its memory-improving properties seem to become. A study showed that adults who took this nootropic for 6 weeks experienced a measurable improvement in the quality and quantity of brain function[ii].

Taking a supplement that contains Bacopa Monnieri is a great way to maximize your performance while gaming, especially if you’re new to nootropics. This supplement has very few associated side effects, making it ideal for any gamers in need of a legal, effective brain enhancer.

Physical Performance

One of the biggest factors determining your in-game performance is reaction time. Having extremely fast reactions isn’t entirely based on skill and luck, it can be improved through a variety of methods. There are hundreds of games available online specifically designed to improve your reaction time. Most of these are free-to-play, which is always a bonus for the wallet-conscious gamer. However, these will only get you so far in your quest for lightning-fast fingers.

Just a handful of the thousands of nootropics available in 2019 have been proven, scientifically, to improve physical reaction times. Among this prestigious class of supplements is Citicoline. In tests, healthy adolescent males who had taken Citicoline showed a measurable improvement in psychomotor speed when performing a finger speed test[iii]. Studies like this have shown time and time again that nootropics are more than snake-oil; they can seriously enhance how you game.

Nootropics are completely different to stimulants like caffeine or illegal compounds such as amphetamines. Because of this, taking a nootropic supplement shouldn’t cause any side effects like jittering or withdrawal.

Which Nootropics are Best for Gamers?

Because different nootropics are often marketed for different cognitive effects, taking a combined supplement (known as a ‘stack’) is a great plan for beginners. Unless you want to take a nootropic to alleviate one specific problem, you’ll probably want to be taking a variety of supplements at the same time. You could buy various supplements separately, but this will quickly put a dent in your savings.

If you buy a pre-made nootropic stack such as Mind Lab Pro, you’ll be able to take a variety of supplements in one easy-to-swallow capsule. It’ll save you time and money.

In our opinion, there is no better nootropic stack for gamers than Mind Lab Pro – or Performance Lab’s Mind and Sleep combo is a great option too. Mind Lab Pro in particular is formulated to improve mental performance and it contains 11 unique nootropics that are all highly beneficial.

As well as containing Citicoline and Bacopa Monnieri (which we’ve already mentioned), Mind Lab Pro contains the powerful nootropic Phosphatidylserine. Phosphatidylserine has been shown to improve accuracy, cognitive function and mood in clinical trials[iv] – it’s the ideal nootropic for gamers. They’ve blended just the right amount of each nootropic into each tablet to give you the best cognitive enhancement money can buy. You can read more about each of the 11 ingredients in Mind Lab Pro here (https://www.mindlabpro.com/). Their website also lists the exact amount of each nootropic supplement in each tablet.

If you’ve done any research into supplements for gaming, you’ll have quickly discovered hundreds of companies trying to sell you their products with gimmicks and outrageous claims. You shouldn’t waste your money on poorly-produced pills from dodgy websites. That’s why we suggest you buy all your supplements from a trusted company like Opti-Nutra, makers of the Performance Lab range. They research and manufacture a wide range of supplements, all designed to improve various tasks like work performance and sleep quality.

Unlike a lot of supplement companies, Opti-Nutra have great customer service. If you can’t find an answer to a question you have regarding one of their nootropics on their website, they’ll try their best to answer any queries personally.

[i] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8624220

[ii] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18611150

[iii] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26179181

[iv] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22017963

Galit Gordon

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I'm a published author and proud US Army veteran who happens to be a gamer, so I decided to combine the two and love every minute of it! Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments and I'll be sure to get back to you.