Alpha Brain and Prevagen and two heavyweight nootropic supplements. Alpha Brain has been made popular by influential podcasters Joe Rogan and Aubrey Marcus, while Prevagen capitalizes on its vast distribution model, which is why you can find it at your local grocery store.
So, I took both brain supplements to give you the answer, which one is worth taking?
Quick Verdict
Alpha Brain wins the comparisons because it can potentially improve general cognitive function thanks to its formulation of several well-documented nootropic substances.
The dosages are lower than those of the leading products on the market, but when compared with the single-ingredient Prevagen, the formulation is solid.
Prevagen can be a better choice for people of advanced age who are looking not so much to be more productive or creative but to restore and maintain their memory and keep a clear mind.
| Feature | Winner |
|---|---|
| Ingredients | Alpha Brain |
| Dosage | Draw |
| Short-Term Effects | Alpha Brain |
| Long Term Effects | Alpha Brain |
| Third-Party Testing | Draw |
| Clinical Research | Draw |
| Side Effects | Prevagen |
| User Reviews | Draw |
| Price | Draw |
Quick Verdict
Alpha Brain is a superior nootropic supplement with a range of effective ingredients and a positive third party clinical trial.
Prevagen has 1 speculative ingredient, an in-house study, and a lawsuit. It is unlikely to be an effective nootropic and wasn’t in my experience.
What Is Alpha Brain?
Alpha Brain is a nootropic created by Onnit Labs, a well-known maker of health and fitness supplements and equipment. It is perhaps the most popular nootropics supplement on the market, thanks to the support of notable podcaster and Onnit co-founder Joe Rogan.
This product is touted as a cutting-edge, caffeine-free brain blend that will help optimize your cognitive function. It was one of the first nootropic substances studied in double-blind, placebo-controlled trials.
My Alpha Brain review analyzes the formula and also compares the Black Label Alpha Brain.
What Is Prevagen?
Prevagen is a popular brain health supplement that improves memory and promotes overall brain health and performance. Its popularity is partly due to its availability in major grocery shops and pharmacies, making it a convenient option for many people.
Prevagen is notable for its usage of a single, unique substance known as Apoaequorin, a protein found in a specific type of jellyfish.
The unique ingredient is not found in other brain supplements and has the potential to provide benefits not found elsewhere.
My Prevagen review goes into detail about their lawsuit and formulation.
Alpha Brain vs. Prevagen Main Differences
Benefits
Alpha Brain is a comprehensive brain supplement that boosts cognitive abilities like memory, mental speed, and focus. The formulation contains several ingredients known as potent brain boosters.
Onnit describes the supplement as the “ultimate way to get in the zone,” and it is utilized by people in all sectors where mental clarity and sharpness are essential, including students, entrepreneurs, athletes, and working professionals.
Prevagen primarily aims to enhance memory and retain normal brain function. The main substance apoaequorin is intriguing because of its potential ability to bind calcium ions, which are required for brain cell function.
As we age, our ability to regulate intracellular calcium deteriorates, resulting in cognitive impairment. Prevagen’s link to aging-related memory impairments makes it a potential ally in the fight against cognitive decline.
Ingredients
The main issue with Alpha Brain’s component list is that the actual quantities of each ingredient are not shown but are divided into three blends: Onnit Flow Bled, Focus Blend, and Fuel Blend. This allows us only to make estimates about specific dosages. In my experience, proprietary blends are used to hide low dosages.
Prevagen relies on a single active ingredient- the aforementioned Apoaequorin.
I will start with Alpha Brain’s ingredient list. Many of them are popular substances used in many nootropic formulations.
The amino acid L-theanine is a powerful antioxidant incorporated in almost all nootropics due to its proven effects on stress and anxiety relief and improved verbal fluency and executive function [1][2].
L-tyrosine, another mainstay nootropic element, has been proven to improve mind flexibility and multitasking [3].
No modern nootropic would be complete without the ayurvedic herb Bacopa monnieri. Bacopa increases verbal learning, memory acquisition, and delayed recall by assisting brain receptors to process information [4].
Huperzine A is a component of the Alpha Brain formulation claimed to potentially aid healing from brain injuries and boost brain function in Alzheimer’s disease patients [5,6].
Cat’s claw is a time-honored plant that promotes cognitive performance and is commonly utilized in nootropics. Alpha Brain even lists it as an independent ingredient rather than a component of one of the blends. However, clinical trials have not proven its efficacy.
The remaining two compounds in Alpha Brain worth mentioning are Alpha GPC and Pterostilbene. Alpha GPC may improve cognitive performance and perhaps outperform coffee in certain activities [7].
Pterostilbene is believed to counteract age-related cognitive decline [8].
Prevagen’s Apoaequorin is used to reduce the development of Alzheimer’s disease and increase verbal learning abilities and working memory [9]. This is what you can expect from the supplement, as Apoaequorin is the only ingredient.
Prevagen is sold in 3 versions. The Regular strength has 10 mg of Apoaequorin, the Extra strength contains 20 mg and the Professional formula doubles it to 40 mg.
Stimulant vs. Non-Stimulant
Noocube and Prevagen do not include substances that can rapidly stimulate the nervous system. Stimulant nootropics typically contain caffeine and L-theanine.
This simply means you will not experience any effects immediately after taking a dose.
Alpha Brain has another version called Black Label, which contains caffeine and a few additional ingredients, but I view it as a different product, and this review only looks at the standard caffeine-free version.
Short vs. Long-Term Effects
Nootropics require time and accumulation to work fully. They are designed to be taken daily year-round, with the optimal effects deployed after 3 months, after which they are maintained.
You can get noticeable short-term effects only from stimulant nootropics containing caffeine, which is not the case with Alpha Bran (the standard version) and Prevagen. Still, you can usually notice enough difference after a month of use if a product is good.
Prevagen’s clinical research, which claims significant benefits, was done over 90 days.
Alpha Brain’s study, on the other hand, was done after 6 weeks of intake.
Clinical Research
Alpha Brain was the first nootropic company to publish peer-reviewed studies on their product. After 6 weeks, it was discovered that taking Alpha Brain significantly enhanced delayed verbal recall and executive functioning compared to a placebo group [9].
However, the study has a big red flag, as Onnit funded it.
Prevagen has conducted a comprehensive study on humans, but a few factors raise concerns about the validity of the findings.
The study comprised 218 participants aged 40 to 91. The group that took Prevagen demonstrated increases in verbal learning and recall compared to the placebo group.
The issues are that the study was done by Prevagen’s parent firm, the participants had only self-reported concerns, and people with diagnosed mental disability were barred from participating.
Outside of this trial, there is no scientific proof of the effectiveness of Apoaequorin.
Side Effects
The study on Prevagen’s effectiveness is limited and probably angled, but the safety studies are far more extensive and have proved that the product has no adverse effects. I haven’t found users complaining of adverse effects either.
I have found a small number of people experiencing headaches and light nausea in user reviews, but they are only a tiny percentage of the whole. My experience with the product was without issues.
User Reviews
Alpha Brain is extremely popular. The official product website has approximately 7000 reviews and an overall rating of 3.5/5 stars. Many people did not feel the effects, and their experiences were identical to mine, but a 3.5 score means most people are satisfied.
Things on Amazon are comparable in score of 4/5, but the number of reviews is about 40,000, indicating that the overwhelming majority of customers are satisfied with their purchase.
Prevagen is a very well-known product with tens of thousands of Amazon reviews. The high rankings indicate customers are very satisfied with it.
Nonetheless, other reviewers state they have not felt any effects. Some users also complain about the cost, which in the more powerful versions is comparable to many other nootropics on the market.
Price
| Product | Regular / 1 Bottle | Regular / 1 Bottles | Extra Strength / 1 Bottle Sub |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha Brain | $34.95 / 15 servings ($2.33/serving) | $79.95 / 45 servings ($1.78/serving) | $67.96 / 45 servings ($1.44/serving w/ subscription) |
| Prevagen | $39.95 / 30 servings ($1.33/serving) | $74.95 / 60 servings ($1.25/serving) | $59.95 / 30 servings ($2.00/serving) |
My Experience With Noocube And Prevagen
Prevagen didn’t work for me in 30 days, and I didn’t feel any improvements. I took the Regular strength, as used in the clinical study, but did not take it for three months.
Perhaps if I take it for 3 months or use the extra-strength version, I could notice improvements in my memory. Either way, Prevagen is aimed at older people to slow down memory loss, so I am not in the target group in the first place.
However, I am in Alpha Brain’s target group as someone with an active lifestyle and a mentally demanding job.
Unfortunately, the supplement did not help me in any noticeable way. The dosages of the active ingredients are too low, and even the synergistic effect was not enough to give me more brain power in 30 days. Perhaps with longer use, things would be different.
Should You Choose Noocube Or Prevagen?
While not my favorite nootropic, I would recommend Alpha Brain over Prevagen. It contains a lot of solid ingredients, even if underdosed.
Many people are happy with it, and I presume it can be effective with longer use. It has the potential for a lot more cognitive improvements for a much more diverse group of people.
Prevagen uses a somewhat speculative substance that should improve memory. Even if this is the case, the time it requires to work and the limited scope of benefits make it useless for my needs and generally for younger active people.
If you are of a more advanced age, then it may be a solid memory booster, especially in the stronger versions.
Winner
Alpha Brain
A nootropic supplement backed by prominent podcasters and clinical research for boosting brain function.
CHECK CURRENT DEALSSecond Best Option
Prevagen
A 1 ingredient nootropic supplement that is unlikely to give you brain-boosting benefits.
CHECK CURRENT DEALSReferences
- Hidese, S., Ogawa, S., Ota, M., Ishida, I., Yasukawa, Z., Ozeki, M., & Kunugi, H. (2019). Effects of L-theanine administration on stress-related symptoms and cognitive functions in healthy adults: a randomized controlled trial. Nutrients, 11(10), 2362.
- Williams, J. L., Everett, J. M., D’Cunha, N. M., Sergi, D., Georgousopoulou, E. N., Keegan, R. J., … & Naumovski, N. (2020). The effects of green tea amino acid L-theanine consumption on the ability to manage stress and anxiety levels: A systematic review. Plant foods for human nutrition, 75, 12-23.
- Steenbergen, L., Sellaro, R., Hommel, B., & Colzato, L. S. (2015). Tyrosine promotes cognitive flexibility: evidence from proactive vs. reactive control during task switching performance. Neuropsychologia, 69, 50-55.
- Morgan, A., & Stevens, J. (2010). Does Bacopa monnieri improve memory performance in older persons? Results of a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial. The journal of alternative and complementary medicine, 16(7), 753-759.
- Li, J., Wu, H. M., Zhou, R. L., Liu, G. J., & Dong, B. R. (2008). Huperzine A for Alzheimer’s disease. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (2).
- Mei, Z., Zheng, P., Tan, X., Wang, Y., & Situ, B. (2017). Huperzine A alleviates neuroinflammation, oxidative stress and improves cognitive function after repetitive traumatic brain injury. Metabolic Brain Disease, 32, 1861-1869.
- Parker, A. G., Byars, A., Purpura, M., & Jäger, R. (2015). The effects of alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine, caffeine or placebo on markers of mood, cognitive function, power, speed, and agility. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 12(sup1), P41.
- Bhaskar Jyoti Dutta, Pratik Shankar Raksha, Niyogita Maurya, Shivani Chib, Sanjiv Singh, Unlocking the therapeutic potential of natural stilbene: Exploring pterostilbene as a powerful ally against aging and cognitive decline, Ageing Research Reviews,Volume 92, 2023,
- Moran, D. L., Underwood, M. Y., Gabourie, T. A., & Lerner, K. C. (2016). Effects of a supplement containing Apoaequorin on verbal learning in older adults in the community. Adv. Mind Body Med, 30, 4-11.
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