SHARPE

Gamma-aminobutyric acid, the brain's principal inhibitory neurotransmitter. It is the counterweight in a formula that also contains caffeine: the brake pedal alongside the accelerator. Being listed first means it is the largest single component of the blend.

An amino acid the body uses to build dopamine and norepinephrine, the signalling molecules most involved in drive and sustained attention. What makes the human research on it interesting is where the effects show up: under load. Randomised trials have found benefits during sleep deprivation, cold exposure, noise and heavy multitasking, which is a reasonable description of a demanding working day.

The most-studied cognitive ingredient there is, and the one doing most of the same-day work you will actually notice. It blocks adenosine, the molecule that accumulates through the day and makes you feel like stopping. Paired here with L-theanine, the combination studied across eleven randomised trials for acute alertness and attention.

SHARPE is a caffeinated product. One in the morning, not one after lunch.

An Ayurvedic botanical and the most convincingly-studied herb in the formula. An independently funded twelve-week placebo-controlled trial found improved delayed word recall and Stroop performance against placebo, and a meta-analysis of nine randomised trials found Bacopa improved speed of attention against placebo.

The thing to understand about Bacopa is its clock. Those trials ran about twelve weeks of daily use, and that is the only way it has ever been shown to work. Nothing about it is acute. Taking it with food also helps, since the most common side effect is mild digestive upset.

A phospholipid that is a structural component of every cell membrane in the body, neurons included, and one of the few ingredients in this category with a qualified health claim on file with the FDA. Sunflower-derived here, which matters if soy is a concern for you. Studied over weeks to months rather than as a same-day ingredient.

Alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine, a choline compound that crosses into the brain readily and gives the body material to make acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter most associated with attention and forming memories. It pairs deliberately with Huperzine A, which works on the other side of the same system.

An amino acid found almost exclusively in tea, and the reason a cup of tea feels different from a coffee carrying the same caffeine. It increases alpha brainwave activity, the relaxed-but-alert state, and in placebo-controlled trials it blunts the physiological stress response. Its job here is to sit alongside the caffeine rather than replace it.

An alkaloid from Huperzia serrata club moss. Unlike everything else on this list it is not a nutrient. It is an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, meaning it slows the enzyme that clears acetylcholine, leaving more of it in circulation. It is active at microgram doses, which is why a very small amount does the work.

Take this one seriously. It is genuinely pharmacologically active and has a long half-life. If you take any prescription medication, particularly cholinergic drugs or anything acting on the nervous system, this is the ingredient to raise with your doctor before you start.

Vitamin B3, here as niacinamide, the form that does not cause the flushing reaction people associate with niacin. It is a required cofactor in the enzyme reactions that turn food into usable energy, including in the brain. Half the daily value in one capsule.

As pyridoxine hydrochloride. B6 is a required cofactor in the synthesis of dopamine, serotonin and GABA, which is the reason it sits in this formula: several of the actives above depend on it to do anything. The percentage looks large because the daily value is small. At 5 mg it sits far below the 100 mg tolerable upper intake level.