Special ingredients and supplements

Working in a longevity-focused startup, I’ve been interested in supplements and their potential benefits for a long time.

Especially those claimed to go beyond basic health optimization.

Some supplements are suggested to influence mood and cognition. These are often referred to as adaptogens.

Today, we will investigate whether some of these could also affect mental energy.

Today’s insights is mainly drawn from the scientific article: 

“The Role of Dietary Ingredients in Mental Energy - A Scoping Review of Randomized Controlled Trails”

Today's newsletter

• The study in a nutshell:

• Takeaways:

• What they did:

• What can we learn from this study?

The study in a nutshell:

Today’s review looked at how specific dietary ingredients or supplements influence mental energy

In the study, mental energy was defined as a combination of cognition, mood, and sleep.

By analyzing 101 randomized controlled trials involving adults without severe disease, the authors assessed the impact of 16 ingredients such as ashwagandha, dark chocolate, turmeric, and valerian root.

Eleven of the ingredients showed promising effects.

Takeaways:

📈 Some ingredients may alter specific aspects of mental energy

This review shows that some of these ingredients have a positive effect on one or more of the three aspects of mental energy used in this review.

🎯 Specific and strategic use

Therefore, one should use these ingredients specifically, as no one ingredient is a ”cure all” for mental energy.

What they did:

The data from the included studies were summarized descriptively.

For each ingredient the review calculated a percentage of outcomes across studies that showed statistically significant improvements.

A threshold of 20% improvement in outcomes was used as a marker for potential benefit.

What the authors found out:

Out of the 16 dietary ingredients reviewed, 11 showed potential enhancing effects on at least one of the three aspects of mental energy: cognition, mood, or sleep.

The authors looked across the included studies and examined all instances where a specific aspect of mental energy was tested in some format or outcome measure.

The percentages below reflect how often an ingredient led to a statistically significant improvement in the outcomes tested for each category.

The authors used a 20% improvement as the threshold to indicate potential benefit.

Findings:

• Ashwagandha: Consistently beneficial across all three areas—cognition (80% improved outcomes), mood (69%), and sleep (63%).

• Dark Chocolate: Showed notable cognitive improvements, especially in attention and executive function (33%), with modest mood effects (11%).

• Turmeric: Strong effects on mood (45%), moderate on cognition (14%); no data on sleep.

• Ginseng: Modest improvements in cognition (23%) and mood (15%); sleep effects not observed.

• Green Tea: Moderate impact on sleep (43%) and minor cognitive benefits (11%).

• Maca: High impact on mood (86%); cognition and sleep not evaluated.

• Lavender: Positive mood effects (63%), no clear impact on cognition or sleep.

• Valerian Root: Notable improvements in sleep (24%), but no significant effects on cognition or mood.

• Chamomile: Improved sleep outcomes (60%), no effect on mood.

• Melatonin-rich foods (e.g., cherries, walnuts): Showed benefits for sleep (46%), minimal cognitive impact.

• Lion’s Mane Mushroom: Cognitive improvements (50%), but no effects on mood or sleep.

Ingredients with limited or no benefit:

• Blueberries, Citrus, and Mint: Minor or inconsistent effects across domains.

• Guarana and Reishi Mushroom: No significant improvements observed.

👉 If you want to know more about the potential benefits of Ashwagandha, I found this interesting article. 

What can we learn from this study?

With interest in brain-boosting foods and supplementation growing rapidly, the evidence base supporting these claims has long been a bit unclear to me.

But today’s review really provides a nice overview of the most important findings concerning mental energy.

Some ingredients, and most notably ashwagandha, turmeric, dark chocolate, and valerian root, showed a potential benefits in one or more of the mental energy domains assessed in the review.

However, we should be careful drawing any firm conclusions from such a broad review with a large degree of heterogeneity between the included studies.

For example, the tools used to assess cognition and mood varied widely, making comparisons between studies challenging.

Still, to me it’s extremely exciting to see that there is actually a pretty strong trend towards some of these ingredients resulting in meaningful improvements on measures related to mental energy.

There’s no doubt that improved sleep has a positive impact on mental energy. Moreover, many of the measures used to assess cognition and mood, such as sustained attention and a sense of alertness, are exactly the qualities we aim to enhance when we talk about mental energy.

The fact that the authors used a 20% improvement as the point at which an ingredient was considered to have a positive effect, strengthens my trust in the trends despite the huge variability across studies. 

Although more research is needed, I find these results very intriguing. I think there is something to be gained from these ingredients in terms of mental energy if one takes the time to dive deeper into the research.

Likewise, it will be interesting to see what future research finds, and if we can soon begin to have a clearer picture of exactly which ingredients in what quantities, that might have a clear positive impact on mental energy. 

_{Disclaimer: The above is mainly based on the article “The Role of Dietary Ingredients in Mental Energy - A Scoping Review of Randomized Controlled Trails” by Kristin M. Nieman, Yong Zhu, Michelle Tucker & Katie Koecher and aims to provide key takeaways and a condensed overview of its content. While the essence is drawn from the original article, some parts have been simplified or rephrased to enhance understanding. Please note that we at, OptiMindInsights or any other potential writers or contributors to our summaries, do not accept responsibility for any consequences arising from the use of this summary. The information provided should not be considered a substitute for personal research or professional advice. Readers are encouraged to consult the original article for detailed insights and references. The summary does not include references, but they can typically be found within the original publication. Always exercise due diligence and consider your unique circumstances before applying any information in your personal or professional life. We refer to the creative commons for reproducibility rights.}