Here’s our recently updated Alpha Brain vs Mind Lab Pro comparison article. Which is the best brain supplement? We aim to answer that question in this in-depth report, starting with a summary for those in a hurry.
Alpha Brain vs Mind Lab Pro SUMMARY: While Alpha Brain and Mind Lab Pro are both highly popular, 100% natural, and safe supplements, there can only be one winner. For us, it’s Mind Lab Pro by a landslide.
Whereas Alpha Brain hides ingredient doses in proprietary blends and uses several unproven ingredients, Mind Lab Pro uses a completely transparent ingredient profile where you can see everything on the label.
Mind Lab Pro has 11 evidence-backed ingredients in clinical dosages for all-around brain performance support – from memory, to focus, to cognitive “quickness” and recall. Mind Lab Pro offers whole-brain support—and it’s proven by scientific studies from Leeds to work. It’s not just the clear winner today, but also one of the best nootropic supplements out there in general.
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Alpha Brain vs Mind Lab Pro: About the Products
About Alpha Brain
Alpha Brain is a dietary supplement produced by Onnit, designed to support your cognitive functions like memory, focus, and mental processing.
Caffeine-free, gluten-free, and using well-known ingredients like Alpha GPC and L-Theanine, Alpha Brain works to help you:
- Improve alpha brainwaves
- Support the production of neurotransmitters
- Optimize neuron-to-neuron communication
It contains 90 capsules per bottle, and the recommended dosage is 3 ct per day.
Alpha Brain is one of the most hyped nootropics you’ll see, with celebrities like Joe Rogan backing the supplement.
But does the quality and effectiveness of Alpha Brain live up to the hype? And how does it compare to the current market-leading nootropic formulas – including Mind Lab Pro?
The sections that follow aim to answer that.
About Mind Lab Pro
Mind Lab Pro is an innovative and highly advanced brain supplement from the specialist U.K. supplement company, Opti-Nutra.
Recently upgraded to v4.0, Mind Lab Pro is 100% natural and plant-based, and features some of the world’s best nootropics in its formula. These include Sharp-PS Green® Citicoline®, and NutriGenesis® B vitamins among others.
Ever since its launch in 2015, Mind Lab Pro has enjoyed excellent reviews and some of the best ratings out of any brain supplement.
People from all walks of life have been using it to enhance their memory, cognitive sharpness, work efficiency, and daily mental well-being.
The unique combination of 11 science-backed ingredients in clinical dosages makes Mind Lab Pro effective at:
- Improving focus, clarity, and mood
- Increasing alertness
- Enhancing creativity
- Bolstering resilience to stress & fatigue
- Supporting long-range brain health
Just like its competitor, Mind Lab Pro is backed by high-profile individuals, everyone from clinical neuropsychologist Dr. Paul Nussbaum, to chess grandmaster Nigel Short, to world champion poker player David Williams.
The two key selling points of Mind Lab Pro are is quality, and the wide-reaching benefits. In other words, Mind Lab Pro isn’t just for professionals, it was specifically designed to work for people of all backgrounds. This is part of the reason why they have over 1 million bottles sold across six continents.
Another key advantage of Mind Lab Pro is that it’s scientifically proven to work through double-blind, placebo-controlled research.
Mind Lab Pro’s Website: www.mindlabpro.com
For example, an independent study from Leeds University showed that 3 months of Mind Lab Pro supplementation resulted in a surprising “degree of statistical significance,” according to the study lead author, Dr. Andrea Utley BA (Hons), PCGE, Ph.D.
Mind Lab Pro’s recommended serving is 2 daily capsules first thing in the morning. On those days where you need an additional boost, you can add a further 2 capsules with your lunch.
Sounds impressive – but how effective are Mind Lab Pro’s ingredients really? We take a look at the research behind its and Alpha Brain’s formulas below.
Alpha Brain vs Mind Lab Pro: Ingredients
There are quite a few differences between Alpha Brain and Mind Lab Pro’s ingredient profiles.
The first thing you’ll notice is that there Alpha Brain consists of proprietary blends (Onnit Flow Blend, Focus Blend, and Fuel Blend). The problem is, you can’t see the dose of each individual ingredient in these blends. You can only see the combined amount. This is an issue because it doesn’t allow us to see if each ingredient is effectively and safely dosed.
By contrast, Mind Lab Pro has a completely transparent ingredient label. You can see the dose of every ingredient clearly – there are no proprietary blends masking crucial information.
Although both contain 11 ingredients, Mind Lab Pro and Alpha Brain only have 5 ingredients in common. They are:
- Vitamin B6 – essential for proper functioning and signaling of your nerve cells, it helps with brain energy and mental clarity. Alpha Brain uses a higher dose, but a lower quality Pyridoxine HCl, compared to Mind Lab Pro’s ‘nature-identical’ NutriGenesis® vitamin B6 which has higher bioavailability.
- L-Tyrosine – This is a compound that enables your brain to make dopamine, a neurotransmitter that governs feelings of motivation, pleasure and reward among others. Alpha Brain contains an unknown amount of L-Tyrosine, while Mind Lab Pro has 175mg per serving, which we find to be a dose that’s effective and healthy for daily use.
- L-Theanine – L-Theanine is an amino acid from green tea. It has a positive effect on mood and concentration, helping to put your brain in a relaxed alpha-wave state, along with promoting the neurorelaxant GABA. Again, Alpha Brain doesn’t show us how much L-Theanine it has – the ingredient is part of a proprietary blend. On the other hand, Mind Lab Pro contains 100mg of the patented Suntheanine® L-Theanine, which is a light and safe dose.
- Phosphatidylserine – Phosphatidylserine is a fatty compound that is found at high levels in your brain. Your brain loses PS as it ages. Supplementation is shown to improve cognitive function across the board – including memory, focus, and information processing. Alpha Brain contains an unknown amount of PS, whereas Mind Lab Pro uses 100mg of Sharp-PS® Green from sunflower lecithin.
- Bacopa Monnieri Extract – Bacopa Monnieri is our favorite adaptogenic herb for memory. Used daily and long-term, this amazing nootropic helps to improve your long-term memory formation, along with promoting nerve-to-nerve cell communication and increasing your brain’s resilience to stress and toxic compounds. A great ingredient to see in both formulas – though Alpha Brain doesn’t let us know how much Bacopa is in it, while Mind Lab Pro clearly shows it contains 150mg per serving, which is an effective dose for this herb.
So, what are our impressions at the first glance? Mind Lab Pro clearly boasts a more transparent and better-dosed formula, but it also uses higher-quality ingredient forms too.
But there are still 6 ingredients in Mind Lab Pro and 6 in Alpha Brian that we haven’t talked about; these are the ingredients that are unique to each supplement, and are ultimately the ones that will show us which formula is really the most effective at boosting your brainpower.
Alpha Brain’s Formula
The unique ingredients in Alpha Brain include.
- Cat’s Claw Bark Extract (350mg)
- Alpha GPC (Unknown Dose)
- Toothed Clubmoss (Unknown Dose)
- L-Leucine (Unknown Dose)
- Pterostilbene (Unknown Dose)
As you’ll see on the product label:
Alpha Brain’s ingredient profile might have been great in 2011, but it’s really showing its age nowadays.
In our opinion, the use of proprietary blends is unacceptable these days. Customers will expect 100% formula transparency; and why would they not? We too would like to know exactly what is going into our bodies. This alone makes Alpha Brain a big letdown for us.
Then there’s the issue with pointless ingredients. Alpha Brain contains several compounds which have no scientific proof whatsoever. There’s no evidence that Oat Straw or Cat’s Claw will improve your mood and cognition like the manufacturer claims. The L-Leucine in Alpha Brain is pointless too – it’s a compound that helps muscle building, making it better-suited for a fitness supplement, not a nootropic!
Not to mention, Alpha Brain is missing key ingredients that make the best nootropic. It doesn’t contain anything to promote brain cell growth and repair.
Even if Alpha Brain worked as it claimed, the use of Huperzine A (toothed clubmoss) as an ingredient means you will need to take prolonged breaks. Continuous use of Huperzine A increases the risk of side effects like nausea, insomnia, and cognitive impairment. But taking a break from Alpha Brain makes other ingredients less effective, assuming they’re dosed optimally dosed in the first place.
All in all, we think that some things about Alpha Brain could’ve been done better, in particular, the part with the doses and ingredient choices. Let’s see if Mind Lab Pro did a better job with its ingredients.
Mind Lab Pro’s Formula
Ingredients that are unique to Mind Lab Pro include:
- Vitamin B9 (as NutriGenesis) (100mcg)
- Vitamin B12 (as NutriGenesis) (7.5mcg)
- Cognizin Citicoline (250mg)
- Bacopa Monnieri (150mg)
- Organic Full-Spectrum Lion’s Mane Mushroom (500mg)
- Phosphatidylserine (as Sharp-PS Green) (100mg)
- N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine (175mg)
- L-Theanine (Suntheanine) (100mg)
- Rhodiola Rosea (3% rosavins, 1% salidrosides) (50mg)
- Maritime Pine Bark Extract (95% proanthocyanidins) (75mg)
On the whole, Mind Lab Pro has one of the most balanced nootropic formulas we’ve seen. For a daily, long-term brain supplement, there’s not much Opti-Nutra could’ve done better here.
The ingredients in Mind Lab Pro cover every aspect of mental performance.
The Citicoline is a rapidly-absorbing form of choline (similar to Alpha GPC in Alpha Brain), increasing your focus and processing speeds along the way. Meanwhile, Bacopa Monnieri enhances recall, formation speed, and information retention, and works better the longer you take it.
Tyrosine and Rhodiola Rosea work in pair to keep your calm and focused during times of serious mental or physical strain (or both).
On the other hand, Lion’s Mane Mushroom works to stimulate new brain cell development. This, in synergy with the protective effects of Maritime Pine Bark and the structural support of Phosphatidylserine, results in a substantially more powerful, healthier brain in the long run.
But the most impressive thing for us is the lack of junk in Mind Lab Pro. Opti-Nutra has shown serious willpower here. The temptation to fill your supplement with as many ingredients as you can is common – but this means you get unnecessary ingredients (jacking up the price and increasing the risk of side effects).
With Mind Lab Pro, you get the complete package, but not too much. Everything has a role, and every area of cognitive function is taken care of, but nothing in excess.
Essentially, no bloating, no insomnia, just proven, well-dosed brain supplements. From our experience, the benefits of Mind Lab Pro increase steadily the longer you take it. Many people report they feel how effective Mind Lab Pro is when they stop.
Our Thoughts on the Ingredients in Alpha Brain and Mind Lab Pro
Based on thousands of reviews and our personal experience, both Alpha Brain and Mind Lab Pro are extremely safe supplements. Both formulas don’t rely on caffeine to amplify effects, instead, using 100% stim-free ingredients that have measurable results.
However, Mind Lab Pro is definitely the better option in terms of ingredients – not only is it more transparent but also uses higher-quality forms of ingredients, allowing for more efficient absorption, and, ultimately, bigger impact on your brain function.
If you’re looking for something to give you a short-term energy fix, then Mind Lab Pro might not be the one for you. However, for continuous long-term brain support with real benefits on mood, memory, and mental focus, it’s one of the best options on the market right now – and clearly better than Alpha Brain’s aging formula.
You can also check our list of the current best-rated brain health supplements on sale today.
Alpha Brain vs Mind Lab Pro: Side Effects
As we’ve mentioned, Alpha Brain and Mind Lab Pro are both safe supplements and unlikely to cause side effects. If you’re concerned about side effects from any supplement, it best to check with your doctor before using it.
Alpha Brain vs Mind Lab Pro: Customer Reviews
Alpha Brain and Mind Lab Pro boast some of the best reviews of any nootropic supplement.
While Alpha Brain is backed by celebrities like Joe Rogan, Mind Lab Pro is used and endorsed by professionals and high-profile individuals, including chess grandmaster Nigel Short and neuropsychologist Dr. Paul Nussbaum.
Pricing & Availability
Alpha Brain costs $79.95 for a one-time purchase. This is quite a high price for what it offers, especially considering that you don’t know exactly what you’re getting. That said, you could get a bit of a discount if you subscribe to a monthly delivery of Alpha Brain, which, still, in our opinion isn’t a great deal considering the lack of transparency behind this supplement.
Mind Lab Pro is a little less expensive at $69 per month’s supply, but it comes with excellent deals if you buy in bulk. Buying 3 bottles of Mind Lab Pro gets you 1 extra bottle for free, plus fast & free international shipping. The 3+1 deal will save you 25%, slashing the cost per bottle down to $51.75. Breaking it further down, if you buy 3+1 bottle of Mind Lab Pro, the cost ends up being $1.73 per serving.
Final Verdict
So, Mind Lab Pro is our winner today. While Alpha Brain contains some excellent ingredients, most of them are hidden behind proprietary blends so you can’t see their doses. Alpha Brain also uses some ineffective ingredients that don’t work as claimed.
Mind Lab Pro, on the other hand, has a completely transparent ingredient profile – you can see everything on the label. It also uses higher-quality, patented ingredients in optimal and effective dosages – covering all facettes of cognitive performance.
If you’re looking for total brain optimization, Mind Lab Pro is definitely a superior choice than Alpha Brain and one of the best nootropic supplements today in general.
What to expect from using Mind Lab Pro? It should start working in around 30-minutes. We’ve noticed an increase in alertness, focus, and ability to form sentences and recall information quicker. You’ll be able to concentrate over longer periods, with greater clarity and fluidity of thought. Thanks to Rhodiola and L-Tyrosine, you should also experience a lift in motivation and mood from using Mind Lab Pro daily.
To recap, here are the key advantages of Mind Lab Pro that made it our winner of this comparison:
Mind Lab Pro Key Advantages
- 11 evidence-backed brain-enhancers
- Patented and highly advanced nutrients
- High-potency, clinically-tested doses
- Formulated by neuroscientists, backed by professionals
- No proprietary blends; all dosages shown
- Safe, legal, clean, and effective
- NutriCaps® prebiotic capsules; free of gelatin or cellulose
- No pointless ingredients or fillers
Mind Lab Pro’s Website: www.mindlabpro.com
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