Brain supplements are safe and healthy alternative to many pharmaceutical pills today.
They can help people who have issues with poor memory, lack of concentration, or cognitive decline. Many of the nootropics today have solid scientific evidence behind them showing they can help protect the brain from premature deterioration – keeping you sharp and healthy as you age.
However, how to tell a good nootropic from a bad one? How do you know if a supplement is safe and effective or if it is a waste of money?
Today, we’ll be comparing two such products. Prevagen vs Provasil. Both natural nootropic formulas that aim to improve your brain performance without causing side effects or dependency. But which one is better? And how do they compare to other nootropics on the market?
All of this, and more, is answered in detail below.
Provasil vs Prevagen SUMMARY:
Provasil is a solid nootropic formula that should give you a noticeable lift in your mental focus and energy levels, and could potentially help you with any memory issues as well. Provasil costs more than Prevagen ($48.99 vs $39.99 per bottle), but it contains more ingredients and it is far more effective in terms of scientific research on its ingredients.
Prevagen only has one ingredient – apoequorin – which isn’t proven to work in humans. The advertising claims of Prevagen’s manufacturer have also been under a lot of scrutiny and have even been taken to court due to the lawsuit made by the FTC in New York.
While Provasil is not a perfect nootropic supplement (some of its important ingredients are underdosed), it is superior to Prevagen in just about every aspect.
What do we recommend?
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Provasil vs Prevagen: About the Products
Provasil
Let’s start with Provasil. Simply put, it’s made to enhance your cognitive function, boost memory and concentration, and promote overall brain health.
Among its ingredients, you’ll see vitamins B12 and C, folic acid, biotin, and a proprietary blend of natural herbs, amino acids, and nutrients. While we aren’t the biggest fans of a proprietary blend (more on that in a second), the blend includes some very well-known nootropics, such as ginkgo biloba, bacopa monnieri, phosphatidylserine, L-tyrosine, and N-Acetyl-L-Carnitine.
Provasil is made for adults of all ages who want to support their cognitive performance, more so for those experiencing age-related cognitive decline.
Prevagen
Prevagen, on the other hand, is marketed as a memory and brain health supplement for older folks. Unlike Provasil, Prevagen has only one main active ingredient – apoaequorin – which is a protein derived from jellyfish.
Quincy Bioscience, which makes Prevagen, claims that apoaequorin helps to support brain function and improve memory, especially in individuals experiencing age-related cognitive decline.
Now, here’s a bit of controversy regarding Prevagen’s makers. Quincy Bioscience has faced some legal challenges concerning its marketing claims about Prevagen. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the New York Attorney General’s Office have taken to court certain assertions made by the company in its ad campaigns.
More specifically, the issue is with Quincy Bioscience’s claim that Prevagen improves memory and supports brain function. The FTC and the New York Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit against the company, stating that these claims were not supported by reliable scientific evidence.
So, who’s in the right here? We’re going to take a closer look at the evidence behind both Provasil and Prevagen’s ingredients to see what benefits you can actually expect.
Provasil vs Prevagen: Ingredients
Provasil’s Ingredients
Provasil’s ingredients include:
- Vitamin C – 300mg
- Folic Acid – 600mcg
- Vitamin B12 – 300mcg
- Biotin – 150mcg
- Choline Bitartrate – 150mg
- L-Tyrosine – 100mg
- N-Acetyl L-Carnitine – 100mg
- Bacopa Monnieri – 100mg
- Ginkgo (leaf) – 60mg
- Phosphatidylserine – 50mg
- L-Glutamine – 45mg
- Phosphatidylcholine – 30mg
- Asian Ginseng – 30mg
- Resveratrol – 25mg
- DHA – 5mg
So, is this an effective brain health formulation?
In my opinion, yes, to an extent.
Provasil contains several well-studied nootropic compounds, including Bacopa Monnieri, Ginkgo Biloba, Phosphatidylserine, and L-Tyrosine. Together, these ingredients should boost your memory, focus, and mental clarity. But, don’t expect them to work immediately. Bacopa, for example, takes up to 12 weeks to show its full spectrum of benefits.
There are also some basic nutrients in Provasil, such as vitamin C, B-complex vitamins, and glutamine, but these don’t have major nootropic effects (especially since some of them are underdosed).
Now that we mentioned the word underdosed. There are quite a few compounds in Provasil that are otherwise effective for improving brain health, but are either underserved or some in their ineffective forms.
Case in point: choline bitartrate. Choline is a nutrient that our brain uses as a building block to produce the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which works on memory, learning, and cognitive health. Sadly, bitartrate is the worst form of choline for brain health as it has poor bioavailability.
The same goes for DHA. A significant chunk of your grey matter is made of DHA. It’s an essential fatty acid that we need to grow and develop our brains, as babies but also as adults. But a mere 5mg is nothing compared to the recommended 500-1000mg per day for nootropic purposes.
As a whole, Provasil looks like a nootropic capable of giving you some decent improvements in memory and focus. But if its ingredients were better-dosed, it would be far more effective and potent.
Prevagen’s Ingredients
Prevagen’s main active ingredient is apoaequorin, which, as we’ve seen, is a protein derived from jellyfish. This protein is supposed to support brain function and improve memory, particularly in individuals experiencing age-related cognitive decline.
However, the evidence on apoaequorin’s efficacy in improving cognitive function and memory is, at best, not very strong. While there have been some studies on apoaequorin, the results have been lackluster. The studies also had small sample sizes and other methodological limitations.
While apoaequorin is generally considered safe, some individuals may experience side effects such as headaches, dizziness, and nausea.
And that’s pretty much it. There is nothing else in Prevagen that supports brian function. Apart from Apoaequorin, we’re left with nothing.
This is a disappointing show with Prevagen. While Provasil isn’t a perfect brain supplement, its formula is far superior to that of Prevagen.
To see what nootropics we rate as best, you can check our current best-reviewed brain health supplements guide.
Provasil vs Prevagen: Side Effects
Neither Provasil nor Prevagen should cause side effects in healthy people. Obviously, if you have any sort of condition, always check with your doctor before taking any supplement.
Provasil vs Prevagen: Customer Reviews
Both products have plenty of reviews online, including on websites like Amazon.
Provasil has 3.7 stars out of 5 out of over 366 reviews on Amazon.
Prevagen fares much better with 4.4 out of 5 stars out of over 2228 reviews on Amazon, at the time of writing.
Pricing & Availability
Prevagen and Provasil are both available on their official websites and Amazon.
Provasil costs $49.99 per bottle (60 capsules, 30 servings) on its official website.
A Prevagen bottle (Regular Strength) with 30 capsules costs $39.95 on its website.
Final Verdict
Between the two, Provasil is the clear winner. It has more ingredients than Prevagen (15 vs 1), and the ingredients themselves are for the most part better-researched than the only ingredient that is in Prevagen – apoaequorin.
Yes, Provasil costs more than Prevagen, and you could argue that for $49.99 you can find better nootropics and you might just be correct, but between its and Prevagen’s formula, there is no comparison.
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