What Is a Nootropic Bar?

What Is A Nootropic Bar?

Simply put, a nootropic bar is like a Clif Bar, except it’s actually good for you. Specifically, it’s good for your brain.

Nootropic bars are a sort of functional snack food packed with nutrients intended to either boost your energy or protein intake (or both), with additional ingredients intended to enhance your cognitive performance. These ingredients can be the nutrients themselves (e.g., oats, omega-3s, MCTs, etc.) or added nootropics, such as racetams, adaptogens, ergogenic mushrooms—even caffeine.

Related:
Best Nootropic Bars: Effective, Convenient Brain Food

Virtually every nootropic bar offers itself as a “healthier alternative” to your traditional snack bar options, which range anywhere from cheap carb-heavy gas station bars to Snicker bars. Ideally, an energy nootropic bar sources its energy fuel from clean, complex carbs rather than stimulants, such as caffeine; however, the category of “nootropic bar” includes both types. Yet, even so, some nootropic bars forego the carbs altogether to deliver a keto-friendly option that simultaneously boosts cognitive performance while energizing your body (or upping your protein intake) through not-ketogenic means.

All in all, nootropic bars are generally viewed (and sold) as health bars, even though some nootropic bars are vastly superior to others—in terms of both nutritional content and nootropic effect.

Why Take A Nootropic Bar?

I imagine most people who come across nootropic bars, such as those found in grocery stores and gas station aisles, are just looking for a snack, and they think to themselves, “Hey, this looks like it tastes good and is healthier than all the other candy bar junk on the shelves.”

This is true: most nootropic bars taste like decent snack bars (the best taste really good) while also being good for you.

Buying a healthy nootropic bar on the fly is always a good idea. However, I’d recommend keeping stacks of a good nootropic bar on hand, as taking a nootropic bar daily may not work as an on-the-fly pick-me-up but may also support your long-term brain health with key structural brain supportive nutrients—e.g., omega-3s, phosphatidylserine, lion’s mane, and more. Even though I get enough nootropics through my daily nootropic stack, I’ve found taking a daily nootropic bar has drastically helped me curb my appetite to avoid any junk food temptations that’d otherwise derail my healthier habits.

Think of nootropic bars as a good junk food replacement. They essentially fill that void that you’d otherwise fill with donuts and M&Ms and whatever else it is you’ve been cramming in there.

Related:
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Are Nootropic Bars Safe?

Nootropic bars are safe. Honestly, it’s kind of a ridiculous question to ask (SEO requires I ask it), but it is kind of a fair one when you consider a bar like TruBrain’s, which has the fairly experimental biohacker drug Noopept in its formula — as well as caffeine. While I do consider caffeine a nootropic (I didn’t use to), I don’t think caffeinated snack bars make for a good “brain health” nootropic bar.

So, as far as the “safety” of nootropic bars goes, they are, as a class of food/supplements, generally safe. Really, the only thing to look out for is the caffeine content, as you might unwittingly ruin your day through consuming too much caffeine by adding a caffeinated nootropic bar on top of your daily cup(s) of coffee.

Benefits

While they don’t deliver the comprehensive brain health/power benefits of a complete nootropic supplement stack, nootropic bars do have their distinct benefits missing from a typical nootropic supplement. Here are the 5 main benefits of nootropic bars:

1. Brain Fuel

Like MCT oil, nootropic snack bars boost brainpower by primarily providing energy fuel for the brain. However, unlike MCT oil, nootropic bars typically do this through clean, complex carbohydrates. No doubt, with all the emphasis on intermittent fasting and low-carb meals in the latest fitness health trends, many health enthusiasts are operating a sub-optimal cognitive levels… because they have sub-optimal carb energy in their bodies.

I’m sorry but you can’t biohack away your body’s need for glucose. You just can’t. Instead, you should just focus on getting better carbs (glucose) in your body, and the best nootropic bars do this—and they do this without overdosing you on carbs. These carbs work as fast-acting energy for your brain, making them ideal for mid-morning/mid-afternoon snacking and/or pre-exam brain food.

2. Mood

Many times per week, I find myself in a sour mood where I don’t feel excited to do anything, or, worse, I feel like my entire life is in a downward spiral towards certain doom… And then I remember: “Oh yeah, I’m just hungry.”

I’m not big on the sort of Hobbit diet of having multiple big meals per day, which is great for my bodyfat percentage but awful for my day-to-day mood. This is where nootropic bars help: by providing just enough brain energy to get me by, nootropic bars drastically elevate my mood to help me get through my workday without having to resort of a Snickers or taking the time to cook (ahem, buy*) a full-blown meal. Plus, the mood-boosting benefits of nootropic bar exceed those of a conventional snack bar with their additional B-vitamins and magnesium (and sometimes even L-tyrosine).

Related:
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3. Willpower

While motivation is a loose, somewhat abstract concept, willpower actually has a physiological basis that research suggests is linked with glucose. In fact, one study on the physiology of willpower states, “Acts of self-control deplete relatively large amounts of glucose.” This means that when you feel you don’t have the willpower to trudge through your day—to finish your work, do your homework, hit the gym, etc.—getting some glucose (again, carbs!) in your system may actually help light the fire under your ass.

4. Appetite Control

I’ve mentioned keto dieting and intermittent fasting already. Even if you’re not fully committed to any specific diet, it’s common for people to simply want to have their appetite (read: cravings) under control, as a way to not only stay fit (burn fat) but also stay on schedule. Nootropic bars that supply complex carbohydrates do a great job at satiating your hunger, without also overdoing it on the caloric end, allowing you to keep your appetite under control, as well as your daily caloric intake.

5. Workout Performance

You know, I’ve been preaching the benefits of carbs almost interchangeably with those of nootropic bars, but, truth be told, I am actually a bigger fan of BCAAs when it comes to workout performance. All the same, there’s no doubt that having a sufficient supply of carbohydrate energy can drastically improve your exercise (as well as general athletic) performance. I realize this is a contentious area, especially for those seeking to lose weight through exercise… but I don’t care. I’m right about this, all your fad diet gurus are wrong. They are wrong, they are full-blown idiots. You need carbs to stay consistent with your exercise regimen.

With that in mind, a healthy nootropic bar, in addition to boosting brainpower, can also supply you with fast-acting energy to get you through your workout.

Related:
Best Nootropic for Exercise

The Different Types of Nootropic Snack Foods

Nootropics come in many forms—natural herbal extracts, synthetic “experimental drugs,” over-the-counter supplement stacks, etc. etc.—and, likewise, nootropic snack foods also come in different forms. Although I’d say that the “snack” aspect here limits the variety, seeing as “snack” connotes satiation of appetite/cravings.

With that in mind, here are just a few of the most popular nootropic snack food categories:

• Snack Bars: The topic of discussion here, nootropic snack bars are like “what if Clif Bars were actually good for you, specifically your mind.” It’s fairly self-explanatory: a snack bar, typically a carbohydrate snack bar, with nootropic characteristics/ingredients.
• Drinks: This could include actual liquid products (truBrain comes close, though it’s not quite a snack), as well as liquid drink mixes (such as Alpha BRAIN Instant). The entire category of “mushroom coffee alternatives” I’d classify as nootropic drinks.
• Chips: You’ll likely see more and more manufacturers shell out their own nootropic chip products (a la Mindright), as chips are perhaps the ultimate guilty pleasure. Everyone loves chips. The human brain, designed to pick nuts and berries in the wild, simply cannot withstand the power of a bag of chips.

And, of course, there are nootropic foods—like good ol’ fashioned food—that, even if they don’t acutely boost brainpower to the degree of a well-tailored nootropic supplement, do have cognitive and brain health benefits worth considering. (SEE: my article on “Is Blueberry a Natural Nootropic?“) Eggs provide a good source of choline that may complement your cholinergic nootropic supplements well (such as racetams), almonds will help elevate your magnesium levels (a must for a stable mood, clear thinking, and healthy sleep), turmeric is rich with neuroprotective antioxidants, etc. etc.

Of the nootropic snack food manufacturers, Mindright is particularly innovative in this category. Though it’s not a huge variety of nootropic snacks, Mindright has mainstreamed nootropic chips, in addition to their nootropic bars and coffee mixes.

Final Thoughts

Conclusion: What Is A Nootropic Bar?

With nootropic bars (and other nootropic-infused snacks) rising in popularity, there are naturally more and more awful no-good nootropic bars hitting the shelves. That’s just how these things work. Distressingly, supplement companies are pretty good at marketing their bad, unhealthy (or, at the least, ineffectual) bars as the “healthier alternative” option, making it difficult for the average snacker to differentiate between the good and the bad.

Personally, I think it best to avoid the easy access nootropic bars lining the grocery shelves and instead just buy a bulk amount online directly through a reputable seller. This way you’ll get your hands on a nootropic bar that not only works but will save you money in the long run than if you were to just buy these things on a per bar basis at the store.

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