shades fills you in

Take a pill, get smarter! Sound too good to be true? Maybe. Time Magazine says the jury is still out on smart pills. But so far there’s little evidence these pills do much to help your brain

What the heck is in a smart pill? Healthline lists some common smart pill ingredients and their possible benefits, such as solving really tough problems

Smart pills are sometimes called “nootropics”. Medical News Today says they can be natural or synthetic, and can be sold OTC or with a prescription

WebMD really isn’t sure about these pills. It looks at some common ingredients and says there’s simply no research to say that they work

More of the same from Cleveland Clinic -- the research just isn’t there. We’ve studied smart pill ingredients in food but not much in actual pill form

EatingWell looked at the data that is there and concluded that of the 130 OTC nootropics studied, only one actually works -- caffeine!

Hopkins Doc Barry Gordon is also dubious. You can’t just “turn up the dial” on the human brain -- WebMD

A writer from GQ took matters into his own hands and experimented with a bunch of different nootropic combinations. His conclusion? Stick with exercise!

But there *are* a few studies that show promise. Creatine was shown to improve short-term memory in multiple trials cited in the NLM

Mindnutrition.com is an obvious believer and calls the effects of long-term nootropic use “god-like”

And this Redditor credits cordyceps as the reason he’s sleeping through the night and acing his classes

Healthline is also into cordyceps. It has tons of possible benefits, but most cordyceps studies were done with mice, not humans

Insider says smart pills are for real, but there’s a catch: They work best for people who already have some kind of cognitive issue

Zenmasterwellness.com thinks they’re worth a shot. While there isn’t a lot of scientific data yet, people really believe in them!

The Guardian says Silicon Valley is way into smart pills -- their promise is well-suited for people trying to find a competitive mental edge

That enthusiasm is translating into startups like Nootrobox, which sells products like Rise (for memory/stamina) and Yawn (for sleeping, obviously) -- The WSJ

Newsweek agrees that the smart pill promise is seductive -- business is booming! But it’s an unregulated market and some products aren’t tested properly

Mypillapp.com offers some advice on how to filter out sketc.hy nootropics products. Hint: Read the label!

One key factor to check before you buy is “bioavailability”, explains FutureYouHealth. It’s a measure of how well a substance can be absorbed into your body

Psych Today says, “Whatever you decide, tread slowly -- every body is different! Start with small doses, pay close attention to how you react, and make sure you don’t get addicted”