Ask HN: What vitamins and legal nootropics take every day

24 points by hector_ka 5 years ago | 31 comments

Fasting, twice a week, used to be very strict but then dropped back to just having some tea.. fasting is very powerful, gave me my mojo back in mid 30s after burnout from top tier consulting firm and grad school, got testosterone boost, clarity of mind, physical fitness and confidence, amazing tool.. but body has to be of the right disposition.

ck425 5 years ago | |

What is the 'right disposition'?

throwawayamzn1 5 years ago | | |

The light airy folks tend not to do well with fasting. The heartier meatier guys that tend to hold weight and can weather a few days of fasting are better suited.

robertbalent 5 years ago | |

How many hours are you fasting? Whole day twice a week?

throwawayamzn1 5 years ago | | |

Used to be just water for the whole day. Maybe some electrolytes, potassium, sodium salts.. lately I’m caffeinating to get through the workload

nostromo 5 years ago |

There are two great YouTube channels I recommend following:

Dr Brad Stanfield:

https://www.youtube.com/c/DrBradStanfield/videos?view=0&sort...

Dr Rhonda Patrick:

https://www.youtube.com/c/FoundMyFitness/videos?view=0&sort=...

Note that they're more about anti-aging and general health, but some nootropics will also be covered.

Dr Stanfield will usually list his current supplement regimin in each video. Currently it's:

Nicotinamide Mononucleotide (NMN) 1g, Sulforaphane 8mg, Niacin 50-500mg, Trimethylglycine (TMG) 500mg, Vitamin K2 MK-7 90μg, Vitamin D3 3,000 IU, Omega-3 (DHA/EPA) two capsules, Hyaluronic Acid 200mg, Pterostilbene 100mg, Collagen 10g, Niacin 50-500mg, Zinc 8.4mg, Metformin 1g, Melatonin 300mcg, Magnesium Taurate 125mg

InterMilan 5 years ago | |

> Metformin

Wow, is this available in the US without prescription? It's a diabetes drug and has a lot of side effect. And 1g is also a lot.

rutledge87 5 years ago | | |

Rx only. I've taken it for weight gain from mirtazapine along with statins for familial hypercholesterolemia. IF is better but it leads to reduced energy levels, increased aggression, reduced concentration, and is inconvenient.

hector_ka 5 years ago | |

You might want to do some research into Magnesium L Threonate. It seems it is better absorbed by the body

aprdm 5 years ago | |

Is there a tldr for each ?

alexmingoia 5 years ago |

None. Why waste your money? I eat a variety of fruit, vegetables, nuts, and legumes, along with regular exercise outside.

dawidw 5 years ago | |

Because nowadays food is not able to provide you vitamins and minerals in the amount your body needs.

alexmingoia 5 years ago | | |

How so? Nowadays humans have more access to food than ever before.

Instead of taking a multivitamin you can just eat food. Food has vitamins and minerals.

kaminar 5 years ago | |

Stop eating so much. Learn how to fast properly and over time you will have tons of energy. No supplements needed. It's shocking how we have been persuaded over time to rely on drugs and supplements to feel normal...tsk tsk.

alexmingoia 5 years ago | | |

Yup. Food has vitamins, BCAAs, MCT oil, or whatever people are buying these days. The body makes creatine, melatonin, etc.

ck425 5 years ago |

Nicotine. I've never smoked but I started experimenting with nicotine lozenges and they are great. It helps my concentrations and focus a lot. So far I've found minimal addictiveness and no negative effects but obviously that varies by person and you should be careful. I've never smoked and smoking seems to be kind to many of the negative effects of nicotine.

tudelo 5 years ago | |

Just adding that I really don't find nicotine all that addictive either. I find other common drugs extremely addicting and hard to stop in comparison (namely: caffiene). my naive opinion is that smoking ends up more addictive due to the habitual nature versus the nicotine content of cigarettes.

amerkhalid 5 years ago | | |

I quit smoking by reading a book[1] about how to quit smoking, which basically said the same thing. Nicotine is not addictive, a true addiction will cause withdrawal symptoms like alcoholics can die if they quit drinking too fast.

While reading that book, I just stopped smoking cold turkey. I still get cravings every once in awhile especially when I see other people smoking but easy to control now.

1: Allen Carr's Easy Way To Stop Smoking

oriel 5 years ago |

My personal trainer strongly recommended daily dose of creatine (~5m), but it has also had noticeable effects in daily energy (especially during the pandemic when mostly chair-bound).

Otherwise I suppliment fish oil (or algae), vitamin D (5000 IU/125mg), standard multivitamin, choline (650 mg) since i cant stomach eggs every day.

I've also had good experience with B12 and Vinpocene but not regularly taken.

allthemcodes 5 years ago | |

Have you gained a noticeable amount of water weight since you started taking creatine? I used it to take it many years but go so bloated it felt unpleasant. Maybe I was taking too much or a bad product.

oriel 5 years ago | | |

Not too much, but I've also changed my diet, and been affected by some of the "normal" pandemic body weight changes. I'm winding up to do a water weight shed soon so I'll know better then.

Overall though, no obvious bloating. I'd suggest lower dose. I always swirl it in water and take as a solution. link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002DYIZEO/

giantg2 5 years ago |

There's a double blind study from Japan that suggests lions mane mushroom extract is an effective nootropic. Not sure how much follow up has been done on it.

the_only_law 5 years ago |

Not sure if this is asking people what they take versus asking or recommendations.

Anyway, I've taken adrafanil which is legal in the US at least because I have a erratic and often brutal sleep schedule. It does for me what I always thought caffeine was supposed to do, but never did for me: provide a subtle, but noticeable wakefulness effect even under multiple days of not having slept.

hector_ka 5 years ago | |

So basically Modafinil. Do you take that every day, or sporadically?

dawidw 5 years ago |

Daily:

vitamin D3 20'000 UI + vitamin K2 MK7 200 μg

vitamin C 1g

Zinc 15 mg

My main goal is to keep in my blood vitamin D3 (25 OH) level more or less at 100 mg/ml.

mattmanser 5 years ago | |

20k UI of vit D is far, far too much.

There are some nasty side-effects you can develop from keeping that up too long.

https://www.devaboone.com/post/vitamin-d-part-2-shannon-s-st...

https://www.devaboone.com/post/vitamin-d-part-1-back-to-basi...

dawidw 5 years ago | | |

Yes, maybe you're right. I guess the ideal solution would be to check 25 OH D level every 6 weeks and adjust supplementing to maintain the desired level.