Himalayan Pink Salt
Named on the list
Sodium chloride with trace minerals; first on the list.
Himalayan pink salt is rock salt whose colour comes from small amounts of iron and other minerals. It has no memory research of its own. An Australian analysis of 31 pink salts found a person would need more than 30 g a day for the trace minerals to matter, which is far more sodium than anyone should eat, so its role in a capsule is best read as a carrier, not an active.
Sources: Fayet-Moore 2020, the FDA on sodium in your diet
Cinnamon Extract
Named on the list
A bark extract, studied mostly for blood sugar.
Cinnamon comes from two main groups of trees, Ceylon and cassia. Cassia, the common one in North America, carries far more coumarin, a compound linked to liver problems in sensitive people. The list does not say which species this extract uses, and most cinnamon research is about blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes, not about memory.
Sources: the NCCIH page on cinnamon, Allen 2013
AGP Choline
Named on the list
Alpha-GPC, a source of choline for acetylcholine.
AGP choline is L-alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine, better known as alpha-GPC. It supplies choline, which the body uses to make acetylcholine, a messenger involved in attention and memory. In one crossover trial in 20 healthy, resistance-trained men, single doses of 315 mg and 630 mg improved Stroop test scores an hour later, while two other attention tests did not change.
Sources: the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements fact sheet on choline, Kerksick 2024
Bacopa Monnieri
Listed at 20%
The most-studied memory herb here; its trials ran twelve weeks.
Bacopa monnieri is a creeping marsh herb from Ayurvedic practice and the ingredient on this list with the most encouraging trial record. Every trial in the 2012 systematic review ran twelve weeks at 300 to 450 mg of extract a day, and the clearest result was better memory free recall. Bacopa extracts are commonly standardised to their bacosides; the list prints 20% without naming the marker.
Sources: Pase 2012, the 2014 meta-analysis of bacopa trials
Lutein
Listed at 5%
A yellow pigment the eye and brain both store.
Lutein is the yellow carotenoid in leafy greens and egg yolk that the eye concentrates in the macula. It also collects in brain tissue, and a year-long trial of 12 mg lutein plus zeaxanthin a day in older adults reported better complex attention and cognitive flexibility. The 5% describes how concentrated the raw material is, not an amount in the capsule.
Sources: Hammond 2017, Renzi-Hammond 2017
Bilberry Leaf
Named on the list
The leaf of the blueberry’s European cousin.
Bilberry is a European relative of the blueberry. Most bilberry research uses the fruit and its anthocyanins, and fruit extracts have been used safely at up to 160 mg a day for six months. This list names the LEAF, which NCCIH notes may be unsafe in high doses or over long periods.
Sources: the NCCIH page on bilberry
Vitamin B6
Named on the list
A routine nutrient with an upper limit.
Vitamin B6 helps the body make several nerve messengers. Adults need 1.3 to 1.7 mg a day, and it is one of the few vitamins with a tolerable upper intake level, 100 mg a day from food and supplements together, so it is worth adding up if you already take a B-complex.
Sources: the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements fact sheet on vitamin B6, NCCIH's seven things to know about supplements for cognitive function
Ginkgo Biloba
Named on the list
One of the most-studied herbs in memory research.
Ginkgo is one of the most-studied herbs in the category, and the results are the reason to read this line carefully. The research uses standardised leaf extract (the large GEM trial gave 120 mg twice a day), and a meta-analysis of trials in healthy people found effects on memory, executive function and attention close to zero. The list names a powder and does not say which plant part.
Sources: the NCCIH page on ginkgo, Laws 2012
Vitamin B12
Named on the list
Needed for nerves and blood; no upper limit.
Vitamin B12 keeps nerve and blood cells healthy, and adults need 2.4 mcg a day. Absorption falls with age and with some common medicines, which is why it is so often added to formulas for older buyers. Trials have not shown it improving memory in older adults on its own.
Sources: the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements fact sheet on vitamin B12, NCCIH's seven things to know about supplements for cognitive function
Zeaxanthin
Listed at 5%
Lutein’s partner pigment in the macula.
Zeaxanthin is the second macular carotenoid and almost always travels with lutein; the trials cited here give the two together. The largest, AREDS2, gave 10 mg lutein and 2 mg zeaxanthin a day for five years to older adults at risk of advanced macular degeneration and found no difference in cognitive scores, so the smaller positive trials and that null result belong side by side.
Sources: the AREDS2 cognitive-function results, Renzi-Hammond 2017
Green Tea Extract
Listed at 50%
Listed at 50%; tea carries caffeine unless decaffeinated.
Green tea extract is concentrated from Camellia sinensis leaves. A systematic review found the clearest focus and memory effects when caffeine and L-theanine acted together, and green tea contains caffeine unless it is decaffeinated. Liver injury has been reported with concentrated extracts, mostly in capsule form, which is why USP advises taking them with food.
Sources: Mancini 2017, the NCCIH page on green tea
The four printed figures
Bacopa 20% · Lutein 5% · Zeaxanthin 5% · Green tea 50%
Each is a concentration, the usual way an extract is graded;
serving amounts sit on the bottle’s own panel.
The four percentages, read correctly