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What is a nootropic? Believe it or not, you already know and probably already take one. The most common nootropic? Caffeine.

It’s true—a nootropic is really just a dietary supplement that improves mood or cognition. That’s why coffee, for example, is a nootropic—besides being delicious, it improves concentration, focus, and alertness. Nootropics help healthy people feel and perform their best.

So, why do people call them “nootropics”? The Romanian scientist C. G. Giurgea came up with the name in the 1970s when he was designing Piracetam, which improves memory and learning (it’s still available and has been widely tested). The name comes from Greek: it combines nous for “mind” and tropein for “guide,” meaning that a nootropic is a mind-guiding supplement. People also call nootropics “smart drugs,” “study drugs,” or “cognitive enhancers.”

Nootropics can seem new, but the idea of taking supplements to help you be your best is arguably as old as humans. In ancient Greece, students would snack on rosemary because it was thought to improve their memories. More recently, both sides in World War II distributed nootropics to soldiers to help them stay alert on the battlefield. Even supplements formally called “nootropics” have been rigorously tested since C. G. Giurgea’s day in the 1970s.

There are three main categories of nootropics. The first is prescription medications such as Adderall and Ritalin. Doctors sometimes prescribe these to treat things like ADHD, narcolepsy, or dementia. Anxiedote does not include any prescription medications, but prescription treatments can be great for people with particularly tricky or long-lasting symptoms.

The second type of nootropic is synthetic compounds, which can be taken without a prescription but are made by humans. A good example would be the first “nootropic”: C.G. Giurgea’s Piracetam. Synthetic nootropics are legal and safe, but they’re not very common. Again, Anxiedote doesn’t include any of these, but research suggests that they work really well for the right person.

Finally, dietary supplements make up the third type of nootropic. These naturally occur in nature. Caffeine fits in this category, and so do the omega-3 fatty acids that are in fish. We have stuffed Anxiedote with super powerful dietary supplements that are amongst the most effective nootropics in the world. Be sure to check out our ingredients pages to learn all about how we can help you feel better.