Nootropical Notes

Research notes and personal cataloguing of my usage and experience with assorted nootropics. This article is provided for educational and informational purposes and is not to be considered medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Much of this article’s content is anecdotal.

Many people attempt experiments with assorted nootropics, but I find they’re often difficult to attain value from. You of course have placebo effects, but you also have the case of most outcomes being difficult to detect. Even in the cases of double-blinded trials, factors such as ‘mood’ and ‘productivity’ are so vague that they’re difficult to track or log, and they’re so easily manipulated by an unquantifiable number of variables that their validity is questionable.

I don’t personally consider substances touted as nootropics unless there is genuine credible scientific evidence of a measured effect beyond a purely subjective psychological claim. Without that consideration, discussion quickly devolves into ‘alternative science’ ¹ and negligible effects.

To begin with the words of Norman Osborn in 2002’s Spider-Man, ‘Forty thousand years of evolution, and we’ve barely even tapped the vastness of human potential.’

Caffeine

Caffeine is the go-to nootropic for anyone looking for an increase in cognitive function. It is normalised and widely popular despite being an incredibly strong psychoactive stimulant to which humans quickly become addicted and build tolerance around to the point that dependence is frequently achieved and the major effects of withdrawal are often joked about.

Its popularity, long-term usage, and availability have led to it being fairly well researched and understood, which has helped in defining and understanding the effects – both positive and negative.

Being a stimulant, consuming it has negative effects on both falling asleep and achieving a restful sleep. The half-life is commonly reported at ~6+ hours, so I generally don’t consume further caffeine after noon, and certainly not after 14:00 unless deliberately intending to remain awake into the night.

Caffeine is most commonly consumed deliberately via coffee, tea, and energy drinks. I enjoy tea and coffee but have a general dislike for energy drinks. Having tried various flavours of Monster, Red Bull, Rockstar, etc, I have identified that I don’t like their taste, ² and I see little point in choosing them over other caffeine sources. Many energy drinks contain more sugar than I need or would like and contain additives like taurine, which I have no deficiency in and which provides no known gains in excess.

There is an inherent cost and inconvenience to drinking coffee as a source of caffeine, and while tea has some content, it requires more cups, which introduces the same flaws. If I were to completely optimise my caffeine consumption, I would consume it in solid form rather than liquid. Caffeine pills come pre-portioned and are convenient, but I could get the caffeine even cheaper should I choose to acquire it in powder form, but I have a somewhat irrational fear of overdosing on it by virtue of mismeasuring – pure caffeine powder is incredibly potent.

It has been suggested that one could decaffeinate their caffeinated beverage in favour of opting for pill form, but I’m against this proposition for two reasons. Firstly, it is more expensive. Buying caffeine pills is a cost, and decaffeinated beverages are also often more expensive due to lesser demand. Secondly, I enjoy tea and coffee, and decaffeination processes are usually destructive, or at the very least would limit the range of offerings available to me. I don’t take issue with consuming my caffeine in liquid and am comfortable keeping the necessary considerations in mind. Removing the caffeine just to have it in a slightly more controlled way seems more hassle than it is worth.

Thus, despite the arguable negatives, I’m content with consuming my caffeine via coffee and tea. I enjoy them both, and the inconvenience of preparing them isn’t significant enough to prove much of an issue. I do find that coffee produces more of that signature caffeine anxiety, so tea is my preference.

That caffeine anxiety tends to put an end to my effective productivity prematurely as I become scatterbrained and frustrated. This usually occurs 7 hours post initial caffeine consumption. However, after a break of a few hours for recreation, I can return to my expected usual. The candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long.

Unfortunately, caffeine is a diuretic, which means that it sends me to the bathroom with more frequency than is optimal. I must opt not to consume caffeine if I’m aware I won’t have access to a bathroom. It all ensures that I am careful to consume more liquid than usual on days I consume caffeine to avoid dehydration.

To avoid a tolerance, I try not to consume caffeine too often and sometimes take a break to allow my tolerance to subside. I avoid having a significant caffeine intake more than three days per week, and ideally not on consecutive days, but every study I’ve consulted seems to have weird data with questionable conclusions. I came to my three-day limit after reading Michael Dicken’s self-experiment and his follow-up, among a few other resources. My decision isn’t exactly perfectly scientifically backed, but I’ve given it the ‘good enough’ stamp of approval.

L-Theanine

Some claim that L-theanine has a positive effect when combined with caffeine, and some claim the effect is not statistically significant or non-existent. The main claim seems to be that it assists with caffeine’s anxiety effects, which I am frequently afflicted by and thus would benefit from.

Unfortunately, there isn’t really any good evidence beyond anecdotal claims that L-theanine does anything. Dynomight has run blinded self-experiments twice. In the first they found little evidence of benefit, and in the follow-up they found more negligible evidence. Luis Costigan ran a blinded self-trial and found benefit but over a very small trial.

Regardless of if it has any benefits or not, I haven’t found anything identifying downright negative effects, and I enjoy tea, which often contains L-theanine, so I suppose I get the benefit if there is any.

I am still interested in whether or not L-theanine has any actual effect, especially as caffeine + L-theanine tablets and powders are a few dollars dearer than their L-theanine-lacking brethren. I would like to trial a blinded self-study at some point.

Nicotine

Nicotine gets a bad rap – partly for good reason. Generally, nicotine is associated with tobacco, which lends a negative association. It is widely considered to be extremely addictive (perhaps to an overstated level) and is a stimulant, which is where my interest in the drug lies. It has a short half-life of ~2 hours (substantially less than caffeine’s ~6+), which makes it a reasonable choice for avoiding too much sleep disruption, and is an anxiolytic, which gives it a leg up over caffeine, which I often find anxiety-inducing.

Unfortunately, most nicotine research is entangled with research of tobacco products and especially cigarettes, meaning findings are often conflated and thus unreliable in the case of nicotine in isolation. The few tests of nicotine in isolation indicate that it is not a carcinogen, but that, as expected from a stimulant, it often increases blood pressure and can impact cardiovascular health.

I had heard people call nicotine a ‘clean’ stimulant – not presenting the same downsides as caffeine. I have to agree, as I’ve found nicotine’s effects to be much less of a disruptive ‘buzz’. The onset after placing a piece of gum in the mouth is immediate, and there is no resultant crash. The trademark caffeine anxiety is also absent.

I have no interest in smoking, which is proven harmful and extremely addictive, or vaping, which, while proven less harmful than smoking, is still harmful and extremely addictive. Smoke inhalation of any sort is completely off the table. I’m also not interested in chewing tobacco for the same reasons, and nicotine pouches are usually extremely potent, expensive, and are not easily modified to alter potency.

My preferred form is sugar-free, non-flavoured gum. I buy 4mg nicotine gum and cut it in half or quarters and then reseal. I opt for 4mg gum rather than a lesser potency, as it is substantially more cost-effective. It comes at a cost of ~$0.15 AUD per dose as of October 2025. Chewing gum also has the benefit of links to higher productivity and other beneficial outcomes.

The chewing benefit is probably lesser in nicotine gum, where it is disadvantageous to chew constantly and instead best to chew, rest between cheek and gums, then repeat once the slight tingle subsides. Nicotine gum releases nicotine into one’s saliva, where it is then absorbed into the bloodstream via the lining of one’s mouth. Swallowed saliva is useless, as it is broken down in the stomach. Consistent chewing releases the nicotine far too quickly to properly be absorbed orally.

Patches are another consideration, but I have not pursued them. Patches offer a more sustained nicotine intake over an extended period with a slower onset of effects, but I find the benefit of stimulants most important in starting a task, rather than continuing on with it. Patches are also more potent – far too potent for me – so I must cut them up for a reasonable dosage, which opens the door to the nicotine evaporating. An effort can be made to seal them, but that is additional and unwanted effort which still risks the loss of some potency.

I am not interested in developing a nicotine addiction, nor a tolerance, and I’m still dubious of the exact health impacts due to the lacking research independent of tobacco products. As such, I only use it occasionally – at most once per week.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D – particularly Vitamin D₃ rather than Vitamin D₂ – deficiency can have substantial negative effects on health and is fairly common. Vitamin D₃ has impacts on sleep, bone health, (potentially) mood, and immune function. Deficiency also has links with chronic illnesses and eye health, among other unideals.

~23% of Australian adults have a vitamin D deficiency, so it isn’t unreasonable to say I might be one of them. I spend most of my time indoors, and having fair skin, bad reactions to sunscreen, and a healthy fear of the sun, I’m always careful to cover exposed skin.

I do consume a fair amount of yoghurt, eggs, cow’s milk, and butter, which are often fortified, but likely not to a sufficient extent. Realising I do likely have a deficiency (based on my overall lack of sun exposure – not any particular noticeable or alarming symptoms), I began taking some 1000IU vitamin D₃ pills I already had access to.

After reading a few papers, I purchased 400 soft capsules containing 25mg of colecalciferol (1000IU of D₃) to replace my expiring existing supply at a cost of $15.59 (~$0.04 per capsule) in July 2025. I take one each morning with breakfast. The morning helps avoid potential interference with sleep, and the food helps with absorption.

1000IU meets or exceeds the guidelines set by the NHS, NIH, and EFSA. It is also an easily sourceable dosage, with lower amounts such as 600IU or 800IU being more expensive and harder to come by. Any which way, 1000IU is within safe levels, and a slightly higher than recommended dosage seems unlikely to do any significant damage. The maximum safe level seems to be 4000IU, with nobody advising over 2000IU for reasons of cautious safety and non-existent further benefits.

Footnotes

1. Read: fabricated lies designed to prey on the vulnerable and/or gullible. ↩

2. Many describe the taste of these energy drinks as ‘battery acid’, which I’m inclined to say is a fitting description (not that I have experience consuming battery acid). I could see how someone could acquire the taste and believe that the chemical palette is a deliberate choice made to align with their marketing, which exaggerates the effects. ↩