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Ingredient & advertising guide

This page has two jobs. First, it explains every line printed on the panel of the bottle we sell, what each ingredient is, and what the research does and does not say about it, including who was in each trial, at what dose and who paid for it. Second, and this is the part most advertising pages leave out, it lists the headlines we run, tells you which ones are exaggerated, and separates the small number of things that are genuinely supported by evidence from the many that are not.

1. Our headlines, and what is actually true

These are the headlines we have run, grouped by the claim they make. The right-hand column is our own plain assessment. We have marked each family of headlines as Exaggerated, Partly true, Withdrawn, Our headline was wrong or Broadly supported.

The headline as you saw it	What is actually behind it
"Mental Decline Begins When Seniors Can't Spell These 3 Words. Test Now""Top Doctors Say Mental Decline Begins When Seniors Can't Pronounce These 3 Phrases. Can You?""MDs Say Mental Decline Begins When Seniors Can't Pronounce These 3 Phrases. Can You?""Memory Decline Begins When Seniors Say These 3 Phrases (See The List)""Declining Memory Begins When Seniors Say These 7 Phrases. See Which Ones"	Exaggerated There is no set of three words, three phrases or seven phrases whose spelling or pronunciation marks the beginning of anything. Nothing "begins" at a word. Word tasks do appear inside the short memory checks clinicians use, but those checks are given in person and read alongside your history, your medicines and your age. Failing a word online means nothing on its own: plenty of people stumble over a word when they are tired, nervous or being timed. "Top doctors" and "MDs" refer to no specific doctor. See section 4.
"Japan's Oldest Doctors Say Memory Loss Isn't Age: Just Avoid Drinking These 3 Beverages""Japan's Greatest Doctors Say Memory Loss Isn't Age: Just Avoid Drinking These 3 Beverages""Japan's Oldest Doctors Say Memory Loss Isn't Age: Just Avoid Eating These 3 Foods""Japan's Oldest Doctors Say Memory Loss Isn't Age: Just Stop Eating These 3 Foods"	Exaggerated No group of Japanese doctors issued this statement. There is no such panel, no such list, and no source we can point you to. Japan appears in the headline because it is widely associated with long life, which makes the claim feel credible. That is a marketing decision, not a citation. The second half is also wrong. Memory changes with age for everyone, and no diet removes that. What is true is narrower: certain long-term drinking and eating patterns travel with faster slippage on thinking tests in large population studies. [1] [2] Association is not proof of cause, and "just avoid these three" is not how any of it works.
"Nobel Prize's Doctors Say Memory Loss Isn't Age: Just Stop Eating These 3 Foods"	Withdrawn We retract this one outright. No Nobel laureate has endorsed this page, this product, or any list of three foods on our behalf. Attaching the Nobel Prize to an advertisement implies an authority that does not exist and we should not have run it.
"The Overlooked Boxed Cereal Now Tied to 8 Out of 10 Memory Cases"	Our headline was wrong There is no such statistic. No study ties any cereal to eight out of ten cases of anything, "memory cases" is not a category any researcher uses, and no cereal has been "overlooked" by anyone: the sugar figure is printed on the side of every box. The number was invented for the headline and we withdraw it. The grain of truth is the same as for the other cereal headlines below: a diet heavy in ultra-processed food, the sweet cereal shelf included, travels in a large Brazilian study with somewhat faster slippage on thinking tests over eight years. [2] That is a modest association across thousands of people, not eight in ten of anyone. See section 3.
"Brain Experts Now Say These 3 Cereals Age the Brain Faster Than Time""Scientists Now Say This 1 Cereal Ages the Brain Faster Than Time"	Exaggerated No food ages the brain "faster than time." That phrase was written for effect and it is not a finding from any study. It is also internally inconsistent: in one version it is three cereals, in another it is one, because the number is something we test for click-through, not something we measured. The grain of truth: diets high in ultra-processed food are associated with somewhat faster slippage on thinking tests over years. [2] That is a modest effect across a population, not a fate sealed by a bowl of cereal. See section 3.
"Doctors Now Say This Popular Evening Drink Is Behind Memory Loss""Doctors Now Say This Popular Evening Drink Is Behind Brain Health Decline"	Partly true The "evening drink" is alcohol, and of everything our ads point at, this is where the evidence is strongest. In British civil servants followed for thirty years, higher drinking went with shrinkage of the hippocampus, the region most involved in forming memories, and with faster decline in word fluency; light drinkers had no edge over non-drinkers. [1] What is overstated is the word "behind." Alcohol is one contributing factor among many, not the cause of memory slips. Cutting back is a genuinely good idea. It is also worth saying plainly: the bottle we sell contains no alcohol; it does contain 50 milligrams of caffeine per serving, which is about half a 12-ounce cup of brewed coffee.
"Doctors Name 5 Popular Drinks Now Tied To Memory Decline. Coffee Tops The List""Seniors: These 4 Drinks May Be Aging Your Brain Faster""The 4 Drinks Brain Doctors Want Seniors to Quit""Neurologists Say Cognitive Decline Isn't Age: Just Stop Drinking These 2 Popular Drinks""Doctors: 3 Popular Drinks Now Tied to Memory Loss in Seniors"	Exaggerated Notice that the count changes: two drinks, three, four, five. It changes because it is an advertising variable we rotate, not a number that came out of a study. No neurologist is named in any version, because none was consulted. "Coffee tops the list" is the clearest thing we have got wrong: none of the studies on this page is about plain coffee. If you drink coffee and enjoy it, this headline gave you a reason to worry that the evidence does not support. Keep your coffee, and count the 50 milligrams of caffeine in each serving of the bottle we sell along with it: 400 milligrams a day is the figure the Food and Drug Administration cites for most healthy adults, and a 12-ounce cup of brewed coffee holds 113 to 247. [3] See section 2.
"Brain Doctors: Quit These 4 Drinks Before It's Too Late"	Exaggerated No brain doctor was consulted for this headline, and there is no "too late." The deadline was invented to make you click. The four drinks are the ones in section 2: alcohol, sugar-sweetened soft drinks, energy drinks and sweetened coffee-shop drinks. Cutting back on them is sensible for your nights, your weight and your wallet, and heavy drinking travels with poorer memory outcomes over years. [1] There is no evidence that quitting them on any particular day changes anything about your memory, and there is no age after which the change stops being worth making. See section 2.
"Memory Slipping? Check These 4 Everyday Drinks First"	Partly true Half right, in the wrong order. If your memory is slipping, the first thing to check is not a drink; it is a conversation with your own clinician about your nights, your hearing and the medicines you take, none of which is fixed by changing what you pour. The four drinks are the everyday ones in section 2: alcohol, sugary soft drinks, energy drinks and sweetened coffee drinks. Reviewing them is a reasonable second step. Not enough plain water belongs on the list too. See section 2.
"America's Top Experts Say Mental Decline Isn't Aging: Just Avoid These 5 Kitchen Drinks"	Exaggerated The same construction as the "Japan's doctors" headline above, with the country changed. No panel of American experts issued this statement, and we cannot point you to one. Memory changes with age, and no drink removes that. The five kitchen drinks are alcohol, sugar-sweetened sodas, diet sodas, energy drinks and sweetened coffee-shop drinks, all in section 2, where the honest version of each is written out. "Just avoid" overstates what any of that evidence shows. See section 2.
"Still Sharp at 90? Seniors Are Rethinking These 3 Everyday Foods"	Partly true The gentlest of our headlines, and still an overstatement. Nobody knows what keeps a particular person sharp at 90, and no single food does it. The three everyday foods are sugary breakfast cereals, processed meats and packaged baked goods, all in section 3. Eating less of them is part of the long, slow habits in section 5, and no food is a promise at any age. See sections 3 and 5.
"Take 2 capsules in the morning and watch your memory change"	Exaggerated Nothing about this bottle has been tested as this bottle: there is no trial of the finished formula, only trials of single ingredients in other people. Its most immediate effect is its caffeine, 50 milligrams per serving, which makes most people more alert for a while; [4] that is alertness, not memory. Of the other lines, the ashwagandha sits at the 300 milligrams a day of a ninety-day trial in adults aged 20 to 55, [5] the lutein and zeaxanthin at the 12 milligrams a day of two one-year trials in adults averaging 72 and 74, [6] [7] and the bacopa at a third of the 300 milligrams its own trials used. [8] [9] "Watch your memory change" should not have been written. See section 6.
"Three of the Eight Numbers on the Back of This Bottle Match Their Trials"	Broadly supported This one is arithmetic, and anyone can check it against the printed panel. The panel prints eight lines, each with a milligram figure. Three of those figures are the figures their trials used: ashwagandha at 300 milligrams, [5] lutein and zeaxanthin at 12 milligrams together, [6] [7] and caffeine at 50 milligrams, which the Food and Drug Administration's own figures put at roughly half a 12-ounce cup of brewed coffee. [3] One line sits at a third of its trial dose (bacopa, 100 milligrams against 300). [8] [9] One prints a complex rather than the leaf extract inside it (240 milligrams of a ginkgo phospholipid complex, with no figure for how much ginkgo extract it holds). [10] And two carry no trial we can hand you at these doses (acetyl-L-carnitine at 250 milligrams and trans-pterostilbene at 66). The headline states a count and its qualifiers. It is not a claim that the bottle works.
"Neurologists Name 5 Popular Prescriptions Now Tied to Memory Decline"	Partly true, and the one not to act on alone No neurologist named a list for us, and we will not print one. What is true is that pharmacists keep lists of everyday medicines, some sold over the counter, that are often a poor fit after 65, and that a yearly look at everything you take is worth having. But an advertisement is the worst possible reason to change a medicine: never stop or change one because of something you read in an ad, including ours. Put everything you take in one bag, this bottle included, and ask your pharmacist. There is a specific reason to do it with this bottle, and it is in the box at the end of section 2.

2. Every drink our ads point at

Our headlines have referred, in different versions, to "3 beverages", "4 drinks", "5 popular drinks", "2 popular drinks" and "this popular evening drink" without ever naming them. Here is the complete list of what we were pointing at, and what the research actually supports for each one. Where a study is cited, it is observational unless stated otherwise: it can show that two things travel together in a population, not that one causes the other.

3. Every food our ads point at

The food headlines referred to "3 foods" and to "cereals": one cereal in some versions, three in others. Again, the number was ours, not a finding. Here is what was meant, and what stands behind it.

4. The "3 words" and "7 phrases" tests

Several of our headlines invite you to test yourself on words or phrases: spell these three words, pronounce these three phrases, see whether you say these seven phrases. There is no such validated test, and we cannot give you a real one, because a real one does not work that way.

What an actual memory check looks like. Clinicians use short structured checks. They do include word tasks: recalling three unrelated words after a delay, naming animals, repeating a sentence. But three things make them different from an online quiz:

• They are given in person, in a standard way, by someone trained to do it.
• The score is read against your age and education, not against a fixed pass mark.
• A low score is a reason for a longer conversation with your clinician, never a verdict by itself.

These checks also produce false alarms. A bad night, trouble hearing, pain and simply being nervous all lower scores in people whose memory is fine. This is precisely why an online word quiz is meaningless: it has none of the context that makes the real check useful.

5. Everyday habits worth more than any bottle

If we only had one section to be useful in, this would be it. None of these is a supplement, a capsule, or a list of three foods, and none of them can be sold to you by us.

• Sleep enough, at regular hours. Keep caffeine, this bottle's 50 milligrams included, to the morning; the label says away from bedtime for exactly that reason.
• Get your hearing and your eyesight checked, and use hearing aids or glasses if you need them: straining to hear or see looks a great deal like not remembering.
• Walk, most days. Regular walking counts.
• Drink less alcohol. ^[1]
• Eat more like the MIND pattern and less from the ultra-processed shelf. ^{[12] [2]}
• Stay in touch with people. Conversation is exercise for memory.
• Keep learning something: a language, an instrument, a route you have never driven.
• Once a year, take everything you take to the pharmacist. With this bottle, ask about the ginkgo by name. ^[10]
• Ask your clinician for a B12 level if nobody has checked it in a few years; the stomach absorbs less of it with age. ^[13]

These are unglamorous. They cannot be delivered in a headline, they take years, and they are, by a wide margin, the most useful things on this entire page.

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6. Ingredient guide: what is actually in the bottle we sell

What each line printed on the panel of Thorne is, what it is traditionally used for, and what the cited research says, including who was in each trial, at what dose and who paid for it. A serving is two capsules and the bottle holds thirty servings. Two notes on the panel itself. The description says "six studied botanicals and nutrients" while the panel prints eight lines, because the caffeine and the trans-pterostilbene arrive bonded together in one co-crystal and the lutein and zeaxanthin come from one marigold extract. And the description says the marigold extract also supplies meso-zeaxanthin, while the printed panel gives figures only for lutein and zeaxanthin.

Acetyl-L-carnitine

The acetylated form of carnitine, a compound the body makes from amino acids and also gets from meat and dairy. Carnitine carries long-chain fatty acids into the mitochondria, the parts of the cell that burn fuel. The acetyl form is the one usually sold and studied for the nervous system; it is available without prescription as a supplement.

What the research says. The research on acetyl-L-carnitine and thinking has been done in people with a diagnosed condition, not in healthy adults, so none of it can be cited here and we make no claim for it.

Amount per serving in Memoractiv™. 250 mg (per 2 capsules)

Good to know. Generally well tolerated; large amounts can cause nausea, cramps or diarrhoea and a fishy body odour. Talk to your doctor before use if you take anything daily for your hormones, or if you take anything daily.

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), root extract

A short shrub of the nightshade family that grows in India, the Middle East and parts of Africa. The root is dried and extracted; the plant is also called Indian ginseng or winter cherry.

Traditional and everyday use. Used in Ayurveda, the traditional medicine of India, for more than 3,000 years, usually as a root powder taken with milk or ghee.

What the research says. In a placebo-controlled trial of 125 healthy adults aged 20 to 55 who reported stress, 300 mg per day of a sustained-release root extract for 90 days was associated with better memory and focus scores, better sleep and lower stress ratings than placebo.^[5]

Amount per serving in Memoractiv™. 300 mg (the amount used in a 90-day trial of stressed adults aged 20 to 55)

Good to know. Rare reports of harm to the organ that processes what you swallow have been described with ashwagandha products: stop and talk to your doctor if you notice unusual tiredness, dark urine, or yellowing of the skin or eyes. Not for use in pregnancy. Talk to your doctor before use if you take anything daily for your hormones, or if you take anything daily.

Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri, water hyssop), whole plant

A creeping perennial of wet ground and pond edges across India, with small oblong leaves and white to pale purple flowers. In some parts of India the name "brahmi" is also given to gotu kola, which is a different plant; some products list both.

Traditional and everyday use. One of the best-known plants of Ayurvedic practice, traditionally associated with memory, calm and sleep.

What the research says. This is the one ingredient on the tin with trials in the right age group. In 54 healthy adults aged 65 and older, 300 mg a day of a standardized extract for 12 weeks was associated with better delayed word recall and better performance on a task of ignoring distractions than placebo, with no effect on divided attention or working memory.^[8] In 98 healthy adults over 55, the same daily amount for 12 weeks was associated with better verbal learning and delayed recall, while other measures did not differ.^[9] A meta-analysis of nine such trials found faster performance on two attention-speed tests, by milliseconds, and called for a large well-designed trial.^[14] All of that used standardized extracts in tablets for at least three months. A pinch of dried plant steeped in a twelve-ingredient tea blend, or a fraction of a milligram of glycosides in a spray, is not the same thing, and nobody has tested either.

Amount per serving in Memoractiv™. 100 mg (a third of the 300 mg a day used in the 12-week trials in adults over 55)

Good to know. The trials reported more stomach upset, looser stools, cramps and nausea than placebo.^[9] Reference texts advise caution for anyone who takes a daily hormone treatment, note it may slow the heart rate, and note it can affect how the organ that processes what you swallow handles some medicines. Talk to your doctor before use if you take anything daily.

Caffeine

The world's most widely used stimulant, found in coffee, tea, cocoa, yerba mate and guarana. A cup of brewed coffee holds roughly 80 to 100 mg; a cup of tea, 30 to 50 mg.

Traditional and everyday use. Coffee and tea have been drunk for alertness for centuries.

What the research says. The European Food Safety Authority concluded in 2015 that single doses up to 200 mg and daily intakes up to 400 mg do not raise safety concerns for healthy adults, and that caffeine in moderate doses increases alertness and reduces sleepiness.^[4] That is the honest size of the claim: it wakes you up; it is not a memory ingredient. The US Food and Drug Administration cites 400 mg a day, about two to three 12-ounce cups of coffee, as an amount not generally associated with negative effects in most healthy adults.^[3]

Amount per serving in Memoractiv™. 50 mg (about half a cup of coffee; the label prints a caffeine notice)

Good to know. Can cause jitteriness, faster heartbeat, stomach upset and trouble sleeping, especially later in the day. Count it together with your coffee and tea. People sensitive to caffeine, pregnant women and people with heart rhythm concerns should ask their doctor.

Ginkgo biloba leaf extract

An extract of the fan-shaped leaves of the ginkgo tree, a species so ancient it is called a living fossil, planted along city streets across the world. This is the herbal extract, a different thing from the homeopathic dilution of ginkgo found in some sprays.

Traditional and everyday use. Ginkgo leaf extract has been sold as a "memory herb" for decades.

What the research says. In the largest trial to date, 3,069 adults aged 72 to 96 took 120 mg of a standardized extract twice a day for a median of 6.1 years and declined at the same rate as the placebo group in memory, attention, language and every other domain measured.^[15] The National Institutes of Health states there is no conclusive evidence that ginkgo is helpful for any health condition.^[10]

Amount per serving in Memoractiv™. 240 mg (the label does not print how much ginkgo extract the complex holds)

Good to know. Ginkgo may increase the risk of bleeding in people who take anything that thins the blood; fresh ginkgo seeds are toxic. Talk to your doctor before use if you take anything daily or are due for an operation.

Lutein and zeaxanthin (marigold carotenoids)

Two yellow-orange pigments (xanthophyll carotenoids) that the body cannot make. They concentrate in the macula at the back of the eye, where they absorb blue light, and they are also found in brain tissue. Food sources: kale, spinach, collards, egg yolk, corn and orange peppers. Supplements are usually extracted from marigold flowers.

Traditional and everyday use. No traditional use; studied since the 1990s for eye health.

What the research says. In two one-year placebo-controlled trials in older adults (average ages 72 to 74; 44 and 51 participants analyzed), 12 mg a day of lutein plus zeaxanthin was associated with better complex attention and cognitive flexibility in one,^[6] and appeared to buffer decline on a verbal learning task in the other.^[7] In a 24-month trial of 60 healthy adults over 65, 22 mg of carotenoids combined with 1 g of fish oil and vitamin E was associated with fewer working-memory errors than placebo, a small effect.^[16]

Amount per serving in Memoractiv™. 10 mg + 2 mg (the 12 mg a day used in the one-year trials in older adults)

Good to know. Considered safe at the amounts used in trials (up to 20 mg a day for years). Very high intakes can tint the skin yellow-orange, which is harmless.

Pterostilbene

A small molecule related to resveratrol, found in tiny amounts in blueberries and in the heartwood of the Indian kino tree (Pterocarpus marsupium), from which supplements are usually extracted or synthesized.

Traditional and everyday use. No traditional use on its own; the kino tree has a history in Ayurveda.

What the research says. We found no randomized trial of pterostilbene on memory or attention in healthy adults in our PubMed search of 2026-09-09; the human trials we saw studied muscle and metabolic markers. Thorne pairs it with caffeine in a co-crystal (PurEnergy) and describes it as a sustained-release form of caffeine; the caffeine is the part with a track record.^[4]

Amount per serving in Memoractiv™. 66 mg (from the same co-crystal as the caffeine)

Good to know. Short human studies at 50-250 mg a day reported no serious effects; some reported a rise in LDL cholesterol at higher doses. Talk to your doctor before use if you take anything daily.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This information does not constitute medical advice and it should not be relied upon as such. This product is not a substitute for medication or other treatment prescribed by a physician or health care provider. Consult your doctor before starting any dietary supplement.

7. What we can and cannot promise

Set against the headlines that brought you here, this is the complete and honest position.

Things we cannot promise, and that nobody selling you a supplement can:

• That this bottle will improve your memory, your attention or your concentration.
• That it will stop memory from changing with age.
• That it offsets alcohol, sugar, processed food, or any drink or food named on this page.
• That it can replace anything a clinician gave you, or make a yearly look at your medicines unnecessary.
• That any doctor in Japan, any Nobel laureate, any neurologist or any "brain expert" recommends it. None has.
• That a word or phrase quiz can tell you anything about your brain.
• That the finished formula has been tested. It has not. Every trial cited above tested a single ingredient, in other people, at a dose this bottle matches in three lines out of eight: the bacopa is a third of its trial dose, ^{[8] [9]} the ginkgo line prints a complex rather than the leaf extract inside it, and the largest ginkgo trial, in 3,069 adults aged 72 to 96 over a median of six years, found no difference from placebo. ^[15]
• That the phrases on the listing describe a proven benefit. The listing's category word for this kind of formula is one our advertising rules do not let us repeat, its claims are the structure-and-function claims every American supplement may make, and the same listing carries the FDA disclaimer.

Things we can say honestly:

• It is a bottle of sixty capsules, made and sold by Thorne Research, Inc. of Summerville, South Carolina, which publishes a street address, a support email and a weekday phone line. Every line printed on the panel is listed above.
• A serving of two capsules carries 300 milligrams of ashwagandha root extract, 240 milligrams of a ginkgo leaf phospholipid complex, 250 milligrams of acetyl-L-carnitine, 100 milligrams of bacopa extract, 66 milligrams of trans-pterostilbene, 50 milligrams of caffeine, 10 milligrams of lutein and 2 milligrams of zeaxanthin. The other ingredients are calcium laurate and a hypromellose capsule.
• Three of those eight figures are the figures their trials used: the ashwagandha at 300 milligrams, ^[5] the lutein and zeaxanthin at 12 milligrams together, ^{[6] [7]} and the caffeine at 50 milligrams, which is roughly half a 12-ounce cup of brewed coffee by the Food and Drug Administration's own figures. ^[3]
• The label's direction is two capsules one to two times a day, away from bedtime, and its printed cautions cover sensitivity to any ingredient, pregnancy and nursing, the blood-thinner question described in section 2, and the caffeine. One serving a day makes a bottle last thirty days; two servings a day makes it last fifteen.
• The maker's published terms allow a return request within sixty days of purchase, and approved returns carry a 25% restocking fee. Customer service takes the request on 1-800-228-1966 on weekdays.
• The listing showed 79 written reviews averaging 4.6, each carrying the store's own purchase mark, and four of them are quoted in our article exactly as written. Individual experiences are not evidence.
• We earn a commission if you buy. That is our interest in this, stated plainly.
• Nothing here is medical advice, and none of it replaces your own clinician.

8. Questions people ask us

Did a Japanese doctor, a Nobel laureate or a neurologist really say this?

No. Those attributions are advertising language. No named or identifiable expert made those statements, and none has endorsed this product.

So is coffee bad for my memory or not?

None of the studies on this page is about plain coffee, and our "Coffee Tops The List" headline overstated it. What is worth watching is added sugar in coffee drinks, and caffeine late enough in the day to spoil your night. Each serving of the bottle we sell carries 50 milligrams of caffeine, about half a 12-ounce cup, so count it with your coffee and keep it out of the evening. ^[3]

Should I stop a medicine because of your "5 prescriptions" headline?

No. Not on your own, and not because of an advertisement. Take everything you take to your pharmacist and ask whether anything is a poor fit for your age.

Which line on this panel should I ask the pharmacist about, and why?

The ginkgo. The federal government's center for complementary health states that ginkgo may increase the risk of bleeding in people taking anticoagulant drugs such as warfarin. ^[10] The bottle's own cautions say to consult your health-care practitioner if you are taking a blood thinner, and that the product should be used with caution or avoided by anyone on anticoagulant therapy or before surgery. Take the bottle in with everything else you take, before the first serving.

How much caffeine is in it, and how does that compare with coffee?

Fifty milligrams per serving of two capsules, and the label carries a caffeine notice. A 12-ounce cup of brewed coffee holds 113 to 247 milligrams, and the Food and Drug Administration cites 400 milligrams a day as an amount not generally associated with negative effects in most healthy adults. ^[3] The European Food Safety Authority reached the same daily figure and puts 200 milligrams as a single serving. ^[4] At the label's upper direction of two servings a day you would be taking 100 milligrams from this bottle alone.

Which of the lines does something?

The caffeine, which makes most people more alert for a while. ^[4] The ashwagandha sits at the 300 milligrams a day of a ninety-day trial in 125 adults aged 20 to 55. ^[5] The lutein and zeaxanthin sit at the 12 milligrams a day of two one-year trials in adults averaging 72 and 74. ^{[6] [7]} The bacopa is a third of the 300 milligrams its trials used in adults 55 and over. ^{[8] [9] [14]} For the acetyl-L-carnitine at 250 milligrams and the trans-pterostilbene at 66, we have no trial at those doses to put in front of you; the closest relative of pterostilbene, resveratrol, was tested at 200 milligrams a day for twenty-six weeks in 46 overweight adults aged 50 to 75, ^[17] which is a different compound at four times the amount.

Why is the bacopa only 100 milligrams?

We do not know, and the listing does not say. Every bacopa trial worth citing used 300 milligrams a day of a standardized extract for twelve weeks or longer. ^{[8] [9] [14]} Those trials also reported more stomach complaints in the extract groups than in the placebo groups.

Why can't you tell me how much ginkgo is in the ginkgo line?

Because the panel does not print it. It prints 240 milligrams of a branded complex of ginkgo leaf extract bound to sunflower phospholipids, and a complex weighs more than the extract inside it. Without that figure the line cannot be set beside the trials, which used 120 to 240 milligrams a day of a standardized leaf extract. ^{[15] [18]}

How big are the capsules, and how long does a bottle last?

The listing gives the capsule length as 23.3 millimetres, which is about nine tenths of an inch, and a serving is two of them. Sixty capsules is thirty servings: thirty days at one serving a day, fifteen at two.

What if it arrives and I don't like it?

You may request a return within sixty days of the date of purchase, and approved returns carry a 25% restocking fee. The support email is support@thorne.com and the phone line is 1-800-228-1966 on weekdays.

Are the reviews real?

The listing showed 79 written reviews averaging 4.6 stars, each carrying the store's own purchase mark, which means the store matched the review to an order. Four are quoted in our article exactly as written; we left out one about a parcel that never arrived and one that was four words long.

If your own headlines are exaggerated, why should I believe this page?

A fair question. Do not take our word for it. The references below are real, published sources you can look up yourself, and nothing in sections 4 and 5 requires you to buy anything or trust us. If this page and our headlines disagree, believe this page.

Does this page cost anything?

No. There is nothing to sign up for, and you are welcome to read it, close the tab and never come back.

Can I check these claims myself?

Yes, and you should. Every numbered reference below can be found by searching its authors and journal. For general information, the National Institute on Aging (nia.nih.gov) publishes plain-language material and sells nothing.

References

These are the sources behind the claims marked with a number above. Several are observational studies, which can show association but not cause. The ashwagandha trial was run in adults aged 20 to 55, younger than the reader this page is written for; the lutein and zeaxanthin trials analysed 51 and 44 people; the bacopa trials used three times the amount in this bottle; the largest ginkgo trial found nothing; and the fact sheets are the governments' own. None of them tested this formula. We have deliberately not cited anything for the claims we describe as exaggerated, because there is nothing to cite.

1. Topiwala A. et al. (2017). BMJ 357:j2353 doi.org
2. Gonçalves N.G. et al. (2023). JAMA Neurology 80(2):142-150 doi.org
3. US FDA Consumer Update. "Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine Is Too Much?" (updated 2024-08-28) fda.gov
4. EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (2015). Scientific Opinion on the safety of caffeine. EFSA Journal 13(5):4102 doi.org
5. Gopukumar K. et al. (2021). Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2021:8254344 doi.org
6. Hammond B.R. et al. (2017). Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience 9:254 doi.org
7. Lindbergh C.A. et al. (2018). Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society 24(1):77-90 doi.org
8. Calabrese C. et al. (2008). Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 14(6):707-713 doi.org
9. Morgan A., Stevens J. (2010). Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 16(7):753-759 doi.org
10. NIH NCCIH. "Ginkgo" (updated February 2025) nccih.nih.gov
11. Poly C. et al. (2011). American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 94(6):1584-1591 doi.org
12. Barnes L.L. et al. (2023). New England Journal of Medicine 389(7):602-611 doi.org
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Citing a study does not mean the study is about this product. The trials above tested one ingredient, in other people, at doses this bottle matches in three lines out of eight, not the finished formula; none of the research tested Thorne, and none of it supports it.

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