Alpha BRAIN vs Alpha GPC: What You Need to Know

Alpha BRAIN is Onnit’s super-popular nootropic formula, and it’s one of the top selling nootropic stacks in the world. It contains a broad range of ingredients that can increase cognition and memory, results backed up in two clinical trials. One of Alpha BRAIN’s headlining ingredients is Alpha GPC (short for Alpha-glycerophosphocholine). While Alpha GPC is a common nootropic compound sometimes supplemented on its own, it is just one part of Alpha BRAIN and some other popular stacks. But for some users, the amount of Alpha GPC in Alpha BRAIN may be less than optimal. Find out why Alpha GPC is so popular below.

[Read our full review of Alpha BRAIN here, and find out why Alpha BRAIN Instant is different here.]

Learn More About Alpha GPC

Alpha GPC supplies dietary choline to the body. In the brain, choline is used to make acetylcholine, an important neurotransmitter involved in many cognitive processes. In people who don’t get enough choline in their diets, choline supplementation on its own may be enough to give them a perceived cognitive boost — in some of our testers’ experience, it’s reduced brain fog and enhanced focus. Alpha GPC may also fight cognitive decline and the decay of neurons and their membranes in older mammals. 

Alpha GPC is about 40% choline by weight, meaning it has the potential to confer about 40% of its dosage to the body as dietary choline. Along with CDP-Choline (about 18.5% choline by weight), it’s a form of choline most likely to be seen in nootropics because it confers choline that can more easily cross the blood/brain barrier. Compounds that increase the presence of neurotransmitter acetylcholine are often called cholinergic. Alpha GPC seems to be the preferred — though more expensive — cholinergic for newer and/or high-quality nootropic manufacturers.

Many of the studies involving Alpha GPC use dosages between 300 and 600mg. However, more research is needed to indicate the “optimal” dose for various effects, and this may vary somewhat between users.

Alpha GPC may have also have potent implications for strength and muscular output; when taken in dosages around 600mg as a pre-workout, it has been shown to increase muscle force and potentially stamina.

How Much Alpha GPC Is in Alpha BRAIN?

Both Alpha BRAIN and Alpha BRAIN Instant include Alpha GPC as part of their “Onnit Focus Blend,” which is 240mg total per serving and also includes bacopa and huperzia. Basically, the dosage of Alpha GPC you’re getting in a single serving of Onnit’s Alpha BRAIN products is well under the 300-600mg you see elsewhere, and maybe well under 200mg (Onnit doesn’t indicate the exact proportions in many of their blends). While both forms of Alpha BRAIN have proved popular among our testers, some people may respond better to a higher dose of Alpha GPC. Remember, Alpha BRAIN also contains numerous other nootropic compounds that interact synergistically with Alpha GPC. 

Looking for a nootropic with a higher dose of Alpha GPC, along with ingredients to fight the effects of stress? Check out our review of Nootrobox’s RISE supplement, which contains 300mg of Alpha GPC per serving.

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