How to Zone In: Understanding Adderall vs Nootropics for Focus

The pressure to always be on, always be present, always be productive is pervasive. It seeps into every aspect of every day of our lives, and to be honest — sometimes it’s all a bit too much. Enter Adderall. It used to just be an ADHD medication. Then it seemed like it was this quiet crisis among college students looking for a way to survive semester finals. Now, depending on who you talk to, it’s a huge national crisis or a modern way to boost focus without caffeine.

Personally, I think it might be all three — and I say that as someone who is a mom of college students, is a graduate student herself, and who just took her second pill of the day.

Totally legitimate prescription, just so we set that tone.

A big part of the Adderall issue is that the ease and efficacy of stimulants eclipses understanding how they work and why that matters. And that’s just because we don’t really have the time or the mental resources to care — we just need to get back to work. Is focus really our problem? Or is it unbalance?

The State of Stimulants: Adderall, ADHD, & Affect

Let’s get introduced to the main player in pro-focus stimulants for a sec. Adderall is a brand name but basically just an umbrella term for ADHD meds at this point. It’s a mixture of amphetamine salts most often prescribed for ADHD, narcolepsy, and resistant depression. When prescribed and used correctly, it’s effective at improving attention, focus, executive function, and reducing impulsivity. Moreover, it’s safe.

However, we’re seeing Adderall spread far outside of medical contexts — startup and hustle culture, weight loss goals, and the desire for the mild euphoria it can provide have allowed it to extend its tentacles into schools, businesses, parties, and just everyday life. Why? Because it works — you can feel it happen, and it happens quickly. We all love some instant gratification. But is it safe to manage your own usage, unmonitored, likely obtained in a slight-to-moderately shady way? Not really.

Adderall works by modulating neurochemicals in the brain responsible for responses like focus, mood, energy, motivation, reward, and stress response. For people with an imbalance in those key neurotransmitters, it is an effective treatment that restores balance. For people who don’t, it just results in overstimulation, and whether that overstimulation feels good or not is unimportant.

Recreational and/or unmonitored use of pro-focus stimulants can have several negative effects:

• It comes with a real risk of tolerance, addiction, and dependence, and so is a Schedule II substance, which is the same level meth and cocaine are on.
• Insomnia is one of the most common side effects, and we all know chronic lack of sleep does exactly the opposite of boosting brain function.
• The boost and crash can result in mood swings and difficulty controlling emotions, and often causes a brain fog when it wears off.
• There’s evidence of neurotoxicity, with some animal studies (horrible, we know) citing permanent alteration/suppression of the dopamine system.

These are real dangers, and there’s a real risk that if you didn’t start out with dysfunctional neurochemical signaling, using Adderall without a medical cause altered your brain chemistry and caused a problem that wasn’t there before.

Nootropics for Mental Focus: An Adderall Alternative?

You’re thinking, Okay, but I still need help to focus, though. Enter nootropics, which may offer a healthier and more sustainable way to promote focus and productivity. And they’re not some out-there, crunchy, new-age idea — many have been used for focus for millennia, and some are even used in mainstream medicine. Just like Adderall, nootropics work by modulating production and activity of different neurotransmitters. However, the right nootropics do it gently, safely, and without all the side effects just discussed.

There are three natural nootropics, particularly, that mood enhancer drinks and mental focus supplements like to stack to promote a safe, clean, not-methy way to zone in and be a productivity gremlin:

Paraxanthine

Paraxanthine is the nootropic version of hoping your kids turn out better than you did. As the major metabolite of caffeine, it has recently been isolated, allowing this nootropic for focus and energy to become a functional ingredient in daily wellness supplement drinks like MTE. Paraxanthine is like a cheat code for stimulants, because it has sloughed off all the crappy stuff — racing heart, jitters, worn-down immune system, addiction — and has kept all the good — energy and mood boost, focus, metabolism, and performance.

While paraxanthine is new on the nootropic scene, studies suggest some pretty promising capabilities:

• Paraxanthine’s energizing effects appear more effective than caffeine and last just as long, but don’t cause sleep disruptions.
• Paraxanthine supplements for focus and energy seem to improve attention and error rates in focused tasks without raising blood pressure or heart rate.
• Paraxanthine for focus is as effective as caffeine but doesn’t cause jitters, increase feelings (or biological markers) of stress, and doesn’t cause a sleep rebound like caffeine.
• Paraxanthine is safer than caffeine and has not shown mutagenic or toxic side effects even at high doses.

L-Theanine

Theanine is an amino acid found in several species of tea and mushroom. It was discovered and isolated by researchers in the mid-20th century as part of an exploration into why green tea offers so many health benefits. L-theanine is now a common ingredient in functional beverages and wellness supplements for stress, energy, focus, immunity, and relaxation, among other things. But what does the science say?

• L-theanine supports attention and memory in people with mild cognitive deficits, according to several studies.
• Theanine supplements boost attention and focus on complex tasks, with improvements in energy and mood.
• L-theanine boosts alpha brain wave activity, associated with calm clarity that isn’t drowsy.
• Theanine promotes balanced reactions to stress, reducing overreactivity while lifting persistent low mood.

Saffron

Saffron is a nootropic as well as a superfood, so it makes sense it’s got a lot of bioactivity packed in there. Used for thousands of years for everything from paint to performance boosters, the crocetins and safranal in saffron may provide some serious protection and even optimization of brain function. At least the research indicates as much!

• Safranal, crocetin, and crocin have neuroprotective and antioxidant effects, scavenging free radicals.
• Saffron may reduce cognitive impairments by protecting hippocampal activity (linked to memory).
• Saffron supplements for mood have been shown to raise and balance mood compared to placebo controls.
• Saffron likely enhances cognitive function by inhibiting harmful protein proliferation in the brain.

My Experience with Adderall vs MTE for Focus & Mood

A while ago, I started experimenting with MTE as a way to augment my stimulant script and also to drink less caffeine, which I hypocritically overconsume on a daily basis. What has been interesting is the distinct differences in how caffeine vs paraxanthine vs Adderall boost (or don’t) my focus, mood, and productivity. What has also been interesting is learning that stacking any of the three together is not for me, personally; I’ve got to stagger them. But when I do, the benefits of paraxanthine are clear — I get a bunch of stuff done, don’t want to unalive myself during, and am not kept up by jittery energy after.

If you wanna check out my completely-scientifically-sound experiment (i.e., learn from my mistakes): Paraxanthine vs Caffeine: Which is Better for Focus?

I’m not someone that will be able to replace my prescription with MTE, but I have been able to use MTE for an extra boost at times when it’s not ideal to take my meds, like when I’m working on a paper well into the night but need to be able to fall asleep after. The great thing about MTE is that, while nootropics and adaptogens support everyone’s best efforts, the support they offer is unique to each person, which means MTE has something to offer everyone. Plus, wouldn’t it be cool to deal with the pharmacy less? Actual bane of my existence.

MTE is a daily wellness drink powder comprised of 10 targeted nootropics, adaptogens, and superfoods, powered by paraxanthine. A caffeine-free alternative to energy drinks and coffee, MTE provides a clean, healthy way to hack your mind and body back into focus — literally. Are we saying we’re a treatment for ADHD or other focus and mood challenges? Absolutely not. Are we saying that the science behind the powerful nootropics in MTE provide an effective resource to boost energy, focus, mood, and recovery? Absolutely.

Curious? Check it out.