“Brain Health” is one of the largest and fastest growing segments of the natural healthcare industry.  Americans will spend close to $1.5 billion on cognition-related products by the end of this year, according to Nutrition Business Journal (NBJ). Globally, the market for brain health products is projected to grow from its current $8.2 billion, to $15.2 billion by 2034.

To meet the public’s insatiable demand, supplement makers have launched an astonishing array of botanicals, fatty acids, probiotics, mushrooms, and neurotransmitter precursors for brain-related benefits. They now line retail shelves and online markets alongside older cognitive support products like omega-3s and Ginkgo biloba.

NBJ reports that while omega-3s, typically as fish oil, still represent the largest category of brain-focused products, accounting for 22% of total cognitive health sales in 2024, growth has slowed to roughly 5% per year. In contrast, herbs for cognitive support grew by nearly 17% in 2024.

“Surveys show a clear trend: more people want to invest in their cognitive well-being earlier in life,” the NBJ report states. “This preventive mindset is driving steady growth in products positioned for long-term brain support.”

Here’s a review—by no means comprehensive—of some of the emerging and promising botanicals and nutraceuticals for cognitive support:

Turmeric/Curcumin (Curcuma longa)

Well known for its wide-ranging antioxidant effects, curcumin supports brain health by reducing inflammation. Preclinical studies show routine supplementation can improve memory function, increase synaptic plasticity, and reduce β-amyloid buildup. In short, it can mitigate the composite negative effects of “inflammaging.”

A study of rats subjected to induced traumatic brain injury (TBI) showed that curcumin supplementation dramatically reduced oxidative damage and normalized levels of brain-derived neurotrophic growth factor (BDNF) and other key mediators of neuronal activity. Functionally, this translated into a mitigation of the cognitive impairment caused by TBI.

A placebo controlled study of 60 generally healthy humans , aged 60-85 years, showed that daily supplementation with 400 mg of a standardized curcumin extract (Verdure Science’s Longvida®), for four weeks, improved working memory, attention, executive function, and mood. Subjectively, curcumin-treated subjects reported greater calmness, contentedness, and reduced fatigue. They also showed reductions in total and LDL cholesterol. This study is the first to look at the impact of curcumin on cognition and mood in older adults.

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)

This increasingly popular Ayurvedic herb is beneficial for multiple organ systems, including the brain and nervous system, as indicated in several recent clinical trials.

One such study involved 90 adults with mild to moderate stress, randomized to a placebo or a supplement containing a root-only ashwagandha extract standardized to 1.5% withanolide content (OmniActive’s Zenroot). At a dose of 125 mg per day, the ashwagandha extract reduced self-assessed stress, as indicated by changes on the Perceived Stress Rating Scale, and also on objective indicators (the Mindfield^® eSense Skin Response). The improvements were apparent within 30 days. The herb-treated cohort also experienced improved sleep quality by day 28. 

Another study, also published this year, looked at the impact of a different ashwagandha root extract (KSM-66) on cognition in a cohort of 120 generally healthy people experiencing problems with cognition and mood. The subjects, from India and Australia, ranged in age from 30-75 years. They were randomized to take 600 mg ashwagandha capsules, or an identical placebo, once daily, for 8 weeks.

On measures of cognitive performance, as assessed by the COMPASS (Computerized Mental Performance Assessment System) tool, the Ashwagandha-treated group showed improvements in episodic memory, working memory, and accuracy of attention, compared with the placebo group. Ashwagandha subjects also showed faster task learning speeds, and better scores on location learning tasks.

Ashwagandha also conferred improvements in mood, based on the Profile of Mood States scale, and better energy based on Multidimensional Fatigue Symptom Inventory.

“Given the current interest in the use of non-pharmacological/herbal supplementation for stress-management and improving the cognitive-behavioral function, this study holds great value,” say the researchers, headed by Sanjiv Kale, at Patil University School of Medicine, Mumbai. The current trial builds on earlier pilot and pre-clinical studies of KSM-66’s ashwagandha, all of which suggested this herb had beneficial brain effects.

Ashwagandha is one of the world’s most researched herbs. Back in 2017, authors Sunil C. Kaul and Renu Wadhwa published a compendium of then-available studies, entitled Science of Ashwagandha: Preventive & Therapeutic Potentials.

Mango Leaf (Mangifera indica):

The leaves of this widely cultivated fruit tree contain a polyphenol called mangiferin which can induce a caffeine-like rise in mental energy and alertness, without altering blood pressure or heart rate. A yet-to-be published industry-funded study of 120 healthy college students showed that compared with placebo, a single dose of a standardized mangiferin extract (PLT Health Solutions’ Zynamite®) gave a 9% improvement in cognitive processing speed, an 11% improvement on digit substitution tasks, and a 5% improvement in performance of trail-making tests, an indicator of capacity to manage complex problems. The changes were measurable within 30 minutes.

A subsequent study of 70 adults in a double-blind crossover protocol showed that a single 300 mg dose of mango leaf extract improved performance across an array of cognitive tasks in the Computerised Mental Performance Assessment System (COMPASS) battery. Mangiferin also improved mood as measured by the Profile of Mood States (POMS) scale.

It remains to be seen whether mangiferin has lasting cognitive benefits, and whether it can benefit people at risk of dementia. But it is certainly an ingredient worth watching.

Resveratrol:

This antioxidant polyphenol derived from grapes and berries is commonly promoted for its cardioprotective, anti-tumor, and phytoestrogenic effects, all of which have been well-documented. It may soon find a role in prevention of dementia.

As far back as 2015, researchers reported that at very high doses, resveratrol could cross the blood brain barrier (BBB) in amounts great enough to affect cerebrospinal fluid levels of β-amyloid, tau protein, and other biomarkers of Alzheimer’s.

The problem is that resveratrol in its natural state—like curcumin—is poorly absorbed. It took daily doses of 2 grams per day to obtain the observed CNS effects. Many treated patients experienced side-effects—especially nausea and diarrhea. The resveratrol levels needed to produce meaningful CNS effects were also economically impractical.

Enter a pharmaceutical/nutraceutical company called Jupiter Neurosciences. Making use of methods developed at University of Miami, Jupiter has micellized resveratrol, vastly increasing its overall bioavailability and ability to cross the BBB. This process, called JOTROL™, gives a 9-fold increase in bioavailability compared with ordinary non-micellized resveratrol, as demonstrated in a phase I clinical trial with AD patients, funded by National Institute on Aging (NIA)

A Phase II clinical trial in Parkinson’s disease patients is underway, and Jupiter has also applied for another NIA grant to fund a three-year phase II study of patients with mild cognitive impairment or early AD. 

Over the summer, Jupiter launched a nutraceutical company called Nugevia. Among its three flagship products is a fixed combination of micellized resveratrol and curcumin aimed at reducing neuroinflammation and oxidative stress, increasing mitochondrial metabolism, and improving mental clarity and memory function.

Aframomum melegueta (aka “Grains of Paradise”):

This plant, a member of the ginger family (Zingiberacea), and native to West Africa, has seeds with a pungent flavor somewhere between black pepper and cardamom. It is widely used in West African cuisine, and has been an important crop for centuries.

Recent biochemical research shows that the seeds contain compounds that enhance the release of anandamide—the so-called bliss molecule—in human brains. On a practical level, this means reduced stress and improved sleep.

In a placebo-controlled crossover study of 30 healthy adults between the ages of 40 and 50, daily supplementation with a standardized extract of Aframomum (PLT Health Solutions’ Vanizem) improved sleep quality and reduced time to falling asleep within three days. Participants reported less fatigue, less depression, and increased vigor.

The protocol tested two doses—100 mg and 150 mg per day. Both gave improvements compared with placebo, but the effect sizes were generally greater with the 150 mg dose. The study was funded by PLT Health Solutions.

Selenium:

Often considered a “prostate health” nutrient, this mineral can reduce oxidative stress and neuroinflammation, while enhancing proliferation of neuronal progenitor cells. It also prevents ferroptosis and reduces microglial activation, two of the many physiological mechanisms underlying cognitive decline.

Selenium has a particular affinity for the hippocampus, where it can stimulate neurogenesis. Given the essential roles of the hippocampus in memory, spatial orientation, and mood regulation, this is a welcome discovery.

There are roughly 600 published studies on selenium and various aspects of brain physiology and cognitive function. The vast majority were published just in the last 5 years. In September, an international research team published a thorough review of the research on selenium and hippocampal neurogenesis. 

Pentadecanoic Acid C15:0 (aka Fatty15):

This naturally-occurring, odd-chain, saturated fatty acid boasts a range of potential health benefits such as reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver disease, and overall reductions in all-cause mortality. Structurally, C15:0 contains no double bonds, making it highly resistant to oxidation.

The human body cannot produce C15:0. It must be obtained from diet. One of the main food sources of C15:0 and other even chained fatty acids is whole milk. But consumption of whole milk has declined significantly over the past decades due to “low-fat” and “fat-free” recommendations and policies. On a population level, intake of C15:O has declined significantly over the last 40 years.

The importance of C15:0 emerged largely from research on cohorts of bottlenose dolphins maintained by the US Navy’s Marine Mammal Program. Dolphins are intelligent higher mammals that share many physiological traits with humans, including a propensity toward age-related chronic disease–despite the absence of junk food, alcohol, and other manmade risk factors.

Years back, Stephanie Venn-Watson, a veterinary epidemiologist for the Navy, noticed that roughly one-third of the dolphins in the Navy’s San Diego cohort had developed metabolic conditions like insulin resistance, chronic inflammation, dyslipidemia, and fatty liver disease. Given that all the dolphins were free-swimming, and all ate more or less the same all-fish diets, Venn-Watson grew curious as to why some of the dolphins developed chronic disease patterns while others did not.

She and her team applied metabolomic screening methods to assess vast numbers of potential risk factors and longevity predictors. They found that pentadecanoic acid was far and away the strongest predictor of healthy dolphin aging.

At the same time, the Navy researchers began comparing the San Diego cohort with another dolphin pod living of the coast of Florida. These Florida dolphins had far lower incidence of metabolic conditions. It turns out they were eating different types of fish than the California cohort, and overall, their diets were much higher in C15:0.

So, the researchers began augmenting the California pod’s diets with high C15:0 fish, and over time the prevalence of chronic conditions declined.

Several years later, Dr. Watson and her husband, Eric Venn-Watson, MD, formed Seraphina Therapeutics, a nutraceutical company focused on translating the dolphin discoveries into C15:0 supplement products to benefit humans. They launched their first product, cleverly named Fatty15, last year.

With regard to neurological health, C15:0 has a number of important and potentially beneficial effects. It can activate AMPK while inhibiting mTOR, and it exerts a dose-dependent inhibition of Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase (FAAH)—an enzyme that breaks down anandamide and other endocannabinoids—and of Monoamine Oxidase B (MAO-B), an enzyme that degrades dopamine.

Since FAAH and MAO-B overactivity is common in both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, inhibition of these enzymes by C15:0 supplementation could potentially benefit at-risk people, or even those who are already diagnosed. These effects have not yet been confirmed in human clinical trials, but they do suggest plausible biochemical mechanisms for cognitive health benefits.

That said, there is one human cross-sectional study involving 372 individuals with type 2 diabetes, which showed that higher plasma concentrations of C15:0 were associated with higher scores on the Mini Mental State Exam, and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. The subjects with the highest plasma C15:0 levels showed better visuospatial processing and stronger performance of delayed-recall tasks than those with the lowest levels.

Greek Mountain Tea (Sideritis scardica):

A plant in the Lamiaceae family (which includes various types of mint, oregano, rosemary, and sage), Sideritis scardica proliferates throughout Greece, the Balkan region, and much of the Mediterranean. In ancient times, it was used to heal war wounds caused by iron weapons—hence the name Sideritis, which means “made of iron.”

For centuries, Greeks and other Mediterranean peoples have drunk teas made from this herb, which is praised for its ability to increase vigor and mental acuity, but without causing caffeine-like jitters. More recently, herbal supplements made from the leaves of this plant have hit the market.

There is some clinical evidence to suggest that this venerable herb does indeed improve cognitive performance, and may even mitigate some of the drivers of Alzheimer’s.

In recent years, Greek mountain tea attracted the attention of researchers who wanted to see what results participants would see in placebo-controlled clinical trials, especially for cognitive health.

Researchers at Northumbria University, UK, randomized 115 older adults (aged 50-70 years) to daily supplementation with Mountain Tea (475 mg/d or 950 mg/d), or Ginkgo biloba (240 mg/d), or a placebo for 28 days.

Compared with the placebo and Ginkgo groups, those in the Mountain Tea group showed better average scores on visual processing tasks, and lower levels of anxiety. The researchers measured oxygenated hemoglobin and oxygen saturation in the prefrontal cortex, and found that both measures increased in the subjects taking Mountain Tea. This effect was observable after just one dose of the supplement (Wightman E L, et al. Nutrients, 2018), and it is important given the role of the prefrontal cortex in learning and working memory.

An earlier six-week pilot study by Leibniz University Hannover researchers, assessed the cognitive impact of S. scardica supplementation (330 mg/d), in combination with B vitamins, in a cohort of 64 adults between the ages of 25 and 60. Compared with baseline measures, the supplement regimen conferred improvements on a host of working memory, cognitive flexibility, and stress measures. “The tested product alleviates stress-induced impairment of executive functioning,” the authors concluded.

This herb also holds potential for management of depression. A preclinical rodent study from 2012 indicated that compounds in Sideritis scardica can inhibit the reuptake of serotonin, noradrenalin, and dopamine.

The activity of S. scardica extracts as triple monoamine reuptake inhibitors gives hope for its use in phytotherapy of neurobehavioral disorders associated with disturbance in monoaminergic neurotransmission. Aqueous or ethanolic S. scardica extract affecting all three neurotransmitters—serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline—may be a potential candidate for a natural drug in the treatment of i.a. depression, anxiety disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), neuropathic pain, alcohol abuse and obesity, or even neurodegenerative diseases.

“The activity of S. scardica extracts as triple monoamine reuptake inhibitors gives hope for its use in phytotherapy of neurobehavioral disorders associated with disturbance in monoaminergic neurotransmission,” wrote Dorota Zyzelewicz and colleagues in their comprehensive 2020 review of the biological activity of polyphenols in Sideritis. They suggest that Sideritis extract “may be a potential candidate for a natural drug in the treatment of depression, anxiety disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), neuropathic pain, alcohol abuse and obesity, or even neurodegenerative diseases.” This has yet to be tested in a clinical trial.

There is also a preclinical study suggesting that S. scardica can inhibit the aggregation and toxicity of β-amyloid. Another animal study found that reductions in β-amyloid deposition following daily S. scardica supplementation correlated with better cognitive performance. Again, these promising observations remain to be tested in human trials.

Greek Mountain Tea plays well with the very popular Ayurvedic herb, Bacopa monnieri, which is widely promoted for cognitive benefits.

A 2016 clinical study of 32 people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment showed that compared with placebo, a combination of 120 mg Bacopa extract plus 380 mg of Sideritis (along with vitamin B6, B12, folic acid, B5, and zinc), resulted in improved scores on tests of memory, mathematical calculation, and attention, after 4 weeks.

The researchers gathered EEG data from each patient, and found that those taking the herbal combination had increased beta wave activity—which is typically reduced in AD and MCI—compared with those on placebo. Beta wave activity is associated with attention and memory formation.

This Sideritis-Bacopa combination product is sold in Germany and other European countries as memoLoges.

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