Qualia Mind Review

Feeling slow, sluggish, or just not as sharp as you used to be is a more common problem than most want to admit. Luckily, there are ways that you can get around brain fog, fatigue, and difficulties paying attention. One method that seems more like science fiction than reality is a nootropic supplement, or “smart drug.”

Qualia Mind is a nootropic supplement with dozens of potentially beneficial ingredients designed to improve nearly every aspect of your short- and long-term cognitive performance. We looked into Qualia Mind — and its lofty promises — to determine whether or not its long ingredient list might help in your efforts to think faster, recall better, and reduce brain fog.

Qualia Mind offers a detailed ingredient list, which is appreciated when most nootropics obscure their doses in proprietary blends. Unfortunately, only half of Qualia Mind’s ingredients have any reliable clinical research backing up their presence. And many of the ingredients in Qualia Mind are underdosed, something commonly seen among nootropic supplements. That said, Qualia manufactures its supplements in a safe environment, and new customers are offered steep savings (75% off) on their first subscription purchase. The regular purchase price, however, makes Qualia Mind one of the most expensive nootropics on the market.

As nootropics have emerged as a key player in the supplement landscape, we’ve invested serious time investigating which options on the market are truly worthwhile. We’ve spent hundreds of hours researching and testing various nootropics, including individual ingredients, pre-formulated options like Qualia Mind, and combinations that serve specific purposes. Our broader experience testing nootropics — some very similar to Qualia Mind, others quite different — provides extra context to our knowledge and recommendations in this review. Throughout our time investigating nootropics, we’ve read hundreds of clinical studies examining the safety and efficacy of various nootropic ingredients. For this article alone, we read through over 150 separate research studies.

Over the past two decades, Innerbody Research has helped tens of millions of readers make more informed decisions about staying healthy and living healthier lifestyles. Additionally, like all health-related content on this website, this review was thoroughly vetted by one or more members of our Medical Review Board for accuracy. We’ll keep an eye on Qualia Mind and update this page as information changes.

We use four central criteria to judge the overall value of nootropic supplements to help you understand their subtle differences: their cost, how safe they are to use, how convenient it is to take them, and how effective they are.

Qualia Mind tries hard to be your best option but ultimately doesn’t live up to its full potential as a nootropic. It has a long list of 27 ingredients, and this nootropic laundry list comes at a high price: even with extreme cost-cutting measures for first-time purchases, Qualia Mind is one of the most expensive nootropic supplements at $39 for your first bottle of 22 servings and $139/bottle after that.

And because there are so many ingredients in the formula, you’ll need to take seven capsules per serving, which is inconvenient and far more than the serving sizes of competitors (like Alpha BRAIN’s two capsules). About half of Qualia Mind’s ingredients aren’t available in clinically relevant doses, which is to be expected — underdosing according to single-ingredient studies is perhaps the biggest flaw in the nootropic industry — but this supplement also contains several ingredients with zero research backing up their use for your brain health. What’s more, a self-funded study on Qualia Mind didn’t reveal significant results over a placebo. That said, Qualia Mind’s parent company is responsive to feedback and has shifted its formula over time to align with new research and customer reviews.

Effectiveness

Qualia Mind tries to do everything and compromises its efficacy while doing so. This is common for generalized nootropics, which are typically less effective than those with a single purpose; long ingredient lists aiming to cater to every possible need are often less effective in the long run. Among Qualia Mind’s 27 ingredients, only 14 have a reasonable amount of scientific data backing up their use in the formula at the included dose. (Three of these are caffeine-related.)

The properly dosed ingredients have long research histories suggesting several cognitive improvements, but if you normally take a multivitamin and drink coffee or green tea, the only new benefits you’d find are within Bacopa monnieri leaf extract, Rhodiola rosea root extract, and huperzine A. We expect more than a handful of a nootropic’s ingredients to offer benefits to most users. This becomes even more disappointing when you consider that as few as three out of Qualia Mind’s 27 ingredients may be helpful to the 73% of American adults drinking coffee daily, or the 50-70% that take a multivitamin.93 94

Qualia (the company behind Qualia Mind, formerly Neurohacker Collective) did adjust its formula in 2018, removing a few less-than-effective (and less-than-safe) ingredients and running a lengthy re-dosing investigation, but Qualia Mind still stumbles. And readjusting formulas isn’t unique to Qualia Mind; competitor Mind Lab Pro has been through multiple formulations, as well, to try and find the most effective combinations.

Nootropics are almost always underdosed if you look at ingredients lists entry by entry — Focus Factor, for example, offers little more than a multivitamin — but most manufacturers will contend it’s because the ingredients work together more effectively than on their own. However, the research supporting this claim is yet to exist (in most cases).

If we can’t determine efficacy based on an ingredient list, the next step is to look at scientific studies of the product itself. About half of our favorite nootropics have run self-funded studies investigating their effectiveness, and Qualia Mind is no exception. The study was rigorously performed and found that Qualia Mind improved every measure they tested:

• Executive functioning
• Attention and focus
• Inspiration
• Perceived stress
• Workplace engagement
• Mindfulness

But so did a placebo. Qualia Mind improved four of these scores (executive function, attention and focus, inspiration, and mindfulness) slightly above the placebo, but it wasn’t a big enough jump to be considered significant. More research is necessary, considering the study only ran for five days (compared to the several weeks that competitors Mind Lab Pro, Focus Factor, and Alpha BRAIN used), but Qualia Mind performed worse using similar techniques.

Cost

Qualia Mind has some of the steepest savings we’ve ever seen for your first purchase, but steep savings have to come from somewhere. If you want to order the nootropic once without starting a subscription, you’ll pay a whopping $159. Considering each bottle only contains 22 days’ worth of capsules, you’ll be paying more than $7 a day for this nootropic.

If you’re interested in trying Qualia Mind, we seriously recommend starting a subscription — even if you aren’t sure if it’ll work for you. Your first subscription purchase takes 75% off, meaning you’ll only pay $39. A regular subscription after that takes 15% off, making subsequent orders $139.

Considering it’s incredibly easy to cancel your subscription after your first order arrives if you don’t like it (or realize you can’t afford the $139/month for later orders), there’s very little risk to trying that first delivery. Qualia has also brought this price down in the last year, as the last time we reviewed it, Qualia Mind cost $69 ($30 more) for that first subscription delivery. These savings bring its price much more in line with the competition. You’ll always have to pay for shipping, though, which costs an extra $8.98+ for standard delivery (or $12.98 if you want it faster). Shipping from competitor Thesis, on the other hand, is always free. And most other brands at least offer a threshold where you can “earn” free shipping if your order reaches a certain amount (usually over $50).

Here’s a quick cost comparison between Qualia Mind and some of our other top nootropics picks:

Now, let’s compare Qualia Mind’s starting offer to the savings you could get from other nootropic companies:

Qualia offers a 100-day money-back guarantee, so if you don’t like or don’t feel the effects of Qualia Mind, you can return your bottle for a full refund. But, ultimately, even with this one-time savings option, Qualia Mind is still one of the most expensive nootropic supplements out there — especially because the steep initial savings don’t last.

Safety

Since nootropics are still relatively new to the market, and general nootropics like Qualia Mind tend to involve a lot of somewhat experimental ingredients, there are plenty of opportunities for problems to pop up. Luckily, Qualia is very upfront about what you can expect out of Qualia Mind.

Unlike other nootropics, such as Onnit’s Alpha BRAIN, Qualia Mind doesn’t use any proprietary blends. This makes it easy to verify what you’re taking. (We’ve found that the more expensive the nootropic, the more likely you are to get a fully elaborated ingredient list.) Qualia Mind errs on the side of too little of each ingredient, which technically makes its formula safer but also makes it more difficult for us to predict its effectiveness. The ingredients that are likely to be less effective aren’t harmful but instead act more like filler.

You will need to cycle Qualia Mind — meaning it isn’t safe to take every day for a long period of time because of its well-dosed acetylcholine-related ingredients — but the company is upfront about this requirement. Previous iterations of Qualia Mind have had more problematic ingredients that have been removed as more research has revealed concerns. Even with these ingredients removed, you should speak with your doctor before trying Qualia Mind just to make sure it won’t interact with any of your medications or health conditions.

Qualia Mind is tested for purity, heavy metals, and microbial contamination during production and then tested again once it’s finished. This testing is done in-house rather than by an independent third party, which is less than ideal (many other high-quality nootropics, such as Thesis, use third-party tests to ensure there’s no bias in their reporting). However, Qualia receives certificates of analysis from the original manufacturer for each ingredient in Qualia Mind and then tests every batch of raw ingredients to verify that the certificate of analysis is correct. While we’d love to see Qualia implement third-party testing, we can appreciate any testing being done at all.

Convenience

Nootropics aren’t convenient supplements, often requiring you to take a handful of pills a day. Qualia Mind isn’t very convenient even for a nootropic: there are seven moderately-sized capsules in every serving, and taking three or four mouthfuls of pills to get the full effect of the nootropic is a pain. Qualia also recommends that you cycle its nootropic, taking it for five days and skipping it for two days every week to ensure you don’t end up potentially taking too much acetylcholine. This is a great safety measure, but it becomes more complicated when you’re trying to remember if you’re at day four or day five in your weekly cycle or if you have a particularly long work week and need a boost to get through it and your weekend.

There are technically no directions about taking Qualia Mind with or without food or needing to take it at a specific time of day. Qualia states that you can take it while fasting, but given our broad experience with caffeinated nootropics, we suggest you err on the side of caution and start by taking it first thing in the morning with food until you know how you respond. Nootropics can be intense, and taking them on an empty stomach amplifies those effects. Otherwise, we suggest skipping coffee in the morning to avoid any feelings of over-caffeination — or the resulting crash — mid-workday. (If you don’t want to skip your morning cup of coffee, or if you’re sensitive to caffeine, Qualia has recently introduced a caffeine-free formula of Qualia Mind.)

If you’re looking for a more convenient nootropic, a dose of Thesis is 2-4 pills, while Mind Lab Pro and Alpha BRAIN only require two.

Qualia Mind is a nootropic supplement designed by the California-based supplement brand Qualia (also written as Qualia Life or Qualia Life Sciences; formerly known as Neurohacker Collective). It’s the cornerstone of Qualia’s catalog and the product that got the company off the ground; many of its other supplements are based on Qualia Mind’s success.

Luckily for us, Qualia is extremely transparent about how it came up with Qualia Mind, what goes into it, and why it was made. According to the company’s website, certain factors were considered while designing Qualia Mind:

Qualia Mind, as we know it, is the result of these efforts. In this review, we’ll analyze whether Qualia successfully created a nootropic that lives up to these goals.

Previous formulas

The formula of Qualia Mind we’re discussing isn’t the first iteration of Qualia Mind. Originally released in 2016 as a two-step formula, Qualia revised its product into what we now know as Qualia Mind in 2018 based on reviews and customer feedback. In this process of making Qualia Mind safer and more effective, the company collaborated with numerous experts in complexity science (an interdisciplinary approach to complex systems), with specialties ranging from biochemistry to engineering. This revision included fewer capsules per serving and changes to the ingredient list, as the previous formula included a few less-than-stellar nootropic ingredients, including:

Qualia’s revision of Qualia Mind’s original iteration into its current form removed these ingredients, turning the formula into what we know today.

Qualia Mind contains 27 major ingredients, including vitamins, herbs, and true-to-form nootropic compounds. According to Qualia, these ingredients were included to support neuron and synaptic function, improve neurotransmitter signaling, and enhance stress resilience, among other things. Essentially, it’s designed to make your brain do its job more efficiently. It also has four “other” ingredients, which are binders and anti-clumping agents designed to keep your capsules fresh:

• Hypromellose
• Rice concentrate
• Silicon dioxide
• Calcium carbonate

This nootropic supplement is more transparent about its formula than others. Only some nootropic manufacturers are willing to share their full ingredient list or dosage instead of hiding behind proprietary blends (which group ingredients under a shared dose, like Alpha BRAIN’s various Onnit blends). Even fewer have thought through the problem of the blood-brain barrier, ensuring that everything you take gets where it needs to go.4

Qualia explains exactly how the company designs a supplement on the “Our Approach” page of the website. This page details Qualia’s “whole systems approach to the mind/brain interface,” and it lays out the nine specifications (or guiding principles) the company follows:

1. Science: ensuring the research behind an ingredient or combination of ingredients
2. Sourcing: careful sourcing of ingredients to “assure purity and authenticity”
3. Secondary testing: random testing of market-ready products for verification
4. Potency: using “the most biologically active” form of ingredients
5. Purity: testing ingredients to meet “nationally recognized standards” for purity
6. Labels and certifications: creating gluten-free, non-GMO, vegan products with no artificial colors, flavors, or sweeteners
7. Primary testing: testing all ingredients to ensure proper form and potency; analyzing finished products via chemical and analytical techniques to “confirm identity, purity, and contaminants”
8. Form: using the most biologically active form of nutrients
9. R&D process: conducting multiple years of internal testing for safety and reliability; consulting doctors, researchers, and formulators

As you can probably tell, most of these principles are just the same thing but worded a little bit differently. To sum it up, Qualia aims to use research-backed, biologically active ingredients that are tested for purity and potency in order to make its gluten-free, non-GMO, vegan supplements.

On the “Qualia Mind: The Building of a Nootropic Stack” webpage, Qualia references over 140 studies regarding the nootropic’s ingredients and the systems they affect. The headlines on this page appear to group the ingredients of Qualia Mind into a few different “stacks” (in which you may notice a pattern of repetition):

• Choline signaling stack: citicoline, uridine monophosphate, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), sunflower lecithin, alpha-GPC, phosphatidylserine, vitamins B5, B3, and B1, acetyl-L-carnitine, N-acetyl-L-tyrosine (NALT), Bacopa monnieri, Celastrus paniculatus, Coleus forskohlii, huperzine A, Ginkgo biloba, caffeine, and theobromine.
• Glutamate signaling stack: acetyl-L-carnitine, vitamins D3, C, and B3, Celastrus paniculatus, huperzine A, pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ), taurine, Coleus forskohlii, artichoke extract, caffeine, theobromine, Ginkgo biloba, Rhodiola rosea, phosphatidylserine, and DHA.
• Dopamine signaling stack: DL-phenylalanine, NALT, Mucuna pruriens, vitamin B6, vitamin C, uridine monophosphate, caffeine, and theobromine.
• Resilience and adaptogenic stack: Rhodiola rosea, Bacopa monnieri, Ginkgo biloba, Mucuna pruriens, phosphatidylserine, vitamin B5, Coleus forskohlii, artichoke extract, caffeine, and theobromine.
• Neurogenesis, neuroprotection, and neuroplasticity stack: Ginkgo biloba, taurine, L-theanine, DHA, huperzine A, PQQ, phosphatidylserine, Rhodiola rosea, uridine monophosphate, Bacopa monnieri, and vitamins B1, B6, and B12.
• Cell membrane integrity stack: phosphatidylserine, alpha-GPC, citicoline, uridine monophosphate, and DHA.
• Cell energy and metabolism support stack: uridine monophosphate, acetyl-L-carnitine, NALT, DL-phenylalanine, PQQ, caffeine, artichoke extract, theobromine, Coleus forskohlii, and vitamins B1, B3, B5, B6, B12, C, and D3.
• Cerebral antioxidant defense stack: vitamins C and D3, PQQ, L-theanine, Bacopa monnieri, Rhodiola rosea, Ginkgo biloba, Mucuna pruriens, Coleus forskohlii, and artichoke extract.
• Cerebral blood flow support and blood-brain barrier penetration stack: vitamins C, B1, and B3, Ginkgo biloba, phosphatidylserine, DHA, acetyl-L-carnitine, NALT, citicoline, and alpha-GPC.

We’re glad to see Qualia conduct and share more of its research with the public compared to the last time we reviewed the supplement. Previously, the company only linked to a handful of studies on a few ingredients. Listing 144 sources is much more impressive, even if it’s a bit overwhelming for the average consumer to absorb. From all of this, it’s even clearer that Qualia Mind is intended as a generalized nootropic — one that the company claims can do a bit of everything.

In the next few sections, we’ll break down all of Qualia Mind’s ingredients by type to investigate whether or not this nootropic’s potential benefits have the solid footing the company claims.

Qualia Mind uses several vitamins in its formula, including some B vitamins, vitamin C, and vitamin D3. All of these vitamins are essential for our well-being, and Qualia Mind provides more than the daily recommended value for each (though vitamin D is on the lower side, especially for those who have diagnosed deficiencies). There aren’t many direct links between these vitamins and cognitive capabilities in the general population, but deficiencies in any B vitamin, C, or D can lead to fatigue, brain fog, and depression. Eating a healthy diet rich in these vitamins can minimize some of the reasons you’d turn to a nootropic in the first place.

Let’s take a closer look at what researchers have to say about these ingredients.

B vitamins

There’s been some flux over the years in what’s considered a B vitamin, but no matter what you include, this group of vitamins affects your cellular metabolism, nerve function, and red blood cell creation. Here’s what we know about the B vitamins found in Qualia Mind:

These vitamin doses are all significantly higher than the USDA recommends. (The vitamin B12 dose, for example, is more than 666 times your recommended daily intake.) However, B vitamins are all water-soluble, meaning that your body can expel anything it doesn’t use in your urine (this also means that a good amount of Qualia Mind may just lead to expensive urine).

Here’s a quick chart breaking down how much vitamin content you should be getting every day compared to how much Qualia Mind offers:

Between these unclear relationships and the water solubility of vitamin B, if you already take a multivitamin or eat a well-balanced diet, it’s unlikely that the addition of vitamin B in Qualia Mind will improve your cognitive function.

Vitamin C: 100mg

The vitamin associated with citrus fruits and your immune system (healing and repairing wounds and preventing infections) has a burgeoning relationship with your mood and cognition. Those with vitamin C deficiencies are more likely to experience depression and its associated cognitive impairments.21 However, these results were only found in people who had scurvy. If you don’t have bleeding gums or rashes that last for longer than three months, it’s hard to say if you’ll see improvements in your memory, attention, or learning abilities by taking more vitamin C. If you feel like you may have a deficiency, reach out to your doctor and have some labs done before supplementing.

The USDA recommends that adult women get 75mg of vitamin C daily and adult men get 90mg. Most adults in the U.S. get enough vitamin C through their diet. But, while the 100mg in Qualia Mind is more than you need for daily function, medical experts have determined you can safely take up to 2,000mg daily. However, again, we recommend speaking with your doctor first to make sure supplementation is safe for you.

Vitamin D3: 25mcg (1,000IU)

Humans primarily get vitamin D from exposure to sunlight (the cholesterol in your skin absorbs UV radiation, which starts the synthesis of vitamin D3).92 You may not get enough vitamin D in the winter — or if you work indoors, don’t often leave the house, have darker skin, or have obesity — leaving you feeling tired, moody, and achy. Considering that about 42% of Americans have a vitamin D deficiency, adding vitamin D to your diet may improve your mood and energy levels.22 And while low vitamin D levels are associated with a higher frequency of dementia, adding vitamin D doesn’t seem to make a difference in cognitive decline or dementia in general.23

Most adults need 15mcg or 600IU of vitamin D, though adults above age 70 need slightly more (20mcg or 800IU). 1,000IU is a reasonable dose of vitamin D3 for a vast majority of people.

Pyrroloquinoline quinone disodium (PQQ): 10mg

Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) isn’t technically a vitamin, but there’s been debate in the scientific community — going back to 2003 — as to whether or not it should be reclassified as one.24 This antioxidant is also a catalyst similar to NAD+, made by bacteria, and naturally found in a variety of sources, such as kiwi fruit and soil. It’s most similar to vitamin K; like the vitamin, humans don’t naturally make any PQQ except for in breast milk, particularly colostrum.

We don’t know much about what PQQ does for your cognition, but a few scattered studies suggest it could improve AMPK signaling, which is important for your overall energy and some aspects of aging.25 One study states it can improve self-reported stress, sleep, and anger,26 while another found memory improvements in the elderly.27 However, these studies are few and far between and require significantly more investigation before we can make a definitive statement.

Most of these studies give participants about 20mg of PQQ, which is twice as much as Qualia Mind offers.

Choline is the precursor to the neurotransmitter, acetylcholine. While you might not be as familiar with it as you are with serotonin, dopamine, or norepinephrine, it’s incredibly important for our everyday function. Acetylcholine is the primary neurotransmitter in our central and peripheral nervous systems, responsible for everything from muscle movement to learning and memory.28 It’s also the easiest neurotransmitter to manipulate through chemical and botanical ingredients, though it comes with some downsides: because it’s used in so many bodily processes, it’s easy to accidentally disrupt homeostasis, which can lead to choline buildup and toxicity. Many pesticides, for example, block the body’s ability to stop producing acetylcholine in the same way that another Qualia Mind ingredient, huperzine A, does.91

While choline-related supplement ingredients can be risky when used recklessly, they can still be a potentially effective way of modulating your brain and improving your learning and memory capabilities. Many — but not all — of the choline-related ingredients in Qualia Mind have solid research supporting their use, especially Bacopa monnieri extract and citicoline. Huperzine A, while effective, has the potential for danger, and alpha-GPC, Mucuna pruriens (velvet bean) seed extract, and Celastrus paniculatus seed extract don’t have enough consistent findings to rally behind yet.

Let’s take a closer look at these ingredients.

Choline is an essential nutrient, so the USDA requires supplement manufacturers to label how much choline is in every serving. According to Qualia Mind’s supplement facts label, there are 110mg of choline in every serving, explicitly from alpha-GPC and citicoline. That’s 20% of your required daily intake, which is nothing to sneeze at, but one large egg contains between 140mg and 160mg of choline.41 When it comes to choline intake, you won’t get much more out of Qualia Mind than you would from a healthy meal.

Huperzine A

There’s one other ingredient in Qualia Mind that affects acetylcholine: huperzine A. Huperzia serrata, or Chinese clubmoss, produces one of the most potent compounds in Qualia Mind’s formula. Discovered in the 1980s, huperzine A limits the amount of acetylcholinesterase, the enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine, meaning that you’ll have more acetylcholine in your brain for a longer period.

Huperzine A is potent, and the general consensus among researchers is that it should be fairly safe for healthy adults when used correctly (make sure to get the okay from your doctor first, though). Increased acetylcholine levels have a direct effect on your learning and memory, and studies consistently show that huperzine A appears to have both antiepileptic and neuroprotective effects on top of that.42 It’s also being studied as a potential Alzheimer’s medication.43

However, because nootropic supplements don’t have the same dosage consistency, clinical trials, or oversight as prescription medications, they have a higher potential to be dangerous with ingredients like huperzine A. Having too much acetylcholine accumulate (called cholinergic toxicity) can cause a plethora of unpleasant symptoms, including:44

• Headaches
• Insomnia
• Nausea and vomiting
• Confusion
• Slurred speech
• Respiratory depression
• Coma
• Death

This extract contains 1% huperzine A, for a total of 0.05mg (50mcg) in every dose. This is significantly less than competitors that also use huperzine A, such as Onnit’s Alpha BRAIN, which contains 400mcg per serving. There are no recommended doses for huperzine A, but most studies use anywhere from 50mcg to 200mcg daily for Alzheimer’s patients. Qualia Mind sticks to the safe end of this dose range while still conforming with clinical recommendations, balancing your safety and its effectiveness well.

But the lack of clinical trials and oversight on nootropics makes it even more important to get the all-clear from your doctor before taking one — no matter how safe it might seem.

Qualia Mind contains three ingredients you might also find in a cafe mocha without the sugar: theobromine, caffeine, and whole coffee fruit extract. These three ingredients are alkaloids (have a basic pH), and while we know caffeine is a potent nootropic, theobromine and coffee extract can play a role in your neurology, too.

One of the biggest neurological properties these ingredients impact is brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF is a molecule that helps your brain change as you learn or heal from injury (called neuroplasticity).45 It also impacts your memory: not having enough BDNF is implicated in memory loss from both dementia46 and depression, though most of this research is still very new and yet to be repeated.47

Ultimately, Qualia Mind’s use of caffeine and whole coffee fruit extract is well-dosed and might help you hold your attention for longer, protect your neurons against dementia and degenerative diseases, and increase the amount of BDNF you have circulating. Still, it may not have quite enough theobromine for you to see satisfying effects. (And Qualia Mind’s caffeine-free formula option removes both the caffeine and the theobromine, which means these potential benefits don’t apply to that product.)

Almost half of Qualia Mind’s ingredients are herbs, amino acids, and lipids, which may not be as familiar as caffeine or vitamins. It’s easy to take a company’s word at face value for unfamiliar ingredients, especially those without a lot of research that unpacks their use and value. Some are wholly experimental, and others are undergoing preclinical trials for treating things like mild Alzheimer’s disease. Qualia Mind uses Rhodiola rosea extract and Ginkgo biloba extract, both of which are extremely common and well-studied nootropic ingredients that seem to have notable benefits, as well as bioaccessible forms of tyrosine and theanine and two great lipids for your health at large. However, too many of these ingredients appear to have little-to-no cognitive benefits based on research.

Qualia Mind’s least-recognizable ingredient is likely uridine-5’-monophosphate (UMP). UMP is a compound found in all living organisms that gets converted into nucleotides for DNA and RNA; UMP is most commonly found in the brain. Some scientists think that it can help the brain make more synapses, dendritic spines, and other important cell structures for communication between neurons.60 Research suggests that it also plays a vital role in cellular energy and metabolism.61

There aren’t very many studies on UMP’s use to improve cognitive health, let alone UMP as a supplement. Most of these studies were conducted on rats and gerbils between the mid-1970s and early 2000s, but the fact that it might help neuronal growth is likely why it’s included in Qualia Mind.62 However, there are almost no studies giving UMP to humans at this time; one recent case study gave UMP to two young siblings with a neurodegenerative disease with remarkable success, but they were given 130mg/kg daily.63 That’s equivalent to about 10g daily for a 150lb adult. Of course, not everyone needs a prescription-strength dose for neurodegenerative disease, but Qualia Mind contains only 160mg of UMP, so it’s unclear whether or not this will support your brain.

The herbs and botanical ingredients you can find in Qualia Mind are some of the more contentious components. Let’s take a deeper look at all four.

Amino acids

Amino acids aren’t just useful for athletes. They’re an important feature of your diet, as they provide the building blocks for every protein needed for full-body functioning.

Qualia Mind includes five different amino acids. Let’s take a closer look at each of them.

Lipids

Fats are important for your brain’s proper functioning. After all, the human brain is about 60% fat, thanks to myelin sheaths. The myelin sheath coats the axons of every nerve cell, protecting it from harm and allowing action potentials to move quickly and efficiently. Several neurodegenerative diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS), occur when your myelin sheaths break down.

There are two major lipids in Qualia Mind: phosphatidylserine and DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid.

While Qualia Mind uses a few robust safety measures and is generally safe for most healthy adults, we still recommend speaking with your doctor first before taking it (or any new supplement).

Qualia Mind doesn’t use proprietary blends (unlike Alpha BRAIN and Focus Factor), which would obscure individual ingredient doses to either keep competitors from copying the formula or, more insidiously, to make it seem like more beneficial ingredients are at play than there actually are. Qualia’s openness to direct transparency on this front is commendable.

Qualia tests its nootropic fairly often and regularly releases the results, which we appreciate. Mind Lab Pro is similarly transparent, and we wish more supplement companies would follow their lead. Specifically, Qualia tests its supplements for:

• Purity (how close the product is to labeled descriptions)
• Heavy metals
• Microbial contamination

This testing is performed in-house rather than by an independent third party, which is less than ideal because it introduces the possibility of bias. Many other nootropic companies (such as Thesis) use third-party testing to verify their own results. However, Qualia does receive certificates of analysis from the sources of each ingredient verifying their safety (though these aren’t made public). The company also tests the finished batches to verify its own testing measures. So, while Qualia doesn’t bring in a neutral third party, the repeated testing is appreciated.

Additionally, Qualia’s manufacturing facilities are FDA-registered and compliant with current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP).

Qualia provides a surprisingly thorough list of conditions and medications that don’t mix well with Qualia Mind. This list, hidden as a disclaimer underneath the ingredients list on the Qualia Mind webpage, includes people with:

• Psychiatric and neurological disorders
• High blood pressure
• Heart conditions
• Endocrine disorders (such as diabetes, thyroid problems, or low testosterone)
• Cancer
• Phenylketonuria (PKU)
• Muscular dystrophy
• Immunosuppressive therapy
• Pregnant people
• Nursing parents
• Children under 18

Children under 18, people who are pregnant or lactating, and those on psychiatric or neurological medications (such as MAO inhibitors, tricyclic antidepressants, and SSRIs) should stay away from Qualia Mind.

Like with all other supplements, you should always consult your primary care provider before starting to ensure it’s safe for you to take Qualia Mind. This list is not exhaustive, and because supplements aren’t regulated like medications, there is inherently more risk to trying them.

Alcohol in large quantities can also have a stronger negative impact on your cognition than normal when paired with Qualia Mind, but it should be okay to have it in small quantities (like one glass of red wine with dinner).

You also shouldn’t take Qualia Mind too late in the day due to its caffeine content. (Qualia definitively states that it shouldn’t be taken within 12 hours of your bedtime.) If you know you’re sensitive to caffeine, we recommend taking it with breakfast or in the morning with a snack to soften the caffeine’s impact on your digestive system.

Safe use of Qualia Mind

Even though most of the inclusions are underdosed, generalized nootropics like Qualia Mind are more likely to induce side effects as long lists of ingredients interact with each other in complex ways researchers haven’t studied yet. You may experience headaches or stomach upset while starting Qualia Mind. These should go away as your body adjusts to the experience, but if it doesn’t, discontinue use and talk to your doctor.

Qualia recommends cycling Qualia Mind — using it for five days and then taking a break for two days — to allow your brain time to rest and regroup from the bombardment of caffeine, adaptogens, and other ingredients to which it could become accustomed. Taking weekends off from this supplement should reduce the risk of any possible side effects that could come from taking too much. (Cycling is still important even if you take the caffeine-free variety.)

More importantly, cycling prevents the excess buildup of acetylcholine from huperzine A. Having too much acetylcholine can be very dangerous and can, in extreme cases, lead to respiratory depression, comas, and death. (It’s unlikely you’d get there with the small amount of huperzine A in Qualia Mind, but it is still possible, especially if you don’t follow the cycling directions.)

Qualia performed a robust study on Qualia Mind to see whether or not its formula could bring you the results you’d hope to see.86 Though the study wasn’t published in a journal, it was set up to adequately test Qualia Mind on several key features. The webpage is missing a few key elements important to knowing how the study worked, including when it was performed and how long participants took Qualia Mind. However, we found out that it took place in mid-2020, and participants took Qualia Mind for only five days.

This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study looked at how 46 adults (between the ages of 18 and 75) reacted to Qualia Mind using several measures:

• Executive function, using the Adult Executive Functioning Inventory (ADEXI)
• Attention and focus, using the Attention Control Scale (ATTC)
• Inspiration, using the Inspiration Scale (IS)
• Perceived stress, using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)
• Work engagement, using the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-3)
• Mindfulness, using the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS)

Participants were also given a diary, where they were instructed to track subjective measures:

• Sleep quality
• Immune health (on a scale of 1-10)
• Productivity (rated based on how satisfied they were with their ability to perform daily tasks)
• Mood
• Usability of Qualia Mind
• Adherence
• Side effects

After the study was completed, researchers compared participants’ final scores to their first scores, and they then compared those who took Qualia Mind to those who took a placebo. Everyone had higher scores in every area, which is encouraging; it suggests that Qualia Mind might actually improve your cognition. The key, however, is within the placebo group — all of their scores improved just as much. Participants who took Qualia Mind scored slightly higher in features that are less subjective — executive function, attention and focus, inspiration, and mindfulness — but the differences weren’t big enough to be statistically significant.

Qualia Mind isn’t the only nootropic that’s been put through small, self-funded studies like this: Onnit’s Alpha BRAIN,87 Mind Lab Pro,88 and Focus Factor have all been tested, too.89 Alpha BRAIN’s tests were published in a scientific journal after finding a significant increase in verbal recall and executive functioning, and Mind Lab Pro and Focus Factor found improvements in attention, focus, and recall abilities over both baseline and placebo groups. However, all three of these studies looked at the influence of the respective nootropic over several weeks. It can take up to three months for a nootropic to give you the full effects, so while it does show some improvement, it’s difficult to predict whether or not Qualia Mind will have any true positive effects on your cognition based on this 5-day study.

Without any discounts, bonuses, or promotions, one bottle of Qualia Mind costs $159. This provides a 22-dose supply of capsules (what Qualia calls 28 days’ worth), or 154 capsules in total.

Qualia offers a subscription program for all of its Qualia products, including Qualia Mind. By starting a monthly subscription, you can get automatic refills of your nootropic for a whopping $100 off your first month ($39) and then $139/month after, for a total savings of $20/month (15%). The initial discount is a near-unprecedented amount of savings in the supplement world, let alone nootropic supplements. However, these savings are offset by Qualia Mind’s high standard cost and low serving count, so it's hard to get too excited.

Unlike a few other nootropics, ordering Qualia Mind through Qualia means you can only order one or two bottles at a time, and you can’t change the size of the bottle. This isn’t particularly uncommon for nootropics, but some authorized third-party retailers sell different-sized bottles of Qualia Mind (including 105 capsule — or 15-day — supplies).

You can pay for your order with any major credit card from a U.S.-based bank, AmazonPay, or PayPal.

Returns

At first glance, Qualia’s refund policy is exceptionally generous. No matter why you want a refund — unexpected side effects, discovering a new allergy, or just not feeling it — there is a 100-day full money-back guarantee. You won’t need to return your bottle of Qualia Mind, let alone worry about whether you’ve opened it. Instead, just reach out to Qualia’s customer support team via phone or email, and you’ll automatically get a full refund. Among our top nootropic picks, this is the best refund policy, alongside Alpha BRAIN’s 90-day guarantee, making Qualia Mind an easy place to start if you want to try a nootropic but are worried about not liking it.

However, this refund policy only extends to one item (either one-time or the most recent delivery from a subscription) and can only be used once per item per household. If you and your partner both order Qualia Mind, try it, and don’t like it, only one of you will be eligible for a refund.

Qualia Rewards

In January 2022, Qualia launched its first-ever rewards program. You can earn one point for every $4 you spend on a Qualia product directly from Qualia’s website (up to $500). If you spend more than $500 in a single sitting, that quantity jumps to one point for every $2 spent. These points are based on what you spend, not the original purchase price, so you’ll earn fewer points for a discounted purchase.

Points are “active” and redeemable one week after you’ve purchased your product (whether or not it’s arrived yet) and can be redeemed for $1 per ten points. Compared to other supplement retailers, this is a bit of an extreme curve: to save $10, you’ll need to spend $400. Likewise, you’ll need to use at least 200 points (a $20 value) if you’re applying it to a subscription.

If you get a refund for a product you earned points on, the points will be automatically deducted from your account; this can cause your points to go into the negatives, from which any points earned will work to bring that balance back to zero. We found this a little off-putting, as it’s not a common strategy — points are usually more like gifts. That said, it’s free to sign up for a Qualia account and start earning Qualia Rewards points.

Shipping

Qualia offers two different shipping speeds:

• Standard ($8.98+): 3-5 business days
• Priority ($12.98): 2-3 business days

Once you’ve placed your order with Qualia Mind, the fulfillment center processes your transaction and ships your package in 24-48 hours. You’ll get an email notifying you that your package is on the way with a tracking number once it ships.

Currently, Qualia Mind ships directly to a restricted list of English-speaking countries. These include:

• United States
• Canada
• United Kingdom
• Ireland
• Australia
• New Zealand

International shipping costs $13.98 per order and takes an average of 15 to 22 days to arrive. If you live outside of these countries but want to try Qualia Mind, some of the company’s third-party sellers offer expanded international shipping.

But, no matter where you live, there are multiple places to get Qualia Mind aside from Qualia’s website. This includes:

• Amazon (154- and 105-count bottles)
• Walmart (105-count bottle)
• Pure Formulas (35-count bottle)
• Emerson Ecologics (105-count bottle)
• Live Helfi (EU only; 105-count bottle)

Most of these retailers only sell a smaller size at a slightly lower price (between $95 and $120 on average). While it looks like a better deal upfront, you technically save more money opting for a subscription program through Qualia, even after the initial deal. The cost per dose from these third parties ranges between $6.34 and $8, while the cost per dose with a subscription from Qualia directly is $6.31.

Ultimately, we strongly recommend purchasing through Qualia’s website to save money and take advantage of the company’s subscription deals and return policy (the latter of which can vary greatly between third-party sellers).

There are a lot of nootropics out there that all claim to improve your brain health and mental strength. However, with such disparate ingredients (and at different prices, with different dosage strategies, and different safety measures), it’s just not possible for them all to work the same. Throw in the multitude of reasons you may be struggling with diminishing cognitive function, and finding the right nootropic supplement for you becomes an extremely complicated task.

If you’re interested in Qualia Mind but aren’t quite sure if it’ll be the right fit, or if you’ve tried Qualia Mind before and know it’s not, it’s worth exploring your other options. We compare many nootropics in more detail in our guide to the best nootropics, but we’ll make some general comparisons below.

Generalized formulas

Qualia Mind isn’t the end-all-be-all of generalized nootropics. Mind Lab Pro is another reasonable generalized nootropic with only 11 ingredients. There were a few self-funded studies conducted on Mind Lab Pro, including a double-blind, placebo-controlled research study using the nootropic that investigated whether or not it actually worked, with significant findings. Regular use over three months increased participants' performance in tasks related to:

• Simple and choice reaction time
• Memory (immediate and direct recall)
• Anticipation
• Information processing abilities, particularly in people over the age of 30

These results are all significantly better than the findings of Qualia Mind’s study, though Qualia investigated its supplement for a much shorter window of time than Mind Lab Pro, so it’s hard to directly compare them. Also, any self-funded research comes with the chance of bias.

In terms of cost, Mind Lab Pro is significantly cheaper than Qualia Mind at $69/month, though that still isn’t inexpensive. Around 75% of the ingredients in Mind Lab Pro are also underdosed, according to successful research, but all 11 have at least moderate support through studies. And Mind Lab Pro conducts both in-house and third-party testing, which we appreciate. However, Qualia Mind is still a better option if you want to try some of its unique ingredients or if you need a flexible return policy. (Mind Lab Pro requires your product to be entirely unopened.)

If cost is an issue, another generalized nootropic that might work for you is Focus Factor Original. Focus Factor makes several different products, but its hallmark nootropic is its Original formula. You’ll compromise some efficacy — Focus Factor mostly capitalizes on its large-dose vitamins and minerals, so if you’re already taking a multivitamin, you won’t see as much of an effect — but one 15-serving bottle only costs $15 (or less if you join the subscription service).

Specialized formulas

Specialized nootropics — which focus on improving a specific area of cognitive health or functioning — have shorter ingredient lists and are less likely to improve your whole cognitive process. That said, you may be more likely to see the desired effects they claim.

Thesis is a high-quality, specialized nootropic that regularly tops our lists. This company exclusively produces nootropic supplements in six different formulas:

• Creativity
• Confidence
• Clarity
• Energy
• Logic
• Motivation

Each formula contains between six and eight ingredients, including caffeine and L-theanine (both of which can be removed upon request — a unique perk), that were picked because of their well-studied links to improved cognition. Like Qualia Mind, Thesis recommends taking time off its nootropics to ensure you don’t become dependent or build too much tolerance; neither are suitable for daily use.

However, Thesis lets you try up to four different formulas in your initial starter kit, allowing you to tinker and discover what works best for you. If you know that you don’t need an all-over boost or are intimidated by Qualia Mind’s long ingredient list, Thesis may be a better option. And while it isn’t cheap — Thesis’ subscription program costs $79 per month or $119 as a one-time purchase — it’s less expensive than Qualia Mind.