The Need for More Capacity
We all know what we need to do: exercise, meditate, tame our vices, manage our weight, and get to sleep on time. The hard part is execution. Despite our best efforts, there remains a daily need for more capacity to live the kind of life we envision for ourselves.
If you’ve ever tapped into a real “flow state” of effortless, enjoyable, and productive concentration then you know there’s much more capacity locked inside you than you ordinarily have access to. When you’re in control like that, you get more done in a day than you may otherwise during a whole week – all while also nailing your fast, your workout, and your journaling session. How can we tap into states like that more often and execute the goals that we set for ourselves, and without having to abuse Adderall and RedBull? Here’s an answer: Nutraceuticals can help us level up. These compounds are potent levers to increase our willpower, especially when they are stacked to improve long-term health and performance [1]. Trading long-term health for short-term gains is a false choice we don’t have to make. We can use the best ingredients nature (and science) have to offer to feel more energized today while also raising our cognitive baseline over the long run. That’s why we crafted Lifestacks MCT – a powerful nutraceutical stack that provides immediate impact and sustainably raises the cognitive baseline with repeated use.
Increasing the Willpower Budget
We designed Lifestacks MCT to have more mental capacity and to make it easier to get stuff done.
Execution is hard because our willpower is limited. You can think of willpower in terms of a daily budget: doing the things you set out for yourself “costs” willpower [2]. You have to spend it in order to get things done. Over time, your willpower budget gets depleted because of its limited supply. You run out of steam after a long day of work and get impatient with your loved ones – you’ve clearly run out of willpower to act how you actually feel about them. Here’s the good news: your willpower budget isn’t fixed. Nootropics and adaptogens can increase your willpower, allowing you to stick to your goals and be more in control of your actions [3].
Being in control of our actions is key because we don’t want to rush through our lives. Work, family, movement, games, learning – the list goes on. We want to do many things, but we want to do them mindfully and well. Even if we choose to slow things down in our lives, we face thousands of decisions every day about what to do each moment and how to allocate our attention. Increasing our willpower budget with the right tools lets us be more deliberate in the present and reach more of our goals over time.
Principled Approach
At Lifestacks, we approach performance in a principled and holistic manner. We designed our MCT to be both noticeably beneficial in the short term and supportive of health over the long term. We have three primary considerations when it comes to creating an immediate subjective impact: first, we seek performance benefits that are noticeable and appropriate for as many users as possible. You won’t find us offering a product with excessive doses of ingredients that would lead to side effects in a significant portion of users. Instead, the performance-boosting power of our products comes from clinical dosing and synergistic stacking of the highest-quality ingredients.
Second, we are focussed on repeatability. We design products to work over and over again, rather than just the first few times. And finally, we formulate products with the intention to raise baseline performance over time, so that you are truly better off for having taken the product. Many products in the supplement market have an immediate impact but actually lower the cognitive baseline with repeated use by depleting neurotransmitter stores and vital nutrients. By providing the raw materials for cognitive function, Lifestacks MCT helps replenish our neurotransmitter stores and provides the building blocks for new neurons. This helps us become higher-performing over time.
Our focus on long-term health was equally important in designing Lifestacks MCT. As we discussed in “Our Vision of Health,” nutrients are implicated in supporting long-term health in two overarching ways. The first is that certain nutrients are essential, including but not limited to what you’ll find in a daily multivitamin [4]. Nearly all Americans are deficient in at least some key nutrients, leading to adverse health outcomes and lower healthspan. Meeting the recommended daily intakes is a minimum step, but it’s useful to go beyond because our bodies have to share resources across short-term and long-term functionalities. When under constraints, our bodies will prioritize the short term in order to stay alive at any given moment. This, however, can lead to an insufficient supply of protective compounds that support healthy aging.
The second role for nutrients in long-term health is their impact on the health defense systems, which are the systems in the body responsible for mitigating and repairing the cellular and systemic damage that occurs as a byproduct of being alive [5]. The foods we all know and love for our health work largely by supporting the health defense systems. Lifestacks MCT includes both types of nutrients for long-term health: Taurine and Citicoline which provide essential components for optimal brain and body functioning, and Ginseng and Rhodiola which support the body’s health defense systems [6].
Overall, we designed Lifestacks MCT with the aim of keeping you healthier for longer, all while boosting performance in a repeatable way. You can thank us now, and later.
How to Use Lifestacks MCT
Given that Lifestacks MCT targets our foundational willpower budget, it is a highly versatile tool. You can use it on just about any type of day. Here are a few of our favorite ways to use it.
1. Pair with coffee for sustained energy & delicious flavor
We designed Lifestacks MCT to be synergistic with caffeine, so mixing it with a morning cup of coffee makes for a reliably enjoyable day. Ingredients such as Taurine and Tyrosine have been clinically shown to combine very well with caffeine, leading to smooth, sustained energy and improved cognitive function [7]. Plus, adding the world’s highest-quality MCT – goMCT – into your coffee simply makes for a delicious drink (our founders’ favorite flavor is Chocolate).
2. Fast with ease
Fasting is a panacea, and it is becoming the lifestyle of choice for people who want to optimize health and longevity in a simple way [8]. But the transition from the modern American diet to Intermittent Fasting can be difficult. Lifestacks MCT keeps your energy levels high while you fast and improves mental sharpness, exercise capacity, and wakefulness. Fasting isn’t about feeling deprived, and staying productive and motivated is key in order to incorporate fasting into a demanding schedule.
What’s more, MCT kickstarts fat-burning in the body and thereby activates your fasting pathways [9]. Lifestacks MCT amplifies the benefits of fasting while reducing the drawbacks.
3. Flow through work & workouts
Lifestacks MCT is stacked with powerful nootropics and adaptogens that increase your resistance to stress and help you power through what’s ahead of you, be that a demanding day at work or a key workout in your training regimen. It’s your daily tool for optimal performance. Importantly, ingredients such as Ginseng, Rhodiola Rosea, or Huperzine A aren’t only effective in the short term. They’ve also been clinically shown to raise your cognitive baseline with repeated use by, for example, spurring neurogenesis – the process of forming new neurons in the brain [10].
Finding Your Dose
We expect that 1 scoop of Lifestacks MCT yields the most benefits for the average user. We formulated the product to reach response thresholds with just a single serving. That said, it can be worthwhile to experiment with different doses. Clinical trials and anecdotal evidence for individual ingredients show promise at higher and lower doses. Some people experience optimal benefits at up to 2 scoops, and others experience the desired performance benefits with as little as 1/2 scoop. We recommend starting with 1 scoop, then gradually increasing or decreasing based on your individual response.
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References
[1] Lorca, Cristina, et al. “Plant-Derived Nootropics and Human Cognition: A Systematic Review.” Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 2022, pp. 1–25.
[2] Baumeister, Roy F. “Ego Depletion.” Self-Regulation and Self-Control: Selected Works of Roy Baumeister, Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon, 2018.
[3] Jongkees, Bryant J., et al. “Effect of Tyrosine Supplementation on Clinical and Healthy Populations under Stress or Cognitive Demands—a Review.” Journal of Psychiatric Research, vol. 70, 2015, pp. 50–57.
[4] Laird, E., and A.M. Molloy. “Water-Soluble Vitamins and Essential Nutrients.” Reference Module in Biomedical Sciences, 2014.
[5] Ames, B. N. (2018). Prolonging healthy aging: Longevity vitamins and proteins. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115 (43).
[6] Ong, Wei-Yi. “Protective Effects of Ginseng on Neurological Disorders.” Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, vol. 7, 2015.
[7] Seidl, R., et al. “A Taurine and Caffeine-Containing Drink Stimulates Cognitive Performance and Well-Being.” Amino Acids, vol. 19, no. 3-4, 2000, pp. 635–642
[8] Anton, Stephen D., et al. “Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Understanding and Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting.” Obesity, vol. 26, no. 2, 2017, pp. 254–268.
[9] Vandenberghe, Camille, et al. “Medium Chain Triglycerides Modulate the Ketogenic Effect of a Metabolic Switch.” Frontiers in Nutrition, vol. 7, 2020
[10] Lee, Soon-Tae, et al. “Panax Ginseng Enhances Cognitive Performance in Alzheimer Disease.” Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders, vol. 22, no. 3, 2008, pp. 222–226.