If there’s one thing I’ve noticed over the years, it’s that no one cares about me quite as much as I care about myself.
That’s not to say that other people like friends, family, and even doctors, don’t care about me… they just aren’t as invested as I am in my own health, happiness, and well being. There’s nothing wrong with that either, but that knowledge should change a few things for you, namely how you treat your health, and – if you’re a bit of a self proclaimed body hacker like myself – then also how you treat enhancing yourself with nootropics, a topic that myself and many others have spoken about at length.
If you’ve never heard of Nootropics and have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about, then here’s a good place to start. For the rest of you…
The world of nootropics is an interesting one, but I see a few questions coming up again and again. Finding a reliable source of pure, third party tested nootropic substances is one (stores like Pure Nootropics are a good place to start for the basics), but what I hear the most is “how much should I take of x?”. Everyone knows the basic substances like Piracetam, Aniracetam, and Oxiracetam, but how much should you take, and in what combination?
It’s a fair question, and this is where self-experimentation becomes extremely valuable.
However, before we continue I’m going to give you my standard disclaimer. I’m not a doctor, physician, or member of the medical community. I’m just a guy with a passion for becoming a smarter, better person through self-experimentation.
Now, with that out of the way, let’s begin.
Self-Experimentation: The Basics
Though each of us shares much the same physiology, we also vary quite a bit from person to person, and this effects both which nootropics are effective for us, and in what dosages.
So what does that mean exactly? In short it means that you’ll have to self-experiment a little bit to figure out what works best for you. The good news is that this can be a lot of fun, and an invaluable skill for just about every other aspect of your life. After all, the best way to know something is often to do it for yourself.
So with that in mind, here are a few things to keep in mind when you’re self experimenting with nootropics.
- Always see if there’s a maximum safe dosage for whatever you’re trying. Examine.com is a good place to check.
- Only self-experiment with one new compound at a time.
- Start low and scale up the dosages until you find the “right” amount.
- Start a log, and take detailed notes every day about how you feel.
Unless you’re doing standardized intelligence tests as you go along (if increasing intelligence is your goal), then this data is going to be largely subjective. Having said that, the data is still useful.
I started keeping notes years ago, and they’ve allowed me to find just the right amounts for the various nootropics that I take each day. Just make absolutely sure to only introduce one new nootropic at a time, as that way you’ll have a better idea of what works well for you and what doesn’t. The goal here is to take as little as needed, as or as Tim Ferris likes to say, the Minimum Effective Dose, or M.E.D.
