Which one will give your brainpower a real boost?
First, we’ll share a quick overview of both products, after which you’ll see us dig deeper into how these brain supplements work.
Prevagen vs Cognizin SUMMARY: Cognizin is the winner of the two. Prevagen is a supplement with two ingredients, one of which is vitamin D which we can get from the sun or cheaper supplements, and the other ingredient is Apoaequorin which isn’t proven to work.
Cognizin, on the other hand, is a patented form of Citicoline, a type of nutrient that has been proven to help cognitive functioning by boosting acetylcholine – your brain’s learning and memory neurotransmitter.
That being said, Cognizin can’t do miracles alone, which is why we recommend using it as a part of a multi-ingredient supplement with other proven ingredients.
-Click to See the Current Top Rated Brain Supplements-
Prevagen vs Cognizin – The Basics
Okay, so for all of your folks out there that are new to both Prevagen and Cognizin, you might wonder what are they… and how do they work?
Let’s go with Prevagen first. It’s a brain supplement made by a company Quincy Bioscience from Wisconsin USA. The company is known for deploying aggressive marketing claims which obviously works well for them, as Prevagen is highly popular (and controversial) on sites like Amazon.
Prevagen is marketed to help you:
- Boost memory
- Enhance learning accuracy
- Improve recall
While I don’t have any personal issues with Prevagen’s manufacturers, they’ve been sued in the past by other companies and national bodies such as the FTC. Why? Apparently, for making false marketing claims.
What did Prevagen’s manufacturers claim that led them to get sued, you ask? They’ve included misleading commercials about jellyfish protein, Apoaequorin, which is the main ingredient in Prevagen – the ingredient they say is behind most of Prevagen’s brain benefits.
As you’ll see below, this is questionable at best.
As for Cognizin, it’s a patented brand of Citicoline (also called CDP-choline). This is a form of choline – a nutrient similar to B vitamins – that feeds your brain with building blocks to make an essential chemical called acetylcholine, which is related to memory and focus.
Sounds good! But is Cognizin better than other types of Citicoline (say, non-branded ones?) In our experience, yes it is. It’s produced to be of the highest quality and bioavailability – meaning, it reaches your brain faster and exerts more benefits than some cheaper, less absorbable forms of choline.
Prevagen vs Cognizin – How They Work
Prevagen
Prevagen has two active ingredients:
Vitamin D works by binding to certain cell receptors in your body where it can govern cell’s function. Vitamin D is actually recognized as one of the most important nutrients of our overall health, and low levels of it are seen in many individuals. This is mostly due to lack of sun exposure.
Supplementing with vitamin D when you’re deficient can bring about many benefits, like more youthful hormone levels and stronger bones. In the context of brain health, vitamin D can boost mood significantly.
So yeah, vitamin D is great. But for the purpose of boosting cognitive function, memory and other aspects of cognitive health, it can’t do much alone.
You should aim to pair it with a healthy lifestyle and other ingredients, such as Phosphatidylserine, Bacopa Monnieri, and L-Tyrosine to really notice a boost in how your brain operates. Best brain supplements combine some of these ingredients for this precise reason.
As for Apoaequorin, it’s an unproven ingredient. Quincy Bioscience, Prevagen’s makers, draw on a couple of questionable studies when making claims about this ingredient.
It’s claimed to boost memory, but the researchers that conducted some of these studies are known for falsifying data. Some of their studies have been removed by PubMED altogether for this reason.
So, Prevagen is basically one ingredient supplement – vitamin D. The one you can get for cheap from your local store. Or you can simple get it for free by eating more fatty fish (they’re a rich source of the nutrient), or simply going in the sun more if you’re able.
Cognizin – Prevagen vs Cognizin
Being a highly bioavailable form of Citicoline, Cognizin easily passes your blood-brain barrier where it provides your brain with two crucial child molecules – choline and uridine.
Choline is needed for your brain to make memory neurochemicals such as acetylcholine. Uridine, on the other hand, is a mononucleotide involved in RNA and is shown to boost mental clarity in people who supplement it in isolation.
By providing both Uridine and Choline, Cognizin offers a superior form of brain boost compared to some cheaper forms of choline, such as choline bitartrate. Be wary of those when buying choline!
Cognizin vs Apoaequorin: The Bottom Line
The bottom line is, Cognizin is superior to Apoaequorin in every aspect.
It’s proven to boost cognitive function, memory, and brain energy, whereas Apoaequorin isn’t proven to do anything.
Cognizin isn’t a miracle ingredient, true. You’ll need to pair it with other ingredients, ideally by taking a well-researched brain supplement (you can check our top 3 of this years by clicking here), and by pairing it with a healthy lifestyle. But even alone, it blows Apoaequorin out of the water.
Prevagen vs Cognizin
Side Effects
Neither Cognizin or Prevagen should cause you any side effects. Cognizin is well-researched, including animal and human studies, and can be taken safely for boosting cognition.
Of course, if you’re having any sort of medical issue, you need to consult with your doctor before thinking about taking a supplement – but that goes without saying.
Prevagen, even though ineffective, is at least not harmful. Apoaequorin doesn’t seem to produce any sort of negative reaction in lower doses. That said, we still don’t know much about the safety of high dosing long-term.
-Click to See the Current Top Rated Brain Supplements-
Price and Value For Money?
Prevagen costs up to $59.99 depending on the version and where you buy it.
There are two versions of Prevagen available – normal and ‘extra strength’. Extra strength simply means a bigger dose of ‘Apoaequorin,’ which is pointless since this ingredient doesn’t work.
Cognizin cost varies depending on whether it’s the standalone product or a part of a multi-ingredient brain supplement.
RELATED: The Three Best Brain Health Supplements on the Market
Prevagen vs Cognizin Wrap Up
So that concludes our Prevagen vs Cognizin comparison. It’s a no-brainer – Cognizin is the winner here. It is more effective at enhancing brain function compared to Prevagen which uses only two ingredients, one of them being a basic vitamin and the other not proven to work.
However, Cognizin still isn’t quite as strong as some pre-formulated brain supplements which use Cognizin+other proven nootropic ingredients, such as Bacopa Monnieri, B vitamins, Lion’s Mane Mushroom, etc.
Prevagen vs Cognizin Final Words
If you’re curious to find out which are the best brain supplements currently on the market, click on the image below to see our top 3 (we’ve picked them out of over 25 that we tested).
The 3 Best Brain Health Supplements
We’ve picked the top three leading nootropic stacks on offer right now to support your goals.
