Table of Contents
Key Takeaways
- Alpha GPC (L-Alpha Glycerylphosphorylcholine) is a choline source derived from soy or sunflower lecithin and is naturally present in the body.
- It is highly bioavailable and can easily cross the blood-brain barrier, making it a preferred choline source for brain benefits in nootropic users.
- As a precursor to acetylcholine, it enhances brain energy, mood, mental clarity, and memory.
- Alpha GPC supports brain health by boosting acetylcholine levels, aiding brain cell membrane development, and increasing dopamine release.
- Recommended dosage for cognitive benefits ranges from 300 to 1,200 mg per day, and while generally safe, potential side effects include fatigue, headaches, and gastrointestinal issues.
Alpha GPC (L-Alpha Glycerylphosphorylcholine, choline alfoscerate) is a choline source derived from soy or sunflower lecithin. It is also naturally present in small amounts in your body.
Alpha GPC is more bioavailable than other sources of choline for brain benefits. Unlike choline citrate or choline bitartrate, it easily crosses the blood-brain barrier. This makes Alpha GPC a preferred choline source with experienced nootropic users.
Alpha GPC is a precursor to the essential neurotransmitter acetylcholine.
Alpha GPC helps:
- Brain Energy. Alpha GPC improves mood, and boosts mental energy. The extra choline can increase alertness and clarity of thought.
- Neurotransmitters. Alpha GPC is prized for its ability to improve memory. Its high bioavailability makes it a great source of choline for producing the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.
- Brain Optimization. Alpha GPC boosts the development of new brain cells. And enhances your brain’s ability to repair damaged cell membranes.
Overview
Alpha GPC is a type of choline that’s produced in small amounts in your body. You can also get it from eating organ meats, dairy and wheat germ.
Choline is considered an essential nutrient because when your body uses it faster than it can produce it, you need supplemental choline either from food or a supplement.
You need choline for the production of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. And to form phosphatidylcholine (PC), used in building cell membranes.
In fact, choline is so vital to cognition and nerve function that, without it, we couldn’t move, think, sleep or remember anything.
Alpha GPC is used throughout your body. It even helps the production of human growth hormone. Athletes use it for peak performance, and to help build lean muscle mass. It provides more energy for a workout and quicker recovery.[i]
Here we’re talking about how Alpha GPC affects your brain health and chemistry.
Alpha GPC vs. CDP-Choline vs. Choline Bitartrate: What’s the Difference?
Choline is a water-soluble nutrient and its composition is similar to B-vitamins. Alpha GPC, CDP-Choline, Choline Citrate and Choline Bitartrate are all sources of choline.
CDP-Choline (cytidine 5′-diphosphocholine): Is only about 18% choline by weight. Your body naturally synthesizes choline into CDP-Choline (Citicoline). It’s then converted to phosphatidylcholine (PC) which assists cell membranes, and helps create acetylcholine.
Choline Bitartrate: An economical form of choline, and about 40% choline by weight. So 1 gram of Choline Bitartrate offers 400 mg of actual choline. It does not easily cross the blood-brain barrier. So you won’t experience the same level of nootropic benefits as with Alpha GPC or CDP-Choline.
Alpha GPC: About 40% choline by weight and easily crosses the blood-brain barrier. Alpha GPC naturally occurs in your brain as a byproduct of phosphatidylcholine (PC). When your brain needs more choline, and the choline floating around in your brain is running low, it breaks down PC from cell membranes. And turns it into Alpha GPC.
Your body and brain loves it when you use Alpha GPC. Because it doesn’t have to cannibalize its own cells to get more choline.
How does Alpha GPC Work in the Brain?
Alpha GPC boosts brain health and function in several ways. But two in particular stand out.
- Alpha GPC boosts acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter tied to memory and overall brain function. Alpha GPC is a precursor to acetylcholine. Improving the efficiency of communications between neurons in your brain. This increase in neural signaling boosts memory, learning, cognitive processing and mental clarity.
In one study, 32 healthy volunteers received either Alpha GPC or a placebo as a pretreatment. Ten days later they were injected with scopolamine to induce amnesia. The researchers found Alpha GPC was able to prevent the impairment of attention and memory normally caused by scopolamine.[ii]
These researchers showed that memory function in young healthy people could be racked up a notch. Simply by taking Alpha GPC as a supplement.
- Alpha GPC directly impacts development of cell membranes in the cerebral cortex. This outer layer of neural tissues or “gray matter” is the information processing center of your brain. It controls intelligence, motor function, organization, personality, planning and touch.[iii]
Published in Clinical Therapeutics, researchers conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s patients. 400 mg capsules were administered 3- times per day for 180 days. The conclusion of this trial showed consistent improvement in dementia patients given Alpha GPC.[iv]
How things go bad
As we get older, our brain chemistry and energy metabolism changes.
↓ Recall, reaction time and mood diminish
↓ Brain cell membranes degenerate
↓ Acetylcholine levels decline[v]
↓ Nerve growth factor in the brain declines
All of these age-related changes are contributing factors to the neurodegenerative diseases of aging, including Alzheimer’s and dementia.
But even if you’re not concerned with the effects of aging, Alpha GPC can help.
Alpha GPC benefits
There are many benefits of Alpha GPC. Research from hundreds of studies have shown that Alpha GPC will:
- Improve memory and learning ability[vi]
- Restore the bioavailability of acetylcholine[vii]
- Restore and boost nerve growth factor receptors in the brain[viii]
- Increase growth hormones in all age groups[ix]
- Boost cognitive performance and memory in Alzheimer’s patients[x]
Alpha GPC is water-soluble and quickly enters your brain after you take it. Once in your brain, it boosts signal transmission, and protects neurons.
Alpha GPC improves your brain function and learning processes by directly increasing synthesis and secretion of acetylcholine. As your body calls for it.
This form of choline is not a precursor to phosphatidylcholine (PC), but is a metabolite of PC. This means once PC is metabolized and stripped of its fatty acids – all that remains is Alpha GPC.
Instead of scavenging your brain’s own membranes for Alpha GPC, you give it exactly the type of choline its looking for.
How does Alpha GPC feel?
If you have trouble getting started in the morning, try coffee and 400 mg of Alpha GPC. Instead of your usual high sugar, high carbohydrate breakfast.
Alpha GPC can be a great way to boost your energy. Take it 45 minutes before you work out.
Alpha GPC helps with memory, mood, mental performance and energy. Its brain support and ability to fuel the acetylcholine in your brain cells should boost cognition in all age and gender groups.
Alpha GPC Clinical Research
In one study, researchers showed that Alpha GPC had positive effects for increasing human growth hormone.[xi]
Alpha GPC Increases the Release of Dopamine
Another trial demonstrated the increase in the release of dopamine.[xii] This is particularly significant in showing Alpha GPC can help those suffering from dopamine deficiencies. And alleviating the symptoms of diseases like depressive disorders and Parkinson’s Disease.
Alpha GPC Facilitates Learning and Memory
An ongoing trial demonstrates Alpha GPC improving memory and attention. This research shows Alpha GPC increasing the effectiveness of pairing it with donepezil (acetylcholinesterase inhibitor). Far better than using donepezil on its own.
And in rats, Alpha GPC boosted learning and memory. It increased brain energy mechanisms and decreased age-related structural changes in the brain.[xiii][xiv]
Alpha GPC Relieves Cognitive Decline and Impairment in Alzheimer’s
Thirteen published clinical trials, involving a total of 4,054 Alzheimer’s patients consistently showed Alpha GPC:[xv]
- Improved cognitive function, memory, and attention
- Promoted recovery in stroke patients
- Reversed the symptoms of acute cerebrovascular disease
- Is far more effective than using choline or lecithin in treating disease
Recommended Alpha GPC Dosage
Alpha GPC is about 40% choline by weight. So 1,000 mg of Alpha GPC provides approximately 400 mg of choline.
- Alpha GPC suggested dosage for cognitive benefits is 300 – 1,200 mg per day.
- Athletic training suggested dosage of Alpha GPC is 300 mg first thing in the morning, and another 400 mg dose 15 – 30 minutes before working out.
- Clinical treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease, dementia and other cognitive disorders dosage of up to 1,200 mg per day.
For higher dosages, split the daily Alpha GPC total into 2 or 3 doses per day. For example, 1,200 mg would be taken 400 mg at a time.
Alpha GPC Side Effects
Alpha GPC is produced naturally in your body. So is considered well-tolerated and safe.
Side effects are rare but can include fatigue, headaches, nervousness, nausea, diarrhea and gastrointestinal issues. This is often an indication you have too much choline in your body.
Because Alpha GPC causes an energy boost in many neurohackers, avoid dosing in the evening. Or you may have difficulty getting to sleep.
A very recent study published in 2021 including more than 12 million individuals aged 50 years or older who used Alpha GPC for at least 10 years had a 46% increased chance of stroke. So for short-term use Alpha GPC is safe. But if you need a choline supplement for long-term use you may want to consider switching to CDP-Choline (Citicoline) like I did once I read that study.
Type of Alpha GPC Supplement to buy
Because Alpha GPC tends to liquefy at 99-100%, many suppliers offer 50% Alpha GPC powder combined with 50% of a filler like silicon dioxide. Adjust your dosage accordingly.
AlphaSize® and CholineAid® are a Kosher Certified, Halal Certified, USP grade, NDI, GRAS-affirmed, patented forms of Alpha GPC manufactured by Chemi Nutra. Which is the U.S. business unit of parent company Chemi S.p.A., a privately held pharmaceutical and nutraceutical company based in Milan, Italy. The company has cGMP certified manufacturing facilities in Italy and Brazil.
Nootropics Expert Recommendation
Alpha GPC 300 – 1,200 mg per day
I recommend using Alpha GPC as a nootropic dietary supplement.
Your body does make some Alpha GPC on its own. And from the food you eat. But studies have shown we don’t get an adequate supply of dietary choline from food sources in our modern diet.
Alpha GPC is especially helpful for those suffering from age-related cognitive decline. Studies show it helps stop or reverse brain degeneration like Alzheimer’s Disease, and other cognitive disorders. Particularly in the early to mid-stages of the disease.
I suggest starting with a dose of 400 mg daily. And Alpha GPC is a great compliment to a stack including any nootropic from the racetam-family. Anything that causes an increase in uptake of acetylcholine in your brain.
You need to provide your brain with the choline it is demanding. Or it starts cannibalizing your own brain cells for more acetylcholine. Signs that you’re lacking adequate choline are headaches.
Take Alpha GPC at a ratio of 1:4. For example, 400 mg of Alpha GPC dose to 1,600 mg of a racetam like Piracetam.
How much Alpha GPC you should take will depend on your situation.
Age-related cognitive disorders like Alzheimer’s may want to up the dose to 1,200 mg of Alpha GPC per day.
Join The Discussion - 218 comments
vanphuong
September 22, 2022
Sorry, my English isn’t very good. I have a question. Alpha GPC: About 40% choline by weight, and CDP-Choline (cytidine 5′-diphosphocholine): Is only about 18% choline by weight. Why Recommended Dosage: 400 mg of Alpha GPC to 1,600 mg of a racetam like Piracetam, and 250 mg of Citicoline to 1 gram of Aniracetam or 4 grams of Piracetam. I can’t understand. Please help me understanding about that. Thank you a lot.
David Tomen
September 24, 2022
Alpha GPC gets to your brain faster but is also used faster compared to CDP-Choline. The other thing is dosages are based on clinical studies as well as user experience. Those dosage recommendations are based on that and not its choline content by weight.
James
July 17, 2022
Hey Dave,
Just wondering if Alpha GPC (or Choline supps in general) can have a negative impact on other nootropics?
Have had some success recently for improving my depressive Vyvanse crashes with pairing a B Complex and low range Tyrosine doses (100-150mg) and decided to test adding a low Alpha GPC dose (50-100mg) to that combo.
I found that adding a tiny amount of Alpha GPC seemed to just overpower my usual positive experience and left me sleepy and wiped out. Having Alpha GPC by itself previously (100-200mg) led to a similar reaction but not as bad.
Just wondering if this could be a negative interaction thing, a too low a dose of Alpha GPC thing, or even a too high amount of Choline in my system thing?
I looked up food sources high in Choline and found that I’m having a lot of them throughout my day (plus my B Complex tablet has a bit of Choline in it too).
Thanks a bunch for all the help so far mate 🙂
David Tomen
July 18, 2022
James, it sounds like you already have enough acetylcholine in your system. Alpha GPC pushes it over the edge. You may need to avoid anything that directly increases acetylcholine levels any further.
James
July 19, 2022
Thanks for that.
I came across a Reddit comment saying that certain supplements/herbs can inhibit Acetylcholinesterase, leading to excess acetylcholine.
Things they said inhibit Acetylcholinesterase included Ginseng, Ginkgo, Bacopa; all of which I’ve tried previously and all of which seemed to have a similar wiped out feeling as the Alpha GPC did.
Do you know if there’s any merit to these claims?
Also, do you know if there’s anything one could take to lower acetylcholine and/or reduce excess acetylcholine?
David Tomen
July 20, 2022
James, the only supplements I know of that can help ‘reduce’ acetylcholine in your brain are any of the racetams.
James
July 9, 2022
Hi Dave,
I saw in another comment on this page you mentioned needing Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) and Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid) as cofactors with Alpha GPC to make acetylcholine.
Does that mean that I would need to take a Vitamin B complex at the same time as Alpha GPC in order to get the benefits from Alpha GPC? Or did you mean something else by that comment?
Also, is Alpha GPC (with or without Vitamin B complex) safe to take with Vyvanse? Meaning as in taking it towards the end of my dose, rather than at the same time.
Thanks 🙂
David Tomen
July 9, 2022
James, Vyvanse will likely work better if you are using Alpha GPC because not enough acetylcholine is a very common problem with ADD and ADHD. But here again you need the cofactors of Vitamins B1 and B5 to make it work.
I use this B-Complex (https://nootropicsexpert.com/go/life-extension-bioactive-b-complex/) which is two capsules. I take one capsule in the morning and one at noon and that keeps a steady level of B-Vitamins in my system for the day.
James
July 9, 2022
Hey Dave,
Thanks for the follow up and the suggestions.
When you say Vyvanse will likely work better with Alpha GPC, do you mean as in taking them together, as in if you take Alpha GPC at various points during your dose (e.g. splitting doses throughout the day), or as in when your Vyvanse is starting to wear off?
Given you take that B-Complex twice a day, I suppose it wouldn’t matter whether I was to take a B-Complex together with the Alpha GPC or earlier in the day so long as it was in my system?
Also, I saw something about how DHA and Choline work in synergy and are a good combination to pair together. Any merit to that to your knowledge?
Thanks again 🙂
David Tomen
July 10, 2022
James, as long as you keep a steady flow of the B-Vitamins in your system during the day you have the cofactors to make dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, and acetylcholine. The latter is your signaling neurotransmitter and it works in support of each of the others.
Alpha GPC has a shorter half-life so you need to use it 3-times per day for a steady flow of acetylcholine. Alpha GPC is where you get your choline from to make acetylcholine.
DHA keeps your brain cell membranes healthy which supports the flow of all of those neurotransmitters.
ilva
April 3, 2022
hi david, I have been looking at all your resources for the last two weeks and am really grateful to have found you. I am just about ready to order my TBI nootropic stack but have been struggling with finding the right dosage and ratio of cdp-choline and noopept within their suggested ranges. what do you recommend?
thank you for your knowledge
David Tomen
April 4, 2022
Ilva, dosage recommendations are including in each of my reviews. Scroll down this list to find links to each review: https://nootropicsexpert.com/nootropics-list/
Aleksander
March 29, 2022
Hi David! What Is your total daily Alpha GPC and CDP Choline Dosage?
David Tomen
March 29, 2022
Aleksander, Alpha GPC 300 mg 3-times per day or CDP-Choline 300 mg twice per day.
Justin Butterfield
February 13, 2022
Hi there, i absolutely love all your info you have provided through your website. So i wanted start by saying thanks.
Im currently taking alpha-gpc daily as it is doing wonders for my mental state, wich make me think i may have choline deficiency. My question is being our bodies naturally need around 500mg of choline per day and its so essential to the body would this mean i could continue supplementing this daily with no risk of tolerance assuming i didnt go crazy with the dosages?
I read so many mixed reports on weather or not this should be cycled to avoid tolerance. So im just not sure.
Also im curious as to why 200 mg makes me feel so at peace inside but when i eat 4 eggs woch have twice the choline i dont notice this.
David Tomen
February 14, 2022
Justin, because there is no way to tell how much choline is in an egg unless you send it to the lab and get it tested.
You cannot grow tolerant to Alpha GPC. It has a short half-life and is gone from your body in 5 – 6 hours. The only thing according to a clinical study published last November is you should avoid using Alpha GPC long-term. Because a long-term clinical study with about 12 million people showed those using Alpha GPC daily for 10 years had a 46% increased chance of stroke.
Better to use 300 mg CDP-Choline twice per day if you need to increase acetylcholine. And use it long-term.
Will
February 7, 2022
Hi David, does alpha GPC have to be cycled?
David Tomen
February 9, 2022
No
Benjamin
February 1, 2022
Will this be enough for acetylcholine alone or do I need more stuff to make it could you please tell me all the supplements I need to make good levels of acetylcholine.
David Tomen
February 2, 2022
Benjamin, you also need ALCAR and thiamine to synthesize acetylcholine.