What Should I Know About “Brain Health” Supplements?

When it comes to over-the-counter supplements, what you see on a label isn’t always what you get in a capsule.

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Consumers reach for over-the-counter supplements for many reasons, including the desire to boost their brain health. But these products are largely unregulated — what you see printed on a bottle isn’t always what you get in a capsule. And even if the ingredients are what they purport, there’s no definitive proof they’ll deliver on their promise to enhance cognition or improve memory, among other lofty claims.

Pieter Cohen is an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and internist at Cambridge Health Alliance.

Pieter Cohen

Pieter Cohen is an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and an internist at Cambridge Health Alliance. In their research examining supplements on the market, he and his colleagues have discovered a long list of inconsistencies associated with some of these products. Dosage can be inaccurate, and ingredients not listed on the label can appear in independent testing — in some cases, this includes illegal compounds, some not approved for use in the United States, or ones resembling compounds typically available only by prescription.

Some supplements claiming to bolster brain health don’t do much at all. Cohen pointed to a 2026 study from researchers at the University of Southern California who found taking omega-3s didn’t offer any cognitive benefits for older adults at an elevated risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. But sometimes, the ingredients in these products can have a physiological effect — though not necessarily the ones touted on the label — Cohen said it’s crucial for people to know exactly what they’re choosing to put in their bodies. He emphasized the importance of consulting with a physician before adding any over-the-counter supplements to your routine, particularly to ensure they’re safe to combine with any prescription drugs you may be taking.

BrainFacts spoke with Cohen about why these products are marketed despite scant federal oversight, what tools consumers can use to assess whether supplements are what they promise, and how anyone can improve their brain health without adding a new pill or tincture to their routine.

What are some common types of supplements claiming to boost brain health or function?

Dietary supplements promoting a health claim can be sold even if there's no proof they actually work in humans. That allows companies to legally put together any ingredients and call them “brain boosting supplements.” They could find some study in a Petri dish on some neurons of a mouse, or they could find a small animal study that suggested some sort of change in thinking was attributed to an ingredient, and then they could start promoting that finding as if it works for humans.

So literally any supplement could be sold as if it's supporting brain health or boosting cognitive function. There are groups of supplements with run-of-the-mill ingredients in them like omega-3 fatty acids, or some amino acids, or other compounds. And then there are other supplements that don't just stick to legitimate or legal supplement ingredients but also include experimental drugs or prescription drugs that might be available in other countries and are being sold or promoted in the United States as cognitive boosters. It's a very, very wide range of products.

What is the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) responsibility in terms of overseeing these supplements?

The FDA is supposed to keep an eye on whether things being sold as dietary supplements are appropriately labeled and don't contain illegal ingredients. But I don't recall a single recent episode in which the FDA intervened with the sale of brain-boosting supplements because of any of the ingredients found inside of them.

The FDA or the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) may get involved if the claims go over the line for supplements and start suggesting they're prescription drugs. If a claim says, “This supplement will treat Alzheimer's disease,” it might get flagged by the FTC or the FDA, which would send a warning letter to that company. The company would need to remove the reference to a specific disease and instead say something like, “This supplement maintains healthy memory,” and then they could continue to sell their product.

But there's no process whereby the FDA is testing these products before they're sold, and they're rarely enforcing the law in terms of confirming that the products are accurately labeled or don't contain illegal drugs.

What should consumers know about common terms purporting to indicate a product’s legitimacy, such as “pure ingredients” or “third-party tested”?

They have no actual legal meaning. Regardless of what's listed on the label — whether it's lion’s mane, omega-3, or some compound you've never heard of — there's no saying what's going to be in the bottle because no one's testing or checking supplements before they're sold.

There are a few organizations doing meticulous supplement testing — they look at the manufacturing process, they look at the final product and confirm that it’s accurately labeled and the ingredients are accurate. The best examples of those are U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) and NSF (National Sanitation Foundation). If the supplement has the stamp of USP or NSF, then we can be assured the ingredients are what's on the label. But that doesn't mean it's going to work in terms of boosting brain health. These third parties don't look at claims at all — they're just looking at ingredients.

But because manufacturers can use deceptive stamps to look like it might be USP certified or FDA approved, it's best to track down supplements using the high-quality third-party certifiers websites. Let's say you want to take some omega-3 — I recommend you go to the USP or the NSF's website, look at what supplements they have certified as containing omega-3, and then only purchase those specific brands.

What meaningful steps can people take to improve their brain health without turning solely to supplements?

I would recommend lifestyle changes that have definitively proven positive health effects and that might have beneficial effects for decreasing the risk of memory loss or early dementia. Being physically active and exercising is going to be key to maintaining overall health, including potentially brain health. Making sure one's blood pressure is checked and that it's well controlled if it's elevated. Eating a Mediterranean-based diet or other healthy diets. Of course, stopping smoking if someone's smoking. Those are basic principles that can help many aspects of human health and are likely to have the potential to also decrease the chance of memory loss.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

About the Author

Bella Isaacs-Thomas

Bella is the Staff Writer and Editor for BrainFacts. She previously worked as a digital science reporter at PBS NewsHour, where she was named a fellow in the 2022-2023 class of the National Science-Health-Environment Reporting Fellowships (SHERF) and earned a 2021 D.C. Science Writers Association Newsbrief Award for writing. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor's degree in 2018.