Ways To Boost Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF)

It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!

Have a question or a request? We love to hear from you!

In cases where we’ve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future too—there’s always more to say!

As ever: if the question/request can be answered briefly, we’ll do it here in our Q&A Thursday edition. If not, we’ll make a main feature of it shortly afterwards!

So, no question/request too big or small 😎

❝You said that exercise is a good way to boost BDNF, are there any supplements you’d recommend?❞

Exercise is indeed a great way, and is generally considered the best way! Indeed, it’ll even work in the absence of eating anything, as in this study which found:

• Prolonged (90 min) light cycling exercise increased plasma- and serum-derived BDNF irrespective of being fed or fasted and seemed to be independent of changes in cerebral shear stress.
• Six minutes of high-intensity cycling intervals increased every metric of circulating BDNF by 4 to 5 times more than prolonged low-intensity cycling; the increase in plasma-derived BDNF was correlated with a 6-fold increase in circulating lactate irrespective of feeding or fasting.
• Compared to 1 day of fasting with or without prolonged light exercise, high-intensity exercise is a much more efficient means to increase BDNF in circulation.

Read in full: Fasting for 20 h does not affect exercise-induced increases in circulating BDNF in humans ← according to the research, a 7-minute HIIT session is excellent for this!

If you’re wondering whether your body is truly up to high-intensity exercise, the answer is almost certainly yes, if you go about it with due care and attention. We wrote about this here: How To Do HIIT (Without Wrecking Your Body)

Drugs are technically possible, but hard to get hold of

As for supplements/drugs, the only thing not related to food that we know of is Noopept:

The original novel nootropic and neuroprotective agent noopept

…which was readily available if you knew that right people in Russia 15–20 years ago, but is almost certainly not available at your local drugstore, and availability online is scarce, difficult, and risky (gray market / black market sites).

Food for thought

In terms of food, there are many options, which also means supplements derived from those foods. In order to make BDNF, your brain is best when well-nourished with:

• Polyphenols, especially flavonoids (see also: Are You Getting The Right Kinds Of Flavonoids?)
• DHA, the most brain-ready form of omega-3 (See also: What Omega-3 Fatty Acids Really Do For Us)
• Caffeine, which if you get from coffee or green tea, comes with many polyphenols too (See also: The Bitter Truth About Coffee (or is it?))

Learn more: Effects of nutritional interventions on BDNF concentrations in humans: a systematic review

With regard to omega-3 in particular:

❝The effects were larger when supplements were used for longer than 10 weeks, doses under 1500mg/day, and adults older than 50 years.❞

Source: The effect of omega 3 supplementation on serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Adaptogens allow your brain to increase BDNF levels

You can also help your brain to produce BDNF by supplementing with adaptogens, that is to say, compounds that help your body to better manage stress, thus reducing cortisol levels, which otherwise interfere with BDNF production.

If you’d like a BDNF-optimized stack of such adaptogens in one supplement, here’s an example product on Amazon 😎

Can you take BDNF directly?

You may be wondering if you can get BDNF directly, by simply consuming it as part of your diet. And, technically you can, but we don’t recommend it, because eating human brains carries a risk of CJD and other assorted prion diseases.

So, it’s better to simply enjoy the foods that allow your own brain to make it.

Take care!