Brainberry® – A promising ingredient for gaming supplements
Last updated: May 17th, 2024
Brainberry® is an Aronia melanocarpa extract that provides an innovative and natural way to boost gaming performance in a safe and effective way. If you plan to get rid of typical sugar- and stimulant-loaded supplements and energy drinks, Brainberry® may be the healthier alternative you are looking for. Thanks to its high content in functional anthocyanins, it promises to enhance gamers’ experience by providing sustained crash-free energy, as well as clinically proven brain benefits. Read more about why this ingredient is important for your gaming supplement!
Why are supplements relevant for gaming?
Gaming has grown exponentially over the last few years, not only in amateur gamers but also in professional ones– eSports.
If you are a gamer, you may have already noticed that gaming requires an incredible number of mental skills. Indeed, gaming is continuous and with very few breaks. Therefore, you need to manage a high cognitive workload, especially if your session lasts for an extended period of time.
Moreover, the visual-spatial skills are essential. These abilities allow you to analyse, recognize and rapidly respond to changes on the screen. In addition, as gaming sessions can last for hours, enhanced attention and focus are crucial. You need to have the skills to stay focused and alert, without getting sleepy and distracted.
Lastly, when gaming, it is important that you manage emotions, such as anger, anxiety and stress, as these can negatively impact your performance.
Even though nutrition has been often overlooked by most gamers, the supplement industry for this segment is growing exponentially, showing that more and more attention is being paid to this important aspect.
Over the last year, several brands have launched gaming formulas on the market and supplement use is continuously increasing amongst gamers looking to up their gaming performance. There is a wide range of products tailored to gamers, ranging from powders to capsules, functional drinks and even gummies.
Whether you are a competitive gamer or not, taking care of your body and mind through proper nutrition, supplements, and rest can yield the best results.
The main problem with most gaming supplements and energy drinks
Supplements have the potential to enhance your cognitive performance when gaming. As mentioned, together with the increased number of gamers, gaming supplement and energy drink interest and consumption have significantly grown in the last years.
However, many of these products contain high amounts of caffeine and sugar. High intakes of these two compounds are generally associated with negative health effects.
After a high caffeine intake, you may experience tachycardia, jitters, headaches or disrupted sleep [1, 2, 3]. In fact, excessive caffeine consumption can negatively impact brain performance. On top of this, high caffeine consumption during the teenage years is associated with an increased risk of suffering from anxiety disorders in adulthood [4].
On the other hand, a high sugar intake may lead to unhealthy weight gain and dental caries, both undesired health effects. Moreover, high sugar spikes in the blood are often followed by an energy crash, which is not ideal when you need to be focused.
If you plan to get rid of typical sugar- and stimulant-loaded supplements and energy drinks, Brainberry® may be the healthier alternative you are looking for.
What is Brainberry®?
Brainberry® is an Aronia melanocarpa extract, standardized for high levels of the anthocyanin cyanidin-3-O-galactoside. This ingredient is clinically validated to improve focus and psychomotor control.
The consumption of anthocyanins has been associated with improved cognition skills, such as memory, attention and psychomotor speed [5, 6, 7].
The active cyanidins present in Aronia berry extract in the form of cyanidin-3-O-galactoside can cross the blood-brain barrier and contribute to brain perfusion.
In the hippocampus, cyanidin-3-O-galactoside lowers acetylcholine esterase activity, which increases acetylcholine, resulting in neuronal signalling. This leads to faster and more accurate reactions due to improved visual processing speed and psychomotor control.
In addition, Brainberry® is water-soluble, easy to formulate and has a pleasant taste. Its possible applications include liquid forms (e.g. ready-to-drink formulas), chewable tablets, gummies, effervescent tablets, stick packs and capsules.
What makes Brainberry® an ideal ingredient for gaming supplements?
Brainberry® is the ideal ingredient for gaming supplements for several reasons:
• 100% natural. It is extracted from high-quality Aronia berries from the Baltics resulting in a completely natural ingredient.
• Clinically proven. It has been validated in 3 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials.
• Increased visual processing speed. Its hero compound, cyanidin-3-O-galactoside, significantly improves psychomotor control, enhancing eye-hand coordination.
• Tested in gamers. It has been successfully tested in a consumer study with active gamers.
• Low dosage and stimulant-free. The recommended daily dose is 65 mg. It does not contain stimulants, which are usually accompanied by undesired side effects. This makes it a healthier option compared to other solutions with high stimulants.
• High bioavailability. The bioavailability of the active compound in Brainberry®, cyanidin-3-O-galactoside, has been evaluated and demonstrated rapid absorption [8].
• Easy to formulate. Thanks to its excellent solubility and pleasant taste, it can be included it in a wide range of forms (e.g. drinks, gummies, capsules…).
Research with Brainberry®
Double-blind placebo-controlled trial
Brainberry® has been investigated in the first-ever study to link Aronia berry extract to improved cognitive performance. A 12-week double-blind placebo-controlled clinical study that included 101 subjects linked Aronia berry extract (Brainberry®) to a significant increase in psychomotor speed, eye-hand coordination, and focus.
After only 6 weeks of supplementation with 65 mg of Brainberry® daily, a significant improvement in psychomotor speed was observed, with even a further increase for the rest of the trial (12 weeks).
After 12 weeks, concentration was increased by 43% in the group supplemented with 65 mg of Brainberry® [9].
Short-term improvements due to Brainberry®
More recently, a new clinical study has been released investigating the short-term effects of Brainberry® on psychomotor speed and BDNF concentration [10].
Participants in the intervention group showed a significant improvement in reaction time compared to the control group.
Moreover, serum BDNF concentrations were significantly higher with 5.7% in the intervention group after 1-week Brainberry® intake (p<0.05). BDNF is a protein responsible for neuronal survival and growth, essential for learning and memory [11] and highly relevant for the purpose of this research. Its increase showcases Brainberry®’s potential to support young adults in their daily activities such as learning and working.
Consumer study with active gamers
Additionally, a consumer study was conducted on active gamers using Brainberry®. 21 healthy young recreational gamers consumed 65 mg of Brainberry® daily for 7 days.
After just one dose of Brainberry®, participants successfully reported a significant improvement in the most relevant measures for gaming performance, such as eye-hand coordination, focus, reaction time and energy.
As gamers need fast-acting noticeable effects, the significant improvements in eye-hand coordination, focus, energy and reaction after a single dose, confirmed the effectiveness of Brainberry®.
What’s perhaps even more important, is that these improvements were sustained after one week of supplementation.
As mentioned before, mood is also key during a gaming session. In fact, not being able to deal with difficult emotions (i.e. anger, stress, anxiety) that are likely to arise while competing, negatively impacts performance. Interestingly, the participants in the study reported an improvement in mood parameters after one week of supplementation with Brainberry®.
Another important outcome to point out is that supplementation with Brainberry® did not have any negative effects on fatigue, sleep quality and anxiety levels. It is well-known that these types of complaints are frequently reported by subjects (often gamers) who consume large quantities of sugar- and stimulant-loaded energy drinks.
The bottom line
Brainberry® is an Aronia melanocarpa extract that provides an innovative and healthy solution to boost gaming performance in a natural and safe way. Thanks to its high content in functional anthocyanins, it promises to enhance gamers’ experience by providing sustained, crash-free energy and clinically proven brain benefits.
Brainberry® is the perfect alternative to supplements and energy drinks that are high in sugar and caffeine. It allows limiting these compounds in your diet while offering sustained crash-free energy, as well as clinically proven brain benefits.
