Are you living the Bulletproof lifestyle? If you are one of the biohackers who has been dabbling in Bulletproof Coffee to boost your brainpower, you may also be considering trying a couple of nootropic supplements by Bulletproof Nutrition, Inc.: Unfair Advantage and Brain Octane Oil. Find out which of these Bulletproof brain supplements is best for you in this nootropic vs. nootropic review.
Table of Contents
Tale of the Tape
Unfair Advantage |
vs. |
Brain Octane Oil |
||
Ingredients | Dosage | Ingredients | Dosage | |
Pyrroloquinoline quinine (Active PQQ™) | 10 mg | Capryclic Acid Triglycerides | 14 g | |
CoQ 10 (as ubiquinol) | 20 mg |
Round 1: Formulas
Unfair Advantage and Brain Octane Oil are both made by Bulletproof Nutrition, Inc. – the company behind Bulletproof Coffee, a popular and unique upgraded coffee recipe featuring grass-fed butter and coconut oil.
With these two brain supplements, we see the DNA of Bulletproof nutrition’s formulation style: simplicity.
Unfair Advantage only has two ingredients, while Brain Octane Oil only has one.
With such stripped-down ingredient lists, it doesn’t seem like there is much sophistication in Bulletproof’s approach. However, the few ingredients they did select for these products are carefully chosen and very smart in the way they boost brainpower. Let’s take a closer look.
Unfair Advantage is a nootropic supplement in liquid form – delivered in small, convenient ampules that you break open and down like an energy shot. The taste is pleasant enough, reminiscent of root beer and brown sugar.
Within this liquid brain supplements are to intriguing antioxidants that may have the capacity to enhance mental energy:
1. PQQ
Featuring 5000X the antioxidant power as vitamin C, PQQ is believed to protect brain cells from the damaging effects of toxic free radicals and aging.
More relevant to its application in Bulletproof’s Unfair Advantage, PQQ has a reputation for boosting brain cells powerhouse mitochondria.
By protecting mitochondria, enhancing their performance, and helping them to multiply, PQQ is theorized to improve energy production in all brain cells – along with all other energy-producing cells in the body.
2. Co-Q10 ubiquinol
Unfair Advantage supplies the reduced form of CoQ10 known as ubiquinol. Like PQQ, ubiquinol is a potent antioxidant, considered to be the cell-defending antioxidant form of the nutrient coenzyme Q 10.
Within the brain and body, ubiquinol and co-Q10 transform into each other in an ongoing cycle involving the exchange of electrons.
- Both CoQ10 and Ubiquinol are required for the production of cell energy, due to their fundamental electron-shuttling roles in the brain process known as bioenergetics.
Co-Q10 and ubiquinol are concentrated in the cells mitochondria powerhouses, where they help to protect them and keep them functioning optimally – potentially helping to increase mitochondria’s output of energy.
Like Unfair Advantage, Brain Octane Oil is in liquid form as well.
However, while Unfair Advantage is packaged in tiny ampules that you can easily stash in your pocket, Brain Octane Oil comes in a larger bottle – where it is more intended to be added to Bulletproof Coffee, protein shakes, smoothies, and other beverages.
Brain Octane Oil’s one ingredient is caprylic acid, isolated from the medium chain triglycerides (MCT) found in coconut oil.
Brain Octane Oil works by raising levels of ketones, thereby supplying the brain with a valuable, fast-acting energy source. While ketones are not the preferred energy source of the brain – glucose is number one for that – they do serve as an alternate source of fuel for brain cells.
Alternate brain energy may be significant because some brains may not be processing glucose as efficiently as they should, and some people, especially low-carb diet followers, may be avoiding sugars for dietary reasons, potentially leading to a brain that runs like its low on fuel.
As a secondary benefit for cognitive performance, the caprylic acid found in Brain Octane Oil has been suggested to help with appetite control; out of control appetite is associated with less-than-optimal concentration and mental processing ability.
Bulletproof’s Unfair Advantage in Brain Octane Oil are not “formulated” in the classic sense of the word, but they do supply a set of intriguing brain-beneficial bioactivities, with the most pronounced effects in the area of brain energy metabolism — which is, itself, one of the most important biological pathways for mental performance targeted by leading nootropic supplements..
As nootropics, Unfair Advantage works via brain energy and anti-aging activities; Brain Octane Oil, by brain energy and appetite management. Since the latter is more of a direct and immediate brain booster by design, in round one, the edge goes to…
Round 1… Brain Octane Oil Wins.
Round 2: Dosages
Bulletproof Unfair Advantage supplies 10 mg of PQQ and 20 mg of co-Q10 as ubiquinol.
10 mg of PQQ is a solid dose; 20 mg of ubiquinol, however, is a little on the low end. This is somewhat understandable given that ubiquinol is an expensive ingredient to produce. However, considering that stand-alone supplements may offer five times as much – 100 mg or more – Unfair Advantage is not providing a high dose of this otherwise potent ingredient.
Brain Octane Oil supplies 14 g of caprylic acid triglycerides in each tablespoon serving.
The dosage is somewhat flexible given that most will be pouring a glug of Brain Octane into a beverage. It’s worth noting, however, that brain octane’s caprylic acid is highly concentrated at a 10 to 1 ratio from the amount found in coconut oil.
- You would have to consume 10 tablespoons of coconut oil to get the caprylic acid found in 1 tablespoon of Brain Octane Oil.
For its highly concentrated delivery of caprylic acid and its dosing flexibility, the winner of this round is..
Round 2… Brain Octane Oil Wins.
Round 3: Ingredient Quality
Bulletproof does a good job of making the most of its limited ingredients in each supplement. Part of this is choosing quality forms.
Unfair Advantage uses Active PQQ™, a premium branded form of PQQ. Its ubiquinol is also considered a top-shelf quality ingredients, albeit a little controversial. Some early research has suggested that ubiquinol is easier to absorb than plain CoQ10.
There are many enhanced-absorption forms of co-Q10 on the market though, and we can help but to wonder if a bigger dosage of enhanced-absorption co-Q10 might serve Unfair Advantage better than a smaller serving of premium ubiquinol.
Either way, ubiquinol is a high-quality ingredient, so points for Unfair Advantage.
Brain Octane Oil’s active ingredient is the medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) caprylic acid in a special 8-carbon (C8) form: Caprylic triglyceride. This specific form is believed to be absorbed and utilized faster and more efficiently by the body, as well as being easier to metabolize than other healthy fats.
- The C8 form of MCT seems to be why Bulletproof makes “fast-acting” claims about the mental energy benefits of Brain Octane Oil.
In any case, Brain Octane Oil is definitely supplying a high-quality ingredient – not just plain coconut oil, not just a bunch of medium-chain triglycerides, but the one specific medium-chain triglyceride that is believed to perform the best as a nootropic.
As a bonus, Brain Octane Oil sources its MCT from coconut oil that is 100% organic.
This round is close because the three ingredients in these two formulas are all premium quality. But since Active PQQ™ is a branded ingredient and ubiquinol is top-shelf too, this round goes to…
Round 3… Unfair Advantage Wins.
Round 4: Price
Unfair Advantage | vs. | Brain Octane Oil | ||
1 Box (30 ampules) | $59.95 | 1 Bottle (16 oz) | $23.50 | |
Price Per Ampule | $2.00 | Price Per Tbsp. | $0.74 | |
Price Per Serving | $2.00 | Price Per Serving | $0.74 |
Round 4… Brain Octane Oil Wins.
Round 5: Unfair Advantage vs. Brain Octane Oil JUDGEMENT
Both Unfair Advantage and Brain Octane Oil feature efficient, stripped-down formulas that promote brain power from an energy angle first and foremost.
It’s hard to compare these two formulas as competitors, because they appear to be designed to be taken together, as part of a larger Bulletproof nutrition lifestyle. In that sense, Unfair Advantage and Brain Octane Oil may play especially well together – optimizing brain energy metabolism from separate, but complementary, pathways that may unlock synergistic benefits for brainpower.
At the end of the day, however, this is a battle, and these two formulas are waiting for a decision on the winner.
With that, we will say that if you are looking to buy one formula or the other just on its own, Brain Octane Oil is a better choice. Its direct brain fuel benefits, along with its secondary benefits for appetite regulation, seem more likely to boost your brainpower right away and deliver those nootropic affects you might be looking for.
With that, the Bulletproof vs. Bulletproof winner as judged by Best5 in this battle is…
Brain Octane Oil
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Read full Unfair Advantage Review – Read full Brain Octane Oil Review
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