Cortex Generation 1
Positives
- Contains Uridine Monophosphate
- Contains CDP-Choline
- No fillers in proprietary blend
Negatives
- Best ingredients low-dosed
- Missing key aspects of a comprehensive nootropic stack
- Manufacturer exhibits stupid albeit hilarious behavior
Cortex Generatin 1 Review Summary
Since Ryan Michael Ballow (nee Critchet) finally decided to reveal the details of his mystery brain pills, we have updated our Cortex Generation 1 review. What we saw was definitely not worth the wait.
What we have here is a good dose of Bacopa monnieri, a pretty pathetic dose of CDP-Choline by any standards, and some Uridine Monophosphate; a very interesting addition. This isn’t a half-bad stack by any means. But it isn’t overly exciting either. Is it worth $34.99? We don’t think so.
We tried to be impartial in re-writing this review, ignoring the creator’s antagonistic and, quite frankly, ludicrous behaviour. But of course Mr Ballow urged us to take his failings into account in our review (to stop being so “myopic”, as he put it). He believes that his struggles should influence our opinion of his product. So, despite our best judgment, we let his personality reflect the scores.
Where To Buy Cortex Generation 1
Cortex Gen 1: Workhorse (terrible name, we know) is available from the official online store. it is also available on Amazon. We think buying direct is a bad idea; Mr Ballow is liable to get very upset with any complaints!
-See Our Current Top Nootropic Rankings-
Full Cortex Generation 1 Review
When we first published our Cortex Generation 1: Workhorse review in 2016, we received some pretty unusual feedback from the manufacturer.
Essentially, Michael Ballow, serial YouTube experimenter, entrepreneur, and Chief Political Analyst at the Red Doctrine (a magazine he created, populated, and staffed in its entirety before deleting it all), took issue with our analysis.
We focused heavily on the fact that we didn’t know the doses. Mr Ballow said that we should stop being “myopic” and consider how hard it is for people like him to offer what the big supplement manufacturers can; i.e, transparency, peace of mind, and confidence.
We don’t care how hard it is for a manufacturer. We don’t care why you are failing to compete. Thrive or die is the law of the market, and that’s fine by us.
Well, now his insecurities have melted away and he has released the Cortex Generation 1 formula in its entirety, doses and all!
So, we’ve updated our Cortex Gen 1: Workhorse review accordingly.
Before we get into the details, let’s examine some of the claims made by Ballow as to what users can expect from Cortex Generation 1:
That’s quite an impressive array of promises.
These are all certainly things that only a high quality, comprehensive, full spectrum nootropic can deliver.
The question is, then, can Cortex Generation 1 deliver?
Is Cortex Gen 1 a leading nootropic? Or is it just another dud brain pill cobbled together in some guy’s basement?
Is Cortex Generation 1 safe? Are there any serious side effect risks?
Most importantly, how does Cortex nootropic compare to other stacks on the market today?
We answer all of these questions and more in our full Cortex Generation 1 review below. We look at the formula in greater detail, as well as the behavior of the creator, Ryan Michael Ballow. If you get to the end of the review and have any questions, just let us know in the comments section. If you’ve tried this nootropic for yourself, then we’d LOVE to hear what you thought of it! Please post your experiences at the end.
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Formula Analysis
As stated above, the Cortex Generation 1 formula has now been released in full.
Previously, the label showed this as the ingredients:
That may still be the case, but the official website now lists each ingredient’s individual serving size:
That is a pretty interesting formula.
At first glance, it looks pretty good.
There’s certainly nothing offensive in here. Cortex Gen 1 contains some superb ingredients, and one ingredient that we don’t often see in natural nooropic stacks.
Here is a brief overview of each ingredient, what it does, and how it can help with cognition.
Uridine Monophosphate: Uridine monophosphate is a nucleotide that binds to other molecules to form RNA; the nucleic acid responsible for gene coding and expression.
While the method of action remains unclear, several studies have shown that uridine monophosphate supplementation can lead to significant improvements in memory function and learning ability.
In one study, published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, found that adult gerbils fed a number of compounds experienced clear improvements in their ability to learn, remember, and focus.
Bacopa monnieri: A herbal extract used for hundreds, if not thousands, of years to enhance memory, alleviate stress, and slow mental decline. It has some pretty impressive anti-oxidant properties, and it is being studied closely for its ability to improve memory retention and recall.
Some manufacturers are suggesting that it has the ability to improve synaptic communication, but we have our doubts as to whether this is its primary mechanism of action. Bacopa seems to work better the longer it is taken for, which is exactly what we want from a daily nootropic stack.
CDP-choline: Also known as Citicoline, CDP-choline is one of the many substances that you can take if you want to raise your acetylcholine levels. Choline is a biological precursor to acetylcholine, which is a key neurotransmitter for a number of brain functions.
In fact, CDP-Choline is one of the best cholinergenics there is. It not only quickly and efficiently raises acetylcholine levels, but it also has other, secondary nootropic benefits. You can learn more about it here.
Supplementing with choline is not an efficient way to increase the availability of acetylcholine, as it is not properly able to cross the blood-brain barrier. CDP-choline offers a more reliable way of giving your brain more acetylcholine to work with (although in my opinion, more efficient substances exist). A superb ingredient for any stack, if the dosage is right.
Artichoke extract: Cortex Generation 1 is not the only nootropic to contain artichoke extract, but it is one of the few. Many people dismiss this ingredient as ineffective, while others think it is a panacea, but a lack of study means that both extremes are wrong. I’ve written about the promise this stuff holds on my nootropics ingredient page.
Early research suggests that artichoke extract may have the ability to suppress the enzyme PDE4. PDE4 is responsible for the breakdown of cyclic adenosine monophosphate. In theory, this should lead directly to improvements in focus and concentration ‘stamina’.
-Learn More About Uridine Monophosphate-
Our Thoughts On The Formula
As you can see, the ingredients used in Cortex Generation 1 are pretty good.
It certainly compares favourably to many other natural nootropics reviewed on this website.
While the formula is pretty limited, we don’t really have any wastage in here. There are just scientifically-proven, effective nootropics with a good range of uses.
That said, there are still some pretty major issues with this supplement. Unfortunately, we think these issues hold Cortex Generation 1 back from being a great nootropic.
Major Issue – Low Doses
the main ingredient in Cortex Generation 1 is probably CDP-Choline.
CDP-Choline is without question one of the most reliable and powerful natural nootropics on the market today. If not the most effective.
CDP-Choline works primarily by quickly increasing acetylcholine availability in the brain. Acetylcholine is the ‘learning neurotransmitter’; greater levels means more efficient neuron communication, which means higher cognitive functioning.
We think this stuff is probably going to do most of the actual leg work when it comes to boosting your focus, mental clarity, and ability to learn.
Yet we only get 80mg per serving of Cortex Gen 1: Workhorse.
That is a SERIOUS let-down!
The best stacks on the market today will generally not use less than 150mg, and that is on the low end of the spectrum.
Ideally, we’d like to see somewhere in the region of 250mg per serving, if not more.
The amount of Uridine Monophsophate we get in each serving of Cortex nootropic could also be considered somewhat small.
Uridine is not a widely used substance, so it is difficult to find concrete data on its ideal dose.
However, we do have some rough figures available.
As many users pointed out on this Longecity thread, 250mg of Uridine Monophosphate is considered an effective dose when taken sublingual.
Other threads recommend using anywhere between 150mg and 250mg, as often as twice per day.
Each serving of Cortex only gives us 150mg, which is on the low end of the recommended spectrum.
Couple that with the low dose of CDP-Choline, and this stack suddenly looks pretty impotent.
Major Issue – Overpriced
The ingredients used in this nootropic are all readily available in most countries for very reasonable prices.
Since there are only 4 ingredients, and the doses are so low, it might be much more cost effective for you to simply reconstruct this stack for yourself!
For example, you can get a 10g bag of CDP-Choline for around $10. That’s about 125 servings at the dose used in Cortex Generation 1.
You can also get a 25g bag of Uridine Monophosphate for around $12. At the dose used in Cortex Generation 1 nootropic stack, that’s over 160 servings.
Bacopa monnieri can be picked up for a similar price, and you can always just eat more artichokes if you want to benefit from artichoke powder.
So by building the stack yourself, you can get a 3 month’s supply for the price of 1!
Minor Issue – Limited Range Of Effects
We are also very aware that the range of effects with this stack is pretty limited.
We have some superb ingredients here, for sure, and if their doses were better we’d expect some great short and medium term improvements in focus, memory, and mental clarity.
However, there are some key elements to a fully comprehensive nootropic stack missing from Cortex Gen 1: Workhorse.
For example, there’s no short term anxiety fixes in here.
Anxiolytics attenuate feelings of stress, allowing you to stay focused on the task at hand and to not let your mind become clouded with worry.
Substances like Tyrosine or Rhodiola rosea, two well known anxiolytics, do just that.
When combined with cholinergics like CDP-Choline, these substances can have a profound effect on your cognition.
That they are missing from Cortex Generation 1 is a serious flaw to this nootropic stack.
We are also missing any serious anti-oxidant content.
We are missing any ingredients to help improve cerebral blood flow.
We are missing an awful lot, come to think of it.
One thing that might be said of Cortex Generation 1 is that it is a very medium to long-term focused nootropic stack.
None of the ingredients in this product will have a noticeable effect for many weeks, or possibly even months.
With the low doses being used here, we wonder whether many of you will feel any effects at all, even in the long-term!
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Manufacturer’s Stupidity
Ryan thought we were stupid for not taking his own personal struggles into account when appraising his product, as if his failings should make us like his product more.
We never usually allow personal considerations to come into our reviews, but since he asked so nicely, we decided to look at him as part of the review.
Ryan’s stupidity, erratic behavior, and delusions of grandeur do not reflect well on Cortex Generation 1.
If you check out his replies to our initial review below, you’ll see that he confuses his failings as a manufacturer, his insecurities and fears, for our motivations as a consumer.
He thinks we need to factor in the struggles of a manufacturer into our review. We obviously don’t. This is the free market, not kindergarten.
He thinks that something that took a long time and a lot of money to develop must therefore be good. This is called affirming the consequent; a common logical fallacy. He even applies this logic to himself, constantly bragging about how many companies he has founded in arguments (you can start a company in 5 minutes online).
His vocabulary is strained and unnatural; a sure sign of an unintelligent person trying their hardest to sound educated.
He repeatedly commented on the review form the same IP address under different names, using stock phrases like “armchair” – a basic thing to avoid when trying to sound like different people.
His performance on a Reddit AMA was nothing short of a disaster. That thread is littered with wonderful examples of his stupidity.
His ramblings on his Twitter about the “liberal media” are incoherent at the best of times.
He thinks “logic” is the same as common sense – another clear sign of someone who wants to mask their lack of intelligence behind a wall of words they don’t understand.
All in all, Ryan has not been a great advertisement for Cortex Generation 1.
Since we were told that we were “barking up the wrong tree” by Mr. Ballow (confusing the phrase for a threat), we have actually heard very little.
That was until we discovered what Ryan has been doing with his time. It seems he has been spending a large portion of his time doing one of two things:
- Taking Modafinil
- Writing articles for a pseudo-political “news” site he has created
- Musing about how amazing he is at business and the stupidity of younger people
You can find the latter by searching for his YouTube channel.
Unfortunately, Ryan has removed all of the videos he created for The Red Doctrine; a political magazine which he wrote, published, broadcast, and to which he appointed himself as Chief Political Adviser.
We can’t imagine how many hours Ryan poured into The Red Doctrine, or how many throats he had to step on to earn his title of Chief Political Analyst, but it seems like a great waste to us.
In any case, there’s still plenty of gold to be found on his channel today.
Here’s a brilliant video, which shows just how mentally super-charged the most entrepreneurial of entrepreneurs has become:
We think he has clearly just left a conference and been irritated at how well some other people are doing.
Notice how he loathes how they spew out lingo, before going on to wonder aloud: “Did he ever look at a real life P&L statement and try to optimize expenses…you know and revenue…to modulate…to positively modulate the P&L statement.”
You showed them Ryan!
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Cortex Generation 1 Side Effects – Is It Safe?
We don’t think there’s really much to worry about with regards to side effects here.
The doses being used here are nothing extreme, and the substances themselves are generally thought to be safe and side effect free for the vast majority of people.
The only minor concern would be UMP.
This stuff does have some effects similar to stimulants, and it is known to increase the action of things like caffeine, nicotine, and other stimulants such as meth-amphetamines.
You should reduce the use of these substances while using UMP on a regular basis. Stacking UMP with large amounts of caffeine or another stimulant might have fairly serious consequences.
On the whole though, this nootropic looks pretty safe.
The ingredients used here are all well understood, and they have been thoroughly tested in clinical conditions on humans. They are thought to be generally safe for human consumption, even in the long-term.
Few of you are going to experience side effects with this one, and when they do occur, they’re invariably going to be mild.
However, everyone is an individual.
We don’t know you, your current state of health, or anything about your medical history. We therefore can’t promise that any supplement is 100% for everybody.
Remember!
You must do your own research.
We are not doctors.
This is not medical advice. You MUST talk to a qualified health professional if you have ANY concerns about using Cortex Generation 1. Any concerns whatsoever. Don’t rely on information you read online. Only your regular physician can give you the advice you need to stay safe.
No matter how convincing you might think Mr Ballow is, we don’t think ANYBODY should start using Modafinil or any other synthetic brain drugs.
They are extremely dangerous, they may have adverse consequences in the future, and they can easily backfire.
Ryan plugs Cortex as a great accompaniment to Modafinil.
But it’s clear from his behavior that the Modafinil isn’t doing him any favors!
If you don’t want to end up like Ryan – babbling inanely on your YouTube channel about how you’re better than everyone else – then don’t follow how advice on what is and isn’t safe to take!
Cortex Generation 1 Review Conclusion – For Elite Achievers? – Not Likely!
Cortex Generation 1: Workhorse contains some really good ingredients.
These ingredients can deliver serious, lasting improvements in focus and memory in the medium to long term.
However, we are not overly excited about the potential of Cortex Generation 1 nootropic stack. There are several problems with this supplement that really prevent it from being a great nootropic.
For one thing, with just 4 ingredients, the formula covers a limited number of cognitive functions. There’s no anxiety control, no short term mental energy booster, and no brain circulation promoters.
The best ingredient in this formula, CDP-Choline, is seriously under-dosed.
We also think the Uridine dose is low.
These are the two most important ingredients in this stack, and they are dosed very low.
All things considered, we really don’t think there’s anything special about this stack.
When you consider how cheaply you could construct this stack by buying the constituent ingredients individually, buying Cortex Generation 1 really doesn’t make any sense.
You will get better results opting for a more comprehensive, complete, and potent stack. Look for a CDP-Choline content of above 200mg and a wider variety of brain functions supported.
Ryan Michael Ballow might think this is the nootropic for “elite achievers”, but we clearly have a different understanding of what an “elite achiever” is than him.
We have reviewed hundreds of nootropics and this supplement is still the most impressive. Our review team used this product for months and all experienced:
- Heightened focus
- Enhanced memory function
- More mental energy
- Better mental performance under stress
Read our full review to find out if this is the nootropic you have been looking for.
In “your opinion?” Who’s opinon? Correct me if I’m wrong, but the only identification of who you are on this post is the title “Author” at the top of it.
You state that it’s “doubtful that it lives up to its claims,” meanwhile you put zero effort into communicating with me, or anyone at Surrogate Labs (the company that makes Cortex), but the beta program we launched months ago to have more than 2 dozen people sample the product, including NCOs in the United States military, and well known entrepreneurs (which is who the product is intended to help).
Supplement formulas, (this is something you know, but obviously aren’t willing to highlight) are proprietary for very good reasons. Unlike many of the other businesses out there that believe the world is too friendly for a direct copy cat of their formula/business idea to emerge, we (Surrogate Labs) understand and have experience with quite the opposite. I (Ryan Michael Ballow), own several companies, and have competed with major players in the iOS device services industry, many of whom have stolen direct strategies from one my companies in that industry. And it has effected our business.
So – your case that Cortex’s claims of efficacy are somehow radical or “outlandish” as you put it, is purely just a talking point, without much reality based substance to it.
You make the statement that we have “something to hide,” based on the fact that we’re not putting the ingredient quantity on the label. Again, something a TON of supplement manufacturers do. What’s to hide? Are you kidding? We have a formula that I bled, sweated, and cried making for over a year, with a lab I set up in my living room, and the level of detail for notating the effects, and executing the beta testing program that OBVIOUSLY you don’t appreciate, and frankly, by the CRASS nature of your post here, couldn’t execute yourself.
No. I apologize if it doesn’t meet your moral, armchair, sideline standards for me to DIVULGE my formula that I worked tirelessly to create, with every intention to deliver a nootropic that actually works (rather than stuffing 8 of the most common nootropic compounds out there into a package, and calling it awesome, like most other companies do), and is completely minimal.
So – your question is answered: “If you’re going to list all of your ingredients, and I can only assume that Cortex has listed all of its ingredients, why not show their respective concentrations?”
Now I assume that you’ll likely just have an opinion about our formula protection strategy? Great. You don’t own the company, are not in business for yourself, and don’t have to worry about competitors stealing your formula. I do.
Did you try Cortex?
Because I know all of the people, by name, contact information, and address that were on the beta testing list. And you’re not one of them. So how can you make such statements like: “I don’t think it will deliver.”
Part of your premise, that the product isn’t trustable, because “we also don’t yet have any reliable anecdotal evidence to go on. Therefore, the most accurate assessment of the side effects risk is who knows,” is also fatally flawed, and predictably turns the question to the nature of the accuracy of your review: because you haven’t tried the product, the basic assessment one should make while reading this review (a review of a product that hasn’t come out yet, that the author hasn’t tried) is, well, I guess, “who knows?”
No government bodies sanction any supplements. The ingredients fall into the dietary supplement category, and we lawfully (both on the bottle, and on the website) list the dietary supplement FDA clause. Point refuted there. And moving on.
You basically tried to make CDP Choline look a lot less impressive than it really is, which seems to be in line with the rest of your review here in your very obvious, overt and intentional strategy to discount the efficacy of the stack.
You mentioned that it increases the amount of acetylcholine in the brain, but failed to mention that it also:
1. Stimulates the release of catecholamines.
2. Is a major cofactor in the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine, via the kennedy cycle.
3. Cytidine (part of CDP Choline – the nomenclature is: Cytidine Diphosphocholine) converts to uridine, a substance you went out of your way to AGREE is a beneficial nootropic substance.
4. Has been noted to act as a membranes stabilizer after strokes. Not a nootropic benefit, but wait.. yes it is.
5. From Examine.com: in otherwise healthy and youthful rodents, CDP-Choline appears to have some potential as a Nootropic compound and memory enhancer but is not 100% reliable. (NOTHING IS)
It then goes on to say, and get this:
When it does enhance memory formation, it does so at a potency comparable to Piracetam.
Your theory (which is exactly what it is) that the stack in total (Cortex Gen 1) couldn’t possibly confer short term benefits, based on the notion that the stack was designed to facilitate long term benefits, is also incorrect.
There is no “Garbage” elsewhere in the formula. There is a flow agent called Leucine, (which is a branched chain amino acid that helps muscle protein synthesis) which comes in a negligible amount, which is required by most supplement manufacturers. That’s it. There is nothing else.
Where else to refute? Ah.
You gave it a 1 out of 10 for price because you think that all of our work, and thousands of dollars paid to create the formula, should just be tossed by the side so that we can sell our product for cheap, to compete with other nootropic stacks out there?
Because anyone can just buy the ingredients and concoct their own version of it for cheaper? Is that why?
If so – neither of those make any sense. The first, from a business perspective (this is me again eluding to the fact that you likely have never started and ran a successful real business before for any appreciable amount of time), and the second because: in order to do that, one would have to do exactly what we did to find the perfect quantity of those ingredients, including:
1. Start with a hypothesis on what quantity of each ingredient would be optimal based on available science.
2. Take said formula and complete a full questionnaire on how it effects you, as well as jot down additional relevant notes.
3. Analyze said questionnaire and relevant notes for hours, and maybe days.
4. Slightly change one of the ingredients’ milligram quantity. This has to happen one ingredient at a time, so that accurate results and analysis can take place, which takes a very long time.
5. Take the supplement.
6. Rinse and repeat for months.
Yep. Pretty easy I guess.
Again – since you decline to even present yourself as an actual human being with a name, a history, some social profiles, and a list of accomplishments, I’m going to conclude what we all have the suspicion of: you’re armchairing a review about a product you’ve never tried, because you have an obvious aversion to claims of efficacy of a certain class of dietary supplements, likely due to your history, you like to be condescending and sarcastic, and you don’t appreciate the level of granularity it takes to build a business from scratch, and genuinely work to put out an extremely good product.
But that’s nothing new. There are billions of you. Far less of people like me.
Ryan Michael Ballow
Founder, Surrogate Labs LLC
Creator of Cortex Nootropic
“Did you try Cortex?
Because I know all of the people, by name, contact information, and address that were on the beta testing list. And you’re not one of them. So how can you make such statements like: “I don’t think it will deliver.””
No I didn’t try Cortex. I never once claim that I have tried it myself. The words “I don’t think it will deliver” are perfectly consistent with not having tried the product. If I had tried it I would have said “it did not deliver for me”.
I saw a product that promises to do lots of amazing things without any mention of ingredient dosages, so I quite reasonably inferred that these claims will be exaggerated. That’s the way it often is with supplements. Manufacturers list some ingredients, but they don’t tell you if that’s the entire ingredient list, so when you buy it, there’s a few micrograms of Bacopa and a lot of B6 or something. Secrecy is usually a reliable indicator of a second rate product. That’s not too difficult a concept to grasp, so I suppose Cortex isn’t really helping you as much as you think it is.
Your failure to grasp that I never claimed to have tried Cortex would be stupid enough on its own, but you go on to moan about how you know nothing about me. Either you know who I am and you know I haven’t tried Cortex, or you know neither. Tell me: which is it?
I’m not really interested in your CV, so I’m not sure why you’re giving it to me. The fact that you’ve founded various companies does not mean that Cortex is a good supplement.
You basically tried to make CDP Choline look a lot less impressive than it really is, which seems to be in line with the rest of your review here in your very obvious, overt and intentional strategy to discount the efficacy of the stack.
CDP Choline is great. How much is in Cortex? 0.1ug? 20kg? I’m sure dosage has a big effect on the “impressiveness” of CDP choline.
So, why hide the dosage? MindLab Pro tells you right on the bottle how much of everything is in there, because there’s plenty. Could it be that you’re hiding a tiny dose of CDP choline? I think so, but please feel free to prove me wrong.
“You gave it a 1 out of 10 for price because…sell our product for cheap”?
No, I gave it a 1 out of 10 because in my opinion any product is a rip off if you don’t know what you’re buying. You have listed some ingredients on the website, and for all I know there are 20 other useless ingredients that you haven’t listed which may make up the bulk of the product. That is what probably makes it poor value. If those are the sole ingredients, then say so.
That you paid thousands of dollars to make your mystery pills has no bearing on whether or not they represent good value. This is all just so simple to understand, I can’t believe anyone taking such a potent nootropic would struggle with this.
Your theory (which is exactly what it is) that the stack in total (Cortex Gen 1) couldn’t possibly confer short term benefits, based on the notion that the stack was designed to facilitate long term benefits, is also incorrect.
I’m not sure what your point is here. I never present my opinion as an objective fact; how could it be an objective fact? Do you think theory means that something is just baseless speculation?
I believe that, as the ingredients in your stack tend to elicit gradual, long-term improvements in mental function, they cannot really be said to confer immediate benefits. Some compounds can do both, but as I understand it, none of the ingredients in Cortex manifest themselves in under a week or two. In the studies I cite regarding UMP, benefits took 4 weeks to become apparent.
If that counts as short term for you…I really don’t care.
“No. I apologize if it doesn’t meet your moral, armchair, sideline standards for me to DIVULGE my formula that I worked tirelessly to create”
There’s no need to apologise. I don’t expect you to meet my standards, but you shouldn’t expect me to change my standards just because their stringency upsets you. That’s for spoiled children, not trail-blazing entrepreneurs like yourself.
I would also prefer it if you kept your petulant whining about my standards confined to critiquing said standards, and not taking up comment space with self-indulgent claims of grandeur: the “far less of people like me” at the end was just nauseating.
Where else to refute? Ah.
I would also be very grateful if you would leave off the self-narration in your little spiels from now on: throwing your toys out of the pram is embarrassing enough, but filling your comment with this sort of rubbish is just cringeworthy.
In your lengthy response, I didn’t see a breakdown of exact dosages, so I’m going to keep my assumption that you have absolutely nothing to boast about. You might think that unfair, but I’m not really concerned with what you deem fair. Other supplements manage to tell prospective customers what they can expect, so I hold everyone to that standard.
My primary concern is with pointing people towards what I think are genuinely good nootropics. For me, that means pointing people towards products that actually tell you what’s in them. The reviews on this website make no pretense at being anything other than my personal opinion.
It’s a shame that you feel oppressed by my opinion that Cortex will be a disappointing supplement, but I am perfectly entitled to that opinion, just as I am entitled to share that opinion. I kindly suggest that you deal with it.
I’m definitely not going to sit and entertain your position on much. It’s obvious, with your affiliate links, that you stand to benefit promoting products like Alpha Brain.
And – frankly, you’re extremely disrespectful, CRASS, and quite shallow in even writing such a review, the majority of which was nothing but satirical. But..
You keep maintaining that we should be divulging exact dosages, and I properly addressed that in my first comment. I’m not sure what you don’t understand about that, but I think I can guess. Specifically the fact that you’ve never gone through the long tireless process of building a supplement. Especially a nootropic.
I deal with people like you all of the time. People that don’t have the capacity to actually do some perspective shifting and thinking about the complexity of a situation they sit and armchair an opinion about. Definitely shows intelligence and wisdom. Ooo! Like that? Just behaving like you a bit. Sarcasm is lovely huh?
Nauseating that I make the statement that there are far less of me? Why? Because it’s true? The truth is, you’re a nobody, writing insanely inaccurate (and completely rude) reviews about a product you have no idea about, for what again? Because you built a crappy website that no one cares much about, where you try to, through affiliate links, make money from Panama, or wherever you’re at. Some obscure place where you can comfortably talk shit, I’m sure.
And I am dealing with it (your review). I am dealing with it with a COUNTER opinion, and a very overt CALL OUT on your shallow behavior, satirical post, and complete and total disregard for the notion of trying to find out more before you open your mouth about what’s soon to be an extremely popular nootropic. I mean really, “author,” what kind of person does that? Just curious. You still haven’t divulged your information yet. It’s becoming a lot easier to not take you and your vegan protein site seriously.
Maybe one day, when you stop armchairing reviews, and start building real things and making a difference in the world, you’ll get exactly what I’m saying. Until then, you’ll just have to knee-jerk respond, because though you try desperately to be a real intellectual, you’re a mere impostor with the ability to post information on a website.
Your assumption that we have nothing to boast about, I settled. — I am not divulging quantities for competitive reasons. End of story (again? Or will you try to not address that again? Or fail to recognize that as a good answer?). Either way, it’ll all be from the perspective of someone who hasn’t built a business. Enough said.
And that thousands of dollars were spent creating the Cortex product DOES and SHOULD tell you (it should tell any conscious, wise, deep thinker with the capacity to shift perspectives a bit) that the product has a good bit of thought and care behind it. I’ve always had this beef with people like you. You retards think that we, I, or other people putting out products would spend 15-20K on a meaningless formula?
This is another testament to your true shallowness, and your unbelievable capacity to be ridiculous. It really is endless huh?
Stop NOT recognizing and acknowledging your major problem here: you called a page “Cortex Generation 1 Review,” without ever having taken the product. Onlookers likely look at you like one of the characters in the movie idiocracy. I mean, the fact that you did this, is completely insane, but again, shows me that your capacity for creating meaningless, fact-less, baseless content is endless.
Lastly – if you have a problem with what we “promise,” tough. Are you kidding? Who are you to judge/hate on our documentation, on our website, of exactly what was conveyed to us by beta testers (some of whom are decorated members of the United States Army) when they tried the product?
Nobody. And a CV, should tell you something about a person. But again – you’re continuing to not acknowledge all of the points that make your ridiculous creation here completely preposterous, all while maintaining questions and assumptions that are either bogus, or have already been sufficiently addressed.
I wish you the best of luck in life. But somehow, I think you’ll be doomed to writing baseless reviews and sitting in front of your laptop for the rest of your existence.
Oh yea – what was your name again? Exactly! We’re dealing with an internet anonymous. Well then – this all makes sense now, doesn’t it. I guess we can all go home now.
I’m definitely not going to sit and entertain your position on much.
Then why are you back on here whinging again? It’s clear that you care very much about what I think.
If you do want to take some kind of high ground though, I’d advise conducting yourself with a little more dignity than this. Here’s a video that might help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldDHMLBnwDI. It’s a little presumptuous of an iPad repairman to be making videos like this (classic top-button-un-done, guru-because-I-registered-a-business sort of stuff)but I’m sure it will help.
It’s obvious, with your affiliate links, that you stand to benefit promoting products like Alpha Brain.
Generally accepted practice is to review products and then to sign up as an affiliate for the ones you think work best. That doesn’t mean I won’t advise people to use a product that I am not an affiliate for. I would receive no rewards for people buying Nootrobox RISE, OptiMind and Excelerol Focus+, but I’m happy to do so. They are pretty up front about their formula, and they’re good stacks.
You keep maintaining that we should be divulging exact dosages, and I properly addressed that in my first comment.
No, you explained why you haven’t. What you are yet to explain is why you are unable to reveal your exact formula, but so many other manufacturers can. Look at Mind Lab Pro. Citicoline – 200mg, Bacopa monnieri (45%) – 150mg. I know the makers of Mind Lab will have expended just as much capital and energy on the creation of their formula as you have, if not more than your whopping 20k, but they reveal what’s in their product on their website. There’s a full ingredients list and exact doses. Why can they manage it but you can’t? It’s a very simple question that you are still dodging.
Lastly – if you have a problem with what we “promise,” tough.
Yet here you are, whinging to me about it.
If you have a problem with my skepticism, tough. I don’t really care. Anyone can make a website and make claims about what their supplement can do, and I would warn any consumer to be wary of any such claims, especially when all you have are ingredient lists and no dose details.
Maybe one day, when you stop armchairing reviews
You literally made this product in your armchair. Here’s a video of you doing it while writing earnestly in a pad. Very science-y: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpUc303ih4o.
And that thousands of dollars were spent creating the Cortex product DOES and SHOULD tell you (it should tell any conscious, wise, deep thinker with the capacity to shift perspectives a bit) that the product has a good bit of thought and care behind it.
The amount of money you spend (or waste) on a product is no indication of its real value, nor is the amount of mental effort it takes you to think of it. The thought and money you put into your product are only indicators of your intelligence and profligacy.
Your assumption that we have nothing to boast about, I settled. — I am not divulging quantities for competitive reasons.
As in, because people will see it’s under-dosed?
Oh yea – what was your name again?
I never gave you it. Your memory seems to be a bit unreliable. I’d advise supplementing with one of the leading nootropic stacks. Mind Lab might be a good place to start, and if that doesn’t work, Alpha Brain seems to be pretty reliable. You can even look at the ingredients before you buy.
I do hope you save yourself some embarrassment and stop writing these little tracts. I would have thought you would like to market yourself and your product a little better than this. No one with a shred of self respect would debase themselves like this.
Not going to entertain your BS – it’s quite obvious that you can’t sufficiently address my points. All of my points above say enough about the quality of this website, you as a person, and your reviews. Thanks for the derogatory stuff too – it’s what people do when they’ve been logically battled into a corner.
Thanks for the derogatory stuff too – it’s what people do when they’ve been logically battled into a corner.
People that don’t have the capacity to actually do some perspective shifting and thinking about the complexity of a situation they sit and armchair an opinion about. Definitely shows intelligence and wisdom. Ooo! Like that? Just behaving like you a bit. Sarcasm is lovely huh?
Indeed. All of your comments have been full of pathetic attacks like this.
All of my points above say enough about the quality of this website, you as a person, and your reviews.
All you’ve done is make yourself look like an insecure idiot.
Welcome to the internet Ryan. Truly it is a place where you should engage your brain (nootropically enhanced or not) before you post. Content is here forever.
I think the reviewer has been unduly harsh on your product, I review products all the time (not nootropics incidentally, but in relation to the proprietary blends it makes no difference) – many companies use them. I don’t believe it’s anything to do with their precious IP or formula, I’ve never seen an absolutely identical formula launched by a rival brand. It is a smokescreen to obscure the dosages and therefore the cost of producing the supplement. It makes it impossible to properly evaluate it and the consumer is left having to trust the company who make it.
So what are consumers to do here? They are assessing Nootropics and the ingredients, they are reading reviews on different sites. You are saying that they should forget about the dosages and ingredients on other fully disclosed products and trust some ranting lunatic who developed his secret formula on his own in his living room?
Unfortunately now you’ve made these ill advised comments there is little you can do to retract them. When you do your next product maybe you can learn from this experience.
That’s right – identical formulations are a bit too much, and for legal purposes, folks alter the chemicals slightly.
Compare Neurofuse to Optimind.
Alpha Brain to Neurofuse.
And look at a lot of the mainstream nootropics out there: most of them are the same usual suspects, in sightly different quantities.
Whereas a few other companies out there are making a bit more specifically targeted, meticulously crafted products. Protecting those formulas, is called having a competitive advantage. – There are many sectors to having an advantage in the market, but one of them is in fact keeping your formula private.
Cortex is not a nootropic that I decided to make like other nootropics out there. That’s the difference. I could have just put Alpha GPC, Huperzine A, Rhodiola, L-Tyrosine, L-Theanine, and Phosphatidylserine into a run of the mill nootropic, in which case I would have no issue divulging the details of the stack.
But Cortex is different. It’s not all the usual suspects arbitrarily thrown together, like most other “stacks” are.
As for your comment on my comments, thanks for your perspective, but most rational human beings understand the need for someone to stand up for inaccurate representations and overtly absurd statements made about something they’ve worked on for years. It’s a shame there aren’t more aggressively debatable people out there like me.
Ever watch a presidential debate? — Case in point.
A ranting lunatic? And made the product in his living room? Well – if you did ANY research about me (because that’s easy, because I disclose who I am), you’d know I’m a well known entrepreneur, and US Army combat veteran.
You’d also have read up on the fact that the actual bottling and preparing of the product is being prepared in an FDA approved, cGMP registered facility in New York. That might be the difference between a consumer, and a very detail oriented person: we do meticulous research before we make unsubstantiated statements.
And thanks for underestimating my history with the internet, and consumer reviews. As a guy who owns another company (that’s national), that has been running for 4 years, I understand the internet, and consumer’s capacity to write reviews about their experiences with a company.
And in that time, I’ve seen that there are two types of people: People like the author, “author,” who will haphazardly write harsh reviews, with satirical tone, and highly sarcastic remarks, based on misinformation and shallow opinions, and: considerate individuals, that essentially gut and fact check their positions before posting reviews, appreciate the work that goes into starting, running, and engaging in a business, and give their opinions in a classy, intelligent, fact based way that reflects etiquette, wisdom, and a perspective that isn’t driven partially by a conflict of interest.
BTW, here’s a TedX talk by my platoon leader about an attack that happened on my platoon in Iraq: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORBf73HiJns – Again, so you can retract (in your head – because it won’t happen here) your statements about some me being some unknown lunatic.
Perhaps – when and if you ever launch a product, you will learn from that experience, and we’ll be on more of a similar page than you imagine we could be, now.
Take care, “Rob W.”
Whereas a few other companies out there are making a bit more specifically targeted, meticulously crafted products.
Your ingredients are basic, and your formula is bound to be similar to other products. We all know what safe dosages are, so it’s just a matter of making something that’s within those limits and maximally effective while minimising side effects. It isn’t hard, although you seem to think you’ve discovered something revolutionary.
A ranting lunatic? And made the product in his living room? Well – if you did ANY research about me (because that’s easy, because I disclose who I am), you’d know I’m a well known entrepreneur, and US Army combat veteran.
Neither of those facts mean that you aren’t a raving lunatic, and neither show that you didn’t make the product in your living room. If only people were as debatable as you Ryan.
BTW, here’s a TedX talk by my platoon leader about an attack that happened on my platoon in Iraq: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORBf73HiJns – Again, so you can retract (in your head – because it won’t happen here) your statements about some me being some unknown lunatic.
Not sure what your military service has got to do with anything.
It’s a shame there aren’t more aggressively debatable people out there like me.
Presidential debates are usually full of tawdry rubbish of this nature. But yes, you are debatable as a person.
Once again Ballow, you’ve disgraced yourself on the internet. Quite the elite achiever.
I’m not in the slightest bit interested in anyone on this thread’s military experience and I have neither the time or inclination to do any research on you Ryan.
To clarify my point about the living room, you yourself said it in your first post here Ryan;
“We have a formula that I bled, sweated, and cried making for over a year, with a lab I set up in my living room”
I guess I have to spell it out for you, because your futile attempts to actually have a winning logical argument are getting depressing.
One has to formulate a product first. You can’t just send a list of ingredients and quantities to a product manufacturer without testing it rigorously first. I discovered the formula for Cortex while experimenting at home for a year intensely, and 4-5 years in total fussing with nootropics in general.
Once I had the formula right, and many beta testers had confirmed major benefits, the manufacturing process started in a cGMP facility, in the United States.
Once again, for all the 3 people a month that might read this review, you’re proving me right, making your review less and less credible, and giving oxygen to the fact that you both wrote an extremely insufficient review on a product you never tried, AND followed up in the comments section with different names from the same person to try to hang on in a desperate attempt to change the ton of the game (the tone being: I’m winning, and you’re now doing doggie paddles in the deep end).
Get a life! And nice stock unpaid wordpress theme. It proves MY point, that you’re some punk without a life, that can’t even craft himself a respectable website design, doing reviews about products he never tried. I mean that alone is preposterous! You never tried it.
No worries though – when the reviews start coming out from people that have tried it, this’ll all be just a dream. Thanks for the oxygen though! “Rob W.”
PS – my military career has everything to do with it. You make the contention that we’re some fly by the night company that non judiciously makes product concoctions that we don’t share because we have something to hide, and that I’m a raving lunatic.
But in reality I’m a decorated United States Army soldier with a tour in Iraq, that’s platoon made the news on many occasions, that turned entrepreneur and started building successful companies.
You’ll try to somehow negate the significance of that, but your readers won’t. So – it’ll be largely futile, like everything else you’ve done here.
Your military service doesn’t mean that Cortex is a good product. How long you spent developing it does not make Cortex a good product.
You might need to send exact dosages to the manufacturers, but that doesn’t mean those serving sizes are any good to the consumer. 1 microgram or 1000, the capping facility will hardly care.
If three people read this a month, how does that make it less credible? It makes it less popular than blogs that get more views than that, and it makes it less damaging to you than a similar review on a more popular site, certainly. But less credible? You do know what credible means? Or is this “debatable” all over again?
You’ve been quite clear on reddit that you find the dosages in some supplements to be less than ideal. According to you, any more than 200mg of Alpha GPC and you get fatigued. So you must agree that a consumer has an interest in knowing the exact dosages, surely? Well, you would if you could understand your own statements.
Since you clearly need my approval, I wish you all the best. Hope the living room lab can keep up with all those orders flooding in. Hopefully you can now stop leaving me incredibly pretentious and verbose comments.
okay so i came across this and i just had to comment… who are you and why do you have the authroity to make such asinine assumptions about natural nootropics such as bacopa.. “Some manufacturers are suggesting that it has the ability to improve synaptic communication, but I have my doubts.” who on this planet died and gave you the intelligence to suggest this? buy the most basic nootropic book thats available in a book store and you will see bacopa has been used as a nootropic for ages,. this is right out of my book ” the everything guide to nootropics”. “bacopa contains active chemicals known as bacosides. meta-analysis of these bacosides found great potential at improving the speed of attention and memory recall on subjects.” so right then and there this proves you are nothing but an armchair warrior with mustard stains on your shirt with empty two litres of mountain dew all over your mothers basement. Also why would you give a 1/10 score to a nootropic that you havent tried and you have no idea about the compounds that make up this stack. clearly your being paid by another noot company to make shitty uneducated review about competitors. which is another reason that leads me to believe you rode the short bus to school which certainly doesnt give you the right to rate nootropics since they obviously havent made any improvements to your brain malfunctions.
“For instance, visitors to the website are told that “Cortex Gen 1 nootropic also delivers a powerful short term and working memory effect that appears consistent in all of the early adopters/test subjects we’ve used to sample the product”.
If that’s true, then these guys have produced supplement gold. ”
Another quote from your review…. this really makes me upset for your parents and the fact they reproduced something so stupid that they dont even understand the basic functions of nootropics, considering that the main function of ALL NOOTROPICS has to do with boosting short term and working memory. This is getting too easy to make you look stupid jesus man i feel sorry for your parents.
“Supplementing with choline is not an efficient way to increase the availability of acetylcholine, as it is not properly able to cross the blood-brain barrier.”
another quote from your review… ok now i really feel sorry for your parents… and the people you work for because you just soo dumb… CDP choline is one of the most bioavailable forms of choline that is out there where do you get your research from? i would like to pay those websites a visit and make them feel the way your feeling in your mothers basement. honestly man im not even going to go any further into your review because i give you a -10/10 your just that terrible at your job. this almost makes me want to pull a jay and silent bob on you and show up at your doorstep with a copy of your review and punch you in the throat once youve admitted to this uneducated rant funded by a competitor. sleep well sewer rat.
okay so I came across this and I just had to comment
Why say this so explicitly? Seems rather contrived.
who are you and why do you have the authroity to make such asinine assumptions about natural nootropics such as bacopa
Nobody has the authority, or indeed the authroity, to hold asinine opinions about herbal supplements. Nor any opinions for that matter.
CDP choline is one of the most bioavailable forms of choline that is out there where do you get your research from
Indeed it is. Many people wonder why you should take CDP-choline instead of just straight choline, since that is what you’re interested in boosting. But, as I said, supplementing with choline is not an efficient way of increasing choline availability. The best way is to take an analogue, like CDP-choline.
“Some manufacturers are suggesting that it has the ability to improve synaptic communication, but I have my doubts.” who on this planet died and gave you the intelligence to suggest this? buy the most basic nootropic book thats available in a book store and you will see bacopa has been used as a nootropic for ages,
That it has been a nootropic for ages doesn’t mean it can improve synaptic communication. That it has long been known as a memory booster does not mean that it directly improves synaptic communication. I think it probably has another mechanism of action. This is really easy to understand.
so right then and there this proves you are nothing but an armchair warrior with mustard stains on your shirt with empty two litres of mountain dew all over your mothers basement.
No, what you quoted proves that some studies have found bacopa improves memory function – something never questioned on this site.
Also why would you give a 1/10 score to a nootropic that you havent tried and you have no idea about the compounds that make up this stack.
Because my rating system doesn’t depend on me having tried the product.
considering that the main function of ALL NOOTROPICS has to do with boosting short term and working memory
Indeed, but a powerful shot term memory increase would certainly make a supplement stand out from the crowd. Very few nootropics actually deliver this. It would make your supplement (as you’re clearly associated with Cortex in some way – the poo punctuation and over-use of adjectives give it away) “gold” if it actually did this for most users.
honestly man im not even going to go any further into your review because i give you a -10/10 your just that terrible at your job.
I thank you for your wonderful review of my Cortex Generation 1 review. If you have any more insightful comments to make, please do leave them and I’ll reply when I have time.
clearly your being paid by another noot company to make shitty uneducated review about competitors.
I’m not. Just giving my opinion on some mystery pills. Your means it belongs to you, you’re means you are. You were looking for the latter.
sleep well sewer rat.
Like a baby.
Wow, what are the odds that two separate unhinged comments attacking the author coincidentally use the cliched image of “armchair”?
No chance whatsoever both are from the same hyper-aggressive uneducated low-IQ troglodyte sock puppeteer with 7th-grade writing skills playing “entrepreneur” peddling his me-too nootropic stack that’s obviously destined for failure.
Laughing out loud, bro.
The “I just came across this and had to comment” really jumps out at you doesn’t it?
We actually happened to receive two comments from the same IP address that seemed to have been made completely independent of each other; one from Ryan and one from “Jevier”.
What are the odds?!
Are you kiddings? You write review on product you don’t try?
Lacking credibility BIGTIME man.
No one is going to trust this review.
Lacking credibility BIGTIME man.
If that’s your opinion then I advise you to look for a source you deem more credible before making a purchasing decision. If you can find somewhere that can tell you Cortex dose info, that would be ideal, but unfortunately, I don’t think there are any.
No one is going to trust this review.
Thanks for the feedback.
The IP address used to post this comment is the same as the one used by Ryan Ballow to post previous comments. Strange that.
BUSTED!
Sockpuppeting is dishonest and pathetic, so I suppose those terms apply equally to sock puppeteer “Ryan Michael Ballow.” What a chump.
Does he even realize this is on page one of Google results for his “product?”
He knows full well that this post is on page one of the search results for his product, but he took great joy in telling us that very few people actually read this post (we can only assume he is using one of the very inaccurate searchbar tools). We’ve never seen a manufacturer so happy to tell people that nobody is searching for their product!
Dear Ryan,
Step 1: sell more Cortex
Step 2: hire someone for PR
Step 3: stop making an ass of yourself in places people are researching your product
Good luck!
Man this made my day, freaking hilarious back and forth between “author” and ryan. Its comedy gold.
I have to say though, keeping a formula secret makes sense to me,and the fact that because of that, you review his product at 2.3 is kind of ridiculous. Your review wasent very good, you should work on your writing, BUT i do agree with something, that ryan guy just destroyed his chances to sell his product, he just sucks.
Hi Alex,
Yes it is quite a harrowing read isn’t it? The fact that this man wants people to buy his mystery pills is beyond me.
The fact that he might have a good reason for concealing his formula doesn’t concern us. He is in a competitive marketplace, and since other companies can tell us what we’re taking, he loses. We’re not here to pat manufacturers on the back for a good try; we’re here to help people get the best value for their money. You may find it ridiculous, but that’s our rubric. It doesn’t need to conform to what others find reasonable.
He has since started an online magazine. Perhaps this will be more successful than attacking people for not wanting to buy his mystery brain pills.
Thanks for the unsolicited feedback regarding the writing. I assure you your opinion means a great deal to us. It’s wasn’t, not wasent.
Thanks for the review of Cortex Generation 1. It is very helpful.
No problem.
We will be updating it shortly to make it more concise.
NO ONE has any business reviewing a product they haven’t tried. BLUF!!!
Thanks for commenting Ed!
We obviously believe it is quite acceptable to review supplements without trying them; otherwise we wouldn’t do it. If you know the ingredients and you understand them well, you can talk about the effectiveness of said supplement with great accuracy.
Personally, I’ve never tried arsenic. But if a supplement contains arsenic, I would feel qualified to warn people off it. Do you understand?
Of course, if you disagree, you’re very welcome to never return to our site.
Thanks again for the input.
Thanks for the review. I’m glad I saw this before purchasing this stack. Will check out your other reviews. But it’s hard to beat this one. The comments section was super entertaining.
Keep up the good work.
He’s really something is Mr Ballow.
Glad you liked the review. We’ve updated it since it was originally published; despite what he said in his comments (if you could decipher it), he has obviously plucked up the courage to release the Cortex formula. Sadly, it’s as we expected – uninteresting.
Let us know if you end up trying a product and what you thought of it! We do our independent reviews but we love it when our readers do their own and share them too.
Tried Cortex for a month. Gave me awful headaches like my brain was in a painful knot. Insane tiredness next day also. It was actually quite scary. Never again.
Thanks for sharing this with everyone. I’m sure our readers will be glad to know this before they consider buying!
“someone who wants to mask their lack of intelligence behind a wall of words they don’t understand.”
a little too harsh
We disagree. It’s difficult to be too harsh when all Mr Ballow does it attack others and issue empty threats.
Well, got some good info out of this review and some good laughs reading the comments – wont be buying any cortex thats for sure lol
Glad you enjoyed the review Craig, thanks for commenting! We hope you found a more suitable nootropic for your needs.