Food for the Brain: How You Can Improve Concentration and Focus with Nawgan

Got some serious thinking to do? If you do, you may be interested in a trying Nawgan, which is a beverage containing ingredients that its creators say have been scientifically proven to boost your brain power.

For the past several years, learning how to improve concentration and how to improve memory are things I have been wondering about due to an increasing amount of “senior moments” happening to me on a daily basis. While browsing Facebook one day, I noticed my college-aged niece had posted something about how awesome Nawgan was. Not wanting to appear clueless by asking what the heck is a Nawgan, I did a quick search and realized that it is a product formulated to be “brain food”; in other words, something that can improve brain function. I wondered if it might be able to help me improve concentration at work, which is something I’ve been worrying about lately. Of course I was immediately intrigued and decided to try it so I could share my findings and experiences with it here on Fitblogr.

First, if you haven’t said the name of the product out loud, do so now.

Nawgan.

Yep, someone was certainly making good use of their noggin when they came up with the name…but I digress. The creators of it claim it is “What to Drink When You Need to Think”, so let’s take a look at what this “drink and think” beverage is, and what it claims it can do for you.

What You Need to Know About Nawgan

Formulated in St. Louis, Missouri by a clinical neuropsychologist and local university professor, Dr. Robert Paul, Nawgan claims that it offers health conscious consumers improved concentration and focus. It was created in 2007 and was formulated to sharpen brain power with all-natural ingredients.

It is not intended to be an energy drink (think Red Bull). Nawgan’s central purpose is to enhance cognitive function, not to give you the wakeful buzz needed for an all-night study session. The caffeinated version of Nawgan will give you an energy boost as all drinks containing caffeine will, of course.

Nawgan works through the careful balance of four scientifically proven ingredients:

1. Cognizin, a combination of citicoline and cytidine, which are known to support the structure of brain cells  and memory function
2. A-GPC (alpha-glyceryl phosphoryl choline), a natural chemical that supports memory function
3. Lycopene, an anti-inflammatory
4. Natural vitamin E, an antioxidant

Those four main ingredients in the Nawgan formula are balanced in the optimal proportions to work together to support healthy brain function.

The main ingredient in this brain-boosting beverage is Cognizin, which is the patented name for the citicoline/cytidine combination in Nawgan. Apparently choline is readily available in many of the foods we eat, like cauliflower and potatoes. Cytidine, however, is not present in many of the foods eaten in the Western world. The combination of the two is critical because they are converted into acetylcholine and phospholipids, which are both absolutely necessary for healthy brain function, and ultimately, thinking.

Using advanced brain imaging methods, research showed a boost in electrical activity within the frontal lobe (which is known to be the seat of higher thought processes) in the brain after Cognizin was ingested by the individuals studied. It has also been shown to enhance decision-making abilities and concentration in healthy adults who used Cognizin for six weeks. In fact, according to Nawgan’s website, a clinical study recently done showed that students who regularly used Cognizin made fewer mistakes on tests of attention when compared with a group who were given a placebo.

PureFormulas.com-Healthy, Natural Supplements at Competitive Pricing and Free Shipping! Click here!If you are into the how’s and wherefor’s of exactly how these ingredients work in the brain, check out the Nawgan website for more information. I’m not sure there is enough Nawgan in the world to get my brain to wrap around all of the chemistry involved in brain function!

Some Other Interesting Things to Know and Remember About Nawgan

• It is not a drug. It is not intended to treat disease or to replace any medication you are currently taking. Never modify or discontinue your medications without consulting your physician.
• Nawgan has a very healthy pH level of 3.3 which is much healthier than most soft drinks. Its pH is healthier for your system than cranberry juice (which is often used to keep urinary tract pH at a healthy level) and it is about the same as an apple.
• The ingredients in Nawgan are safe for children to ingest. That said, it is not an appropriate treatment for kids with ADHD or any other or medical condition. Parents should always consult their child’s pediatrician prior to giving a child any type of supplement, including Nawgan.
• For those who watch their calories and sodium intake, Nawgan is relatively low in calories (40-45 per serving) and sodium. Also, it contains no artificial sweeteners, colors, flavors, or preservatives.
• Nawgan is available in both a non-caffeinated and caffeinated version.
• There are three flavors available: Red Berries and Tarocco Orange (with caffeine), and Berry (no caffeine). The two flavors with caffeine have about the same amount of caffeine in them as a cup of coffee.
• One can per day is the recommended amount of Nawgan, as specified on the official website.

My Experience with Nawgan

I decided to test this “brain supplement” myself, to see if I could see any differences in my cognitive abilities. As a mature male adult (ok, senior citizen, but only technically due to the age the calendar tells me I am), I have noticed some of those annoying “senior moment” things happening to me in the last few years like walking into a room and not knowing why I walked in there, losing things frequently, moments of drifting while trying to concentrate on something, etc. I have also noticed that as the years tick away, it is harder for me to focus on some of the more complicated aspects of my job.

This was a totally un-scientific experiment, and the results are representative of what happened to me, and my opinion only.

I began drinking one caffeine-free “Berry” Nawgan a day about a month ago. I was able to purchase it at my local Walgreens store at a price of two for $4.00. I thought the taste of it was pleasant, with a mild, non-carbonated berry flavor. The picture to the right is of the back of one of my cans of Berry Nawgan.

This first observation was not expected at all; within several days, I felt like I could actually see more clearly. It is hard to describe, but things looked sharper to me, more “crisp”. I do not recall reading anything about better eyesight in my research about Nawgan, but I definitely saw a difference for the better in my eyesight. Yes, pun intended.

After about a week, while I was at work I felt like I had more focus and I could definitely keep my attention on what I was doing much more easily than before. I work as a telecom engineer and frequently have some pretty complicated stuff on my desk. The older I have been getting, the harder it has been to keep things straight in my head and concentrate on the project at hand. I’m not saying that I suddenly began pumping out twice as much work, but I did feel like things were falling into place more quickly and the momentary mental confusion I sometimes experienced when looking at a 400 item BOM (bill of materials) was definitely lessened.

After about three weeks of drinking Nawgan I also began to remember some things in my past that I had previously forgotten. I’ve always had a sort of “fuzzy brain” when it comes to the past, but I began to have random “flashbacks” of things I hadn’t thought about or remembered in years. I didn’t expect this development either, but it did happen. Let me stress that I did not suddenly remember every forgotten thing from my past, but some vague recollections from long ago did start occurring to me that I hadn’t thought of in years. I do not think Nawgan claims to be something that can show you how to improve memory, only how to improve concentration and focus.

Overall, I was pleased with my new-found brain power after drinking Nawgan for a month. As you can see, it is not an “instant” fix for increasing your brain power or a way to improve concentration immediately. If you have a big test looming sometime in the next few days, Nawgan will probably not be of much help to you unless you have been drinking it for awhile already. I think it is something that can help most people in the long term if you drink it every day. The best benefits for me were my “crisper” eyesight and the ability to focus at work more easily. How to increase concentration at work has been a concern of mine for awhile, and Nawgan seems to have helped me with that.

As far as I can see, the only drawback to drinking Nawgan every day is the cost. At between $2.00 – 2.58 per can, it will cost approximately $60-$77 a month to drink the recommended amount of one can a day. There are many people who simply cannot afford to pay that much per month for a beverage that may (or may not) improve their mind power. As I said, I did perceive some nice benefits from drinking it, but I will have to think long and hard (maybe not as long and hard as before I started drinking it!) about spending that kind of money each month for Nawgan on an on-going basis.

So here is the long and short of it as I see it – if you are someone who wants to give a boost your brain power, I would most definitely recommend that you try this brain booster beverage. Of course I cannot guarantee that you will experience the same benefits that I experienced. Before you begin drinking it, I would recommend asking your doctor about it, and make sure there is no reason why you should not be drinking Nawgan. With all the science and research behind it, Nawgan is one health supplement that is worth your while to try – just use your noggin and read the research for yourself before you decide to try it.