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There is a lot of confusion currently about whether or not Piracetam was banned by the FDA.
Piracetam is a nootropic that is by far the most popular cognitive enhancer sold today.
It is considered to be a Racetam compound and has been marketed around the world for a variety of different health benefits.
Parents have bought it for their school-aged children to improve their learning and thinking skills, elderly individuals have purchased it to slow down the onset of age-related memory loss and many people in between have taken it to improve their mental clarity and ability to focus.
Piracetam is well known for being safe and non-toxic to humans, even at very large doses. It has been used since 1964 when it was first discovered at the Belgian pharmaceutical company UCB.
Despite the fact that Piracetam has no serious side effects and is believed to improve brain function even in healthy people, the Food and Drug Administration has not approved it for use in the USA.
Does this mean that Piracetam is banned in the US and are you still able to buy it legally?
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- Supports memory recall & learning
- Boosts focus, visual perception & attention
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Piracetam was in fact the very first Nootropic ever invented and it is the reason that this entire class of compounds was created.
The chief scientists that discovered Piracetam was struck by the fact it could enhance cognitive functions yet it has a much safer user profile compared to drugs like stimulants that were also known to boost brainpower.
He coined the term Nootropic to denote drugs, supplements, and other compounds that can increase intelligence with extremely low risk of side effects. Nootropic comes from the Greek language and translates to “turn the mind.”
Since the discovery of Piracetam, there have been many new compounds added to this category, a large number of which are derivatives of Piracetam or share similar mechanisms of action with this original compound.
There are several key benefits commonly attributed to Piracetam. One of these is an increase in sensory perception and awareness of your surroundings.
This is believed to be due to an increase in the neurotransmitter Acetylcholine which is involved in processing perceptual data. Many users will first notice that Piracetam is working when they begin to see colors as more vibrant and brighter.
Smell, touch, and hearing may also be influenced, though not everyone will experience the same benefits. This is a very good first indication that Piracetam is working for you.
Due to the way that Piracetam interacts with receptors in the brain, it can take a week or two for benefits to be in full effect; looking for changes in your visual sensitivity is a good way to predict when Piracetam has built up enough in your system.
- Promotes neuron health & synaptic plasticity
- Supports memory recall & learning
- Boosts focus, visual perception & attention
Soon after, many users will start to see Piracetam exhibiting a positive influence on cognitive processes in significant ways. Most people will notice a dramatic increase in memory retention, primarily due to increased Acetylcholine and Glutamate receptor efficiency.
Acetylcholine is one of the major neurotransmitters in the brain affected by Alzheimer’s disease. It has been theorized that using Piracetam may be able to slow down the progression of this disorder or even prevent the onset of it by improving the health of neurons in your brain related to memory functions.
Some users report that Piracetam helps facilitate better learning behaviors, making it easier to remember all the important details from an article they just read or having better organization of facts they hear during the course of a work day.
Piracetam users also say that they see faster memory recall and do not have to think as hard to come up with the right answer when probing their memories.
Your overall mental energy is also likely to be affected, often manifesting as greater clarity of thoughts. Users taking Piracetam powder or tablets say that they see a general increase in their ability to focus.
This can come into play as an improved attention span when listening to a lecture or even watching the news; it also shows up as boosting your endurance and ability to work for long periods even at tasks that are normally difficult and mentally draining.
Some users even report an improvement in their mood and physical energy as well, leading to increased levels of motivation and productivity. In other words, when taking Piracetam, many users feel like they want to accomplish tasks and get things done.
Was Piracetam Banned by the FDA?
There have been some conflicting reports posted online about Piracetam having been banned by the FDA. Some retailers in the US that previously sold Piracetam as a nootropic supplement have now removed the product from their stores.
Sites like Amazon and eBay no longer sell Piracetam products and many users have started purchasing it from other countries to continue to use it.
Despite all of this, it might surprise you to learn that Piracetam is legal to buy in the USA. So why are so many suppliers refusing to sell it?
In August of 2010, the FDA issued a single letter to one supplier of bulk Piracetam. This letter ordered the discontinuation of the sale of Piracetam in the US as a dietary supplement. They cited the rather restrictive definition of what exactly constitutes a dietary supplement.
So, a single letter to a single supplier has led to a number of other vendors becoming more skittish about offering Piracetam for sale at this point. Of course, if you have difficulty finding it, there are alternatives and other places to look.
In the USA, health supplements, drugs, and other products intended for human consumption are regulated by the FDA. The problem is that the FDA has a very technical (but still ambiguous) definition of what constitutes a dietary supplement and what does not. Under the FDA rules, a dietary supplement must be:
“A dietary supplement is a product intended for ingestion that contains a ‘dietary ingredient’ intended to add further nutritional value to (supplement) the diet. A “dietary ingredient” may be one, or any combination, of the following substances:
- a vitamin
- a mineral
- an herb or other botanical
- an amino acid
- a dietary substance for use by people to supplement the diet by increasing the total dietary intake
- a concentrate, metabolite, constituent, or extract”
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Because Piracetam is not considered to be any of these things, the FDA says it does not qualify as a dietary supplement. As such, the only way it could be approved for human consumption is if it were to be sold as a drug.
However, the process these days for a drug to be approved by the FDA requires upwards of $50 million in order to go through the FDA’s strenuous regulatory process. This is despite the fact that Piracetam has been approved in dozens of other countries as either an over-the-counter or prescription drug, and is considered less toxic than even table salt.
Since the patents are now expired on Piracetam, it is unlikely that any one drug company will spend the money to go through the approval process. This is because after it is approved, any other company could step in and market it at a cheaper price to undercut whoever paid for approval.
At this time, Piracetam is technically an unscheduled, unregulated compound. It is legal to buy and even import for personal use. Unfortunately, until the FDA changes their policy, it is unlikely that Piracetam will ever be made available to the US population on a large scale.
Due to FDA laws surrounding the distribution, sales, and labeling of unregulated products like Piracetam the majority of vendors have stopped stocking it. So why is it that you can still buy Piracetam from some websites based in the US?
The FDA ban covers only commercial activities in which Piracetam is sold for human consumption. Some vendors will get around this by offering it as simply ‘bulk powder’ for research purposes.
If you purchase Piracetam from websites that market it as a raw ingredient, they will not legally be able to provide any instructions on how to take Piracetam the proper way. They cannot give you dosage information or address the risk of side effects or even explain the benefits of this compound.
The FDA’s lack of classification and regulation actually creates a potentially dangerous situation where nootropic users may not be well-informed on how to take these compounds. As such, anyone who is interested in taking this cognitive enhancer should look online to find out about appropriate Piracetam dosages before using it.
Piracetam Alternatives
If you are having trouble finding a good source of Piracetam powder, many of the other Racetams are still available for purchase. While they all work in essentially a similar fashion to Piracetam, each one has its own particular pros and cons.
For example, someone looking for help with anxiety and mood enhancement might consider Aniracetam.
Those interested in something to improve concentration and logical thought may consider Oxiracetam.
Phenylpiracetam may actually be your best overall option in terms of a Piracetam alternative. This is not only 60x more powerful than the original version, it is known to produce unique benefits like significantly more energy and motivation similar to an Adderall alternative.
Buying Piracetam
There are still some places online that carry Piracetam and sell it to residents of the US. You will need to examine these sources carefully to make sure that they provide you with a legitimate Certificate of Analysis showing that you are receiving a high quality product.
Almost all Piracetam for sale in the USA will be formulated as a bulk powder instead of pills or capsules; this is much cheaper from a packaging standpoint, but you should remember to get an electronic scale so you can measure out your powder in sufficient dosages.
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Article last updated on: March 13th, 2018 by Nootriment
1 Comment
Hi! regarding PIRACETAM alternatives (https://nootriment.com/piracetam-fda-ban/)
What alternative would you recommend to boost LIBIDO? I’m planning to stack Piracetam (3600mg) and Alpha GPC (600mh) for it but would like to know your opinions on alternatives specifically for LIBIDO ignition on the brain (aniracetam, oxiracetam, noopept, nefiracetam, pramiracetam, sunifiram, phenylpiracetam and even coluracetam)
Thanks!
L