The ALCAR, Alpha GPC, Caffeine and Theanine stack is both rudimentary, and profound. It’s a stack that delivers all of the necessary chemicals for a great nootropic experience.
In my days fussing with nootropics, I’ve come across a lot of stacks that work quite well. The process of formulating the Cortex stack alone turned me on to at least 100 different variations and combinations of compounds that produce nootropic results.
I’ve tried everything. Everything from foreign, unknown compounds like Shankhpushpi, to the best and most well known nootropics like Alpha GPC and ALCAR.
I love Racetams, particularly Oxyracetam and Aniracetam, and have developed a particular affinity to Modafinil over the years.
But the AACT stack (Alcar, Alpha GPC, Caffeine, Theanine) is one of my favorite go to nootropic stacks for just about any task.
Now before we get to the doses, I want to quick lay out what kinds of tasks/features this stack helps me with specifically:
- Verbal fluency. There’s no question about it, this stack turns on the verbal fluency for me. Sentences form easier, I can recall information better during conversations, and my verbal output is significantly enhanced.
- Reading scientific studies. The Alpha GPC in this stack, combined with the stimulatory effects of ALCAR and Caffeine really crank up the working memory for me. I can sit down and digest a scientific study that interests me, whether nootropic related, or otherwise health/biohacking related, with ease.
- Gaming. I’m a huge Battlefield 4 gamer. I can sit and play that game for hours on end without pause. I’m basically addicted to it! And this is one of my go to stacks for playing Battlefield, and killing it.
- Giving speeches. I’ve given many speeches in my day, and the last one I gave was about entrepreneurship. I took this stack about 45 minutes prior to the speech and I was in GO mode for the talk. I was verbally fluent, remembered everything I wanted to say, and effortlessly ran through the whole speech.
But what I think is more important about getting this stack to work for you is the dose. I’ve tried a variety of different doses with these compounds and have come to a dose range that works great for me, and will likely work great for you.
I’ll explain, first, my doses, and then give you some reasonable dose ranges within those recommendations.
Remember though – nootropics, and doses, are variable, so if you don’t get particularly great results with these dosages, titrate either up or down with each ingredient, one at a time, until you find your sweet spot.
AACT nootropic stack doses
- 300MG of Acetyl-L-Carnitine. You can play around with the dose here to achieve the best results for you, but I’d keep it between 300-500MG.
- 75MG of Alpha GPC. You don’t want to overflow the brain with acetylcholine, which will be the eventual outcome of taking Alpha GPC, so keep your dose range in the 75-150MG arena.
- 150MG Caffeine. You want a pretty good dose of caffeine for this stack to perk things up a bit. You want both the wired caffeine effect, AND the functional nootropic benefit of taking the ALCAR and AGPC on memory and overall processing capacity. The general dose range for this would be between 100-200MG.
- 150MG of L-Theanine. This is what works best for me, but the dose range would be between 100MG-200MG.
The AACT nootropic stack effects
This stack delivers it all. You’ve got the working memory and functional benefits from Alpha GPC, the brain energy from ALCAR, and its effect on brain cell mitochondria optimization, the overall stimulatory wakefulness from caffeine, and the subtle balancing and calming from the theanine.
This allows for the brain to be highly stimulated, yet controlled. It’s an optimization of the simple caffeine/theanine stack, and really compounds the benefits of each individual ingredient.
The synergy in this stack is quite profound, and I reserve this combination for days I don’t take the Cortex nootropic stack, Modafinil, or other stacks I usually have up my sleeve.
Cycling the AACT nootropic stack
As with all nootropic compounds, I believe you should certainly cycle this stack. Acetylcholine precursors particularly, like Alpha GPC, have pretty long half lives. That means, they remain in your system, affecting brain function for quite some time.
If you take them everyday without breaks, this will eventually lead to a build up of the target neurotransmitter in question, and in this case, acetylcholine. And there is a particularly sinister side effect/group of side effects that come with continuously elevated acetylcholine, like nausea, muscle tenseness, and even brain fog.
ALCAR should be cycled too. It’s very stimulating to the central nervous system for some people, and those prone to anxiety might feel a bit anxious while taking it. Cycle off for a week or two, after taking the stack for 2-4 weeks.
Overall, though everything in this stack is profoundly safe, you don’t want to take it consistently for more than a month. If you need to take it for a month straight based on some type of work or school related demand, fine.
But cycle off for a week or two after that month, give your brain some time to get back to homeostasis, and then have at it again at a later date.