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Some notes on various supplement and nootropics stacks, and how to recreate them using individual products from iHerb.
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supplement-nootropic-stacks.md

Supplement / Nootropic Stacks

Some notes on various supplement and nootropics stacks, and how to recreate them using individual products from iHerb.

Table of Contents

Mind Lab Pro (v4.0)

Official Stack

  • https://au.mindlabpro.com/products/mind-lab-pro
    • 1 bottle (30 serves, 2 caps per serve) for AU$89 (equivalent of AU$2.97/dose)
    • 1 bottle (30 serves, 2 caps per serve) for AU$80.10 (monthly subscription, save 10%, equivalent of AU$2.67/dose)
    • 4 bottles (30 serves, 2 caps per serve) for AU$267 ('smart subscription', save 25%, equivalent of AU$66.75/bottle / AU$2.225/dose
  • https://au.mindlabpro.com/pages/ingredients
    • Vitamin B6 (from NutriGenesis®): 2.5 mg (179% NRV)
    • Vitamin B9 (from NutriGenesis®): 100 mcg (50% NRV)
    • Vitamin B12 (from NutriGenesis®): 7.5 mcg (300% NRV)
    • Citicoline (as Cognizin®): 250 mg
    • Bacopa Monnieri (full spectrum extract, 24% bacosides with 9 bioactives, aerial parts): 150 mg
    • Organic Lion's Mane Mushroom (mycelium and fruit): 500 mg
    • Phosphatidylserine (from sunflower lecithin): 100 mg
    • N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine: 175 mg
    • L-Theanine: 100 mg
    • Rhodiola Rosea (3% rosavins, 1% salidrosides, root): 50 mg
    • Maritime Pine Bark Extract (95% proanthocyanidins): 75 mg
    • Other Ingredients:
      • Nu-FLOW® Rice Concentrate
      • Capsule: Pullulan (NutriCaps®)

Further Reading:

iHerb Alternatives

A selection of iHerb sources for the above ingredients (note that doses differ, this is not the full/optimised stack):

iHerb cost breakdown by ingredient weight:

Supplement Caps Size AU$/bottle AU$/cap AU$/mg (or µg where noted)
B-complex (Life Extension) 60 B6: 100mg, B9: 680µg, B12: 300µg 16.60 0.28 B6: AU$0.0028/mg, B9: AU$0.00041/µg, B12: AU$0.00093/µg
Citicoline (Nutricost) 120 300mg 44.45 0.37 AU$0.0012/mg
Bacopa (NOW) 90 450mg 37.55 0.42 AU$0.00093/mg
Lion’s Mane (Tribe Organics) 120 500mg 52.02 0.43 AU$0.00086/mg
Phosphatidylserine (Toniiq) 90 200mg 51.39 0.57 AU$0.00285/mg
NALT (Nutricost) 120 350mg 15.93 0.13 AU$0.00037/mg
L-Theanine (Nutricost) 120 200mg 11.06 0.09 AU$0.00045/mg
Rhodiola (NOW) 120 500mg 41.13 0.34 AU$0.00068/mg
Pine Bark (Life Extension, Pycnogenol) 60 100mg 87.21 1.45 AU$0.0145/mg

Weighted Cost Attribution

Using the relative costs of those iHerb products, we can calculate a "cost weighting" for each ingredient. Instead of splitting the Mind Lab Pro price evenly, we scale each ingredient’s share by its real-world cost per unit (per mg or per µg, depending on how it’s dosed) multiplied by the amount used in the formula. Adding these contributions together gives the total equivalent cost per serve, and dividing each one by that total shows which ingredients actually drive the price versus those that add only a small fraction.

Ingredient MLP Dose iHerb Unit Cost Contribution (AU$) Share of Total Cost
Vitamin B6 2.5 mg 0.0028 AU$/mg 0.007 0.3%
Vitamin B9 100 µg 0.00041 AU$/µg 0.041 1.7%
Vitamin B12 7.5 µg 0.00093 AU$/µg 0.007 0.3%
Citicoline 250 mg 0.0012 AU$/mg 0.300 12.1%
Bacopa 150 mg 0.00093 AU$/mg 0.135 5.5%
Lion’s Mane 500 mg 0.00086 AU$/mg 0.430 17.4%
Phosphatidylserine 100 mg 0.00285 AU$/mg 0.285 11.5%
NALT 175 mg 0.00037 AU$/mg 0.065 2.6%
L-Theanine 100 mg 0.00045 AU$/mg 0.045 1.8%
Rhodiola 50 mg 0.00068 AU$/mg 0.034 1.4%
Pine Bark 75 mg 0.0145 AU$/mg 1.088 44.0%
Total – – 2.437 100%

Key Takeaways:

  • Pine Bark alone is about 44% of the total cost.
  • Lion’s Mane, Citicoline, and Phosphatidylserine together are another ~41%.
  • All other ingredients combined are only ~15%.

So when attributing Mind Lab Pro’s price across ingredients, the bulk of the cost should sit on Pine Bark + Lion’s Mane + Citicoline + Phosphatidylserine.

Weighted Mind Lab Pro cost breakdown by ingredient (based on AU$89/bottle, ~AU$2.97/dose), with cost shares allocated using relative iHerb costs (per mg or per µg) rather than raw weight:

Ingredient MLP Dose Cost Weighting % MLP Cost Share MLP Unit Cost
Vitamin B6 2.5 mg 0.3% AU$0.01 AU$0.0044 per mg
Vitamin B9 100 µg 1.7% AU$0.05 AU$0.00050 per µg
Vitamin B12 7.5 µg 0.3% AU$0.01 AU$0.0039 per µg
Citicoline 250 mg 12.0% AU$0.36 AU$0.0014 per mg
Bacopa 150 mg 5.5% AU$0.16 AU$0.0011 per mg
Lion’s Mane 500 mg 17.6% AU$0.52 AU$0.0010 per mg
Phosphatidylserine 100 mg 11.7% AU$0.35 AU$0.0035 per mg
NALT (N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine) 175 mg 2.7% AU$0.08 AU$0.00046 per mg
L-Theanine 100 mg 1.8% AU$0.05 AU$0.00049 per mg
Rhodiola 50 mg 1.4% AU$0.04 AU$0.00068 per mg
Pine Bark Extract 75 mg 44.6% AU$1.32 AU$0.0176 per mg
Total – 100% AU$2.97 –

Based on these raw per-unit breakdowns, Mind Lab Pro’s per-unit costs come out around 22% higher than the iHerb equivalents.

iHerb Replacement Stack for Mind Lab Pro

By combining whole capsules from iHerb, you can build a stack that not only covers the same ingredients as Mind Lab Pro but generally raises them to evidence-based levels. The table below shows how each iHerb capsule compares against MLP dosing, the evidence ranges, and the cost.

Ingredient MLP Dose iHerb Dose Evidence Dose Range* MLP vs Evidence iHerb vs Evidence iHerb vs MLP % iHerb Price per Cap
B6, B9, B12 (B-complex) B6: 2.5 mg, B9: 100 µg, B12: 7.5 µg 1 cap (B6: 100 mg, B9: 680 µg, B12: 300 µg) B6: ~100 mg+, B9: 400–800 µg, B12: 250–500 µg 75–98% below low In Range (lower–mid) +580% to +3900% AU$0.28
Citicoline 250 mg 300 mg (1 cap) 250–500 mg In Range (lower) In Range (lower) +20% AU$0.37
Bacopa 150 mg 450 mg (1 cap) 300–450 mg 50–67% below low In Range (upper) +200% AU$0.42
Lion’s Mane 500 mg 500 mg (1 cap) 500–1000 mg In Range (lower) In Range (lower) 0% AU$0.43
Phosphatidylserine 100 mg 200 mg (1 cap) 200–400 mg 50–75% below low In Range (lower) +100% AU$0.57
NALT (N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine) 175 mg 350 mg (1 cap) 300–700 mg 40–75% below low In Range (mid) +100% AU$0.13
L-Theanine 100 mg 200 mg (1 cap) 100–400 mg In Range (lower) In Range (mid) +100% AU$0.09
Rhodiola 50 mg 500 mg (1 cap) 200–600 mg 75–90% below low In Range (mid) +900% AU$0.34
Pine Bark Extract 75 mg 100 mg (1 cap) 100–200 mg 25–63% below low In Range (lower) +33% AU$1.45
Total Daily Cost – – – – – – AU$4.08

Key Takeaway:

  • MLP doses are mostly below evidence-based ranges, while the iHerb stack raises them into effective levels.
  • On a per-weight basis, MLP came out about 22% more expensive than sourcing the same amounts from iHerb.
  • But when built with whole iHerb capsules, the stack totals AU$4.08/day — about 37% higher than MLP’s AU$2.97/day — reflecting the stronger, evidence-aligned doses.

See Also

My Other Related Deepdive Gist's and Projects

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