A Deep Neuriva Review – Does it REALLY Work? (Updated)

Here’s our recently updated Neuriva review, a brain performance supplement from Schiff Vitamins. In this article, our team is going to see if Neuriva is any good for improving your memory, focus, and cognitive function, as well as how it compares to other brain supplements on the market in terms of safety, effectiveness, and value for money.

Neuriva Review Summary

Is Neuriva effective? As a whole, Neuriva has a lot of room for improvement. With just 2 ingredients in the formula, Neuriva is missing many vital ingredients that have synergistic effects on brain function.

Phosphatidylserine and Coffee Fruit Extract are the only two active ingredients in Neuriva. While the former is known to positively affect memory function if you take it consistently long-term, the latter is an understudied ingredient.

Neuriva is an incomplete nootropic. Core ingredients such as Citicoline, L-Tyrosine, and Pine Bark Extract which are used in the best brain supplements are missing from Neuriva. Adding them would make the product substantially more effective at promoting your focus, brain energy, and mood.

The positive side of having such a simple formula is that risk of side effects is very low. However, for the price that is being charged, Neuriva definitely isn’t the best nootropic you can buy on the market today.

The Good

• Phosphatidylserine (PS) supports your long-term brain health
• Light ingredient doses; low risk of side effects
• Also available in the gummy version

The Bad

• Only 2 active ingredients
• Coffee Fruit Extract isn’t proven to work
• $32.99 per bottle is pricey considering you can buy Phosphatidylserine for less
• Missing too many core nutrients for mood & cognitive function

What do we recommend?

– Click to See The Current Top 3 Nootropic Supplements –

About Neuriva

Neuriva is one of the best-selling brain supplements on the market, showing no signs of slowing down in 2024.

It is also known as Neuriva Original, or sometimes as Neuriva Brain Performance by Schiff Vitamins.

Schiff Vitamins is a massive supplement manufacturer, best known for its multivitamins and general health formulas. Neuriva is their entry into the fast-growing nootropics market promising you protection from cognitive decline and sharper memory.

You may get confused figuring out which version of Neuriva to go for. This review will focus on Neuriva Original; we have already reviewed Neuriva Plus here. We also recently reviewed the newest flagship Neuriva product – Neuriva Ultra.

What Does Neuriva do?

As mentioned, Neuriva is categorized as a nootropic. Nootropics are a class of supplements that are intended to support and enhance your brain health & performance.

Although anyone can use it, Neuriva is specifically marketed toward older folks who want to improve their memory function and retain some of that youthful sharpness.

Neuriva is a completely natural supplement. It is not a brain prescription drug; it is free of synthetic or questionable compounds that can cause harmful side effects.

In other words, Neuriva is an over-the-counter (OTC) food supplement. It is legal in the U.S. and many other countries around the world. While Neuriva itself is not FDA-approved, it is manufactured in an FDA-approved facility.

We’re now going to see if Neuriva can live up to the hype. For starters, let’s have a look at what specific benefits Neuriva claims to give you. After this, we’ll go through the ingredient formula to see if the evidence supports the claims and to help you decide if it is the right supplement for you.

Benefits

Schiff Vitamins say Neuriva gives you the following benefits:

1. Improved memory
2. Sharper focus
3. Increased accuracy
4. Enhanced learning and retention
5. Better concentration

This is what you would expect from any good nootropic. Unfortunately, many nootropics are a total waste of money as they don’t deliver on their claims. Is Neuriva among them or does it actually “walk the talk?”

Let’s find out!

How to use Neuriva (Dosage Directions)

Schiff Vitamins’ instructions for using Neuriva is to take 1 capsule daily at bedtime.

This is one of the more interesting ways to take a nootropic, as your typical brain supplements are taken in the morning to get your brain fired up for the day ahead.

By consuming Neuriva at night, you might be losing some of the sleep benefits, and not be able to achieve that peak brain function from it during the day.

That said, it might be that Schiff Vitamins have more of a maintenance approach with their supplements. Is Neuriva working in the background to give you a better memory and focus with long-term use? That’s the only explanation that we could think of.

We have no issues using nootropics first thing in the morning with our breakfast. But, your mileage may vary.

What do we recommend?

– The Year’s Top 3 Brain Supplements (Nootropic Stacks) –

Ingredients

The above is the back label of the Neuriva Brain Performance supplement by Schiff Vitamins. In case you can’t make that out, below you will see it in a more readable format.

Neuriva contains the following ingredients:

• Coffee Fruit Extract (Coffea Arabica / Coffee Cherry / Neurofactor) – 100 mg
• Phosphatidylserine (Sharp PS) – 100 mg

This is it.

There are just 2 ingredients in Neuriva; one is the very familiar Phosphatidylserine and another is Coffee Fruit Extract.

Under “other ingredients”, Neuriva contains a filler called “Titanium Dioxide.” This is a controversial ingredient and an unnecessary one in our opinion. Some evidence points to titanium dioxide being a harmful compound, especially with long-term use.

One thing we’re glad to see, is that Neuriva doesn’t use a proprietary blend. You can see the exact amounts of ingredients on the label. Neuriva also doesn’t contain any caffeine so you don’t have to worry about Neuriva keeping you awake, causing jitters, or leading to other stimulant-related side effects.

We also want to point out that Neuriva is vegan-friendly and free of soy, GMOs, and gluten.

So, back to Phosphatidylserine and Coffee Fruit Extract. Are these two ingredients alone enough to give you an improvement in memory and cognitive performance? Let’s have a look at the evidence.

1. Coffee Fruit Extract

Coffee Fruit is a natural source of compounds thought to affect your Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF).

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) is a protein that helps your brain cells grow and develop. This means it makes your neurons more effective in terms of their function while staving off degeneration and also helping with the production of new brain cells.

So, can Coffee Cherry do this? Will Coffee Fruit Extract boost your brain function through BDNF?

Schiff Vitamins point to a study that shows a particular type of Coffee Fruit powder helped improve people’s BDNF levels. However, this study appears to be industry-funded. No independent studies showed these benefits from the coffee fruit.

Another thing Schiff Vitamins didn’t tell us is that the study used something completely different than what is in Neuriva – Whole Coffee Fruit Concentrate. [1]

Coffee Fruit Extract and Whole Coffee Fruit Concentrate aren’t the same. A whole fruit concentrate implies that it contains all of the coffee fruit’s compounds. An extract is a single compound extracted from the coffee fruit – water, fiber, trace nutrients, anything.

So according to this study, Neuriva may not be delivering what you’ll need to boost BDNF. Even if it did, one industry-funded study is far from enough to prove Coffee Fruit is effective or safe for long-term consumption in humans.

This ingredient would need many studies and study reviews for us to rate it as a viable option for raising BDNF levels.

Let’s move on to the other ingredient in Neuriva – Phosphatidylserine.

2. Phosphatidylserine (PS)

This, unlike coffee fruit extract, is a great inclusion. Phosphatidylserine is found in high amounts in your brain; making up 15% of your total brain’s fats, also known as phospholipids. [2, 3, 4]

Phosphatidylserine is used by your brain to maintain brain cell fluidity, protect neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine and dopamine, and also to optimize your brain’s receptors. This makes PS ideal for supporting long-term brain health.

PS also helps to recycle sick brain cells to prevent them from damaging your healthy brain cells. [5]

While you may not notice any immediate benefits from PS, long-term supplementation helps to stave off symptoms of mental decline, such as memory loss.

100mg per serving is a light dosage – it would be more effective if there was 200-300mg in Neuriva.

Is There Caffeine in Neuriva?

Neuriva doesn’t have a meaningful amount of caffeine. While it contains coffee fruit, Neuriva’s manufacturers explicitly say it’s been decaffeinated, so you can still take it at bedtime.

This could also be a downside for people who’re looking for a “pick-me-up” from Neuriva. Since it has no caffeine or other stimulants, Neuriva does not give you energy.

Final Thoughts on Neuriva’s Ingredients

There are only 2 ingredients in Neuriva – one is a good compound for supporting a healthy brain over the long term, and the other is an ingredient that is yet to be proven to work.

There is no way to know if the coffee fruit extract in Neuriva contains the same compounds as those from the Whole Coffee Fruit Concentrate used in the study provided by the manufacturer. Then again, this is just one study showing that whole coffee fruit concentrate raises BDNF levels in people. This study used only a small sample of volunteers, was industry-funded, and didn’t last long. Until there’s more evidence, it’s best to stay skeptical.

As for the other ingredient in Neuriva – Phosphatidylserine. At 100mg per day, it’s a relatively light dose that will support your brain cell formation and programmed brain cell death (apoptosis) over the long term. However, don’t expect to be seeing massive changes from Phosphatidylserine alone. The compound doesn’t have much of an effect by itself – PS’ main advantage is its long-term protective effects; short-term effects are subtle when they do register.

You may ask, are there any Neuriva studies on this supplement as a whole. The answer is no; there are no credible studies on Neuriva as a supplement. That said, there is some solid evidence behind one of its ingredients, Phosphatidylserine.

[RELATED: The 3 Best Nootropic Supplements for Brain Power]

Neuriva Reviews and Testimonials

Does Neuriva do anything? We took to Amazon to see how it worked for other customers. Most reviews tend to say how Neuriva didn’t cause any unwanted side effects, though there are some exceptions. We saw a number of people complaining about nausea, which I think is easily avoidable if you make sure to take Neuriva with a meal.

However, a lot of reviews also mentioned the lack of noticeable benefits from using Neuriva. Some did say they noticed an increase in their mental “sharpness” and “reduced daily stress,” which are possible effects of Phosphatidylserine.

If you’re looking for the answer to the question “Does Neuriva work” on websites like Reddit, it’s worth keeping in mind that some of the testimonials are paid or written by Schiff Vitamin’s team, which makes it difficult to assess the legitimate ones from the fake ones. There are no Neuriva reviews at Mayo Clinic or WebMD at the moment. Although, both websites have raised concerns regarding one of Neuriva’s ingredients – coffee fruit extract.

Neuriva Complaints

There aren’t too many Neuriva complaints in terms of negative reactions. The supplement seems to be well tolerated by most users. The only recurring complaint about Neuriva is a lack of results. Your experience may vary – for some people, Neuriva worked great.

Side Effects – Is Neuriva Safe to Use?

Neuriva is safe to use. It doesn’t seem to cause side effects in most healthy users.

It makes sense why there are few reports of Neuriva side effects – it only contains two natural ingredients; Phosphatidylserine and Coffee Fruit Extract.

Although there’s not much research on Coffee Fruit Extract, we know that Phosphatidylserine has been extensively studied in numerous clinical trials and doesn’t appear to cause adverse reactions.

Another common question our readers have is “Does Neuriva cause insomnia?” or “Will Neuriva keep you awake?”.

Neuriva will not keep you awake nor cause insomnia because it doesn’t contain any stimulants, not even a meaningful amount of caffeine.

As for other questions, such as “does Neuriva raise blood pressure” or “does Neuriva interact with medications” it’s best to give your doctor a visit if you’re not sure – more so if you have a condition.

Remember, our posts at PDPPro aren’t meant as advice – they’re for informational and entertainment purposes only!

Pros and Cons of Neuriva

The main advantage of Neuriva is that its active ingredients are safe and vegan-friendly. While it has the controversial titanium dioxide, there is still a debate in the scientific community on whether it’s OK to take it long-term or not. We do suggest steering away from it just to be on the safe side.

The downside to Neuriva is the lack of more proven ingredients. These include CDP-Choline, Tyrosine, L-Theanine and other proven brain-boosting compounds. With just Phosphatidylserine and underresearched Coffee Fruit Extract inside, there’s only so much you can expect from Neuriva.

All things considered, Neuriva costs $32.99 per bottle. We don’t rate it as a great value for money considering its thin formula.

Neuriva Gummies – Reviews and Our Thoughts

When comparing Neuriva Gummies vs capsules, which are better? Regarding benefits, Neuriva Gummies and Neuriva Original capsules offer the same kind of effects since they have the same ingredient profiles.

The only obvious difference between Neuriva and Neuriva Gummies is the flavor. If the taste is most important to you, then go with the Gummies. Otherwise, Neuriva capsules are a more convenient option. Another noteworthy difference between Neuriva Gummies and Neuriva capsules is the price – with the latter being $3 more expensive.

Where can You Buy Neuriva?

You can buy Neuriva on its official website, as well as on Amazon, Walgreens, GNC, Walmart, and CVS. It’s also available at Costco at the time of writing, but it tends to go in and out of stock there. Neuriva’s price is $32.99 for the capsule version and $29.99 for the gummies version per bottle (30 servings).

On the other hand, Neuriva Plus costs $49.49 per bottle (30ct), and the newest Neuriva Ultra is $59.99 per bottle (60ct).

Note that Neuriva also ships outside of the U.S., including to the UK, Canada, and South Africa.

Final Verdict

With everything taken into consideration, here are the final questions we want to answer:

“Is Neuriva legit?”

“Is Neuriva a good product?”

Despite all of its drawbacks, we think Neuriva is still a decent product – it has an ingredient that is backed by research to support brain function. However, for the price tag of $32.99, we also expected a lot more.

Some people wonder if Neuriva is good for ADHD, and the answer is: only to a slight extent. Some evidence shows that Phosphatidylserine supplementation may lessen the symptoms of ADHD, and Neuriva contains the compound, albeit not in optimal amounts.

If you’re looking for a simple nootropic with only 2 ingredients that you can stack with other supplements – Neuriva could be the right one for you.

However, if you want a comprehensive nootropic to boost all-around brain power – Neuriva is far from the best option.

We recommend nootropics that have a variety of proven ingredients to help promote our brain function and cognition from multiple angles. Neuriva is something that offers the same benefits that you’d get from a standard Phosphatidylserine supplement.

That being said, could Neuriva be improved? Sure. If you would increase the PS dose, remove the Coffee Fruit, add at least 3 or 4 more clinically evidenced nootropics in the formula and make it so that people can take it in the morning, it would be a fantastic supplement.

Is Neuriva anything close to that right now? In our experience, no. There’s a lot of work to be done to the formula in this nootropic to help its chances of boosting your BDNF and supporting brain function in general.

Neuriva is far from the worst nootropic we’ve reviewed – but it’s not the best, either.

Neuriva: Final Ratings By Category

Criteria	Rating
Memory enhancement	4/10
Focus & concentration	6/10
Long-term cognitive support	6/10
Formula quality	4/10
User satisfaction	6/10
Value	5/10
Recommended	5/10

Best Neuriva Alternative?

What is better than Neuriva? There are many great nootropic supplements on the market today, but a few of them are worth the money.

One of the very best nootropics currently around is Mind Lab Pro, along with Performance Lab Mind and Hunter Test. Each of these works a little differently so you will need to do your research to determine which is best for you.

We’ve made an in-depth guide to picking the best nootropic supplements on the market today, unveiling our top picks for this year that make for better Neuriva alternatives – see the link below:

– Click for Top 3 Highest-Rated Brain Supplements of The Year –

Related:

• NeuroQ vs Neuriva
• Neuriva vs Natrol Cognium
• Neuriva vs Lion’s Mane

References

1. Reyes-Izquierdo T, Nemzer B, Shu C, Huynh L, Argumedo R, Keller R, Pietrzkowski Z. Modulatory effect of coffee fruit extract on plasma levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in healthy subjects. Br J Nutr. 2013 Aug 28;110(3):420-5. doi: 10.1017/S0007114512005338. Epub 2013 Jan 14. PMID: 23312069.
   https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23312069/
2. Kim HY, Huang BX, Spector AA. Phosphatidylserine in the brain: metabolism and function. Prog Lipid Res. 2014 Oct;56:1-18. doi: 10.1016/j.plipres.2014.06.002. Epub 2014 Jun 30. PMID: 24992464; PMCID: PMC4258547.
   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4258547/
3. Ma X, Li X, Wang W, Zhang M, Yang B, Miao Z. Phosphatidylserine, inflammation, and central nervous system diseases. Front Aging Neurosci. 2022 Aug 3;14:975176. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.975176. PMID: 35992593; PMCID: PMC9382310.
   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9382310/
4. Glade MJ, Smith K. Phosphatidylserine and the human brain. Nutrition. 2015 Jun;31(6):781-6. doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2014.10.014. Epub 2014 Nov 4. PMID: 25933483.
   https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25933483/
5. Frey, B., Gaipl, U.S. The immune functions of phosphatidylserine in membranes of dying cells and microvesicles. Semin Immunopathol 33, 497–516 (2011).
   https://doi.org/10.1007/s00281-010-0228-6