Neuriva Original vs Neuriva Plus – which should you buy? Which one will give you more mental benefits, including improved memory, thinking, and clarity? Which is better value for money? Here’s our quick summary followed by a more in-depth comparison.
SUMMARY: While Neuriva Original and Neuriva Plus are both all-natural supplements, neither one blew us away with their effectiveness. Neuriva Original has only 2 ingredients – Phosphatidylserine and Coffee Fruit Extract. Phosphatidylserine is useful for long-term brain health support, though you’re unlikely to feel its effects. On the other hand, Coffee Fruit Extract isn’t proven to boost BDNF like Neuriva’s makers claim. We also don’t know which part of the coffee plant is extracted; it can be anything. Neuriva Plus contains the same ingredients as Neuriva, just with the added 3 B vitamins, which are good for general health, but not enough on their own to give you significant mental benefits. We recommend doing more research before picking either of these two, especially since you can find better options for the price Schiff Vitamins are charging ($33-$45).
What do we use?
–The Current Top 3 Nootropic (Brain) Supplements–
Neuriva vs Neuriva Plus – The Overview
Neuriva and Neuriva Plus are brain performance supplements produced by Schiff Vitamins. Schiff Vitamins are massive American supplement company that’s been around since 1936.
For the better part of their history, Schiff Vitamins have specialized in producing multivitamins and general health formulas. But now, they’ve entered the fast-growing nootropic market with their Neuriva formulas.
Both Neuriva and Neuriva Plus are available on Amazon, the official Schiff Vitamins site, CVS, and other big brands. On the official website, Neuriva Original costs $32.99, and Neuriva Plus costs $49.49.
Is Neuriva Plus worth the extra $16.5? Even more importantly, are these brain supplements legit? Will they improve your memory and cognition as their manufacturers claim? And how do they compare to the market-leading nootropics?
Our team finds out.
Neuriva vs Neuriva Plus – Ingredients
Neuriva Original and Neuriva Plus have almost identical ingredient profiles.
While Neuriva Original contains 2 active ingredients – Phosphatidylserine and Coffee Fruit extract – Neuriva Plus contains the same two ingredients plus 3 B vitamins.
Therefore, the only difference between Neuriva and Neuriva Plus are the B vitamins. Are these enough to make Neuriva Plus cost about $17 more than Neuriva Original? We don’t think they are!
While B vitamins are essential for our brain health and our health in general, most of us get enough through our diets. In rare cases where you might be deficient, B vitamin supplementation may lead to increased alertness and energy levels.
The other two ingredients, Phosphatidylserine and Coffee Fruit Extract, are found in both Neuriva and Neuriva Plus. Let’s quickly see what these do and what the science says about them:
- Phosphatidylserine (PS)
PS is an essential fat found in large amounts in your brain, it helps to improve neuronal health and may reduce stress levels when supplemented.
- Coffee Fruit Extract
Schiff Vitamins claim that Coffee Fruit Extract is backed by a study which shows that it boosts your brain’s Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Levels (BDNF), which is a false claim. The study quoted actually looked into Whole Coffee Fruit Concentrate, which means all parts of the coffee plant were used.
Meanwhile, the coffee fruit extract in Neuriva and Neuriva Plus is a single compound extracted from the coffee plant, and we don’t even know what it is. It could be anything – water, fiber, vitamins, etc. Even if Neuriva used the actual Whole Coffee Fruit Concentrate like the one from the study, it still wouldn’t rank among the best ingredients for brain health.
Why? Because, that’s just a single human study, and it was only with several subjects and it lasted a very short time. We’ll need more human evidence to confirm it’s a good ingredient choice.
Final Thoughts on the Ingredients
Neuriva Original didn’t have a good ingredient profile to start with. With just Phosphatidylserine and (unproven) coffee fruit extract, it’s too weak to result in noticeable mental changes – such as improved focus, memory, or mental clarity.
Neuriva Plus is the same, just with a few added B vitamins. Again, this is unlikely to make you feel any different. There are a lot of core ingredients missing from both Neuriva and Neuriva Plus. These ingredients, which include the likes of Lion’s Mane Mushroom, CDP-Choline, L-Tyrosine, and Pine Bark Extract among others, would make Neuriva more potent at improving your thinking processes, mood, and cognitive function in general.
Phosphatidylserine is a good ingredient – it’s the only one worth mentioning here. PS is an integral part of your brain cell’s membranes, and plays a role in long-term brain health. As a result, supplementing low doses of PS such as those found in Neuriva and Neuriva Plus (100mg per serving) can serve like a multivitamin for your brain. But Phosphatidylserine’s effects are often unnoticeable and you’re unlikely to feel anything from supplementing it.
Neuriva vs Neuriva Plus – Side Effects
Neither Neuriva or Neuriva Plus should cause you any side effects. The ingredients are well-known and lightly dosed. In case you do experience side effects, such as insomnia or nausea (rarely reported by some users), speak with your doctor before continuing with the use!
Neuriva vs Neuriva Plus – Customer Reviews
Neuriva and Neuriva Plus both have mixed reviews, including on Amazon and Reddit among other sites. You’ll need to do a careful research to pick out the fake reviews from legitimate ones. Even better is to not rely on those reviews at all, but instead, do an inspection of Neuriva’s ingredients and the science behind them. This way, you’ll know if the product you’re getting is evidence-backed and going to work for you.
The Bottom Line
Neuriva vs Neuriva Plus – which one wins? For us, neither one. Neuriva only uses 2 ingredients, and Neuriva Plus is the same just with the 3 extra B vitamins.
The ingredients don’t blow us away, there’s just Phosphatidylserine that could help you with long-term brain health. The rest is not proven to work. B vitamins, sure, can be helpful if you’re deficient and eating a strict vegan diet.
Along with that, there’s just 1 serving per day for Neuriva and Neuriva Plus. This means you won’t be maintaining the brain-boosting effects throughout the day. The best nootropic supplements usually have 2 servings or more per day.
We do think that for the price Schiff Vitamins are charging, you can find better brain supplements with a little research.
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Related:
I know from experience I am a female 55 on 24/7 oxygen at 2.5. and I began to have memory problems I decided to find something to help me and I tried neuriva. And was starting to see in the second month a good increase in memory not so much fogginess able to recall much better .. should have been super happy and stuck with it but as the average American I had to have the better so what about if I took the plus with my memory could even better no to my amazement the Plus did no good for me at all and my memory started backing off again I thought that was just me maybe I just thought it was that way but no after reading this I understand it was exactly that way. And I will say that it what my memory loss was I believe coming from my diet I wasn’t eating the right nutrients that I needed I wasn’t getting enough Sun from outside a different amount of things but still I can tell the difference between the nereva and the noreba Plus thank you sincerely Margie Brantley
Hi Margie,
Thank you for sharing your experience. I am sure there are people who can relate to what you said. It’s important to not forget that supplements are just an “aid.” The most important thing is to keep your lifestyle in check – nutrients, sun, sleep, and regular physical activity.
Jimmy