NeuroFactor is a type of coffee fruit extract that promises to enhance your brainpower and cognition. Read our review to find out how NeuroFactor works today.
What is NeuroFactor?
NeuroFactor is a proprietary coffee fruit extract that could raise levels of a crucial protein in your body.
That protein has been shown to influence and support neurons and your central nervous system. NeuroFactor has made headlines this past week after completing a small pilot study. In that study, volunteers who received NeuroFactor had increased levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) – an effect that could lead to enhanced cognition.
NeuroFactor is made by a company named FutureCeuticals. That company is based in Momence, Illinois.
Their research showed that coffee fruit could increase BDNF levels by an average of 143% with respect to baseline. However, researchers cautioned that the sample size was relatively small.
The pilot study was funded by FutureCeuticals. It was published in the British Journal of Nutrition.
What is Coffee Fruit?
If you’ve never heard of coffee fruit, then that’s okay. Coffee fruit is the part of the coffee plant that contains the bean. When harvesting coffee beans, the surrounding fruit typically gets thrown away.
FutureCeuticals, however, discovered a way to preserve the whole coffee fruit, then use it for human nutrition.
The company claims their work is based on “years of careful clinical research”, where scientists discovered that ingesting small amounts of whole coffee fruit could significantly raise BDNF levels in the human body.
Researchers found this effect only occurred with coffee fruit: BDNF levels aren’t raised when you consume green coffee beans, nor are they raised when you take chlorogenic acids or drink coffee. Only the whole coffee fruit has this effect.
FutureCeuticals is proposing NeuroFactor as a way to support naturally declining neuroprotein levels in humans. It could naturally support brain health and cognition over time.
How Does BDNF Improve Brain Activity?
The main benefit of NeuroFactor is that it raises levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF. In the study mentioned above, NeuroFactor raised BDNF levels by 143% over baseline. Why is BDNF so important? How does it work?
BDNF, according to a statement by FutureCeuticals, plays a crucial role in synchronizing our body and mind:
“The most fascinating aspect of BDNF is its role in harmonizing the proper cooperation between our peripheral tissues, for example, muscles, and our brain”, explains Zbigniew Pietrzkowski in a statement to NutraIngredients-USA.
“During exercise, muscles can release extra amounts of BDNF into the blood resulting in beneficial effects on brain function, awareness and mood. Studies have shown that blood levels of BDNF are reduced with aging and with depression.”
BDNF can also play a crucial role in your metabolism and appetite control: “BDNF may be involved in regulation of metabolism by affecting appetite control and sleep in human brain”, explains Pietrzkowski.
The NeuroFactor Study
Here’s how the NeuroFactor study worked:
- The new study involved 25 healthy subjects who were randomly assigned to one of five groups
- Each subject was asked to consume a single 100mg dose of formula
- Tested formulas included green coffee caffeine powder, grape seed extract powder, green coffee bean extract powder, and whole coffee fruit concentrate powder (WCFC)
- Researchers found that green coffee caffeine powder, grape seed extract powder, and green coffee bean extract powder all increased levels of BDNF by about 31%, although the results were not statistically significant
- Participants who took the coffee fruit extract, however, experienced BDNF levels that were about 143% higher compared with baseline – a result that was statistically significant
- Why was there a difference between the formulas? Researchers believe the changes were linked to different levels of caffeine and polyphenols in the formulas; coffee fruit extract is rich with procyanidins, which may have the ability to increase BDNF levels
Ultimately, both caffeine and procyanidins raise BDNF levels. That’s why participants in this study experienced higher BDNF levels even when they didn’t take green coffee fruit extract. However, the procyanidins in the coffee fruit formula appeared to raise it much more effectively than the caffeine in the other formulas.
What is Coffeeberry?
Futureceuticals has produced a NeuroFactor-like product called Coffeeberry. Coffeeberry is a lineup of patented ingredients that use the whole fruit of the coffee plant. To make Coffeeberry products, the company hand-picks and dries the coffee beans via a proprietary process.
The end result is a patented superfood powder that can be used in supplements, powders, extracts, and capsules. At the official Coffeeberry website, FutureCeuticals markets their formula for use in the food and beverage world as well as in health and wellness and personal care.
About NeuroFactor
FutureCeuticals, Inc. is a nutritional supplement developer with a vertically integrated model: they control the process from the farm and field to the finished product. They specialize in the research, development, and manufacture of fruit, vegetable, and grain-based powders and extracts, probiotics, and food-based antioxidants.
Their official website describes themselves as “the partner of choice to leaders in the functional food, beverage, dietary supplement, and cosmetic markets”.
FutureCeuticals is based in Momence, Illinois but maintains production facilities and farmland around the world. The company’s facilities are audited annually by the British Retail Consortium and are GMP and HACCP-compliant, kosher certified, and Certified Organic by QAI and the State of California.
The company is based at the following address:
2692 N. St. Rt. 1-17
Momence, IL 60954
You can contact the company by email at [email protected] or by phone at 1-888-452-6853. Ultimately, NeuroFactor is a coffee bean extract formula with a proven ability to raise levels of a crucial brain protein.
We used to throw away the coffee fruit – now, thanks to FutureCeuticals, we know that it plays a valuable role in cognitive health.
