What is Qualia Resilience?
Qualia Resilience is a dietary supplement formulated to provide support in areas including coping with stress, mental toughness, resilience, calmness, and easing stress-related fatigue. It is a blend of 8 vitamins, 4 adaptogen herbs, minerals, and amino acids that support a healthy stress response and cognitive performance, so we can perform at our best even during stressful circumstances.*
Ingredients were selected to support adaptation to stress, a healthy cortisol response, adrenal function (and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis), antioxidant defenses, and other molecules and pathways involved with helping us be more resilient to stress. In this blog post, we’ll share some of the reasons why we included each ingredient and how individually they contribute to the overall stress support found in Qualia Resilience.*
A Few Notable Studies About the Ingredients in Qualia Resilience
Don’t just take our word for it. These are a few publications from scientific journals highlighting some of the QUALIA RESILIENCE ingredients.
Extramel® provided support for stress, fatigue, and cognition performance (Pubmed 24949549).*
Noogandha® supported executive function and healthy cortisol levels (Pubmed 34838432).*
Holy basil extract supported cognitive function and healthy cortisol levels (Pubmed 26571987).
Decades of research done in the former Soviet Union support the use of Eleuthero as an adaptogen (Pubmed 34087398).*
L-theanine supports healthy responses to psychological and physiological stress (Pubmed 16930802).*
B-vitamins provide support for workplace stress (Pubmed 21905094).*
Qualia Resilience Ingredients
Extramel® Melon (Cucumis melo L.) Juice Concentrate
Extramel® is a patented freeze-dried melon juice concentrate made from a proprietary variety of cantaloupe melon grown in Southern France. The story of this melon concentrate begins in 1989, when some French melon producers noticed that a new variety of cantaloupe had an impressively long shelf life, lasting up to weeks longer than regular melons. Research eventually uncovered why: this variety of melon had an exceptionally high content of a powerful antioxidant called superoxide dismutase (SOD), as well as other antioxidant enzymes (e.g., catalase, glutathione peroxidase) (1).* From this discovery, Extramel® was born.
Our initial interest in Extramel® had to do with molecular mechanisms of stress. In plants, SOD is critical for stress tolerance and responding to environmental adversity (2–4): it’s one of the key compounds that determines whether or not a plant is resilient. The same is true for us—SOD and other antioxidant enzymes are involved in our adaptation and resilience to stress. This is because stress, whether physical, mental, or emotional, results in our mitochondria, cells, and tissues being under more oxidative stress (5). And SOD is a major part of the cellular defenses against oxidative stress. This is the mechanism that explains the role of Extramel® in the formula, but what really sold us on including it were the stress support benefits reported in human studies.*
Extramel® has supported skin in adapting to environmental stress (6) and has been studied for adaptation to exercise (7). These are important stress areas. But they are really just the tip of the stress iceberg. Stress can leave us feeling “stressed” (worried, hurried, irritated, moody, etc.). It can sap energy, leaving us feeling physically and mentally fatigued. It can impair cognitive, physical, and sleep performance. In two human studies, Extramel® (at a dose of 10 mg daily) shined in supporting these areas of feeling stressed, mental and physical energy, cognitive and sleep performance, and more (8, 9). We included the same 10 mg a day dose used in these studies as our recommended dose in Qualia Resilience. This dose contains 140 IU of SOD.*
Extramel® is a registered trademark of Bionov.
NooGandha® Liposomal Ashwagandha Root and Leaf Extract
Ashwagandha is a Rasayana—the category of elixirs and tonic herbs prized by the branch of Ayurvedic medicine concerned with rejuvenation, and focused on promoting a youthful state of physical and mental health. Ashwagandha holds a prominent place among the Rasayana herbs, where it was used in Ayurveda for many reasons including as general tonic and to infuse energy and vigor in circumstances characterized by exhaustion or a lack of physical energy. In modern usage, Ashwagandha is recognized for supporting multiple areas of health and well-being, especially under conditions characterized by stress.*
Herbs, like ashwagandha, that promote nonspecific resistance to and recovery from stress—and which typically also support general well-being, healthy energy, and homeostasis—are called adaptogens. A useful way of thinking about adaptogens can be the idea of making our “stress muscles fitter:” they are plants that help get us ready to handle stress from a variety of sources. Over the past decade, ashwagandha has become one of the most popular adaptogens; it is a favorite in the nootropics community. This leads us to Noogandha®. The "Noo" (short for nootropic) gives away the emphasis in the studies on it to date—support for cognitive performance, or, said another way, it was developed to be nootropic ashwagandha.*
Qualia Resilience was formulated for stress support, but, even more specifically, we set out to create a “neuro adaptogen” formula—stress support with a nootropic edge. In other words, we wanted to help people manage stress …and we also wanted to support them in thinking better. There are several different ashwagandha extracts that have been used in human studies; we use two of them in other products (Qualia Night uses KSM-66 Ashwagandha® and Qualia Life uses Sensoril® Ashwagandha) and are big fans of these extracts. Because the emphasis of human studies on Noogandha® has been supporting cognitive performance (10, 11), and because of the neuro adaptogen goals, we felt this extract was the best fit for Qualia Resilience. We selected our recommended 225 mg dose based on a 30-day study that compared 225 mg and 400 mg doses of Noogandha®, because the better overall combination of cognitive and stress support occurred with the lower dose (10).*
Noogandha® is a registered trademark of Specnova LLC, USA.
Holy Basil (Ocimum sanctum) Leaf Extract
In Ayurvedic medicine holy basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum i.e., Ocimum sanctum) is called “tulsi,” which translates as “the Incomparable one.” Like ashwagandha, it is one of a small number of herbs described as a Rasayana, the category applied to elixirs and tonic herbs prized for rejuvenation and revitalization. It was believed to help guard the body from stress of all types, while also helping to keep the mind sharp and the body healthy. These attributes are at the core of Qualia Resilience. In modern times, holy basil is categorized as an adaptogen. Holy basil has also been studied for stress support, and for supporting mood, cognition and immune health—areas which are typically affected by stress.*
Stress, as popularly used, is a catch-all term for feelings related to mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances. In a simple sense, feelings of stress occur when individuals perceive events or situations in their environment to be taxing or exceeding their resources. While Qualia Resilience was created to provide support for stress of all types, we wanted users to experience benefits in areas including easing feelings of stress and burnout, while also feeling more mentally tough and resilient. Because of both its traditional and modern uses, holy basil was a fit for a product developed to support these areas.* There’s one other reason we felt like a holy basil extract was a great choice. We wanted to include more than one adaptogen in Qualia Resilience, but we wanted to feel comfortable that they would complement each other.
Within Ayurveda, holy basil and ashwagandha have similar properties and are used together, which was an important consideration for us. We included holy basil extract standardized for ursolic acid and selected a recommended dose of 150 mg of the extract to complement the other adaptogens in Qualia Resilience (it has 4 herbal adaptogens). While higher doses of standardized holy basil extracts are used when it is the only adaptogen given, we don’t believe that adaptogens follow a “more is better” dosing principle: we consider herbal adaptogens to follow hormetic dosing principles (see Neurohacker Dosing Principles) and have more of a “just right” dose (think Goldilocks rule). When combined with other adaptogens, the recommended dose of holy basil extract isn’t decided upon in isolation, but instead it is arrived at as part of the overall adaptogen blend.*
Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus) Root Extract
Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus) is an adaptogenic herb most commonly used to support the body's natural ability to adapt to the stress of everyday life and its capacity for mental and physical work. Eleuthero is native to Eastern Russia (Siberia), Korea, Japan, and Northern China, where it is used in folk medicine. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, as an example, it is known as Ciwujia; its uses included invigorating qi (vital energy) and normalizing body functions (in modern science this normalizing function is called homeostasis).* Eleuthero’s rise to fame as an adaptogen can be credited to Soviet researchers who, because of the difficulty in sourcing enough Panax ginseng, began screening other plants in the Araliaceae family—Panax and Eleutherococcus are both in this plant family—in search of replacements.
We’ve mentioned the term adaptogen a few times—let’s pause for a quick history lesson. In the 1940’s, scientists in the former Soviet Union (USSR) began a several decades long research initiative with a goal of identifying substances that could be used to support stamina and resilience in challenging environments and circumstances. A pharmacologist named Dr. Lazarev is credited with coining the term “adaptogen” to describe preparations that enhance the body’s normal capacity to resist stress of all different types (12). Another Soviet scientist named Dr. Brekhman (he led much of the research on eleuthero) would go on to define adaptogens as non-toxic substances that had a normalizing effect on physiology and worked through nonspecific mechanisms to help build resilience to stress.*
Eleuthero was the most important of the adaptogens identified and studied by Soviet scientists. Over a period spanning from about 1958 to 1982 more than 1000 studies were done on Eleuthero in the former Soviet Union. The research covered many areas of health, including supporting concentration, energy, mental and physical stamina, and resilience to a variety of different types of physical and psychological stress (13). We included an Eleuthero root extract standardized for eleutherosides—these compounds are thought to be responsible for many of the adaptogenic (i.e., stress and fatigue support) and health-promoting properties. When combined with other adaptogens, the dose of Eleuthero root extract used has ranged from 75 to 200 mg (14–18). We selected our recommended 100 mg dose of Eleuthero to be within the studied range when combined with other adaptogens, because Qualia Resilience contains several other adaptogens.*
Note: Prior to 2002, Eleuthero was commonly called “Siberian Ginseng” (it’s still sometimes called this in scientific research), but this changed in the U.S. with the passage of the Farm Bill, which restricted the use of the name ginseng in commerce exclusively to plants from the genus Panax, such as Panax ginseng. This is why dietary supplements use the name Eleuthero.
Ginger (Zingiber officinale) Root Extract
Ginger is the common name for the whole or cut rhizome—the underground stem or vertical portion of the root—of the plant Zingiber officinale. Ginger has a long history of use as a food spice—it is one of the most widely used spices in the world. It also has a long history of use in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Ayurveda, and other healing systems. Like the other herbs we’ve included in Qualia Resilience, ginger is an adaptogen and a tonic herb, especially for supporting the digestive system, the gut-brain axis, joints, and the circulatory system.*
Ginger can be used alone, but is very often a part of poly-ingredient herbal combinations in both TCM and Ayurveda. In Ayurveda, ginger is commonly mixed with other herbs in rejuvenation and vitality (rasayana) formulas. The combination of ginger, black pepper, and long pepper, called Trikatu (“three pungent spices”), is frequently used together and also added to many other herb mixes. Ayurveda has a concept of carrier substances (called anupana) that act as messengers, catalysts, or moderators to support other herbs in a formula. Ginger is one of these carriers. Modern science has found that ginger supports the bioavailability of some other compounds (19–21), which may partly explain why it’s so often been combined with other herbs and used as a carrier substance.*
Ginger is my desert island herb—if I was stranded on an uninhabited island and could have only one herb with me, ginger would be it. Since stress would be part of that experience, it should not be a surprise that we felt ginger was a great fit in Qualia Resilience. We view ginger root extract as a complement to the other adaptogens and ingredients in the formula and selected our recommended dose to reflect this complementary, as well as carrier/bioenhancer role in the formula. We are using an extract standardized for 5% gingerols. Gingerols are the compounds primarily responsible for the pungency of ginger root (its characteristic flavor and spiciness), are one of its main bioactive compounds, and confer a number of ginger’s health supporting benefits.*
L-Theanine
L-Theanine is a calming amino acid that naturally occurs in green tea (a small cup of green tea has 8-30 mg) (22). L-Theanine is routinely used in nootropic stacks, because it promotes focused attention and mental alertness, but does it in a way that supports a calm, relaxed sense of mental energy (23–25). L-theanine may also help with adaptation to mentally fatiguing or stressful circumstances, since it supports alpha brain waves (α-waves)—α-waves are thought of as a marker of relaxation and a brain state that reduces the perception of stress (23, 26–30).*
Collectively, these attributes—calming, relaxing, anti-stress support—make L-theanine a fit for a formula like Qualia Resilience. Put simply, these are core benefits we wanted to deliver in a formula built on a foundation of neuro adaptogens with a goal of stress support with a nootropic edge.* L-theanine also has a lesser known functional role in supporting a healthy immune system (stress can make it more difficult for the immune system to do all of its jobs well). L-theanine, because of one of its metabolites, has been shown to prime specialized immune cells—gamma delta T cells (31, 32)—involved with immune fitness and memory. And L-theanine interacts with cells in innate and adaptive immunity, supporting general immune health (33–35).*
In human studies directly related to stress support, L-theanine has been dosed in amounts ranging from about 50-400 mg (30, 36–39). We opted for a recommended dose of 200 mg for several reasons. This has been the most common dose used in stress studies. In healthy adults, a 200 mg dose of L-Theanine has been sufficient to provide support for cognitive function, mood and sleep—areas that are routinely impacted by stress (37). And, a 200 mg dose has provided mood, cognitive, and physiological support under conditions of physical or psychological stress (38, 40).*
L-Ornithine
L-Ornithine is an amino acid found in meats, nuts, rice, eggs, fish, soybeans and dairy. It plays a role in supporting several important brain functions. Ornithine sits at the crossroads, so to speak, for the GABA (a calming neurotransmitter) and glutamate neurotransmitter pathways. It can cross the blood-brain barrier and be taken up by the brain, but may also have a gut-brain support role—some probiotic bacteria produce ornithine and animal research suggests a role for ornithine in gut-brain vagal nerve signaling (41). In both human and animal studies, ornithine has been used for reasons related to stress support (42–47).*
There’s quite a few physiological and functional reasons to consider L-ornithine for inclusion in Qualia Resilience. We want to introduce one more function that most people don’t know about. One of the most fundamental responses to stress is called the polyamine stress response (48–51). Plants and animals respond to stress—this response seems especially important in the brain, liver, and adrenal glands—by upregulating the production of compounds that have more than two amino groups (i.e., amines). Some neurotransmitters have one (e.g., dopamine) or two (e.g., serotonin) amines. But compounds that have more than two amines are called polyamines (poly as a prefix means many). The polyamine stress response exists in plants, has been conserved in animals, is induced by a diverse range of different sources of stress, and demonstrates support for stress resilience.*
L-ornithine enters the scene because it is an immediate precursor for the first polyamine (putrescine) in the polyamine stress response—spermidine and spermine are subsequent downstream polyamines. Using the brain as an example, polyamines are found in fairly high concentrations in the brain under normal circumstances. But during stress, the brain will try to make even more by upregulating the metabolic conversion of ornithine into polyamines. A similar metabolic process occurs in the adrenal glands as an important part of adrenal response to stress—insufficient polyamines impairs adrenal ability to respond to stress. We included a recommended dose of 125 mg of L-ornithine, at which it has been shown to augment dietary intake and to support the primordial polyamine stress response.*
Magnesium (from Aquamin® Mg)
Magnesium is one of the most abundant minerals in the body and is vital for the functioning of all living cells. It’s used in more than 300 enzymes. ATP (i.e., cellular energy) occurs complexed with magnesium, so all enzymes utilizing ATP require magnesium. Magnesium also plays a large role in breaking down sugars (glycolysis). Because magnesium supports the electrical functions of cells (i.e., it’s an electrolyte), muscle and nerve function rely on magnesium. All of these functions play important roles in responding to stress in healthy ways. And, how people subjectively experience magnesium deficiency and feeling “stressed” have some commonalities (fatigue, irritability, nervousness, etc.) (52).
Magnesium also has a number of functional roles that interact directly with stress (53). It’s a cofactor needed to make several important neurotransmitters and neurohormones involved in a healthy stress response. Part of the immediate response to stress is to shift magnesium from inside to outside cells. This is a healthy adaptive response to stress, but, if stress is extended, it can slowly drain cellular magnesium stores. And, low magnesium status seems to reduce the tolerance to stress, while contributing to an exaggerated response to some forms of stress. Think of magnesium as being akin to the question of which came first, the chicken or the egg, when it comes to stress—stress taxes magnesium stores, while poor magnesium status increases sensitivity to stress (this is the magnesium status and stress vicious cycle (52)). Not surprisingly, magnesium has been used for stress support for decades.*
Within the nootropic and functional medicine communities, magnesium (along with B vitamins) is thought of as a foundational nutrient for stress support. We chose Aquamin® Mg as our source of magnesium because it is shown to be a bioavailable source of magnesium that contains lesser amounts of 71 other minerals (54) and has been studied for supporting gut microbiota (55).* Aquamin® Mg is derived from the clean sea waters off the Irish coast. The Recommended Dietary Allowances for magnesium in adults varies from 310 to 420 depending upon age and gender. A majority of Americans of all ages fall somewhat short of this amount from the foods they eat (56, 57). We included magnesium in Qualia Resilience to help bridge the gap between dietary intake and the recommended intake.*
Aquamin® is a registered trademark of Marigot Ltd. of Cork Ireland.
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid)
Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is a vitamin found in a wide variety of fruit and vegetables, including citrus fruit (orange, grapefruit, lemons, limes), peppers, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and strawberries. Vitamin C deficiency results in scurvy. The name ascorbic (“without scurvy”) is derived from the Latin word for scurvy, scorbuticus. Since vitamin C corrects this deficiency, it has antiscorbutic activity, hence its name. Unlike most animals, the human body is unable to synthesize vitamin C. Not only can’t we make it, but tissues don’t store up much vitamin C either—the total body pool of vitamin C is about 1500 mg (58, 59). So, we must consistently obtain vitamin C from the diet.
Scurvy had been known about since ancient times, and killed many sailors during the European age of exploration in the 1500-1700’s. In 1747, a British Royal Navy ship’s surgeon (Dr. James Lind) found that fresh citrus fruits prevented scurvy (60). But it wasn’t until the years 1928-32 that scientists isolated the compound responsible. A Hungarian biochemist, Albert Szent-Györgyi, is credited with being Vitamin C’s discoverer—like many things in science it was more of a team effort and other people were doing similar work at about the same time (61). We mention this because Szent-Györgyi’s original starting material for isolating the compound were adrenal glands (he’d later switch to paprika) (62). Adrenal glands are major players in the stress response—they produce cortisol, epinephrine, and other compounds as part of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal stress axis—and they concentrate vitamin C. In fact, both the brain and adrenals concentrate vitamin C and appear to get priority when it comes to making sure they have enough (63).
While vitamin C is an antioxidant and is needed for producing some neurotransmitters and neuromodulators, we want to focus on its role in stress. Vitamin C is needed to make adrenal stress hormones (64), and the adrenal glands also release vitamin C as part of their response to stress (65, 66) (adrenal vitamin C secretion seems to be an integral part of the stress response), so adrenal stores of vitamin C decrease during ongoing stress (67). Vitamin C may also have a “braking effect” on the adrenals (think of this as meaning it helps prevent the adrenal response from becoming excessive and supports a quicker recovery after stress) (68–70). We included the full recommended daily value of 90 mg of vitamin C in Qualia Resilience because of how important it is in supporting a healthy stress response. This amount of vitamin C has been shown to be sufficient to sustain the body pool of vitamin C (58), especially when added to the amount found in the diet (on average about 75-100 mg) (71).*
Citrus Bioflavonoids
Citrus bioflavonoids are found in citrus fruits (oranges, tangerines, grapefruit, etc.), where they concentrate in areas like the skin, white material, and pulp. Bioflavonoids were discovered in 1936 by the same scientist we mentioned when discussing vitamin C, Albert Szent-Györgyi. He originally named the group of compounds “vitamin P,” because his experiments revealed that they positively influenced the permeability of capillaries (i.e, strengthened blood vessels). Szent-Györgyi, and other scientists, found that vitamin C alone was not always as useful as crude extracts from oranges, lemons, or paprika that contained both bioflavonoids and vitamin C (72–74). This is a main reason why citrus bioflavonoids are often combined with vitamin C—think of bioflavonoids as being a complement to vitamin C for supporting some of its functions.*
While citrus bioflavonoids have supported a healthy behavioral response to stress (75) and cognitive function (76–78) on their own (and so merit consideration for a stress nootropic), our main reason for including them in Qualia Resilience was to complement vitamin C. We discussed the important role vitamin C plays in how the adrenals respond to stress. Citrus bioflavonoids complement vitamin C’s adrenal support role, because they promote the accumulation of vitamin C in some tissues, with one of these being the adrenal glands (79–83).*
The citrus bioflavonoids are made from 100% whole sweet orange fruits, which contain a mix of bioflavonoids including hesperidin, diosmin, narirutin, naringin, nobiletin, rutin, and quercetin. Citrus bioflavonoids have been used in a wide range of doses in human studies, depending on the intended use and whether they have been used alone or combined with other ingredients. Cognitive studies, as an example, where citrus flavonoids have been used alone, have used doses ranging from about 70 to 380 mg (84–86). A single medium-sized orange has about 20 mg of flavanones (the most predominant type of citrus bioflavonoids) (87). Since we are using citrus bioflavonoids to complement vitamin C, our 50 mg recommended dose was selected to provide approximately an amount that would be consumed by eating 1-2 oranges.*
B-Complex
The B-complex family of vitamins is a group of water-soluble vitamins. Because of the interrelated nature of the B-complex family, they are often given together. B vitamins play important roles in cellular metabolism and energy production—all of them are involved in some way in supporting cellular energy processes. Vitamins B1, B6, and B12 are neurotropic vitamins; they support nerve health and function (88). Vitamin B6, B12, and folic acid collectively support healthy homocysteine metabolism and the methylation cycle. B-complex vitamins—vitamin B1 and B5 particularly—play important functional roles for a healthy adrenal response to stress.*
Individually and collectively, B vitamins are important for brain function and nerve health, playing roles in processes such as neurotransmitter synthesis, metabolic regulation, and antioxidant defenses. Like vitamin C, members of the B-complex family of vitamins support adrenal function and are essential for responding in healthy ways to stress. In fact, some of the earliest scientific research done on vitamin and hormone interactions was done on B vitamins and the adrenal glands about 100 years ago, while more than 70 years ago B-complex vitamin deficiency was found to be a form of stress (89). And, similar to what was mentioned for magnesium, within the nootropic and functional medicine communities, B vitamins tend to be viewed as a foundation nutrient base that should be in place for stress support.* The role of each B vitamin in Qualia Resilience is briefly explained below.
Thiamine (as thiamine HCl)
Thiamine was the first member of the B-complex family of vitamins found by scientists, hence its designation as B1. The body concentrates thiamine in metabolically active tissues, including the brain and adrenal glands. In the brain, thiamine plays roles in neurotransmitter synthesis, mitochondrial ATP production, carbohydrate metabolism (the brain’s main energy source is glucose), nerve health, and antioxidant defenses (90). Vitamin B1 has also been among the most important vitamins for supporting healthy adrenal gland function and responses to stress (89, 91–93). We selected a recommended dose of thiamine significantly greater than the daily value, because of its dual roles as a nootropic and stress support vitamin (thiamine and pantothenic acid have been the two most important B vitamins for preventing functional adrenal exhaustion in animals) (94, 95).*
Riboflavin
Riboflavin (vitamin B2) was the second of the B-family discovered by scientists. Like the other B-complex vitamins, it plays an essential role in cellular energy metabolism, and is especially important for mitochondrial ATP production (90). Similar to several other B vitamins, riboflavin has a role in supporting healthy adrenal function (96, 97) (though it hasn’t shown nearly as much functional impact as B1 or B5) (94). And, riboflavin is an essential cofactor in the glutathione redox cycle, it supports the antioxidant defenses that are foundational to a healthy cellular stress response (90). We selected a 2 mg recommended dose of riboflavin because this dose has been shown to be sufficient to support healthy riboflavin status (98–100).*
Niacin (as Niacinamide)
Niacinamide is a non-flushing form of vitamin B3 (the third B vitamin discovered). It is best known for its role in making a molecule called NAD, which plays a central role in cellular energy (i.e., ATP) production, and cellular defense, repair and stress response functions. Both NAD and other vitamin B3-dependent molecules support healthy brain function, nerve health (mental confusion is one of the signs of a vitamin B3 deficiency), as well as cellular and mitochondrial health (90). We included enough to supply 100% of the recommended daily value for this vitamin shown to help maintain healthy vitamin B3 status.*
Pantothenic Acid (as calcium pantothenate)
Pantothenic acid, vitamin B5, is the fifth member of the B complex discovered. It is an essential vitamin and the precursor of Coenzyme A (CoA), a molecule that is ubiquitous in the human body and that participates in the key metabolic pathways for cellular energy generation. CoA is also used in the synthesis of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine so is essential for proper nervous system function (90). Vitamin B5 is required to support healthy adrenal function—similar to thiamine deficiency, pantothenic acid deficiency results in functional adrenal exhaustion (95, 101–107), which is why it is sometimes described as an “anti-stress” vitamin. We opted for a suggested dose greater than the recommended daily value because of its role as both a nootropic and its importance as a stress support vitamin.*
Vitamin B6 (as pyridoxal 5'-phosphate)
Pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (P5P) is a coenzyme or active form of vitamin B6. It is a cofactor involved in over 4% of all enzymatic activities, including many metabolic pathways important for cellular energy generation and the production of neurotransmitter molecules involved in motivation, mood, and handling stress, including dopamine, catecholamines, and serotonin—vitamin B6 has a lot of central nervous system (CNS) functions (108, 109). We included vitamin B6 in Qualia Resilience to support the production of brain energy, neurotransmitter molecules, and CNS functions. We chose a 2 mg suggested dose (supplying just over 100% of the recommended daily value) because this amount has been shown to be sufficient to maintain vitamin B6 status in healthy adults and complements other B-vitamins—it’s also the amount the Linus Pauling Institute recommends supplementing in healthy older adults.*
Folate (as calcium folinate)
Folate (or vitamin B9) is part of the B-complex family. Folates are needed for myelin production, nerve function, and the production of a number of neurotransmitters (e.g., serotonin, melatonin, dopamine, norepinephrine). It also complements other B vitamins, especially vitamin B12 and vitamin B6 for cognitive function. The adrenals are one of the tissues where folates concentrate (110) and folates play a role in supporting healthy tissue levels of vitamin C (including in the adrenals) (111). Calcium folinate is considered to be an active form of folic acid (112, 113), because it does not require the action of an enzyme (dihydrofolate reductase) needed to activate folic acid (114), and is rapidly converted into 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (the major transport and storage form of folate in the body) (115–120). Our suggested dose supplies 100% of the recommended daily value amount.*
Vitamin B12 (as methylcobalamin)
Methylcobalamin is a member of the B-complex family of vitamins and is the coenzyme or active form of vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 is an essential vitamin for supporting the health and function of neurons, brain volume, mood and memory. And, like other members of the B-complex family, it plays a role in converting fats and sugars into energy. We used methylcobalamin as the form of vitamin B12, because this has been shown as the preferred nootropic form for supporting vitamin B12-dependent enzyme reactions in the brain and nervous system. The dose of methylcobalamin we used (10 µg) is about 400% of the recommended daily value. We chose this amount because it is shown to be sufficient to correct insufficiency and sustain vitamin B12 status in most healthy adults, and is within the range suggested by the Linus Pauling Institute.*
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, cure, or prevent any disease.
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