Huperzine A

(Huperzia Serrata Extract)

Evidence: Reasonable
Possible Benefits: High
Safety: Reasonable

TABLE OF CONTENTS

What is huperzine A?

Huperzine A is a potent cognitive enhancer found in Huperzia serrata, an adaptogenic herb with a long history of use as a traditional medicine. While understudied, huperzine A can support many functions related to cognition. This article is about the main benefits of huperzine A, its potential side effects, the best time to take it, and more.

Possible benefits

All of the potential benefits mentioned below are dose-dependent. As with other adaptogens, there is a sweet-spot dose that allows you to get most of the benefits without causing meaningful side effects or tolerance buildup in the body. We will discuss the best dosing protocol later in this article.

Major benefits

  • Improved cognition – Huperzine A can improve memory, learning, task switching, and a few other aspects of cognition. These benefits are caused by multiple mechanisms, some of which include increased BDNF, increased acetylcholine levels, improved choline acetyltransferase and NMDA glutamate receptor activity, improved blood-brain barrier function, dopamine and noradrenaline release, and hippocampal neurogenesis.
  • Reduced symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease – Long-term supplementation of huperzine A can greatly improve memory, thinking skills, and behavior in people with Alzheimer’s disease.

Minor benefits

  • Neuroprotective effects – Huperzine A supports brain antioxidant defenses and neuroprotective functions in the brain.

Possible side effects

The side effects below are dose-dependent. The risk for them increases (often linearly but sometimes exponentially) as you increase the dose. Some of the side effects only apply to very high doses.

  • Initial adverse reaction – When you start taking huperzine A, things can get worse before they get better. This supplement can temporarily worsen some aspects of your health and even make you sick for a few days after you start taking it. That can be unpleasant, but it is usually a sign that the supplement is working and creating a hormetic response that allows the body to adapt and become more resilient in the long term.
  • Allergic reaction – Some people are allergic to huperzine A or Huperzia serrata and may experience an allergic reaction after they start taking it. Unlike the “initial adverse reaction,” allergic reactions typically don’t disappear until one stops taking the supplement.
  • Nausea – This side effect is most common when people take the supplement on an empty stomach.
  • Diarrhea – You can usually prevent diarrhea or stomach discomfort by taking this supplement with a meal.
  • Toxicity – As an adaptogen, huperzine A acts as a mild stressor on the body. That is usually a great thing as it allows your body to adapt to specific forms of stress and become more resilient. However, stressing the body too much can be counter-productive and cause multiple side effects, including toxicity. While acute toxicity is extremely rare, taking high amounts of this supplement could lead to chronic toxicity and cause health problems over time. To prevent chronic toxicity or the buildup of tolerance, staying below 100 μg of huperzine A in a day is best unless you have a great reason to take more.
  • Contamination – If growing or storing conditions are not adequately controlled, Huperzia serrata can be contaminated with bacteria, molds, and other potentially harmful microorganisms. Some growers also use pesticides and herbicides that can be unsafe. Another issue is that herbal supplements can get contaminated with other supplements and chemicals during the manufacturing process. Choose the brand you get herbs and herbal supplements from wisely. It is often best to use websites like Amazon, where thousands of users have reviewed and rated the products. You are less likely to buy something of lower quality there.

Who should not take huperzine A?

You should probably avoid taking huperzine A if you:

  • are allergic to this compound or to Huperzia serrata
  • experience a severe adverse reaction after taking the supplement (though a mild adverse reaction is usually a great thing as it is a sign that the supplement is working and causing a hormetic response that allows the body to adapt and become more resilient)
  • are pregnant or breastfeeding (while it can be safe to take this adaptogen during pregnancy or breastfeeding, it acts as a mild stressor and can put some unnecessary risk to the child)

Who will benefit the most?

You should consider taking the supplement if you:

  • suffer from Alzheimer’s disease
  • have a high budget for supplements and are willing to experiment with a variety of them (assuming you don’t fall into any of the categories that should avoid this supplement, huperzine A appears safe and is unlikely to do more harm than good for most people)

How much huperzine A should you take?

Because huperzine A is an adaptogen, it acts as a mild hormetic stressor on the body, which allows your body to adapt and become more resilient to certain kinds of stressors in the long term.

A higher dose does not necessarily lead to more pronounced benefits. Instead, there appears to be an inverted U-shaped dose-response pattern. In other words, you want to find a sweet-spot dose that allows you to get the benefits of huperzine A without putting too much pressure on the body or quickly causing the body to develop tolerance to the supplement.

The sweet-spot dose of a typical extract ranges anywhere between 5-10 mg of Huperzia serrata daily. If you purchase an extract standardized for huperzine A, the sweet spot dose of huperzine A is about 50-100 μg.

The higher end of this range usually provides slightly more benefits in the short term. If you plan to take this supplement for a longer time (multiple months or years), the lower end is probably a better way to go since you would develop tolerance faster if you were to take higher doses.

Additionally, very high doses can put too much pressure on your system and cause health problems if you take the supplement for a prolonged period.

While this supplement could theoretically cause acute toxicity, you’d need to take an extremely high dose that would be way beyond what even the most potent supplements contain.

Like most other adaptogens, it is best to cycle huperzine A and take about two days off weekly to reset your tolerance. That will allow you to keep getting the benefits in the long term.

Keep in mind that the effects of this supplement are cumulative. Therefore, you must take it for at least 2-4 weeks to notice most of the benefits. But again, cycling the supplement and not taking it at least twice a week is necessary to prevent tolerance in the long term.

Best time to take huperzine A

You can take this supplement with or without food. Each of these options has its benefits. It should absorb well either way.

If you experience nausea or stomach discomfort when you take this supplement, taking it with food should prevent these unpleasant effects or at least make them less intense.

If you take this supplement on an empty stomach, the short-term effects will kick in faster, and they will be more pronounced but will not last as long.

Whether you take this supplement in the morning or the evening typically does not make much difference. Both options are fine so feel free to experiment.

Where to buy huperzine A?

In most countries, Amazon is the best option for ordering huperzine A and other herbal supplements. They offer some very affordable products backed by many positive reviews. Also, you can choose from a wide range of brands without having to search through other markets on the Internet.

Some brands display the dosage per serving instead of per pill or capsule. Therefore, you may accidentally buy something less potent than you intended. Do not fall for this marketing trick.

FAQ

As with most other herbal supplements, it is best to cycle huperzine A and take a break from it for about two days per week to reset your tolerance back to baseline. That will keep your body sensitive to the supplement and allow you to keep getting the benefits in the long term.

It is almost always better to take an extract standardized for huperzine A. Not only do you know how potent it is, but it’s also stripped of some of the potentially harmful chemicals in the herb. Taking the herb without knowing its potency and chemical composition may not be safe.

All of these options are fine. The two most important things to consider are the price and dosing. Powders are almost always the cheapest form. However, you may need a highly accurate scale to dose them correctly (preferably 0.001g). You can get one for as little as $20 from Amazon. Dosing the powders also takes time which can add up over months or years. The disadvantage of capsules is that they are often made of bovine gelatine, which rarely comes from ethical sources.

Yes, you can. This supplement should not impact your sleep in any negative way. Whether you take it in the morning or the evening typically doesn’t make much difference. Both options are fine so feel free to experiment.

This compound should not become harmful once it exceeds the expiration date, but it can lose potency over time. Keep this herbal supplement in a cold, dark, and dry place and it should remain just as potent for many months or even years.

As an adaptogen, huperzine A acts as a mild stressor on the body. That is usually a great thing as it allows your body to adapt to specific forms of stress and become more resilient. However, putting too much pressure on the body can be counter-productive and cause multiple side effects, including toxicity. While acute toxicity is extremely rare, taking very high amounts of this compound could lead to chronic toxicity and cause health problems over time. High doses can also make you develop tolerance much faster than lower doses so they may be less effective in the long term.

While you could safely take higher doses, there is usually no point in taking more than 100 μg of huperzine A daily. This amount should give you most of the benefits without meaningful side effects. Paradoxically, taking a higher dose would likely lead to fewer benefits as the body would quickly become accustomed to the supplement.

Unfortunately, there is not much information about the half-life of huperzine A in the body. However, most of the effects of this supplement are cumulative, so they mostly happen in the long term rather than acutely. Therefore, the half-life of this compound isn’t very relevant in practice.

The effects of this compound are cumulative. Therefore, you must take it for at least 2-4 weeks to notice most of the benefits. But again, cycling the supplement and not taking it at least twice a week is necessary to prevent tolerance in the long term.

Yes, huperzine A is vegan-friendly. If you buy this supplement in a capsulated form, beware that the capsules often contain animal-based gelatin. Instead, find a brand that puts its products into cellulose capsules.

No, it does not. The supplement does not interfere with fasting in any significant way.

References

Most of the information in this guide is based on scientific research that can be found and verified in the PubMed medical library. We highly encourage you to use the library to verify anything you read in this article. We excluded from consideration studies that are either confounded or have a high conflict of interest.

You may also like:

We hope this guide has helped you determine if you should add huperzine A to your supplement stack and how to do it right.

If you have any further questions or want to share your feedback, feel free to send us an email!

We may receive commissions for purchases made through the links in this post.

<- View All Supplements

Share this with your friends:
SuppleWiki