By John-Paul Andersen, PhD — Pharmacologist, Formulation Scientist and Co-founder of &Mind

It's 2pm. You slept fine, you've had your coffee, and your brain still feels like it's running on a low battery. Words take longer to find. The same email gets read three times.

Brain fog has plenty of possible causes, from short sleep to stress. But they all run into the same constraint: thinking is expensive. Your brain is about 2% of your body weight, yet it uses roughly 20% of your body's energy at rest.¹ More than 90% of the ATP it runs on (the molecule your cells spend as energy) is made by mitochondria, the tiny power plants inside your brain cells, and much of that energy goes to signaling between neurons.²

So when people ask me about “mitochondria maxing,” I start with a pharmacologist's honest caveat: you can't force mitochondria to make more energy than your brain is asking for. ATP production is driven by demand. What you can do is clear the bottlenecks that keep them from meeting that demand.

My own published research includes work in mitochondrial biology and lipid metabolism, and this is the framework I used to formulate &Mind: five bottlenecks between you and a clear head, and what the research says about each.

Bottleneck 1: Delivery (blood flow)

Mitochondria need a steady supply of oxygen and glucose, and your brain keeps very little fuel in reserve. It depends on moment-to-moment blood flow to deliver both.

Ginkgo biloba (&Mind AM, 120 mg extract) is one of the most studied botanicals for circulation. In a small MRI pilot study of nine healthy older men, 120 mg a day of ginkgo extract for four weeks was associated with a modest increase in measured cerebral blood flow.³ It was a small study without a placebo group, so I treat it as a promising signal, not proof. Cell and animal research also suggests ginkgo extract helps neurons hold their mitochondrial membrane potential under stress. That electrical gradient is what mitochondria use to make ATP.⁴*

Bottleneck 2: Fuel entry (acetyl-L-carnitine)

Your brain runs mainly on glucose, but most fuels converge on the same molecule: acetyl-CoA, the entry ticket to the Krebs cycle. Carnitine is part of the mitochondrion's shuttle system. It carries fatty acids across the selective inner membrane and helps keep coenzyme A free to do its job.

Acetyl-L-carnitine (ALCAR) (&Mind AM, 500 mg) is a form of carnitine that crosses into the brain and brings its own acetyl group. That acetyl group can feed the acetyl-CoA pool your cells use both to make energy and to build acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter involved in attention and memory. In old rats, feeding ALCAR, lipoic acid or both partly reversed age-related structural decay of mitochondria in the hippocampus, a key memory region, and improved memory, with the combination working best.⁵*

Bottleneck 3: The production line (B vitamins and CoQ10)

Inside the mitochondrion, fuel is broken down in the citric acid (Krebs) cycle. The electrons it releases are passed down the electron transport chain, and that flow powers ATP production. Most Krebs-cycle steps, and the entry points of the electron transport chain, depend on helper molecules your body builds from B vitamins:⁶

• Thiamine (B1) becomes thiamine pyrophosphate, a cofactor for pyruvate dehydrogenase, the gateway that feeds glucose-derived fuel into the Krebs cycle.
• Riboflavin (B2) becomes FMN and FAD, built directly into Complexes I and II of the electron transport chain.
• Niacin (B3) becomes NAD⁺, which collects electrons in the Krebs cycle (becoming NADH) and delivers them to Complex I. Yes, the same NAD⁺ that longevity research is so interested in.
• Pantothenic acid (B5) becomes coenzyme A, the “CoA” in acetyl-CoA.

That's why &Mind AM includes a B-vitamin complex: B vitamins support normal energy metabolism.*

CoQ10 (&Mind AM, 100 mg) is the shuttle in the middle of the chain, ferrying electrons from Complexes I and II to Complex III. It doubles as a fat-soluble antioxidant in mitochondrial membranes. Your body makes its own CoQ10, but tissue levels fall with age in some organs.⁷ A 2022 meta-analysis of 13 randomized controlled trials (1,126 participants, mostly people with chronic health conditions) found CoQ10 reduced fatigue scores compared with placebo, with larger effects at higher doses and with longer use. In the three trials of healthy adults, the effect pointed the same way but wasn't statistically significant.⁸*

Bottleneck 4: Protection (the exhaust problem)

Making ATP isn't perfectly clean. A small fraction of electrons leak from the transport chain and form reactive oxygen species. In small amounts they act as signals. In excess, they damage the machinery that made them.

The inner mitochondrial membrane is especially exposed. It's rich in cardiolipin, a phospholipid the electron transport chain needs to work properly, and cardiolipin's unsaturated fatty acids are easily oxidized.⁹ Lipid biochemistry is my home turf, and this is one of my favorite examples of structure driving function: protect the membrane and you protect the power plant.

&Mind supports your defenses in two ways:

• Switch on your own antioxidant systems. Glucoraphanin (&Mind AM), a compound from broccoli, is converted to sulforaphane by the enzyme myrosinase, which comes from the plant or from your gut bacteria, so conversion varies from person to person.¹⁰ Sulforaphane activates Nrf2, a master switch for your cells' own antioxidant and cell-defense genes. In cell and animal studies, Nrf2 also influences how efficiently mitochondria produce energy.¹¹*
• Shield the membranes. Vitamin E (&Mind PM) is the body's main fat-soluble antioxidant, stopping the chain reaction of lipid oxidation inside membranes.¹² Zinc (&Mind PM) is a cofactor for copper-zinc superoxide dismutase, one of the enzymes that neutralizes superoxide. Rosa roxburghii (&Mind PM) is a fruit naturally rich in vitamin C and polyphenols. And the CoQ10 in your morning dose pulls double duty as an antioxidant.*

Bottleneck 5: Recovery (the night shift)

Mitochondria maxing doesn't stop at sundown. Short-term sleep loss reliably impairs attention and working memory, the same functions that feel foggy after a bad night.¹³ And even mitochondria keep time: in mouse liver, the circadian clock drives daily rhythms in NAD⁺ and mitochondrial respiration.¹⁴

That's the logic behind two formulas instead of one. Daytime is for fuel and production. Nighttime is for wind-down and recovery. &Mind PM is built for the second shift:

• Magnesium glycinate. ATP isn't biologically active until it binds magnesium; the form your cells actually use is Mg-ATP.¹⁵ Magnesium also supports relaxation, and glycinate is a chelated form chosen to be gentle on the stomach.*
• L-theanine (200 mg). In a four-week crossover trial in 30 healthy adults, 200 mg of L-theanine before bed (the same amount in &Mind PM) improved self-reported time to fall asleep and sleep-disturbance scores compared with placebo.¹⁶*
• Lemon balm. In a placebo-controlled lab study in 18 healthy adults, a single 600 mg dose of a standardized extract increased self-rated calmness after a stressful task.¹⁷*

Your mitochondria map

Mitochondria maxing beyond the capsule

No supplement out-trains your habits. Aerobic exercise is one of the strongest natural signals for building new mitochondria. In mice, eight weeks of treadmill running increased markers of new mitochondria in most brain regions.¹⁸ Here's the free stack I recommend:

• Move daily. Brisk walks count, and a short walk after lunch is a simple way to soften the afternoon dip.
• Protect sleep. Seven to nine hours, on a consistent schedule.
• Get morning light. It anchors the body clock your mitochondria follow.
• Keep caffeine in the morning. Late caffeine borrows from tonight's recovery.
• Eat real food first. Whole foods are your main source of B vitamins, magnesium and antioxidants. Supplements fill gaps.

Ready to support both shifts? &Mind AM + PM is a 30-day supply of both formulas. Not sure yet? Start with the 2-day AM + PM trial for $9.99. Every first order is backed by our 30-day money-back guarantee.

References

1. Raichle ME, Gusnard DA. Appraising the brain's energy budget. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2002;99(16):10237–10239.
2. Harris JJ, Jolivet R, Attwell D. Synaptic energy use and supply. Neuron. 2012;75(5):762–777.
3. Mashayekh A, Pham DL, Yousem DM, Dizon M, Barker PB, Lin DDM. Effects of Ginkgo biloba on cerebral blood flow assessed by quantitative MR perfusion imaging: a pilot study. Neuroradiology. 2011;53(3):185–191.
4. Eckert A, Keil U, Scherping I, Hauptmann S, Müller WE. Stabilization of mitochondrial membrane potential and improvement of neuronal energy metabolism by Ginkgo biloba extract EGb 761. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2005;1056:474–485.
5. Liu J, Head E, Gharib AM, et al. Memory loss in old rats is associated with brain mitochondrial decay and RNA/DNA oxidation: partial reversal by feeding acetyl-L-carnitine and/or R-α-lipoic acid. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2002;99(4):2356–2361.
6. Kennedy DO. B vitamins and the brain: mechanisms, dose and efficacy—a review. Nutrients. 2016;8(2):68.
7. Kalén A, Appelkvist EL, Dallner G. Age-related changes in the lipid compositions of rat and human tissues. Lipids. 1989;24(7):579–584.
8. Tsai IC, Hsu CW, Chang CH, Tseng PT, Chang KV. Effectiveness of coenzyme Q10 supplementation for reducing fatigue: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Front Pharmacol. 2022;13:883251.
9. Paradies G, Paradies V, De Benedictis V, Ruggiero FM, Petrosillo G. Functional role of cardiolipin in mitochondrial bioenergetics. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2014;1837(4):408–417.
10. Fahey JW, Holtzclaw WD, Wehage SL, Wade KL, Stephenson KK, Talalay P. Sulforaphane bioavailability from glucoraphanin-rich broccoli: control by active endogenous myrosinase. PLoS One. 2015;10(11):e0140963.
11. Dinkova-Kostova AT, Abramov AY. The emerging role of Nrf2 in mitochondrial function. Free Radic Biol Med. 2015;88(Pt B):179–188.
12. Traber MG, Atkinson J. Vitamin E, antioxidant and nothing more. Free Radic Biol Med. 2007;43(1):4–15.
13. Lim J, Dinges DF. A meta-analysis of the impact of short-term sleep deprivation on cognitive variables. Psychol Bull. 2010;136(3):375–389.
14. Peek CB, Affinati AH, Ramsey KM, et al. Circadian clock NAD⁺ cycle drives mitochondrial oxidative metabolism in mice. Science. 2013;342(6158):1243417.
15. de Baaij JHF, Hoenderop JGJ, Bindels RJM. Magnesium in man: implications for health and disease. Physiol Rev. 2015;95(1):1–46.
16. Hidese S, Ogawa S, Ota M, et al. Effects of L-theanine administration on stress-related symptoms and cognitive functions in healthy adults: a randomized controlled trial. Nutrients. 2019;11(10):2362.
17. Kennedy DO, Little W, Scholey AB. Attenuation of laboratory-induced stress in humans after acute administration of Melissa officinalis (lemon balm). Psychosom Med. 2004;66(4):607–613.
18. Steiner JL, Murphy EA, McClellan JL, Carmichael MD, Davis JM. Exercise training increases mitochondrial biogenesis in the brain. J Appl Physiol. 2011;111(4):1066–1071.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

This article is for education and is not medical advice. Talk with your healthcare provider before starting any supplement, especially if you are pregnant or nursing, take prescription medications (ginkgo may not be appropriate alongside blood thinners), or have a medical condition.