A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement a person's diet by taking a pill, capsule, tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients either extracted from food sources, or that are synthetic. The classes of nutrient compounds in supplements include vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids, and amino acids. Dietary supplements can also contain substances that have not been confirmed as being essential to life, and so are not nutrients per se, but are marketed as having a beneficial biological effect, such as plant pigments or polyphenols. Animals can also be a source of supplement ingredients, such as collagen from chickens or fish for example. These are also sold individually and in combination, and may be combined with nutrient ingredients. The European Commission has also established harmonized rules to help insure that food supplements are safe and appropriately labeled.
Vardenafil, sold under the brand name Levitra among others, is a medication that is used for treating erectile dysfunction. It is a PDE5 inhibitor. It is taken by mouth.
Nootropics are numerous natural, semi-synthetic and synthetic molecules which purportedly improve cognitive functions.
Adrafinil, sold under the brand name Olmifon, is a wakefulness-promoting medication that was formerly used in France to improve alertness, attention, wakefulness, and mood, particularly in the elderly. It was also used off-label by individuals who wished to avoid fatigue, such as night workers or others who needed to stay awake and alert for long periods of time. Additionally, the medication has been used non-medically as a novel vigilance-promoting agent.
The ECA stack is a drug combination used in weight loss and as a stimulant. ECA is an initialism for ephedrine, caffeine, and aspirin, with variants of it including the EC stack, which removes the aspirin for those who can not tolerate it. Dietary supplements based on or including elements of ECA were popular through the 1990s and early 2000s, but the marketing of ephedra- or ephedrine-containing stimulant combinations for weight loss and bodybuilding is now restricted or illegal in the United States,and the Netherlands due to reports of heart attack, stroke, and death associated with these supplements.
Bodybuilding supplements are dietary supplements commonly used by those involved in bodybuilding, weightlifting, mixed martial arts, and athletics for the purpose of facilitating an increase in lean body mass. Bodybuilding supplements may contain ingredients that are advertised to increase a person's muscle, body weight, athletic performance, and decrease a person's percent body fat for desired muscle definition. Among the most widely used are high protein drinks, pre-workout blends, branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), glutamine, arginine, essential fatty acids, creatine, HMB, whey protein, ZMA, and weight loss products. Supplements are sold either as single ingredient preparations or in the form of "stacks" – proprietary blends of various supplements marketed as offering synergistic advantages.
Vinpocetine is a synthetic derivative of the vinca alkaloid vincamine, differing by the removal of a hydroxyl group. Vincamine is extracted from either the seeds of Voacanga africana or the leaves of Vinca minor.
Picamilon is a drug formed by a synthetic combination of niacin and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). It was developed in the Soviet Union in 1969 and further studied in both Russia and Japan as a prodrug of GABA.
β-Methylphenethylamine is an organic compound of the phenethylamine class, and a positional isomer of the drug amphetamine, with which it shares some properties. In particular, both amphetamine and β-methylphenethylamine are human TAAR1 agonists. In appearance, it is a colorless or yellowish liquid.
Methylhexanamine is an indirect sympathomimetic drug invented and developed by Eli Lilly and Company and marketed as an inhaled nasal decongestant from 1948 until it was voluntarily withdrawn from the market in the 1980s.
Phenpromethamine, also known as N,β-dimethylphenethylamine, is a sympathomimetic nasal decongestant of the phenethylamine group. It was previously marketed as a nasal inhaler from 1943 through 1960 but is no longer available. The medication is a stimulant and is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. It has been detected in dietary supplements starting in the 2010s.
Octodrine is a stimulant drug whose pharmacology was studied in a dozen animal studies from the 1940s through the 1970s. These studies found that octodrine can increase blood pressure and cardiac output in animals. The drug was previously approved for use by the FDA as an inhalant and in Germany as an oral agent as part of a multicomponent medication, but is no longer available.
N-Phenylacetyl-l-prolylglycine ethyl ester is promoted as a nootropic and is a prodrug of cyclic glycine-proline. Other names include the brand name Noopept, developmental code GVS-111; proposed INN omberacetam.
Mebolazine is a synthetic, orally active androgen/anabolic steroid (AAS) and a 17α-alkylated derivative of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) which is no longer marketed. It has a unique and unusual chemical structure, being a dimer of methasterone linked at the 3-position of the A-ring by an azine group, and reportedly acts as a prodrug of methasterone.
Oxilofrine is a substituted phenethylamine stimulant drug chemically related to ephedrine and to synephrine.
Eutylone is a stimulant and empathogenic compound developed in the 1960s, which is classified as a designer drug. It was first reported to the EMCDDA in 2014 and became widespread internationally in 2019-2020 following bans on the related compound ephylone. It is not a natural, but a synthetic cathinone. In 2021, eutylone was the most common cathinone identified by the Drug Enforcement Administration in the United States.
Sulfoaildenafil (thioaildenafil) is a synthetic drug that is a structural analog of sildenafil (Viagra). It was first reported in 2005, and it is not approved by any health regulation agency. Like sildenafil, sulfoaildenafil is a phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor.
Tofacitinib, sold under the brand Xeljanz among others, is a medication used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, polyarticular course juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and ulcerative colitis. It is a janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor, discovered and developed by the National Institutes of Health and Pfizer.
Pre-workout is a generic term for a range of bodybuilding supplement products used by athletes and weightlifters to enhance athletic performance. Supplements are taken to increase endurance, energy, and focus during a workout. Pre-workout supplements contain a variety of ingredients such as caffeine and creatine, differing by capsule or powder products. The first pre-workout product entered the market in 1982, and since then the category has grown in use. Some pre-workout products contain ingredients linked to adverse effects. Although these products are not regulated, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns consumers to be cautious when consuming them.
Deterenol is a stimulant drug which acts as a beta agonist. It has been found as an ingredient of dietary supplement products, but is banned in most countries due to risk of cardiac arrest.
