GeniusPure Alpha-GPC: Stable Alpha-GPC 70% and 90% from NNB Nutrition

NNB Nutrition has done it again, releasing a higher-yield, patent-pending form of Alpha-GPC named GeniusPure™ that can go as high as 90% while maintaining stability!^[1] This article discusses the problem and introduces the NNB Nutrition solution, which has expanded to their entire FlowTech series.

Alpha-glyceryl phosphoryl choline, otherwise known as alpha-GPC, quickly rose as a star in the world of multi-ingredient supplement formulations, especially as nootropic supplements took off in the 2010s.

NNB Nutrition is proud to announce GeniusPure Alpha-GPC, which is patent-pending stabilized alpha-GPC at 70% or 90%!

Nearly all supplement industry professionals and savvy consumers have heard by now that alpha-GPC has powerful nootropic properties. It’s a bioavailable choline source,^[2] serving as a precursor to acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter responsible for learning and memory consolidation.^[3] This led to its use in nootropic focus supplements, but additional research expanded it to athletic applications as well:

Beyond Nootropics: Alpha-GPC’s Popularity in Sports Nutrition

Peer-reviewed research shows that alpha-GPC supplementation can upregulate acetylcholine, thereby transiently improving the subject’s ability to assimilate new information.^[4,5] Yet there are also studies showing ergogenic effects, including strength, power, and even growth hormone and thyroid improvements.^[6,7]

This has brought alpha-GPC to new applications, and you’ve likely seen it in several pre-workout supplements for these effects that go beyond focus.

Challenges with Alpha-GPC: Moisture, Storage , and Stability

However, it’s not all good news, especially for supplement formulators. Alpha-GPC’s use has brought awareness of large potential threats in clumping and stability.

A flashback to glycerol

NNB Nutrition improved glycerol powder with HydroPrime, and they’re doing the same for alpha-GPC with GeniusPure

Most supplement industry veterans are well-acquainted with glycerol, an osmolyte that can safely improve cellular hydration status. However, glycerol fell out of favor for a while because it’s hygroscopic, meaning it draws moisture from the surrounding air. Over time, this causes it to clump, thus ruining the texture of any powder it’s mixed with. If this process goes on long enough, glycerol can even brick, and turn into one solid piece of material. At that point, the entire product is ruined.

Fortunately, NNB Nutrition developed HydroPrime, a stabilized form of glycerol with vastly reduced hygroscopic activity. Thanks to NNB, with the clumping and bricking issue basically solved, glycerol has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity.

Alpha-GPC’s Glycerol Moment

As it turns out, alpha-GPC is also hygroscopic – whenever it’s in a form that’s 99% pure, it turns into a solid gel within seconds of air exposure, so quickly that you can actually see it happen.^[8]

Because of this, wholesale alpha-GPC usually contains stabilizing ingredients to help prevent it from clumping or bricking. A few examples are to use silica or calcium phosphate as the carriers.

Here’s what happens when you leave a leading trademarked form of alpha-GPC out for 60 minutes. See the GeniusPure comparison in the pictures and videos below.

These solutions aren’t perfect, though: First, it only slows the process – it doesn’t completely prevent it, as many frustrated consumers have reported. Second, it’s inefficient because the stabilizers often account for half the mass of the alpha-GPC ingredient. This wastes space, adds needless shipping expense, and is one more “inactive” ingredient that the body’s liver needs to sort through.

This is why you’ll often see alpha-GPC listed on a supplement facts panel with a % yield. It’s often the case that this number is as low as 50%, meaning that if you had a 1 gram serving of “50% yield” alpha-GPC, you’d only get 500 milligrams of actual alpha-GPC.

So, can NNB Nutrition do for alpha-GPC what they did for glycerol?

NNB’s GeniusPure – Alpha-GPC at Higher Yields – up to 90%!

Just like NNB solved glycerol’s hygroscopic problem, they’ve done it again for alpha-GPC. They’ve secured trademarks for their GeniusPure alpha-GPC, an exceptionally high-yield ingredient that’s engineered to be hygroscopically stable.

In the inset image and embedded videos, you can see the results of humidity exposure tests that NNB conducted to showcase the unprecedented shelf stability of GeniusPure alpha-GPC. Note that in these tests, the humidity level was 65%, much higher than you’d expect to find in your home or office. Yet, even after prolonged exposure to this high level of humidity, GeniusPure remained much less adulterated than generic alpha-GPC.

GeniusPure 70%

NNB’s 70% yield GeniusPure alpha-GPC was much more resistant to hygroscopic gel-ification than generic 50% yield alpha-GPC.

Even more impressive is the fact that GeniusPure did this at a higher yield – 70% alpha-GPC, instead of the common 50% yield of current competition. The magic is that NNB achieved vastly better results with roughly half the stabilization.

You can see more in NNB Nutrition’s video below:

GeniusPure 90%

However, if 70% yield still isn’t high enough for you, check out the results of the test NNB did on their 90% yield GeniusPure. Unsurprisingly, it’s not quite as stable as the 70% version, but obviously still a vast improvement on generic 50% yield alpha-GPC.

Even NNB’s 90% yield GeniusPure alpha-GPC did better than generic 50% yield material.

Watch in the video below:

GeniusPure’s Impact on Capsule Formulation, Stability, and Margins

In practice, supplement formulators can get 40% more alpha-GPC per gram of material than they could with a generic 50% yield product. This means they can use 30% less material to achieve the same effect. Improved yields allow for either better dosing in products (especially in capsules), or less overall weight taken up in a powdered formula.

More room in capsules and powders

With shipping costs what they are, every gram counts, and GeniusPure can save costs or allow formulators to fit more active ingredients into their tubs. Either way, the industry and the consumers both win.

Now a part of NNB’s FlowTech Series

After this article was originally published, the entire NNB Nutrition FlowTech series of ingredients was announced — and GeniusPure is part of that family. You can read more about it in the article linked above.

Conclusion – NNB Nutrition: The Industry Masters of Yield and Stability

In the supplement world, innovation isn’t always about identifying new ingredients, flavors, or plant extracts. Sometimes, the most important contributions come in the form of making flawed ingredients work better. The NNB team did it once before with HydroPrime glycerol, and now they’ve done it again with GeniusPure alpha-GPC.

In both cases, NNB did it by solving the hygroscopic problem. This company seems to be the industry leader when it comes to engineering solutions for ingredient adulteration by moisture.

Who will have the first few GeniusPure-based supplements on the market? We know a few are on the way. You can see all GeniusPure-based articles on the blog below, and sign up for our GeniusPure and NNB Nutrition news alerts below that.