Alpha-GPC
Alpha-GPC is a choline-containing phospholipid metabolite studied for cognition, memory, and acute focus and power output; research protocols typically use 300 mg orally daily (ranging up to 900 mg).
Best for
It has been studied for cognition, memory, and attention (including in dementia-related cognitive decline research) and for acute focus, motivation, and athletic power output in healthy adults.
What to expect
Pharmacokinetic studies report choline appearing in plasma within roughly 0.5-2 hours of an oral dose, and acute human studies have measured cognitive effects within a few hours of a single dose.
Pairs with
It is commonly stacked with caffeine for pre-workout focus and with other cholinergics or nootropics such as citicoline (CDP-choline) or racetams in cognitive research and supplement contexts.
Research and supplement use has typically employed oral dosing, with cognitive-decline trials using about 1,200 mg/day split into three 400 mg doses and acute studies in healthy adults using single doses around 300-600 mg, with the founder handbook describing a 300-900 mg oral, cycled approach.
- How often
- Daily
- When
- Morning
- Route
- Oral (by mouth)
- Cycle
- Cycle — a few weeks on, then a break (cognitive)
The same numbers the goodtides app and the Dose Calc use — a research reference, not a prescription. Responses are individual; research protocols start at the low end.
Alpha-GPC (L-alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine, also called choline alfoscerate) is a naturally occurring choline-containing phospholipid metabolite, structurally a glycerophosphocholine with the formula C8H20NO6P.
In the United States it is marketed as a dietary supplement and has been treated as generally recognized as safe (GRAS); it is not an FDA-approved drug for any condition, though it is available as a prescription cognition agent (choline alfoscerate) in some other countries.
Following oral intake it is cleaved in gut mucosal cells to free choline and glycerophosphate; the choline crosses the blood-brain barrier and feeds the biosynthetic precursor pool for acetylcholine, the principal neurotransmitter of the cholinergic system. Research in animal models has characterized it as increasing brain acetylcholine release (notably in hippocampus and cortex) and reversing scopolamine-induced amnesia, and it has been studied for effects on cholinergic and monoaminergic signaling tied to memory, attention, and motivation.
- Half-life
- Rapidly hydrolyzed into the choline pool; plasma choline elevation declines over ~4-8 h (no discrete parent half-life in humans)
- Peak
- Plasma choline rises within ~0.5-2 h (oral)
- Absorption
- Rapidly absorbed orally; hydrolyzed in gut mucosa to free choline + glycerophosphate; choline crosses the blood-brain barrier
- Bioavailability
- High choline delivery (~40% choline by weight); exact absolute figure not firmly established
References2
Log every dose, count every vial, and verify your batches — free in the goodtides app.
This page is educational reference material about compounds studied in research settings. It is not medical advice, and nothing here is a recommendation to buy, possess, or use any compound. Research findings described are from published literature; individual compounds may not be approved for human use. Talk to a licensed clinician about anything that affects your health.