Our approach

The coordination hypothesis

What if supplements and structured cognitive training amplify each other in ways neither achieves alone? That's the question Pith is built to explore. Not with promises. With your data.

Why a coordinated program?

The supplement industry sells you a pill and says trust us. The brain training industry sells you a game and says you'll get smarter. Neither closes the loop.

Pith starts from a different premise: cognitive wellness isn't one thing. It's nutrition that supports brain function, exercise that challenges it, and data that shows what's happening over time. These three components, Nourish, Train, and Understand, are designed to work together.

We call this the coordination hypothesis. It's a hypothesis because we're honest about what we know and what we don't. The research on individual supplements is strong. The research on cognitive training is strong. The research on whether combining them produces synergistic effects is emerging. Rather than wait for a definitive answer, we built a system that lets you observe the interaction for yourself.

"Most supplement companies say trust us. We say let's find out."

Formulation philosophy

Four supplements, each chosen to address a different aspect of cognitive wellness. The selection criteria are simple.

  1. The dose is informed by clinical research. Where the literature has converged on an effective range, we aim for it. Where our format calls for a different approach, we say so.
  2. The effect should be observable over time. Pith's training and tracking are designed to surface patterns in your own data. We don't sell ingredients we don't have a way to help you measure.
  3. Full transparency. Every ingredient, every dose, on the label. No proprietary blends. No hidden formulations.

What we chose not to include matters too. We rejected NAD+ (limited demonstrated cognitive benefit in healthy human trials), methylene blue (a pharmaceutical, not a supplement), and underdosed lion's mane (the available product is at roughly one-third the researched dose). Honest formulation means saying no when the evidence isn't there.

Three of our four supplements use doses that align with published clinical studies: 5g creatine monohydrate, 600mg KSM-66 ashwagandha, and 275mg magnesium glycinate. The Energy Strips draw on the same caffeine and L-theanine pairing studied in the focus and attention literature, in a daily-use strip format with doses (50mg caffeine, 30mg L-theanine) chosen for routine use rather than the higher amounts in peak-effect research. We mention this because we'd rather be specific than oversell.

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

Training protocol

The brain training component isn't an afterthought or a gimmick. It's a structured cognitive exercise protocol designed around published research.

Spacing effect. One of the strongest findings in learning science: distributed practice outperforms massed practice. Sessions are built around it. Short, consistent, spread across days rather than crammed into one long sitting.

Adaptive difficulty. The training adjusts to maintain a 70-80% success rate: the zone where cognitive challenge drives improvement without frustration. Too easy and you're not growing. Too hard and you disengage.

Domain coverage. Each session draws from a set of short, varied tasks chosen to exercise distinct cognitive domains. Over weeks, you build a personal dataset that reflects how your cognition works across different kinds of demands, not just a single trained skill.

Five to fifteen minutes a day, most days of the week. Consistent enough to generate meaningful data. Short enough to sustain as a practice.

Personal measurement

This is where Pith diverges from everything else on the market. We don't ask you to trust us. We give you the tools to see for yourself.

N-of-1 tracking means building a personal dataset over time. Your training sessions generate cognitive performance data every day. When you log supplement intake, the app can look for patterns: do your scores differ on supplemented days versus off days? Are your morning scores shifting after weeks of magnesium? Is your focus consistency improving?

Important: this is personal observation, not clinical diagnosis. The patterns your data reveals are correlational, not causal. Individual variation is real. We're giving you a lens into your own cognitive patterns. What you see and what conclusions you draw are yours.

Insights take time. The patterns that matter emerge from weeks of consistent data, not days, and the picture gets richer the longer you've been tracking. This is a practice measured in months, not sessions.

What we're honest about

We believe in this approach. We also believe in telling you exactly what we know and what we don't.

  • Supplements are not magic. The evidence supports modest cognitive benefits at the doses we provide. Effect sizes range from small to moderate. We're not promising the impossible.
  • Training alone won't make you smarter. Cognitive training improves performance on trained tasks. Transfer to real-world outcomes is debated. We believe the combination with supplements and tracking changes the equation. That's a hypothesis we're testing alongside you.
  • Timelines are real. Different supplements work on different timescales, from same-day effects to several weeks of consistent use. We tell you upfront what to expect for each one, so you know whether you're looking for an acute change or building toward a longer shift.
  • Your results may vary. N-of-1 means your data is yours. Some people will see clear patterns. Others won't. Both outcomes are valid data.

References

The research cited below examines individual ingredients, training protocols, and measurement approaches. These studies were not conducted on the Pith program specifically. We cite them so you can see the foundation our choices are built on, and read the source material for yourself. Each section is collapsible.

Creatine 6 studies
  1. Avgerinos, K. I., et al. (2018). Effects of creatine supplementation on cognitive function of healthy individuals: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Experimental Gerontology, 108, 166-173.
  2. Rae, C., et al. (2003). Oral creatine monohydrate supplementation improves brain performance: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 270(1529), 2147-2150.
  3. Forbes, S. C., et al. (2023). Effects of creatine supplementation on brain function and health: An updated review. (Systematic review and meta-analysis.)
  4. Xu, C., et al. (2024). The effect of creatine supplementation on cognitive function: A systematic review and meta-analysis. (16 RCTs, n=492.)
  5. Marshall, R. P., et al. (2026). Creatine and cognition in aging: A systematic review of evidence in older adults. Nutrition Reviews, 84(2), 333. (6 studies, n=1,542.)
  6. Dolan, E., et al. (2019). Beyond muscle: The effects of creatine supplementation on brain creatine, cognitive processing, and traumatic brain injury. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 16(1).
Ashwagandha (KSM-66) 5 studies
  1. Chandrasekhar, K., et al. (2012). A prospective, randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study of safety and efficacy of a high-concentration full-spectrum extract of ashwagandha root in reducing stress and anxiety. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 34(3), 255-262.
  2. Choudhary, D., et al. (2017). Efficacy and safety of ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) root extract in improving memory and cognitive functions. Journal of Dietary Supplements, 14(6), 599-612.
  3. Langade, D., et al. (2019). Efficacy and safety of ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) root extract on sleep quality: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. Cureus, 11(9).
  4. Lopresti, A. L., et al. (2019). An investigation into the stress-relieving and pharmacological actions of an ashwagandha extract: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Medicine, 98(37).
  5. Salve, J., et al. (2019). Adaptogenic and anxiolytic effects of ashwagandha root extract in healthy adults: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical study. Cureus, 11(12).
Caffeine and L-theanine 3 studies
  1. Haskell, C. F., et al. (2008). The effects of L-theanine, caffeine and their combination on cognition and mood. Biological Psychology, 77(2), 113-122.
  2. Kahathuduwa, C. N., et al. (2021). L-theanine and caffeine improve target-specific attention to visual stimuli by decreasing mind wandering: A human functional magnetic resonance imaging study. (Attention RCT.)
  3. Baba, Y., et al. (2022). Effects of L-theanine on cognitive function in middle-aged and older subjects: A randomized placebo-controlled study. Journal of Medicinal Food.
Magnesium 2 studies
  1. Boyle, N. B., et al. (2017). The effects of magnesium supplementation on subjective anxiety and stress: A systematic review. Nutrients, 9(5), 429.
  2. Qu, X., et al. (2024). The neuroprotective and neurological functions of magnesium: An updated review of the literature.
Cognitive training 4 studies
  1. Lampit, A., et al. (2020). Computerized cognitive training in cognitively healthy older adults: A systematic review and network meta-analysis. (215 RCTs.)
  2. Jaeggi, S. M., et al. (2008). Improving fluid intelligence with training on working memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(19), 6829-6833.
  3. Coe, C. L., et al. (2026). Speed-of-processing cognitive training and 20-year dementia risk: ACTIVE study follow-up. (HR=0.75, 25% lower dementia incidence.)
  4. Han, K., et al. (2024). Dose-response of computerized cognitive training in healthy adults. (n=8,709.)
Distributed practice and spacing 3 studies
  1. Cepeda, N. J., et al. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354-380.
  2. Cepeda, N. J., et al. (2008). Spacing effects in learning: A temporal ridgeline of optimal retention. Psychological Science, 19(11), 1095-1102.
  3. Cepeda, N. J., et al. (2009). Optimizing distributed practice: Theoretical analysis and practical implications. Experimental Psychology, 56(4), 236-246.
Practice effects and measurement 2 studies
  1. Calamia, M., et al. (2012). Scoring higher the second time around: Meta-analyses of practice effects in neuropsychological assessment. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 26(4), 543-570.
  2. Goldberg, T. E., et al. (2015). Practice effects due to serial cognitive assessment: Implications for preclinical Alzheimer's disease randomized controlled trials. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, 1(1), 103-111.
N-of-1 personal measurement 1 study
  1. Lillie, E. O., et al. (2011). The N-of-1 clinical trial: The ultimate strategy for individualizing medicine? Personalized Medicine, 8(2), 161-173.

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