If there were a supplement that could increase your brain’s performance, who wouldn’t be interested? That’s why when I heard commercials for FOCUSFactor on the radio, my feelings were a mix of interest and extreme skepticism.
I toyed briefly with the idea of giving it a try just for the heck of it (I spend so much time optimizing computers – why not optimize my brain?) until I saw how much it cost.
A Focus Factor Adult 120 ct bottle will cost you $74.95. Sheesh – that’s a lot for a bottle of vitamins. But wait, it gets worse. According to their FAQ:
As with any dietary supplement, it is very important to take enough FOCUSfactor and to take it consistently every day for best results. Four tablets of FOCUSfactor equals one serving, the minimum amount an adult should take every day. Why 4? The ingredients in FOCUSfactor consist of food-based nutrients, which are larger, in general, than synthetic ingredients. For best results, we recommend taking 4 FOCUSfactor tablets in the morning with food. Another 4 tablets may be taken in the early afternoon, up to a maximum of 8 per day.
Wow. You are supposed to take 4 to 8 of these things per day. That means that 120 count bottle will last you 15 to 30 days! So if you take this advice then you are spending $75 to $150 per month on vitamins!
Clearly, the FOCUSfactor folks are relying on the fact that you are so unfocused that you will not focus on how much this product is going to cost you! 🙂
Furthemore, even if you thought this amount of money were worth it to you if this supplement were indeed effective, it is quite doubtful that this supplement is effective.
Take this paper, written by a student in the Psychology Department at Vanderbilt University.
The most interesting part of it to me was this:
The main reason for the lack of direct claims is that Vital Basics was taken to court by the Federal Trade Commission for making unsubstantiated claims for FOCUSfactor and V-Factor, another VBI product marketed to increase sexual performance in men. The charges were settled and VBI agreed to pay $1 million in redress to customers due to not having adequate substantiation to back up claims on several commercial ads.
and you can read more about this in a press release from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
You can draw your own conclusions, but this is not a supplement that I am going to buy.
I definitely agree with you. Moreover, if you simply take a multi-vitamin tablet with one C tablet, one Fish Oil tablet, a single tablet of the combination of A,D,E, and one tablet of Potassium and Calcium, you get more of the same ingredients than you would get in all eight of the tablets suggested from FocusFactor. Really, just going to GNC and getting a bottle of a good multi-vitamin and taking just two a day will get you most of the same ingredients for a whole lot less.
Hi. Though I have no idea whether this formulation actually works, you may notice that the active ingredients there include plant derivatives which certainly have been looked at by individuals more experienced in biochemistry than a computer engineer or psychology student. And, according to an FDA ruling, herbal remedies must not advertize their health benefits. This is certainly not a proof of the herbal remedy ineffectiveness. Again, I have no idea as to these extracts’ effectiveness, but at least Focus Factor does not seem to be just a multivitamin.
Focus Factor does work. It is not particualrly the vitamins but rather the other ingredients. The cheapest way is to get it online for about $15 per bottle. I recommend it to my patients.