FocusMAX Can is a 330ml Caffeinated Nootropic Beverage and the UK's first ready-to-drink beverage to include uridine monophosphate, we think you'll like it.
FocusMAX Can drives cognitive function from four mechanistic angles: supply of neurotransmitter building blocks, dopamine receptor activity, brain cell health and repair, and mitochondrial output. Paired with a moderate dose of caffeine, because everyone wants caffeine don't they.
FocusMAX Can drives cognitive function from four mechanistic angles: supply of neurotransmitter building blocks, dopamine receptor activity, brain cell health and repair, and mitochondrial output. Paired with a moderate dose of caffeine, because everyone wants caffeine don't they.
THE FORMULA
Per 330ml can:
Available in Pineapple Coconut, Citrus Burst, Unicorn Pi55, and a mixed case.
L-Tyrosine: Dopamine Building Blocks
L-Tyrosine (1,000mg) is the amino acid precursor to dopamine, noradrenaline, and adrenaline. Under prolonged cognitive demand, acute stress, sleep deprivation, or stimulant intake, the brain consumes catecholamines faster than the resting rate of tyrosine production can support. Performance drops follow: working memory lessens, attention scatters, decision speed slows.[1]
Tyrosine supplementation maintains substrate availability across the conditions that strain catecholamine synthesis. Human trials show preserved cognitive performance under multi-tasking load, cold stress, and sleep deprivation when tyrosine is dosed in the gram range.[2]
Tyrosine does not force release of dopamine, it ensures capacity to produce dopamine on demand. This is why it pairs cleanly with caffeine: caffeine pushes the accelerator, tyrosine keeps the fuel in supply.
Uridine Monophosphate: Dopamine Receptor Sensitivity
Uridine Monophosphate (200mg) has two distinct cognitive effects: an acute action on dopamine receptor sensitivity, and a structural action on synaptic membrane synthesis.
The acute effect is what most people notice first, the horse blinder effect. Uridine modulates dopamine receptor expression in a way that makes the brain more responsive to its own dopamine output and to any dopaminergic compound consumed alongside it. In animal work, uridine treatment increases D1 receptor expression in a dose-dependent manner while reducing D2 expression.[3]
D1 receptors drive motivation, motor activation, and reward-linked attention, they are the go signal. D2 receptors, in excess, suppress further dopamine release through inhibitory feedback. Shifting the receptor balance toward D1 produces a more sustained, drive-forward signal rather than a spike-and-suppress one.
The subjective effect is quiet, task-sustaining motivation. The work in front of you feels more achievable. This is qualitatively different from caffeine, which blocks adenosine receptors and removes the I am tired signal. Instead uridine amplifies the I want to do this signal.
The structural effect builds over weeks. Oral uridine feeds the pathway that builds phosphatidylcholine for synaptic membranes, making for a structural input.[4] Then uridine also drives the formation of more structures in the form of new synaptic connections and the reinforcement of existing ones.[5]
Citicoline: Choline and Uridine functions All-in-one
Citicoline, CDP-choline (250mg) is the activated form of choline used directly in phosphatidylcholine synthesis, the component for making brain structures. It donates two things at once: a choline group, which feeds both acetylcholine synthesis and membrane phospholipid construction, and a cytidine group, which the body then converts to uridine.[4]
Acetylcholine is the neurotransmitter of attention gating and memory encoding. Adequate choline supply keeps acetylcholine production matched to cognitive demand. In healthy adults, 250mg/day of citicoline over 28 days has been shown to improve sustained attention performance compared to placebo.[6] Hence the 250mg per can of FocusMAX, meaning one can a day would match the trial.
For the uridine related function, factoring the dose you could view it as adding approximately 80mg of uridine monophosphate related function as discussed above, and dosing of uridine has been selected with this factored.
Per 330ml can:
- 1,000mg L-Tyrosine,
- 250mg Citicoline,
- 200mg Uridine Monophosphate,
- 120mg natural caffeine from green coffee bean extract,
- 25mg of Senactiv® from Panax notoginseng and Rosa roxburghii.
Available in Pineapple Coconut, Citrus Burst, Unicorn Pi55, and a mixed case.
L-Tyrosine: Dopamine Building Blocks
L-Tyrosine (1,000mg) is the amino acid precursor to dopamine, noradrenaline, and adrenaline. Under prolonged cognitive demand, acute stress, sleep deprivation, or stimulant intake, the brain consumes catecholamines faster than the resting rate of tyrosine production can support. Performance drops follow: working memory lessens, attention scatters, decision speed slows.[1]
Tyrosine supplementation maintains substrate availability across the conditions that strain catecholamine synthesis. Human trials show preserved cognitive performance under multi-tasking load, cold stress, and sleep deprivation when tyrosine is dosed in the gram range.[2]
Tyrosine does not force release of dopamine, it ensures capacity to produce dopamine on demand. This is why it pairs cleanly with caffeine: caffeine pushes the accelerator, tyrosine keeps the fuel in supply.
Uridine Monophosphate: Dopamine Receptor Sensitivity
Uridine Monophosphate (200mg) has two distinct cognitive effects: an acute action on dopamine receptor sensitivity, and a structural action on synaptic membrane synthesis.
The acute effect is what most people notice first, the horse blinder effect. Uridine modulates dopamine receptor expression in a way that makes the brain more responsive to its own dopamine output and to any dopaminergic compound consumed alongside it. In animal work, uridine treatment increases D1 receptor expression in a dose-dependent manner while reducing D2 expression.[3]
D1 receptors drive motivation, motor activation, and reward-linked attention, they are the go signal. D2 receptors, in excess, suppress further dopamine release through inhibitory feedback. Shifting the receptor balance toward D1 produces a more sustained, drive-forward signal rather than a spike-and-suppress one.
The subjective effect is quiet, task-sustaining motivation. The work in front of you feels more achievable. This is qualitatively different from caffeine, which blocks adenosine receptors and removes the I am tired signal. Instead uridine amplifies the I want to do this signal.
The structural effect builds over weeks. Oral uridine feeds the pathway that builds phosphatidylcholine for synaptic membranes, making for a structural input.[4] Then uridine also drives the formation of more structures in the form of new synaptic connections and the reinforcement of existing ones.[5]
Citicoline: Choline and Uridine functions All-in-one
Citicoline, CDP-choline (250mg) is the activated form of choline used directly in phosphatidylcholine synthesis, the component for making brain structures. It donates two things at once: a choline group, which feeds both acetylcholine synthesis and membrane phospholipid construction, and a cytidine group, which the body then converts to uridine.[4]
Acetylcholine is the neurotransmitter of attention gating and memory encoding. Adequate choline supply keeps acetylcholine production matched to cognitive demand. In healthy adults, 250mg/day of citicoline over 28 days has been shown to improve sustained attention performance compared to placebo.[6] Hence the 250mg per can of FocusMAX, meaning one can a day would match the trial.
For the uridine related function, factoring the dose you could view it as adding approximately 80mg of uridine monophosphate related function as discussed above, and dosing of uridine has been selected with this factored.
Senactiv®: Mitochondrial Output
Senactiv® (25mg) is a standardised extract of Panax notoginseng and Rosa roxburghii, produced by NuLiv Science. Its studied actions are in up-regulating citrate synthase activity and PGC-1α expression, drivers of the production of new mitochondria. Human trials in trained subjects show improved oxygen utilisation and reduced markers of post-exercise cellular stress.[7]
Thinking has a real energetic cost. The brain consumes around 20% of resting energy expenditure, the highest energy density of any tissue in the body.[8] Most of that goes to maintaining ion gradients across neuronal membranes and recycling neurotransmitters at the synapse, both of which scale up with cognitive load. Senactiv addresses the cellular energy side of cognition rather than the neurotransmitters, as we covered with the choline and tyrosine.
Senactiv also appears in CreaMAX as a cellular adaptation ingredient alongside creatine, you can read more details on it for other performance functions here.
Natural Sourced Caffeine
Natural caffeine (120mg) from green coffee beans: sits at roughly the dose of a single espresso. Uridine increases dopamine receptor sensitivity, and caffeine increases dopamine availability. The combination amplifies the perceived stimulant effect at the same caffeine dose. We know there's plenty of you that want more caffeine, but don't knock it till you try it. See that more is not always better.
Is there any special function by the caffeine being natural instead of synthetic? No. Same compound, same action, just a different way to get it.
Senactiv® (25mg) is a standardised extract of Panax notoginseng and Rosa roxburghii, produced by NuLiv Science. Its studied actions are in up-regulating citrate synthase activity and PGC-1α expression, drivers of the production of new mitochondria. Human trials in trained subjects show improved oxygen utilisation and reduced markers of post-exercise cellular stress.[7]
Thinking has a real energetic cost. The brain consumes around 20% of resting energy expenditure, the highest energy density of any tissue in the body.[8] Most of that goes to maintaining ion gradients across neuronal membranes and recycling neurotransmitters at the synapse, both of which scale up with cognitive load. Senactiv addresses the cellular energy side of cognition rather than the neurotransmitters, as we covered with the choline and tyrosine.
Senactiv also appears in CreaMAX as a cellular adaptation ingredient alongside creatine, you can read more details on it for other performance functions here.
Natural Sourced Caffeine
Natural caffeine (120mg) from green coffee beans: sits at roughly the dose of a single espresso. Uridine increases dopamine receptor sensitivity, and caffeine increases dopamine availability. The combination amplifies the perceived stimulant effect at the same caffeine dose. We know there's plenty of you that want more caffeine, but don't knock it till you try it. See that more is not always better.
Is there any special function by the caffeine being natural instead of synthetic? No. Same compound, same action, just a different way to get it.
Best Use Case Strategy
The can is built for repeat-use scenarios where 250mg caffeine would be excessive: mid-morning work blocks, study sessions, back-to-back meetings, technical training.
If you want the heavier-stimulation profile, the FocusMAX powder (250mg caffeine, 1g choline, 1g NALT, 500mg PS, Lions Mane, Rhodiola) remains the higher-stim option. Some users alternate: powder for the high-demand morning, can for a top up afternoon work block.
For training sessions where focus quality matters more than the stimulant load, the can works as a pre-workout. For high-volume or strength-focused sessions where you want a heavier stimulant base, use a StimuMAX preworkout instead.
The can is built for repeat-use scenarios where 250mg caffeine would be excessive: mid-morning work blocks, study sessions, back-to-back meetings, technical training.
If you want the heavier-stimulation profile, the FocusMAX powder (250mg caffeine, 1g choline, 1g NALT, 500mg PS, Lions Mane, Rhodiola) remains the higher-stim option. Some users alternate: powder for the high-demand morning, can for a top up afternoon work block.
For training sessions where focus quality matters more than the stimulant load, the can works as a pre-workout. For high-volume or strength-focused sessions where you want a heavier stimulant base, use a StimuMAX preworkout instead.
The 3 Flavours
Same active formula across all three flavours.
Same active formula across all three flavours.
- Pineapple Coconut. Tropical, lightly sweet.
- Citrus Burst. Sharp citrus profile. Refreshing rather than sweet.
- Unicorn Pi55. Sweet candy-soda profile for users who want the highest-flavour option.
FAQ
Q: How is this different from other focus drinks?
A: Most focus drinks are caffeine plus L-theanine plus a token dose ginseng or other "nootropic". FocusMAX Can is the first UK RTD to include uridine monophosphate, paired with citicoline at a trial-matched 250mg, 1g of L-tyrosine, and Senactiv® for mitochondrial output. It's different.
Q: How fast will I feel it?
A: Caffeine effects land within 20 to 30 minutes. Tyrosine reaches plasma fast and supports catecholamine production within a similar window. The uridine motivational signal typically appears within 60 minutes for first-time users. The citicoline and uridine effects on synaptic membrane composition build over weeks of consistent use.
Q: Can I drink more than one in a day?
A: Two cans give 240mg caffeine, within normal daily intake for most people. The non-caffeine ingredients have wider safety margins. Treat the can as an espresso and budget your total daily caffeine accordingly, especially if you are also drinking coffee.
Q: Does it stack with coffee?
A: It does, but expect to feel the coffee more than usual. Uridine increases dopamine receptor sensitivity, which makes the brain more responsive to caffeine's downstream dopaminergic effects. The combination is powerful. Drop your coffee dose first if you are not used to that level of stimulation.
Q: Is it suitable before training?
A: Yes, particularly for technical sessions where focus quality matters more than stimulation intensity. For high-volume or strength-focused training where you want a heavier stimulant load, use a StimuMAX preworkout instead.
Q: What is the caffeine source?
A: The caffeine is natural in origin, derived from a coffee beans rather than synthesised. Natural and synthetic caffeine are chemically identical, it's just where its come from.
REFERENCE MATERIAL
- Lieberman HR. Tyrosine and stress: human and animal studies. In: Marriott BM, ed. Food Components to Enhance Performance. National Academies Press; 1994.
- Jongkees BJ, Hommel B, Kühn S, Colzato LS. Effect of tyrosine supplementation on clinical and healthy populations under stress or cognitive demands: a review. J Psychiatr Res. 2015;70:50-57. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2015.08.014
- Wang L, Pooler AM, Albrecht MA, Wurtman RJ. Dietary uridine-5'-monophosphate supplementation increases potassium-evoked dopamine release and promotes neurite outgrowth in aged rats. J Mol Neurosci. 2005;27(1):137-145. DOI: 10.1385/JMN:27:1:137
- Wurtman RJ, Regan M, Ulus I, Yu L. Effect of oral CDP-choline on plasma choline and uridine levels in humans. Biochem Pharmacol. 2000;60(7):989-992. DOI: 10.1016/S0006-2952(00)00436-6
- Pooler AM, Guez DH, Sakakibara R, Wurtman RJ. Uridine enhances neurite outgrowth in nerve growth factor-differentiated PC12 cells. Neuroscience. 2005;134(1):207-214. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2005.03.050
- McGlade E, Locatelli A, Hardy J, et al. Improved attentional performance following citicoline administration in healthy adult women. Food Nutr Sci. 2012;3(6):769-773. DOI: 10.4236/fns.2012.36103
- NuLiv Science. Senactiv® (Panax notoginseng + Rosa roxburghii) clinical trial summary: citrate synthase activity, PGC-1α expression, and exercise recovery markers. Manufacturer data on file.
- Raichle ME, Gusnard DA. Appraising the brain's energy budget. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2002;99(16):10237-10239. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.172399499
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