GT's Immortal Focus Shots Review - Ingredients, Benefits, Considerations

Understanding GT's Immortal Focus Shots

GT's Living Foods, a leading manufacturer of raw and kombucha beverages, recently introduced Immortal Focus Shots as part of its line of wellness shots. These shots aim to boost mental clarity, focus, and energy levels naturally using a blend of fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, and tea extracts.

The Emergence of Wellness Shots

Wellness shots have become increasingly popular over the past few years as health-conscious consumers seek out nutrient-dense, low-sugar drink options. Unlike fruit juices which may be high in sugar, wellness shots pack a concentrated dose of vitamins, minerals, and other compounds beneficial for immunity, digestion, energy, or other wellness goals.

Manufacturers like GT’s Living Foods have capitalized on the growing interest in functionality and convenient, fast-acting delivery methods. However, many commercial options come with premium price tags, leading some consumers to make their own wellness shots at home.

Key Ingredients in Immortal Focus Shots

According to GT's, the Immortal Focus Shots blend contains:

• Goji berry - Known for its high antioxidant and nutrient content which may support brain and eye health.
• White tea extract - Contains caffeine and L-theanine which work synergistically to promote alert calmness without jitters.
• Reishi and cordyceps mushrooms - Adaptogens that may help manage daily stress.
• Schisandra berry - Considered an adaptogenic herb used in traditional Chinese medicine to increase concentration and mental endurance.
• Prickly pear extract - Delivers inflammation-fighting vitamin C and may enhance neurotransmitter production.
• Organic blue agave nectar - Sweeter than sugar but with a lower glycemic index.

Purported Cognitive Benefits

The combination of herbs, mushrooms, fruits, and teas packed into these one-ounce shots could offer unique brain-boosting advantages. Some potential benefits of the ingredients include:

• Heightened mental clarity
• Longer attention span
• Faster processing speed
• Increased memory retention
• Enhanced ability to multi-task
• More energy for productive workflow

By including adaptogens like reishi, cordyceps, and schisandra with antioxidants from goji, prickly pear, and white tea, GT's Immortal Focus Shots take a holistic approach to cognitive health. The company claims consuming just one shot first thing in the morning can support up to eight hours of sustained concentration and alertness.

Assessing the Functional Value of Focus Shots

Do wellness shots really deliver all the promised benefits for immunity, energy, cognition, and more? Or are manufacturers mostly hype and clever marketing?

Truthfully, limited scientific research exists on commercial combination formulas like GT's Immortal Focus Shot. However, extensive studies back the individual ingredients as carrying legitimate functional value.

Examining Supporting Ingredients

Goji Berries - Also known as wolfberries, these Himalyan natives contain an exceptional density of vitamin C, antioxidative carotenoids like zeaxanthin, vitamin A, zinc, iron and vitamin B complex. Studies link goji supplementation with neuroprotective effects, improved learning and memory in aging mice, and enhanced immune response.

Reishi - Used for millennia in Eastern medicine traditions, reishi demonstrates adaptogenic properties potentially modifying biological processes. Components like triterpenes, polysaccharides, and peptide fractions correlate with boosted immunity, stabilized stress response, increased free radical scavenging, and regulation of neurotransmitter production.

White Tea - Compared to other teas, white tea undergoes far less processing maximizing preservation of phytonutrients. The combinations of catechins like epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), theanine, and caffeine promote antioxidant capacities that may support healthy brain aging and optimized cognition.

Science-Backed Benefits

While research on the exact GT's Immortal Focus Shot formulation may not yet demonstrate clear benefits, the wealth of studies on individual ingredients suggest potential upsides:

• Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity defending against oxidative stress
• Increased neurotransmitter production including acetylcholine for memory and dopamine for concentration
• Enhanced cerebral blood flow and oxygen/nutrient delivery
• Upregulated communication between neurons
• Improved behavioral and cognitive test performance
• Decreased mental fatigue

Via these mechanisms, the ingredients in Immortal Focus Shots could theoretically offer temporary boosts in focus, vigilance, attention span, stress resilience, and clarity.

Considerations for Focus Shot Use

While natural products aim to optimize wellness, individuals react differently based on health status, physiology, genetics, medication use, and more. Those interested in trying GT’s Immortal Focus Shots should keep a few things in mind:

Caffeine Content

Each bottle contains around 40mg of caffeine from white tea extract. Those highly sensitive to stimulants may experience jitters, headache, anxiety, gastrointestinal upset, or sleep disruption.

Adaptogen Safety

Occasionally, adaptogens like cordyceps, reishi, or schisandra could cause issues for people on immunosuppressants, hypotensives, sedatives, anticoagulants or other medications. Check with a pharmacist for drug interaction risks.

Cost Considerations

Priced around $5 per individual shot or $50 for a 12-pack, Immortal Focus Shots cost exponentially more than making homemade wellness shots. Buying certain ingredients in bulk when possible helps decrease the price per shot.

Effects on Children

Due to the shot's caffeine content and lack of safety research on adaptogens for youth, GT's does not recommend Focus Shot use for those under 18 years old.

Alternatives to Focus Shots

For consumers trying to avoid heavily processed foods or high price tags, creating homemade focus and energy shots offers a cheaper all-natural option.

Potential Recipe Substitutions

Using similar adaptogens, antioxidants, fruits, mushrooms, and teas allows duplicating potential functional benefits:

• Matcha green tea instead of white tea extract
• Chaga mushrooms rather than reishi/cordyceps
• Tart cherry or blueberry juice for prickly pear
• Chia seeds in place of goji berries
• Maple syrup substitute for agave nectar

Sample Focus Shot Recipe

Try this antioxidant-rich cognitively optimizing wellness shooter:

• 1 cup pomegranate juice
• 1 tsp matcha powder
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 tsp chaga extract
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1⁄2 cup strained frozen tart cherry or blueberry juice

Adjust sweetness if needed then pour into an ice cube tray before freezing overnight. Pop out a cube into a shot glass each morning for a defrosted mini brain-boosting beverage.

The Bottom Line on Focus Shots

Do GT’s Living Foods Immortal Focus Shots confer powerful temporary cognitive advantages as marketed? Likely, they offer at least subtle benefit for concentration, stress adaptation, antioxidant protection, blood flow, and alertness.

However, blends specifically optimized through trial and error by nutrition scientists likely perform better than homemade approximations. But for those comfortable experimenting with functional ingredients independently, creating your own customizable wellness shots allows for personalization and increased affordability

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new treatment regimen.