- How were you inspired to launch Puresport?
- What are nootropics and adaptogenics?
- What are the physical benefits of adaptogens?
- What is unique about your formulations?
- What do you recommend for exercise and endurance?
- Tell us about the Informed Sport certifications
- What can we look out for in the future?
Puresport
Newly launched at John Bell & Croyden, Puresport provides nootropic and adaptogenic supplements to support several areas of wellness. We spoke with the brand's founder, Grayson Hart to get some intel on the supplements and discover what the nootropics range has to offer.
How were you inspired to launch Puresport?
Puresport was born out of a genuine need for a natural alternative to painkillers and pharmaceuticals. Throughout my professional rugby career, I suffered from a degenerative knee issue which often caused a lot of pain and led to a reliance on heavy painkillers in order to allow me to continue playing. It made me realise that our modern approach to health and wellness hinges around a ‘quick-fix’ mentality that leads us to neglect the ideas of preventative, long-term health, and instead focuses on treating the symptoms, not the root causes. This has serious impacts on mental and physical wellbeing, so I set out in search for a more natural solution that could support me long-term.
After a deep dive into the world of natural remedies I found CBD, Mushrooms & Nootropics had some amazing benefits in optimising my mind and body and was finally able to move away from pain killers. Eventually, the club I was contracted with said I wasn't allowed to use these supplements as they were not certified for drug tested athletes. This was the inspiration for me to create Puresport.
I connected with scientists and product developers to start the journey of creating the world's most transparent, trusted, and tested range of products that could be used by athletes and people from all walks of life. It sounds simple, but not many products on the market at the time were consistent, or trustworthy, and I wanted to address this.
This drove me to create Puresport, the world’s first fully batch tested and certified CBD brand. It’s safe for drug-tested athletes but it’s not just for them. I’m proud that it can be enjoyed by everyone as the most trusted CBD in the UK.
What are nootropics and adaptogenics and how do they work?
Adaptogens
An adaptogen is a natural plant or herb which can help the brain and body ‘adapt’ to feelings of stress, anxiety, fatigue and overall well being. In turn, they can have a positive impact on quality of sleep, energy, cognitive function and PMS in women. They do this by targeting the adrenals, the glands which handle hormonal responses to stress and help us manage anxiety and fatigue in a healthy way.
Within the classification of adaptogens there are two basic types: those that are considered effective in stimulating the body and those that are thought to relax it. Well known adaptogens in the former category include Ginseng, Ginkgo Biloba and Lion’s mane mushroom.
Those that help soothe the adrenals by relaxing the body fall into the latter category; these include the Reishi mushroom, Cordyceps mushroom, and Ashwagandha.
Nootropics
Nootropics are considered 'cognitive enhancers' and are supplements that many people use to improve memory, aid concentration, and even boost energy levels and heighten mood.
There are a wide range of substances that can be considered ‘nootropics’, including caffeine, but as many people know, caffeine can have a negative effect on the body and brain, like the ‘caffeine jitters’. Nootropics that Puresport offers are high performing herbal remedies, plant extracts and mushrooms, which can offer benefits for your mood, long-term brain health, and ability to focus, without some of these negative side-effects.
Other than cognitive performance, what might be the physical benefits of taking adaptogens?
Adaptogens work to combat stress in the body. Stress itself can contribute to a number of physical issues within the body such as fatigue, lack of energy, food cravings and even a weakened immune system. Therefore, by combating stress with adaptogens you can, in turn, help reduce the physical impacts stress has on the body, such as the ones mentioned above.
What is unique about the Puresport formulations?
Puresports products are of the highest quality and all of our products are bespoke and unique formulations to provide a specific benefit. We utilise elite athletes to promote our products because they are known to only utilise products that truly optimise their performance and health. We have created a complete range of products which have been certified by Informed Sport and the BSCG, meaning they are rigorously tested on their purity, quality and for banned substances to ensure they are safe for everybody, even for drug-tested athletes.
We’re hugely passionate about the efficacy of our products. A lot of research has gone into ensuring that our products are the most beneficial for our customer and the formulations are created specifically with this in mind. They contain the highest quality ingredients, in the right amounts. To ensure they work effectively, we believe in bringing together the best of nature and science to make products that have real, tangible benefits to thousands of people worldwide
As an athlete, what product would you recommend that works best for exercise and endurance?
One of my favourite products has got to be our Cordyceps mushroom capsules. From an athletic performance perspective these capsules are amazing as they help optimise the functionality of your heart and lungs by increasing the body’s ATP- the body's biochemical way to store and transport energy. ATP increases oxygen flow to key muscle groups, and can boost your VO2 Max by up to 11%. We’ve had amazing feedback on how well our Cordyceps capsules work to achieve better athletic performance, particularly for runners. Also the use of the 1000mg Muscle and Joint Balm has been a daily staple for me for 4 years now and helps ease the pain and inflammation of an Osteoarthritic knee which was the original cause of my over use of painkillers throughout my rugby career. Finding a natural pain reliever has been a game changer for me.
The mushroom supplements are certified by Informed Sport. Can you tell us a bit about this certification and what it means for the products?
The Informed Sport certification is something we’re really proud of. Informed Sport is a world-famous testing lab that analyses and tests formulations to ensure they are free from over 1200 banned substances and are fully WADA compliant, making them safe for everyone - from beginners to pros.
Having this trusted certification on our products is a huge USP for Puresport since lack of high quality and safe CBD and natural supplements for athletes was part of what drove me to create Puresport in the first place. This certification is essential not just for athletes but for the wider consumer as sadly there are far too many products on the market that are mislabelled and carrying low quality ingredients and also contaminated with banned substances. I’m really proud that Puresport is able to offer a truly trustworthy range of products that people can take with complete peace of mind.
What else can we look out for from Puresport in the future?
Our mission is to empower people with knowledge, connection with like minded people and the most effective natural products. We have some hugely exciting product development plans to further optimise people’s lives so watch this space! Community is at the very heart of what we do and it’s something we’ll continue to foster and grow, we are looking to roll out more run clubs, host more panel talks, most likely into new cities and new markets. This is something that’s really exciting to us since our community is such a core part of the brand DNA.
After raising our target on our crowdfunding campaign in 2022 we’re set up to expand the team and the business to the next level and we’re really excited for this next chapter.