Does methylene blue really work for your energy and brain?

Methylene blue has a remarkable property: inside the energy factories of cells (mitochondria), it can activate an alternative route that keeps energy production going even when the normal process is damaged. In cell and animal research this leads to greater mitochondrial activity in brain cells and less oxidative stress. That mechanism has been described consistently, but so far it has only been demonstrated outside the human body.

In animal models of brain diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, the effects are impressive. In mice, the hallmark features of Alzheimer's were reduced: the harmful protein accumulations in the brain diminished. In a specific model of age-related cognitive decline, one month of methylene blue administered via drinking water restored the spatial and episodic memory of older mice, while inflammatory responses in the brain decreased. These are relevant findings, but genetically engineered mice are simply not humans.

Whether methylene blue also improves cognition in healthy people is, based on the available studies, simply unknown. There are no sound human clinical trials on methylene blue as a brain booster in people without disease. One source mentions it in passing as a supposed memory enhancer, but provides no measurable results to support that claim.

On safety: methylene blue has been in use for decades as a medicine for conditions such as poisoning, and in that context it is attributed 'minimal side effects'. But that says little about years of daily use as a supplement by healthy people. Data on this are entirely absent from the available studies.