Mixed your Perfection Pre-Workout White Energy and watched it turn red? That's no mistake. It's Brainberry®, a natural extract of aronia berries and one of the ingredients that makes Perfection Pre-Workout different from other pre-workouts. Unlike most "focus" ingredients, it's completely stimulant-free. In this deep dive we explain what aronia (also called chokeberry) is, what Brainberry® is, what the research says, why we added it to Perfection Pre-Workout and why it gives your shake its colour.
Brainberry® at a glance
Quick answer: why is my pre-workout red?
If your Perfection Pre-Workout turns red or pink, that's Brainberry®: a stimulant-free aronia berry extract whose natural anthocyanins turn red in the slightly acidic drink. It's harmless, natural and simply a sign that the Brainberry® is in your shake.
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What Is Aronia Berry (Chokeberry)?
Aronia is a small, dark berry that grows on shrubs originally native to eastern North America. The best-known species is Aronia melanocarpa, the black chokeberry, which is now also widely grown across Europe. There's also a red chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia), but it's the black one that's used most in food and supplements.
Eaten raw, aronia berries taste tart and quite dry in your mouth, which is where the name "chokeberry" comes from. That's why you mostly find them in juices, jams, dried fruit mixes and extracts. What makes them stand out is their deep colour: aronia berries are among the fruits with the highest content of polyphenols, and in particular anthocyanins, the natural pigments that give berries their red, purple and blue shades.
What Is Brainberry®?
Brainberry® is a patented extract made from fresh aronia berries of one specific variety, Nero Eggert, grown on the plains of the Baltics. It was developed in Maastricht in the Netherlands by BioActor, now part of Solabia Nutrition, and has been researched together with Maastricht University for years.
The extract is standardised for cyanidin-3-O-galactoside, the main anthocyanin in aronia. That means every batch contains the same amount of the compound researchers are interested in, so you get consistent quality in every serving. Brainberry® is stimulant-free, contains no caffeine and has a neutral taste. According to its producer, it's the only aronia extract that has been clinically studied for brain fitness.
What Does the Research Say About Brainberry®?
This is where Brainberry® differs from a simple berry powder. It has been studied in three randomised controlled trials with researchers from Maastricht University, as well as in two consumer studies with gamers and professional athletes.
Clinical studies
| Study | Who and how | What researchers found |
|---|---|---|
| Nutrients, 2020 | Adults aged 40 to 60, 24 weeks, double-blind and placebo-controlled. The dose used matches 65mg of today's extract. | Significantly better psychomotor speed than placebo, already visible after 6 weeks. Further analysis also pointed to better focus. |
| European Journal of Nutrition, 2024 | 35 healthy young adults, 1 week, double-blind and placebo-controlled cross-over | Better scores on attention and psychomotor speed tests, and a 5.7% increase in BDNF, a protein involved in learning and memory. |
| Clinical Nutrition, 2026 | 30 older adults, 6 weeks, double-blind and placebo-controlled cross-over | Significant improvement in executive function, measured with a working memory test. |
Consumer studies with gamers and basketball players
Two further studies looked at people in real-life situations where focus and reactions really matter. Both used 65mg of Brainberry® a day, the same amount as in one serving of Perfection Pre-Workout.
- Gamers: 21 recreational gamers rated their performance after a gaming session, before they started, after their first dose and after one week. They reported better eye-hand coordination, focus, reaction time and energy after the very first dose, and these scores stayed higher after one week. Their sleep quality and anxiety scores did not change.
- Professional basketball players: 35 professional players took Brainberry® 30 minutes before practice for one week. They rated their focus, reaction time and eye-hand coordination higher after the first dose, and higher still after a week. Their scores for shooting precision, rebounding and dribbling also went up, while their stress and fatigue scores went down. Sleep quality was not affected.
Good to know: these two consumer studies were open-label and based on questionnaires, so participants knew what they were taking and rated themselves. That makes them a good picture of how Brainberry® feels in practice, while the three clinical trials above provide the placebo-controlled evidence. You'll find all studies in the sources below.
How Does Brainberry® Work?
The key compound is cyanidin-3-O-galactoside. Research indicates that it can cross the blood-brain barrier, the protective filter between your blood and your brain. Researchers link Brainberry® to two mechanisms:
- Acetylcholine: in animal research, aronia extract lowered the activity of an enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine, a messenger substance your brain uses for signalling between nerve cells.
- BDNF: in the 2024 human study, Brainberry® increased levels of BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), a protein involved in synaptic plasticity, the way your brain adapts and learns.
What makes this interesting for training is what Brainberry® is not: it's not a stimulant. It works in a completely different way from caffeine, which is exactly why it fits so well in a pre-workout.
Why Is Brainberry® in Perfection Pre-Workout?
Most pre-workouts focus on two things: stimulation and pump. With Perfection Pre-Workout, we wanted a third pillar: the mental side of training. Staying locked in during every set matters just as much as energy or a good pump, especially in long, high-volume sessions.
The usual way to get more "focus" in a pre-workout is simply adding more stimulants. Brainberry® offers something different: a stimulant-free ingredient that was researched at the same 65mg dose you get in one full serving of Perfection Pre-Workout, and that was taken before training in the basketball study. That's why Perfection Pre-Workout is built around three parts:
65mg Brainberry®, 2,000mg L-tyrosine and 1,500mg choline bitartrate (630mg choline).
320mg caffeine and 198mg theobromine per serving of 2 scoops.
9,000mg L-citrulline and 4,000mg beta-alanine, plus betaine and pine bark extract.
Body&Fit is the exclusive home of Brainberry®. Besides Perfection Pre-Workout, you'll also find it in our Pre-Workout Double Shot (65mg per 100ml bottle). Want to know more about the full Perfection Pre-Workout formula? Read our Perfection Pre-Workout blog.
Why Does Perfection Pre-Workout Turn Red or Pink?
Perfection Pre-Workout turns red or pink because it contains Brainberry®, a natural aronia berry extract. Its anthocyanins, natural plant pigments, turn red in the slightly acidic drink. It's completely harmless and no artificial colouring is involved. You notice it most with lighter flavours like White Energy: the powder looks light in the tub, but turns red the moment you mix it with water.
The extract itself is dark purple to magenta, thanks to the anthocyanins in aronia berries. These natural pigments change colour depending on how acidic their surroundings are: in an acidic environment they turn red, in a neutral one they look more purple. Pre-workouts contain food acids for a fresh, fruity taste, so the moment your powder hits the water, the anthocyanins show their red side. No artificial colouring involved, just the berry.
A practical tip: anthocyanins can colour your shaker over time. Rinse it with water straight after use and it stays clean.
Is Aronia Safe?
Aronia berries are a normal food that people have eaten for centuries in juices, jams and dried fruit. Brainberry® is a food supplement ingredient that complies with European regulations. In the consumer studies, it had no effect on sleep quality, which is a nice contrast with stimulants.
What you do need to keep in mind with Perfection Pre-Workout is the caffeine: 320mg per serving of 2 scoops. Whether a full serving suits you depends on your body weight and on how used to caffeine you are.
How Much Caffeine Can You Take at Once? It Depends on Your Body Weight
You'll often read that 200mg of caffeine at once is safe. That figure comes from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and is based on an adult of 70kg: the guideline behind it is about 3mg of caffeine per kg of body weight. So the right amount for you depends on your weight, and on how used to caffeine you are.
For Perfection Pre-Workout (160mg of caffeine per scoop), that means:
- 2 scoops (320mg) if you weigh around 100kg.
- 1 scoop (160mg) if you weigh around 60kg.
Prefer a lower dose in a handy format? The Pre-Workout Double Shot contains 160mg of caffeine per 100ml bottle. That's two servings of 50ml with 80mg each, which is why it's called a double shot: take half a bottle for a lighter session, or the whole bottle when you want more.
First time using a pre-workout, or not used to caffeine? Then start with half a serving, whichever pre-workout you choose: 1 scoop of Perfection Pre-Workout or half a bottle of the Pre-Workout Double Shot. See how your body reacts, and only build up once you know it suits you.
Your daily total is a separate limit: healthy adults can have up to 400mg of caffeine a day from all sources. A morning coffee (around 90mg) plus 2 scoops of Perfection Pre-Workout (320mg) comes to 410mg, just over that limit. Take 1 scoop instead, or skip the coffee on training days. Pregnant or breastfeeding? Then the advice is a maximum of 200mg a day.
How to Take Perfection Pre-Workout
- One serving is 2 scoops, which gives you 65mg of Brainberry® and 320mg of caffeine. New to Perfection Pre-Workout or to strong pre-workouts? Start with 1 scoop.
- Mix it with 250 to 500ml of water and shake until fully dissolved. Watch it turn red.
- Drink it 30 to 60 minutes before training, so the caffeine peaks when you start.
- Count your other caffeine and stay within 400mg a day in total.
- Training late? Take it earlier, use 1 scoop or choose a pre-workout without caffeine.
For the full rundown on timing, dry scooping and more, see our complete pre-workout guide.
FAQ: Brainberry® and Aronia
Why is my pre-workout red or pink?
If you use Perfection Pre-Workout, the colour comes from Brainberry®, a natural aronia berry extract. Its anthocyanins turn red in the slightly acidic drink. It's harmless and no artificial colouring is involved.
Is Brainberry® a stimulant?
No. Brainberry® is a berry extract without caffeine or other stimulants. The caffeine in Perfection Pre-Workout comes from a separate ingredient: 320mg per serving of 2 scoops.
How much Brainberry® is in Perfection Pre-Workout?
One full serving of 2 scoops contains 65mg of Brainberry®, the same daily dose used in the consumer studies with gamers and basketball players. One scoop gives you half of that.
Is the red colour of Perfection Pre-Workout artificial?
No. The red colour comes from the natural anthocyanins in Brainberry®. The extract itself is dark purple to magenta, and it turns red in the slightly acidic drink.
Can you taste the aronia in Perfection Pre-Workout?
No. Brainberry® has a neutral taste, and each Perfection Pre-Workout flavour is developed to taste the way its name promises. What you do notice is the colour.
Are aronia berries edible?
Yes. Aronia berries are edible, but raw they taste tart and astringent. That's why they're usually eaten in juices, jams, smoothies or dried.
Is aronia the same as chokeberry?
Yes. Aronia is the botanical name, chokeberry the common one. Brainberry® is made from the black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa), Nero Eggert variety.
Got more questions? Follow us on Instagram or check out our Nutrition Advice blog.
Sources
- Ahles S. et al. (2020) - The effect of long-term Aronia melanocarpa extract supplementation on cognitive performance, mood, and vascular function. Nutrients
- Ahles S. et al. (2024) - Short-term Aronia melanocarpa extract supplementation improves cognitive performance. European Journal of Nutrition (trial registration)
- Ahles S. et al. (2026) - Aronia melanocarpa extract supplementation affects brain vascular function and cognitive performance. Clinical Nutrition
- BioActor B.V. (2021) - Proprietary aronia berry extract improves acute and short-term gaming performance in a young, healthy gamer population. Study report
- BioActor B.V. (2022) - Acute and one-week Brainberry® consumption improves cognitive skills and basketball performance in professional Greek basketball players. Study report
- Solabia Nutrition (2026) - Brainberry®: aronia berry extract for brain fitness. Product brochure
- European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) - Scientific Opinion on the safety of caffeine
