How tightly regulated do you think supplements are? In comparison to pharmaceutical drugs, the industry is miles behind in terms of regulation standards and limitations on what retailers can say or claim as per their products. And sometimes what you receive is vastly different from what you ordered.
And as the supplements sector continues to grow and people become more health-conscious, how can you actually check what is in your supplements and understand what you’re actually putting in your mouth?
Let’s take a look
Read the label, not the claims
It all starts with reading the entire label, not just the front of the packaging. It’s the things on the back, in small print, you need to be aware of. So first ignore the marketing speak and go to the Supplement Facts panel. Here, you should be able to see every single ingredient listed with a specific amount.
If vague words like “complex” or “blend” or “matrix” are in there, you’re not being told the full picture. And this is not only impossible to ascertain what the supplements contain, but also to know if it’s safe to take or not.
Then check “other ingredients” too. Fillers, binders, colorings, sweeteners, coating agents, etc will be listed here. They’re not technically harmful, but they do matter if you have sensitivities or allergies or you have a strict diet.
Avoid proprietary blends
Proprietary blends allow companies to list ingredients without disclosing individual dosages. And this is where you come across transparency issues in the sector.
You might see five promising ingredients listed, but only one is present at a meaningful dose, while the rest are included in tiny amounts for label appeal. If you cannot see the exact milligrams per ingredient, you cannot evaluate the product properly.
Understand whether you’re looking at a supplement or a research compound
Before buying any supplements, you need to understand how legal they are where you are located. Some substances aren’t approved for human consumption, just for research use only. And in a market where there is very little regulation, and people can pretty much include anything they want without having to clearly disclose it, herein lies the problem.
Pages that talk about being able to boost cognition with Noopept, for example, often sit alongside disclaimers stating the product is for research purposes only.
This contradiction is important. What might be legal in one country could be banned, and when you buy online, you might not always be buying a product that’s legal or safe to consume. The more you check different ingredients and substances, the more you’ll be able to uncover what is a genuine ingredient and what is strictly for research only.
Look for third-party testing
Anyone can claim something is “third-party tested”, but not everyone will show the proof. Reputable sellers will be more than happy to tell you the company they use and the methods the product goes through to verify it. Certificates of analysis (COAs) will show:
- Batch numbers
- Date of testing
- Lab name
- Results for purity and contaminants
If the company you’re purchasing from won’t provide documentation, don’t argue with them; simply move on and find someone who is more than happy to show you what you want to see.