{"id":29206,"date":"2022-12-13T12:30:58","date_gmt":"2022-12-13T19:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.proze.com\/?p=29206"},"modified":"2022-12-13T12:30:59","modified_gmt":"2022-12-13T19:30:59","slug":"reading-supplement-labels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.proze.com\/reading-supplement-labels\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading Supplement Labels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Remember, I\u2019m a Formulator..<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

20 years, 200+ products, 6 different companies \u2013 owned or the lead Formulator, I know a \u201cbit or two\u201d about supplements. Not only have I learned what to do, but I\u2019ve learned, what NOT to do. Although the regulations are much tighter than what is perceived, the supplement industry can be a bit shady. Not only with their claims, meaning what the product can do, but how they label their products.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ok, class\u2026the Professor is in\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Quick question: Does the FDA regulate supplements?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A: Kinda. The FDA has significant regulations in place for the development and manufacturing <\/strong>of supplements, but there isn\u2019t the type of regulation as in the pharmaceutical industry. Hence the standard disclaimers on products: \u201cThese statements have not been reviewed by the FDA\u2026blah, blah\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Should there be worry?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A: No,<\/strong> there are significant regulations on what can be made and what ingredients can be used. However, the FDA can\u2019t regulate all the claims that are being made<\/strong> (e.g. lose weight in 10 days) or testing (e.g. if all of the ingredients are in the correct dosages). That\u2019s why it\u2019s key to buy from reputable companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What are some things we should look out for on labels?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udc49 Total Weight vs Elemental Weight<\/strong> \u2013 minerals can not exist by themselves, they need to be stabilized by a \u201csalt\u201d. Some labels will list the weight of the mineral+salt (Magnesium = 100mg), but what you\u2019re looking for is the (elemental) amount of Magnesium. Look for products that say, Magnesium (as magnesium citrate) 100mg<\/strong>, this identifies that you\u2019re getting 100mg of just Magnesium.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udc49 Meaningless claims.<\/strong> These claims have no real definition, hence no benefit, they sound cool but are useless: \u201cClinically Tested Ingredients\u201d<\/strong> (testing doesn\u2019t mean proven), \u201cTested By FDA Approved Lab\u201d<\/strong> (FDA does not approve labs), \u201cPharmaceutical Grade\u201d<\/strong> (there is no such grade)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udc49 Exaggerated Claims<\/strong>. Weight loss and disease prevention (or cure) are the most common. Legally, there are no ingredients or products that can say they do these things. They may be able to say that they indirectly work (e.g. Chromium helps with insulin sensitivity, which may support weight management), but losing 30lbs in 30days or reversing <insert disease> is ridiculous.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udc49 Loads Of Ingredients.<\/strong> Sometimes formulas will have multiple ingredients to attract you, the whole \u201cwow, look at all I get\u201d.\u00a0 Which you are getting, but probably in \u201cfairy dust\u201d amounts.<\/strong> You can only put so much in a serving, so don\u2019t be fooled you\u2019re getting enough of what you need. Stay basic.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udc49 Certifications. USP<\/strong> (US Pharmacopeial Convention), GMP<\/strong> (Good Manufacturing Standards), NSF,<\/strong> Informed Sport,<\/strong> are all great marks to see on dietary supplements and\/or if they show their 3rd<\/sup> Party Tests on their website.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udc49 Made In The USA.<\/strong> Ingredients may not come from the USA, but if the product is manufactured in the USA, they will have gone through the significant GMP and regulatory guidelines of the FDA, which tests for ingredients before and after production.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Remember, I\u2019m a Formulator.. 20 years, 200+ products, 6 different companies \u2013 owned or the lead Formulator, I know a \u201cbit or two\u201d about supplements. Not only have I learned what to do, but I\u2019ve learned, what NOT to do. Although the regulations are much tighter than what is perceived, the supplement industry can be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29213,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[181,180,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-tips","category-higher-education","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.proze.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.proze.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.proze.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.proze.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.proze.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.proze.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.proze.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.proze.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.proze.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.proze.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}