6 ways to understand if a supplement is legitimate
In a world where marketing rules the world of supplements, it is getting hard to make informed consumer decisions.
In this week’s newsletter, I wanted to hit on a topic that many people feel lost about. The topic of supplement legitimacy. In today’s world, health and wellness has become a consumer trend. As it happens with all trends, marketing runs the show and it becomes difficult to know what truly works and what is pure marketing. It is hard to know how to make informed choices when bright colors and eye-catching graphics and brilliant ad campaigns are taking your attention and directing you to their products. When it comes down to it, the average consumer is feeling very lost. So today, we touch on supplements. What to look for when making a purchase, and how to build trust in a brand. Let’s dive into the six key things I look for when making a product purchase.*
Ingredient Transparency
Let’s start with ingredient transparency. It is crucial that you can find a full list of ingredients clearly on the website or on the product package itself. Ideally, both the ingredients and the dosage information should be clearly stated (see below for an example). The more specific the details, the better. If ingredients are not listed on the product page or anywhere on the website, consider this is a red flag.
See a list of ingredients from Sunday Natural Vitamin C Complex. The specific dosage of each ingredient is denoted, and even the form of the ingredient is highlighted below.
Purity: Third Party Testing and Certifications
Supplements are lightly regulated in most countries, so independent certification is key. In the United States, the FDA oversees supplements post-market, but does not provide pre-market approval, which means a company does not need FDA approval for its marketing claims or labeling before sending out to market. To ensure you are buying (and consuming!) a product that is legitimate, independent certification provides you with an added layer of trust in the product. Here are a few certifications to look for:
NSF certified for sport (United States): This certification ensures no banned substances, which is particularly important for athletes. The receive this certification, the product was also tested for label accuracy and contaminants such as heavy metals, herbicides, and pesticides.
Certified Organic: In the United States, a USDA certified organic stamp denotes organic status. In the UK, the the Soil Association is the most recognized organic certifying body for supplements. food, and cosmetics. In the EU, a green background with 12 white stars in the shape of a leaf denotes a certified organic product.
Third-party lab testing: It is important to look for proof of third party lab testing to confirm purity, lack of heavy metals, and active ingredient content. Some companies state that their ingredient was third-party tested without showing the results, though I prefer to see results. See below two sample lab tests for supplements on the websites of both Momentous and Sunday Natural.
Lab test from Momentous Elite Sleep product. The test is transparent on its testing of heavy metals, ingredient accuracy, and microbials such as bad bacteria. 
A lab test from Sunday Natural’s Vitamin C complex. They provide the conformity statement for a consumer’s review.
Personal Founder Story
This is a very overlooked point from a consumer perspective. But to me, the founder is crucial to a brand’s story and product. I often research the founder of a new company I am purchasing from to see if I find them credible. I look for the following:
A founder’s own personal health story or discovery of a gap in the market that led them to creating their company
A founder’s knowledge on what they are building
A founder’s passion for their brand.
Credibility on social media. I search for a founder on instagram, in podcasts, on TikTok, etc. Anywhere where you can see the way a founder shows up and talks about their own life and their company.
So get out there and do your research on the founder!
Reviews = Realistic Marketing
Reviews are my best friend. Did users say a supplement was effective? Did a magnesium-infused supplement designed to help us sleep actually transform the consumer’s sleep? Keep in mind reviews are subjective, as individuals have different preferences and react differently to different products. And keep in mind that when buying a new product, usually a transformation does not happen overnight. But it is worth checking what real users say about a product to make an informed purchase choice. If short on time or if there are thousands of reviews, skim the 5* and 1* reviews, that way you can review both the most positive and most negative feedback.
Supply Chain Transparency
As all things that are manufactured, a supplement goes through a long supply chain to reach the end consumer. To ensure legitimacy, there are a few things to look out for. No need to stress over checking all of this information, but I hope to empower you to do a bit of your own research when purchasing from brands. Look out for the following:
Batch/lot numbers: A stamped string of numbers on bottles shows traceability
Ingredient sources: Ingredients coming from more heavily regulated environments such as the US, EU and Japan are more trustworthy.
Lab partners or sourcing partners: Look for any information about partners in the supply chain process such as labs, manufacturers, farmers, etc.
Clinical Trials
While many supplement companies sell their products without any clinical research alongside their product, any information you can find on clinical trials is helpful to understand a product’s legitimacy and efficacy (how well it works in the body.) Clinical trials are not required when it comes to supplements in the United States. It is worth noting that even if a product has done a clinical trial, it also does mean the research is valid. When looking for information on a brand when it comes to their clinical trial testing, the following is worth knowing:
Sample size: the larger the better. Larger sample sizes reduce random variations and are more accurate.
Confirm the trial was well-designed. Words such as randomized, double‐blind, and placebo‐controlled signify a well-designed study.
Check whether the same formulation (the exact same dosage and mixture of ingredients) that you are buying was studied.
Look to see if clinical trials were conducted by independent institutions, not solely the company from which you are buying products. Studies conducted solely by the company can have biased results.
For example, we can look at ARMRA Colostrum’s website to understand some of the details above. This brand shares thousands of studies on the benefits of Colostrum here, but it is worth noting that these studies are varied in what they test for, what product or dosage is used, etc. In addition, they share the clinical research that they completed on their own colostrum formulation, but the number of participants are not noted nor do I know who conducted the study, so it hard to understand the accuracy of the trial.
Another case study is the supplement brand, Ritual. Ritual is a good example of a company who has run a clinical trial on their full product, Essential for Women. They note that 94 women participated in a placebo-controlled, double-blind, University-Led study. I also like this podcast here with Ritual founder and CEO, Katerina Schneider, who shares more about what to look for in supplement legitimacy, gaps in the industry, and findings from Ritual’s own clinical trials.
So now that we have covered 5 things to look for when it comes to supplement legitimacy, here are a few of the brands/platforms that I trust:
Sunday Natural: My favorite source for herbal supplements. Many products are certified organic, all go through third party lab testing, and the source and dosage of ingredients is always stated. Whenever I experiment with a new herb, I buy from Sunday Natural. They ship across the EU and the UK.
Ancient and Brave: Ancient and Brave products are of high quality and follow strict standards. The company is transparent on testing, and aims to deliver the purest ingredients. They ship across the US, EU, and UK.
Healf does a great job at collaborating health and wellness brands for the UK market, and have a large variety of supplements available on their platform. I still do an extra check on brands I do not know to see if I can rely on them. Shop my trusted Healf products here.
And now, ending today with a quote:
“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
With love,
Sara George
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*I want to preface that I am not a medical doctor, and my posts are for education and entertainment purposes. Everything I share is my opinion.