Product-quality field guide

Supplement Label-Reading Guide

A label-by-label checklist for dose transparency, standardized extracts, active-marker percentages, elemental mineral amounts, proprietary blends, and testing claims.

  • Decode serving size and active dose
  • Spot form/extract mismatches
  • Know what “lab tested” does and does not prove
1

Start with the active amount

  • Read serving size before reading the front-label claim.
  • Find the amount of each active ingredient per serving.
  • For minerals, distinguish compound weight from elemental mineral amount when relevant.
  • A proprietary blend can prevent a meaningful studied-dose comparison.
2

Form and standardization

  • Identify the salt, extract, strain, or preparation when the evidence is form-specific.
  • Marker percentages describe composition; a higher percentage is not automatically better.
  • Do not assume evidence from one branded extract transfers to every generic product.
3

Testing language

  • “Third-party tested” is more useful when the lab, scope, or batch result is verifiable.
  • A COA should be current and tied to the product or batch when possible.
  • Relevant contaminant testing depends on the ingredient and manufacturing process.
Use this as a research framework, not a treatment plan. The resource helps organize evidence, product-quality, and safety questions. It does not determine whether a supplement is appropriate for a specific person.
Explore the evidence database →Open the Safety Checker →Review product-quality criteria →