Science Corner 52 | Expert Interview with Kenny Carter: What It Takes to Formulate a Great Supplement
Spend enough time in the supplement industry and you start to notice something interesting. Many products look impressive on the label, but when you examine them closely, the formulation often tells a very different story.
Recently, I sat down with supplement formulator Kenneth Carter to talk about what actually goes into building a product from concept to finished formula. Carter has spent more than a decade developing supplements across sports nutrition, beauty, and lifestyle brands, and his perspective offers a useful look behind the curtain at how good formulations are built, and where the industry often goes wrong.
One theme came up repeatedly in our conversation. Good products begin with science.
Start with clinical dosing
For Carter, the starting point for any formulation is simple.
Identify ingredients with strong evidence and use them at doses that actually work.
This sounds obvious, but it is surprisingly rare in practice.
A good example is citrulline in pre-workout products. Clinical research consistently shows that around 8 grams is required to significantly increase nitric oxide and improve blood flow, yet many products include far less, sometimes only 3 grams or even lower.
To describe how he evaluates ingredient dosing, Carter uses what he calls a “podium” model.
Gold level, the full clinical dose used in research
Silver level, still within the clinical range but slightly below optimal
Bronze level or below, underdosed ingredients unlikely to deliver meaningful benefit
The goal, he explained, is to build formulas around gold level ingredients first. If additional ingredients cannot be included at effective doses because of cost, flavor, or serving size constraints, it is often better to save them for a separate product rather than dilute the effectiveness of the original formula.
In other words, fewer ingredients done properly almost always beats a longer label filled with marginal doses.
The tension between science and consumer expectations
Of course, supplement formulation does not happen in a vacuum. Consumer expectations play a major role in shaping what ultimately appears in a product.
Some ingredients remain popular because people expect them to be present, even when the science does not perfectly align with how they are used. Beta-alanine in pre workout products is a classic example. Its benefits depend on consistent daily intake over time, yet it often appears in products designed for immediate effects.
Carter views this as a balancing act. Consumer demand still matters, but the foundation of a product should be grounded in evidence. If a product includes ingredients primarily for familiarity or experience, the core functional ingredients should still be present at clinically meaningful doses.
The problem of “fairy dusting”
One of the most common formulation mistakes Carter sees across the industry is what he calls fairy dusting, the practice of including an ingredient that consumers recognize, but only in a tiny amount unlikely to produce the advertised effect.
For example, if clinical research suggests turmeric requires roughly 500 milligrams to support joint health, including only 50 milligrams allows the brand to list the ingredient on the label while providing little functional value.
The problem becomes even more pronounced when formulas contain long lists of these minimally dosed ingredients. Labels can end up looking impressive while delivering very little physiological impact.
This practice is often paired with proprietary blends, which hide the exact amount of each ingredient from consumers. Carter believes both practices ultimately undermine trust in the industry. Transparent labeling and meaningful dosing should be the standard.
Taste still drives long term success
Even the most scientifically sound formula faces another challenge, people have to enjoy it.
As Carter put it, one of the oldest rules in product development is that taste is king. Many supplements contain inherently bitter compounds, including amino acids and plant extracts, and transforming those into enjoyable products requires extensive collaboration with flavor chemists and sensory scientists.
These specialists work with dozens of individual flavor compounds, adjusting sweetness, acidity, bitterness, and aroma until the final profile matches the desired experience. Carter described visiting a flavor lab where individual scent compounds were combined until the final aroma resembled something as recognizable as cola.
It is a surprisingly complex process, but it matters because consistency of use is essential for most supplements to work. If a product tastes unpleasant, adherence disappears quickly.
Evaluating new ingredients
The supplement industry constantly introduces new ingredients, often accompanied by ambitious claims. Carter approaches these with cautious skepticism.
Many of the most effective supplements today, such as creatine, fish oil, and beta alanine, have decades of research behind them. Truly novel ingredients that meet that standard are relatively rare, and his approach is to focus primarily on well established compounds while evaluating emerging ingredients carefully as new evidence accumulates.
Occasionally a promising new ingredient does emerge, but strong clinical trials and meaningful dosing should still guide formulation decisions.
Two supplements Carter currently favors
At the end of our conversation, I asked Carter two questions I often pose to experts.
If he could take only one supplement indefinitely, what would it be? His answer was creatine, largely because of its unusually broad range of benefits. Research supports its role in strength, recovery, cognitive performance, and resilience to sleep deprivation, all while maintaining a strong long term safety profile.
And the ingredient he believes deserves more attention? Well I won’t spoil the surprise. Watch the interview above to hear it from him directly.
One thing became clear during this conversation. Formulating a supplement that actually works requires far more than assembling a long ingredient list.
It requires careful attention to clinical dosing, transparency, sensory experience, regulatory compliance, and ultimately a deep understanding of the person who will be taking the product.
When all of those pieces come together, the result is not just a supplement that looks good on the label. It is a product that delivers real value over time.
--
Personal note from Jordan
One thing that has always bothered me about this industry is how often products include ingredients that simply are not present in meaningful amounts. If an ingredient requires a certain dose to work, and you include a fraction of that dose, you are not delivering the intended effect. At best it is cosmetic. At worst it is misleading.
That is why Kenny’s gold, silver, bronze framework just made me smile. It is a simple way to think about formulation. Gold means you are using the ingredient at the level supported by science. Silver may still work, but it is not ideal. Bronze, or below the podium, often means the ingredient is there mostly for marketing.
And if you cannot fit enough of an ingredient into a formula for it to matter, the answer is not to sprinkle it in. The answer is to build a different product. Seems like a win-win…
I mean, you deserve formulations built around what actually works… and everyone shouldn’t have to be a supplement expert just to know if you are getting something useful.