The Supp Digest | The High-Risk Inactive Ingredients in Our Users’ Stacks
Welcome to The Digest, your guide to key insights and updates across the SuppCo community and app.
In this series, we'll dig into the fascinating (and anonymous) trends SuppCo sees from our unique vantage point to help you make sense of supplements.
If you've been following our Science Corner, you've been learning a lot about the inactive ingredients in your supplements, and you know not all inactive ingredients are created equal.
Many carry a wide range of hidden risks to your health. Today we'll showcase data from the SuppCo product database to highlight how prevalent these not-so-good-for-you ingredients really are.
What we're seeing might surprise you.
WATCH-OUT CATEGORIES
We analyzed 100 different supplement product categories encompassing over 55,000 products in the SuppCo database to see which product types are most likely to have inactive ingredients of concern.
Multivitamins (including pre-natal vitamins) are more likely than other product categories to have titanium dioxide
10% of the multivitamins in our database contain titanium dioxide
17% of the prenatal vitamins in our database contain titanium dioxide
Yes, you read that right. The supplements often marketed as "essential for mom and baby" are among the most likely to contain an ingredient many experts suggest avoiding, and are often in shelf-prominent brands like Spring Valley and Target’s Up&Up.
BCAAs, Pre-Workout Powders, and Whey Proteins are more likely to have artificial dyes and sweeteners:
25% of BCAA products and pre-workout products in our database contain artificial food dyes
24% of BCAA products, 30% of pre-workout products, and 17% of Whey Protein products contain acesulfame potassium (an artificial sweetener)
That bright blue pre-workout or neon red BCAA powder? It's not just there for show – it's there to sell. Products like Superhuman Burn’s Cherry Popper Pre-Workout, XTEND Original’s Blue Raspberry BCAA Powder, and Optimum Nutrition’s Fruit Punch Pre-Workout are all popular among the SuppCo community and contain artificial dyes.
YOUR STACK REALITY
When we look across over 44,000 stacks in the SuppCo community, the numbers paint an interesting picture:
<2% of stacks contain a product with an average inactive ingredient rating in the AVOID range (well done!)
But, 56% of stacks contain a product with an average inactive ingredient rating in the CAUTION range (go check your products!)
Breaking it down by specific ingredients, here are a few that deserve a second look:
5,381 stacks (12%) include a product containing titanium dioxide (a GI irritant that damages intestinal barrier function and triggers inflammation. Titanium dioxide has been banned in Europe but remains common in the US)
4,438 stacks (10%) include a product containing polyethylene glycol (GI irritant)
3,537 stacks (8%) include a product containing artificial FD&C dyes (red, yellow, blue)
3,000 stacks (7%) include a product containing acesulfame potassium
We crunched the numbers, and over 25% of supplement users in our community have at least one product in their stack with one of the inactive ingredients above.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU
The data doesn't lie – many of the supplements we rely on for better health contain ingredients that might work against our goals.
But here's the good news: awareness is the first step. With SuppCo's TrustScore system and inactive ingredient analysis, you can make more informed choices about what goes into your body.
You can now check your stack's inactive ingredient ratings directly in the app. If you see some products in the CAUTION or AVOID range, don't panic – with over 190,000 products in our database, we’re confident you’ll find safer alternatives.
CALL FOR TOPICS
Do you have topics or trends you'd like to see covered in this newsletter? Drop us a note here.
FRESH ADDITIONS
Our TrustScore database continues to grow. Here are a few brands we've released TrustScores for recently that don’t contain any artificial or synthetic inactive ingredients:
COMMUNITY
Know someone who takes a multivitamin, a pre-workout mix, or whey protein? We know you do!
Share SuppCo with 2 friends or family members who might want to check-in on what's really in their supplements.
