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Supplement Science

The literacy column. Proprietary blends, third-party testing, bioavailability, and the arithmetic of cost per serving — the tools you need to judge everything else on this site.

Our lens: How to read a label and price a serving.

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Supplement Science

Proprietary Blends: Why They Are Always a Red Flag

A blend is legal, common, and makes a product impossible to evaluate. That last part is the point.

Supplement Science

How to Read a Supplement Label

Six checks, in order. Most products fail one of the first three, which means you can stop reading and put the bottle down.

Supplement Science

What Third-Party Testing Actually Verifies

NSF, Informed Sport and USP test different things. "Made in a cGMP facility" tests nothing about your bottle.

Supplement Science

The Only Supplement Price Comparison That Works

Cost per serving, adjusted for whether the serving contains a real dose. Everything else on the shelf is designed to prevent you doing this.

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Supplement Science

Supplement Safety: The Interactions Worth Knowing

Supplements are not inert. These are the combinations that actually send people to hospital, and the ones worth a call to your prescriber.