|
|
|
The U.S. supplement industry crossed $60 billion in annual revenue in 2024. The number of products that required FDA approval before hitting shelves?
Zero.
Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, supplements are regulated as food, not drugs. That means manufacturers don't need to prove their products work, or even that they contain what the label claims, before selling them. A 2024 Government Accountability Office report found that the FDA inspects fewer than 1% of supplement facilities in a given year.
This does not mean all supplements are bad. It means labels are doing a lot of heavy lifting, and most consumers don't know how to read them.
Five things to check before you add a supplement to your stack.
|
|
Shop Trusted Supplements with HSA/FSA
|
|
|
|
|
|
What "Proprietary Blend" Actually Means
|
|
When you see "Proprietary Blend" on a supplement facts panel, it means the manufacturer has grouped multiple ingredients under one total weight without disclosing how much of each ingredient is actually in the product. The legal justification is trade secret protection. The practical result is that you have no idea whether you are getting an effective dose of anything.
A product might list "Proprietary Blend: 500mg" followed by six ingredients. The first one could be 490mg of cheap filler, with 10mg split across the remaining five. You would never know.
|
|
|
|
"Clinically Studied" Does Not Mean "Clinically Dosed"
|
|
This is one of the most common sources of confusion on a supplement panel. A brand can say an ingredient is "clinically studied,” meaning some study exists somewhere involving that ingredient, without matching the dosage used in the study. A 2023 analysis published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition found that more than half of tested products contained less than the clinically studied dose of their key ingredients.
What to look for instead: specific milligram amounts listed individually, not buried in a blend. If a product claims its ashwagandha is backed by research, but the label shows 100mg when the relevant studies used 600mg, the claim is technically true and functionally meaningless.
|
|
|
|
Third-Party Testing: Who to Trust
|
|
Three certifications carry weight: NSF Certified for Sport, USP Verified, and Informed Sport. Each one requires independent lab testing for ingredient accuracy, contaminant screening, and banned substance checks. If a label shows a logo you don't recognize, search the certifying body's website as many brands create their own "certified" badges that aren't backed by independent testing.
|
|
|
|
The "Other Ingredients" Section
|
|
Below the supplement facts panel, the "Other Ingredients" line lists fillers, binders, colorants, and flow agents. Common ones like cellulose and silicon dioxide are generally harmless. But this section can also reveal added sugars, artificial dyes, or unnecessary additives.
If the "Other Ingredients" list is longer than the active ingredients list, that is worth questioning.
|
|
|
|
What This Means for Your HSA/FSA
|
|
For qualified customers managing a diagnosed condition, quality supplements may be HSA/FSA eligible through Truemed. That is one more reason to be selective about what you buy. Your health savings should go toward products that meet the standard, not ones that hide behind vague labels and marketing language.
|
|
|
|
|
What’s in Prithvi Tikku's health stack?
|
|
Prithvi Tikku from IIN (Institute for Integrative Nutrition) keeps things systematic. She's up early to check her sleep score, hydrate with electrolytes, stretch, and shower. Her morning includes a simple skincare routine and walking the dogs
— built-in low-intensity movement.
|
|
|
The Morning
|
|
Breakfast is meal-prepped chia seed pudding (removing breakfast decisions entirely), paired with her morning supplement stack: multivitamin, L-theanine, fish oil, and vitamin B.
|
|
|
Non-Negotiables
|
|
A fitness tracker for sleep scoring, electrolytes first thing, her supplement stack (multivitamin, fish oil, B vitamins, magnesium, ashwagandha), and dog walks twice a day.
|
|
|
The Philosophy
|
|
"I ask not for a lighter load, but for stronger shoulders. I treat my body like a machine and feed it quality fuel because my work demands it. I believe in listening to your body and running your own controlled experiments rather than chasing fads. There are no hacks. It's a marathon, not a sprint."
|
|
|
|
|
|
Prithvi Tikku
|
|
IIN, Institute for Integrative Nutrition
|
|
*Fish oil, magnesium, and ashwagandha may qualify as HSA/FSA eligible for qualified customers.
|
|
|
|
Partner News You Should Know
|
|
|
|
|
Touchstone Essentials
|
|
20% off with code GOOD20 for new customers on natural detox, healthy aging support and nutritional supplements.
Shop Now →
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BLOG OF THE WEEK
|
|
Out-of-Pocket Price Index for Everyday Health Items
|
|
How much are Americans actually paying out of pocket for common health products? This index compares typical costs and shows where HSA/FSA funds could make the biggest difference.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
