3 Supplement Secrets You Need to Know Before Buying

In the U.S., the supplement, vitamin, peak performance, and nutrition industry is a $36.2 billion industry. Worldwide, caffeinated beverages alone represent a $202.63 billion market. Who is responsible for creating the ingredients that power the industry? How do you even know they work? 

I recently interviewed the “world’s greatest formulator,” Shawn Wells. He’s a globally recognized “Ingredientologist” who has been responsible for producing, inventing, and patenting over 10 novel ingredients that have shifted over $2 billion worth of product for companies including GNC, the Vitamin Shoppe, Teacrine, Advocare, Compound Solutions, NNB Nutrition, BioTrust, and Dymatize.

You might recognize him from his 500+ media interviews with outlets like ABC, Fox, NBC, WGN, NPR, iHeart Media, USA Today, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report.

Wells has devised a way to safely and effectively optimize the human body from within. If you want more energy, more concentration, to be a higher-performing gamer, put on more muscle faster, increase your immune system to become COVID-proof (or whatever the next pandemic requires), you can benefit from his cutting-edge work. 

Wells is a co-founder of patented ingredients TeaCrine® and Dynamine® — the most popular energy ingredients in the world besides caffeine and found in over 500 products. He’s the first person to create a supplement from raspberry ketones and has also worked on patents on glucose tolerance agents, exogenous ketones, and more as part of his research. 

In our conversation, Wells revealed top secrets about nutritional supplements — including his biggest red flag when you buy supplements.

Secret 1: “Proprietary blends” often contain insignificant amounts of key ingredients on a label.

A proprietary blend, or “prop blend,” is a mix of several ingredients, and supplement manufacturers will often list the effective dose for that blend — let’s say it’s 1,000 milligrams of 20 ingredients. Sounds good, but what if an effective dose for just one of those 20 ingredients is actually 500 milligrams or 1,000 milligrams? 

Many prop blends don’t contain a meaningful quantity of the key ingredients marketed on the label. They may contain a majority of cheap yet good ingredients, like Vitamin C or creatine, and only light levels of novel or noteworthy ingredients that actually make a difference.

Wells prefers full transparency in bottle labeling to help consumers identify genuinely complementary combinations of ingredients with the same dosages as found in scientific research.

Takeaway: Avoid “Proprietary Blends.” Chances are, they don’t work unless they have clinical data that suggests otherwise.

Secret 2: Supplement bottles with crazy claims are often marketing tricks to drive sales, not real results. 

“If there’s a crazy claim on the bottle, like 880% more of something, that’s a red flag,” says Wells. “That’s just not good business practice. Newer companies without a reputation or track record, especially those that exclusively distribute their products through Amazon or the drugstore, are notorious for hyperbolic labeling.

Takeaway: When you see outlandish claims and more than 100% RDA for an ingredient, it’s probably hype.

Secret 3: Increasing your energy through nutritional supplementation is just one part of the equation.

The best supplements in the world are worthless if you’re unhealthy. Wells’ research into anti-aging caused him to discover the importance of resilience, stress management, and decompression — especially for those with a “hustle and grind” mentality or everyday routines filled with stress and overwhelm.

Three supplements Wells recommends specifically for entrepreneurs to boost cellular energy are: 

• C-8 medium-chain triglycerides, or MCTs (found in products like Brain Octane by Bulletproof). A powdered version called C8Vantage is a clean mess-free option that travels conveniently and is vegan as well.
• CBD oil or optimized curcumin (CurcuPrime) to reduce inflammation in the brain and body and lift that fog and fatigue
• Glucovantage, which contains dihydroberberine — berberine with 5x the bioavailability — for preventing glycation, lowering blood sugar, slowing aging, and improving fat loss

Wells’ upcoming book The ENERGY Formula is devoted to sharing his lessons and shortcuts for increasing your vitality and energy. 

He focuses on biohacking principles and experiments you can try, eating plans and nutritional supplements that increase mitochondrial energy (versus stimulants), mindset, and lifestyle tweaks. 

Ultimately, Wells’ book is all about balancing the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems so that our lives are guided by flow rather than fear.

To hear my full interview with Shawn Wells, in which he talks about his “stacks” for longevity and energy, head HERE.

To learn more about Wells and get a free list of his top supplement stacks and ingredient compounds from The Energy Formula, visit his website: www.ShawnWells.com