Reading A Supplement Panel In Under A Minute

Serving Size First, Always

Everything else on the panel is per serving, so reading the amounts before the serving size is reading numbers with no unit attached.

A gummy product quoting impressive figures at a serving of four gummies empties its bottle in half the time. Divide the count in the bottle by the serving size and you have the real supply, which is also the real price.

Percent Daily Value, And What Its Absence Means

A percent daily value can only be shown where an official reference intake exists, which in practice means vitamins and minerals. Herbs and botanicals have none, so they show a weight and a dagger symbol instead.

A panel where everything carries a percent daily value is a vitamin and mineral product. One where nothing does is a botanical product. That single glance tells you what category you are holding.

The Numbers Above One Hundred

Where it does matter is with anything that has an upper limit. Vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin B6, iron and selenium all have one. For those, a very large percentage is worth pausing over, especially if you take more than one product.

Read The Other Ingredients Line

It sits under the panel in small type and it is where the capsule shell, the base, the fillers, the sweeteners and the colours live. It is also where an allergen appears if there is one.

Common entries: pectin and gelatin are gummy bases, and only one of them is vegetarian; vegetable cellulose and hypromellose are vegetarian capsule shells; magnesium stearate and silicon dioxide are flow agents; citric acid is sourness. None of these are sinister.

Forms, Which Is Where Real Differences Hide

Two products can both say vitamin B12 and contain different things. Methylcobalamin is used directly; cyanocobalamin is converted first. Folate versus folic acid versus methylfolate is the same kind of distinction. Vitamin A can be retinyl palmitate or beta-carotene, and those behave quite differently with regard to upper limits.

A label that names the form is telling you something a label that just names the vitamin is not.

What Is Not On The Panel At All

• Third-party testing. Not required, so its absence proves nothing. Its presence is a genuine positive.
• Whether it will work for you. No panel can tell you that.
• How it compares to your diet. A supplement fills gaps; the panel does not know whether you have any.
• Sugar, sometimes. On a gummy it should be in the nutrition information. Look for it.

The One Minute Method

1. Serving size. How many, and how long does the bottle really last?
2. Do the entries carry percent daily values? That tells you the category.
3. Is anything with an upper limit present at a very high percentage?
4. Which forms are named?
5. Read the other ingredients line for allergens, base and sweeteners.

That method works on any panel in any shop. The Gelagen panel is laid out on the product page if you want something to practise on.