Ingredients

What is actually in the products

Our complete ingredient catalogue. Search for an ingredient or filter by category to read what each one is, what it does in the body and what the research looks at. Every entry links to the studies on PubMed and to the products in our range that contain it.

8 ingredients

Algal Oil

Fatty acids In the Blueprint protocol

Omega-3 taken from the source rather than from the fish that ate it. Marine microalgae are where EPA and DHA originate in the food chain; fish accumulate them.

What it does in the body

Chemically the same fatty acids as fish oil, in triglyceride or phospholipid form. The practical differences are that it is suitable for vegans, contains no accumulated heavy metals, and does not oxidise into a fish smell.

What the research looks at

  • Blood levels of EPA and DHA compared with fish oil
  • Triglycerides
  • Contaminant load compared with marine sources
Typical daily dose
500–2000 mg EPA + DHA
Time to effect
8–12 weeks
Usually taken
With a meal containing fat

Beef Tallow

Fatty acids

Rendered beef fat, the standard cooking fat in Europe until seed oils displaced it in the middle of the last century. Grass-fed tallow contains more conjugated linoleic acid than grain-fed.

What it does in the body

Predominantly saturated and monounsaturated fat, which means a high smoke point and very little polyunsaturated fat to oxidise during cooking. It also carries fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.

What the research looks at

  • Oxidation products formed during high-heat cooking
  • Fatty acid profile of grass-fed versus grain-fed fat
Typical daily dose
As a cooking fat
Time to effect
Not applicable
Usually taken
When cooking

DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid)

Brain & focus In the Blueprint protocol

The longest and most unsaturated of the common omega-3 fatty acids. Around a quarter of the fat in the brain's grey matter is DHA, and the retina is richer in it still.

What it does in the body

DHA is a structural component of neuronal membranes, where its flexible shape governs how easily receptors change conformation. It is not primarily a signalling molecule but a building material.

What the research looks at

  • Cognitive function and memory in older adults
  • Visual development in infants
  • Membrane composition in nerve tissue
Typical daily dose
250–1000 mg
Time to effect
12 weeks or more
Usually taken
With a meal containing fat

EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid)

Fatty acids In the Blueprint protocol

One of the two long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. The body can make it from the plant omega-3 ALA, but the conversion rate is in the low single digits, which is why intake from fish or algae matters.

What it does in the body

EPA is the substrate for resolvins and other specialised pro-resolving mediators — the signalling molecules that end an inflammatory response rather than start one. It competes with arachidonic acid for the same enzymes.

What the research looks at

  • Triglyceride levels
  • Markers of inflammation
  • Mood and depressive symptoms
Typical daily dose
500–2000 mg
Time to effect
8–12 weeks
Usually taken
With a meal containing fat

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

Fatty acids In the Blueprint protocol

Cold-pressed olive oil that has not been refined. What separates a good one is not the fat — that is much the same everywhere — but the polyphenol content, which ranges from near zero to over 500 mg/kg.

What it does in the body

Oleocanthal, the polyphenol responsible for the peppery catch at the back of the throat, inhibits COX enzymes in the same way ibuprofen does, at far lower potency. Hydroxytyrosol is the main antioxidant.

What the research looks at

  • Cardiovascular endpoints in Mediterranean diet trials
  • LDL oxidation
  • Blood pressure and endothelial function
Typical daily dose
20–40 ml
Time to effect
8–12 weeks
Usually taken
Raw, over food

Macadamia Nuts (Omega-7)

Fatty acids In the Blueprint protocol

The fattiest nut there is, and the one with the highest proportion of monounsaturated fat. It is also the best plant source of palmitoleic acid, omega-7.

What it does in the body

Palmitoleic acid behaves partly as a signalling lipid, and monounsaturated fat replacing saturated fat is the change most consistently associated with an improved lipid profile.

What the research looks at

  • LDL cholesterol when replacing saturated fat
  • Satiety and appetite regulation
  • Palmitoleic acid and metabolic markers
Typical daily dose
20–30 g
Time to effect
4–12 weeks
Usually taken
Any time of day

Phosphatidylserine

Brain & focus

A phospholipid concentrated in the inner leaflet of neuronal membranes. Supplements were originally made from bovine brain and are now derived from sunflower or soy lecithin.

What it does in the body

Phosphatidylserine influences membrane fluidity and the activity of membrane-bound enzymes and receptors. It is also studied for its effect on the cortisol response to exercise.

What the research looks at

  • Memory and attention in older adults
  • Cortisol response to physical stress
  • Recovery after intense training
Typical daily dose
100–300 mg
Time to effect
6–12 weeks
Usually taken
With food

Triglyceride-Form Omega-3

Fatty acids

Most concentrated fish oil on the market is in ethyl ester form, a by-product of how it is purified. Re-esterified triglyceride oil converts it back to the form fat naturally takes in food.

What it does in the body

Pancreatic lipase cleaves triglycerides more readily than ethyl esters, so a larger share of the dose reaches the bloodstream — the difference measured in absorption studies is substantial.

What the research looks at

  • Omega-3 index after supplementation
  • Absorption compared with ethyl ester oils
  • Oxidative stability
Typical daily dose
1000–2000 mg oil
Time to effect
8–12 weeks
Usually taken
With a meal containing fat

Why the form and the dose matter

Two products can name the same ingredient on the label and behave completely differently. Magnesium oxide and magnesium glycinate are both magnesium; only one of them is absorbed properly. Ethyl ester fish oil and triglyceride fish oil are both omega-3. Folic acid and methylfolate are both folate, but not for everyone.

That is the difference this page is written to make visible. Where a form matters we have given it its own entry rather than hiding it inside a general one, and the dose listed is the one used in the research — not the smallest amount a manufacturer can put on a label and still name the ingredient.

We only describe a product as third-party tested when there is documentation behind the claim. Below is what each of our brands actually documents, brand by brand.

Third-party testing

Certificates of analysis

Pick a brand to see what is actually tested and who tests it. Four of the seven publish reports you can open right here — and they publish different amounts, from a certificate for every batch down to a single lot. The other three document their testing and hand over the paperwork for a specific batch when you ask. That difference is worth knowing before you buy, so we have not smoothed it over. Every report is also linked from the product it covers.

Blueprint 24 reports published

Every batch goes to an independent accredited laboratory in the United States, which checks the contents against the label and screens for heavy metals, microbes and other contamination. Blueprint publishes the full report for every batch, and a new one follows each production run.

Supplements

Nutrition

Skincare

Haircare

Lineage Provisions 9 reports published

Samples from every batch are run on ICP-MS, LC-MS and GC-MS and screened for more than three hundred contaminants, among them heavy metals, glyphosate, pesticides and mycotoxins. The analyses are done by Light Labs, who publish a running report per product with every test result in it — not a single certificate but the whole series, with the date of the most recent test.

Supplements

Nutrition

Designs for Health 14 reports published

Raw materials are tested for identity, purity and potency at external ISO-certified laboratories and screened for heavy metals, pesticides and microbiological contamination. A supplier’s own certificate is treated as a claim to verify rather than a result to accept. Certificates are published per lot rather than for the product as a whole, so the one below covers the lot number printed on it and no other — for a different lot, ask us and we will request it.

Supplements

SALTE 1 report published

Each batch is sent to Eurofins, an independent accredited laboratory, which confirms that the sodium, potassium, magnesium and chloride in a sachet match the amounts on the packet. The published report covers five flavours in one document and is the laboratory’s own, in Swedish.

Supplements

ARMRA Testing documented

Every production run is audited by ISO/IEC-accredited third-party laboratories for heavy metals, glyphosate, other contaminants and microbiology before any of it is released for sale. ARMRA documents the programme and its certifications publicly; the report for a specific batch comes from the manufacturer on request.

Quicksilver Scientific Testing documented

Made in an NSF/ANSI 455-2 GMP-certified facility in Colorado with its own ISO/IEC 17025-accredited testing laboratory. Every batch is tested both in-house and by outside laboratories for potency and purity; the certificate for a batch comes from the manufacturer on request.

Solgar Reports on request

Solgar tests raw materials on arrival and finished products before release in its own quality laboratory, and manufactures to GMP. That is an in-house programme, not an outside verification: Solgar carries no NSF or USP certification, so we do not describe it as third-party tested. Batch documentation is available from the manufacturer on request.

Vital Nutrients Testing documented

Vital Nutrients documents a Quality Assurance Programme that engages third-party laboratories — every batch of GMO-susceptible ingredients, for example, is tested for GMO markers at an independent genetics laboratory, and even the bottles are third-party verified BPA-free. Individual lot certificates are not published; documentation for a batch comes from the manufacturer on request.

T.A. Sciences Testing documented

T.A. Sciences documents an end-to-end testing and analysis programme across sourcing, formulation and US manufacturing, and TA-65 has been determined Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) by an independent expert panel. That safety assessment is not batch testing, and no lot certificates are published — documentation comes from the manufacturer on request.

Why testing matters

Why does a supplement need testing at all?

Because nothing else verifies the label. A supplement is regulated as a food, not as a medicine, which means no authority checks each batch before it reaches a shelf. Testing is what turns the number on the tub into something you can look up.

What is being tested for?

Two separate things. Identity and quantity — is the ingredient present, and in the amount the label states. And contamination — heavy metals, microbes, solvent residues and traces from the packaging, which can come from the raw material, the production line or the container.

How often is the label actually wrong?

Often enough to be worth checking. Of 272 supplements implicated in liver injury in the United States, 51 per cent had contents that did not match the label (Hepatology Communications, 2019). Among 57 botanical sports supplements, 89 per cent were inaccurately labelled and 40 per cent contained none of the labelled ingredient at all (JAMA Network Open, 2023).

What can I ask you for?

The report for the batch you were sent. Where a manufacturer does not publish one, we ask them for it — tell us the product and the batch number on the tub and we will come back with what they give us, or with the fact that they would not.

The certificates are the property of the manufacturers and their laboratories, and are linked here in their original location. Blueprint’s reports may not be reused without Blueprint’s permission.

This page is general information about ingredients, not advice for you. Food supplements are not medicines and do not cure, treat or prevent disease. They do not replace a varied diet, sleep, movement or medical care. Doses and timings are those used in published research and on product labels; they are not a recommendation. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medication or living with a medical condition, talk to a doctor or pharmacist before starting anything new.