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.

22 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

Astaxanthin

Antioxidants In the Blueprint protocol

The red carotenoid that makes salmon, shrimp and flamingos pink. It is produced by the microalga Haematococcus pluvialis, which the whole food chain ultimately draws on.

What it does in the body

Astaxanthin spans the full width of the cell membrane, with its ends protruding on both sides, so it can quench radicals in the water phase and the lipid phase at once. Most antioxidants sit in only one.

What the research looks at

  • Skin elasticity and moisture
  • Eye fatigue
  • Markers of oxidative stress after exercise
Typical daily dose
4–12 mg
Time to effect
6–12 weeks
Usually taken
With a fat-containing meal

Berberine

Energy

A bright yellow alkaloid from barberry, goldenseal and Coptis root, used in Chinese and ayurvedic medicine long before its metabolic effects were described.

What it does in the body

Berberine activates AMPK, the enzyme that signals low cellular energy and switches the cell from storing to burning. It also changes the composition of the gut microbiota, which may account for part of the effect.

What the research looks at

  • Fasting glucose and HbA1c
  • LDL cholesterol and triglycerides
  • Gut microbiota composition
Typical daily dose
500 mg, two or three times daily
Time to effect
4–12 weeks
Usually taken
With meals

Beta-Glucan

Immunity

A soluble fibre found in oats, barley, baker's yeast and mushroom cell walls. The oat and yeast forms differ in structure and do different things.

What it does in the body

Oat beta-glucan forms a viscous gel that traps bile acids in the gut, forcing the liver to draw cholesterol from the blood to replace them. Yeast beta-glucan is recognised by receptors on immune cells instead.

What the research looks at

  • LDL cholesterol from oat beta-glucan
  • Frequency of upper respiratory infections
  • Post-meal blood glucose
Typical daily dose
3 g oat, 250–500 mg yeast
Time to effect
4–12 weeks
Usually taken
With meals

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10)

Energy

A fat-soluble quinone found in every cell membrane, densest in heart tissue. Levels fall with age, and statins reduce them further because both share the same synthesis pathway.

What it does in the body

CoQ10 carries electrons between complexes I and III of the respiratory chain — the step at which food energy becomes ATP. In its reduced form it also protects membrane lipids from oxidation.

What the research looks at

  • Heart function and exercise capacity
  • Statin-associated muscle symptoms
  • Migraine frequency
Typical daily dose
100–300 mg
Time to effect
8–12 weeks
Usually taken
With a fat-containing meal

Copper

Minerals

A trace mineral that has to be kept in balance with zinc — a high zinc intake sustained over months will depress copper status, which is the usual reason it is supplemented at all.

What it does in the body

Copper is the cofactor for lysyl oxidase, the enzyme that cross-links collagen and elastin, and for superoxide dismutase, one of the body's own antioxidant enzymes. It is also needed for melanin.

What the research looks at

  • Connective tissue and skin elasticity
  • Iron transport and red blood cell formation
  • Copper–zinc balance during long-term zinc supplementation
Typical daily dose
1–2 mg
Time to effect
8–12 weeks
Usually taken
With food, away from zinc

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

Ginkgo Biloba

Brain & focus

Leaf extract from the maidenhair tree, a species with no living relatives that has been essentially unchanged for two hundred million years. Standardised extracts contain flavone glycosides and terpene lactones.

What it does in the body

Ginkgo affects microcirculation and platelet aggregation, and the terpene lactones act on platelet-activating factor. Blood flow to peripheral tissue is the mechanism most often invoked.

What the research looks at

  • Memory and processing speed in older adults
  • Peripheral circulation
  • Tinnitus and dizziness
Typical daily dose
120–240 mg extract
Time to effect
4–12 weeks
Usually taken
Split across the day

Hesperidin

Antioxidants

A flavanone concentrated in the white pith of citrus fruit — the part most people discard. It is the main bioflavonoid in orange juice.

What it does in the body

Hesperidin improves endothelial function and capillary resistance, and its metabolite hesperetin is the form that actually reaches tissue after gut bacteria have processed it.

What the research looks at

  • Endothelial function and blood pressure
  • Capillary fragility
  • Markers of inflammation
Typical daily dose
500 mg
Time to effect
4–12 weeks
Usually taken
With food

L-Citrulline

Heart & circulation

An amino acid first isolated from watermelon. It raises blood arginine levels more reliably than arginine itself does, because it escapes first-pass breakdown in the gut and liver.

What it does in the body

Citrulline is converted to arginine in the kidney, and arginine is the substrate for nitric oxide — the signalling molecule that relaxes the smooth muscle in blood vessel walls.

What the research looks at

  • Blood flow and blood pressure
  • Exercise performance and perceived exertion
  • Endothelial function
Typical daily dose
3–8 g
Time to effect
1–4 weeks
Usually taken
60 minutes before exertion

Lycopene

Antioxidants In the Blueprint protocol

The carotenoid that makes tomatoes red. Unusually, cooking increases how much of it the body can absorb — passata delivers more than a raw tomato does.

What it does in the body

Lycopene has no vitamin A activity but is among the most efficient quenchers of singlet oxygen of any carotenoid, and it concentrates in prostate tissue and skin.

What the research looks at

  • Prostate health markers
  • LDL oxidation and blood pressure
  • Skin resistance to UV-induced redness
Typical daily dose
10–30 mg
Time to effect
8–12 weeks
Usually taken
With a fat-containing meal

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

Niacin (Vitamin B3)

Vitamins In the Blueprint protocol

Nicotinic acid, the form of B3 that causes the familiar flush — warm, red skin for twenty minutes or so, caused by prostaglandin-mediated dilation of small blood vessels.

What it does in the body

Niacin is a precursor to NAD+ and NADP, the coenzymes that carry electrons in essentially every energy-producing reaction in the cell. At pharmacological doses it also affects blood lipids.

What the research looks at

  • NAD+ levels in tissue
  • Blood lipid profile at high doses
  • Energy metabolism
Typical daily dose
16–35 mg
Time to effect
4–8 weeks
Usually taken
With food, to reduce flushing

Potassium

Minerals

The electrolyte inside the cell, the counterpart to sodium outside it. Almost nobody eating a Western diet reaches the recommended intake, which is set at 3.5 grams a day.

What it does in the body

The sodium-potassium pump maintains the electrical gradient across every cell membrane. That gradient is what nerve impulses and heart rhythm are made of.

What the research looks at

  • Blood pressure, particularly alongside a high sodium intake
  • Stroke risk in population studies
  • Muscle cramping
Typical daily dose
3500 mg total intake
Time to effect
2–8 weeks
Usually taken
Split across the day, with food

Resveratrol

Antioxidants

The polyphenol in grape skin that started the red wine argument. A glass of wine contains around a milligram; the doses used in research are hundreds of times that.

What it does in the body

Resveratrol activates SIRT1 and AMPK, two of the pathways that respond to calorie restriction. Bioavailability is poor — it is metabolised within minutes of absorption.

What the research looks at

  • Endothelial function and blood pressure
  • Insulin sensitivity
  • Sirtuin and AMPK activation
Typical daily dose
150–500 mg
Time to effect
8–12 weeks
Usually taken
With a fat-containing meal

Taurine

Heart & circulation In the Blueprint protocol

A sulphur-containing amino acid that is not built into proteins. It is abundant in shellfish and meat, and largely absent from plant foods.

What it does in the body

Taurine regulates calcium handling inside cells, stabilises membranes and conjugates bile acids. Concentrations in tissue fall with age, which is why it appears in longevity research.

What the research looks at

  • Blood pressure and cardiac function
  • Exercise performance and recovery
  • Age-related decline in tissue taurine
Typical daily dose
1–3 g
Time to effect
4–8 weeks
Usually taken
Any time of day

TMG (Betaine / Trimethylglycine)

Liver & detox

Three methyl groups attached to glycine. Beetroot is the richest food source, which is where the name betaine comes from.

What it does in the body

TMG donates a methyl group to convert homocysteine back into methionine — a route that runs parallel to the folate and B12 pathway and does not depend on either.

What the research looks at

  • Homocysteine levels
  • Liver fat
  • Power output in strength athletes
Typical daily dose
500–3000 mg
Time to effect
4–12 weeks
Usually taken
With food

Tocotrienols

Vitamins

The other half of the vitamin E family, and the half normally left out. Annatto is the only common source that contains tocotrienols without any tocopherol alongside them.

What it does in the body

The unsaturated side chain lets tocotrienols move more freely within cell membranes than tocopherols can. They also inhibit HMG-CoA reductase, the enzyme statins target.

What the research looks at

  • Blood lipid profile
  • Liver fat
  • Bone metabolism
Typical daily dose
150–300 mg
Time to effect
8–12 weeks
Usually taken
With a fat-containing meal, away from tocopherols

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

Ubiquinol

Energy

The reduced, already-active form of CoQ10. Younger bodies convert ubiquinone to ubiquinol without difficulty; that conversion becomes less efficient with age, which is the argument for buying it pre-reduced.

What it does in the body

Same role in the respiratory chain as ubiquinone, but ubiquinol is the form that actually donates electrons to lipid radicals, so it is the antioxidant-active state of the molecule.

What the research looks at

  • Plasma CoQ10 levels compared with ubiquinone
  • Cardiac output in heart failure
  • Oxidative stress markers
Typical daily dose
100–200 mg
Time to effect
8–12 weeks
Usually taken
With a fat-containing meal

Vitamin K2 (MK-7)

Vitamins In the Blueprint protocol

The long-chain menaquinone produced by bacterial fermentation — natto, the Japanese fermented soybean dish, contains more of it than anything else people eat.

What it does in the body

Same carboxylation reactions as MK-4, but MK-7 stays in circulation for around three days rather than a few hours, so a single daily dose keeps tissue levels steady.

What the research looks at

  • Arterial stiffness and calcification
  • Bone mineral density over several years
Typical daily dose
90–200 µg
Time to effect
12 weeks or more
Usually taken
With a fat-containing meal

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.