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.

16 ingredients

Alpha-GPC

Brain & focus

L-alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine, a choline compound found in small amounts in milk and organ meat. It is the choline form that reaches the brain most readily.

What it does in the body

Alpha-GPC crosses the blood-brain barrier and is cleaved into choline and glycerophosphate, feeding acetylcholine synthesis directly. Plain choline salts largely do not make that crossing.

What the research looks at

  • Attention and memory in older adults
  • Power output and growth hormone response around training
  • Acetylcholine levels in brain tissue
Typical daily dose
300–600 mg
Time to effect
1–8 weeks
Usually taken
Morning, or before training

Animal-Based Protein (beef)

Protein

Protein isolated from beef rather than milk. It suits people who react to dairy and want a complete amino acid profile without a plant blend.

What it does in the body

Contains all nine essential amino acids in proportions close to human tissue, and carries the naturally occurring creatine, carnitine and carnosine found in muscle meat.

What the research looks at

  • Muscle protein synthesis compared with dairy protein
  • Digestibility and tolerance in dairy-sensitive people
Typical daily dose
25–30 g
Time to effect
4–12 weeks
Usually taken
After training or with meals

Calcium

Minerals

The most abundant mineral in the body by weight; around ninety-nine per cent of it sits in the skeleton, which doubles as a reservoir the rest of the body can draw on.

What it does in the body

Beyond bone structure, calcium is the trigger for muscle contraction and a second messenger in most cells. Vitamin D governs how much is absorbed, and vitamin K where it ends up.

What the research looks at

  • Bone density and fracture risk
  • Blood pressure
  • Interaction with vitamin D and K status
Typical daily dose
800–1000 mg total intake
Time to effect
6–12 months for bone
Usually taken
Split doses, with food

Casein Protein

Protein

The other eighty per cent of milk protein, and the fraction that forms the curd. It clots in stomach acid, which is exactly why it behaves differently from whey.

What it does in the body

The clot slows gastric emptying, so amino acids are released over six to eight hours instead of one. That makes it the protein studied for overnight supply rather than for the post-workout window.

What the research looks at

  • Overnight muscle protein synthesis
  • Muscle breakdown during fasting periods
  • Satiety
Typical daily dose
20–40 g
Time to effect
4–12 weeks
Usually taken
Before bed

Cordyceps

Energy In the Blueprint protocol

A fungus that in the wild parasitises insect larvae. Commercial supplements use Cordyceps militaris grown on grain, not the wild Tibetan species, which is among the most expensive biological materials on earth.

What it does in the body

Cordycepin and adenosine analogues appear to affect ATP turnover and oxygen utilisation. It became widely known after Chinese distance runners credited it in the early nineties.

What the research looks at

  • VO2 max and time to exhaustion
  • Fatigue resistance in older adults
  • Immune cell activity
Typical daily dose
1–3 g extract
Time to effect
3–12 weeks
Usually taken
Morning or before training

Creatine Monohydrate

Muscles In the Blueprint protocol

The most thoroughly studied sports supplement in existence, with well over a thousand controlled trials. Monohydrate is both the cheapest form and the one every trial has used.

What it does in the body

Creatine is stored in muscle as phosphocreatine, a phosphate reserve that regenerates ATP within seconds. The same system operates in the brain, which is the basis for the cognitive research.

What the research looks at

  • Strength and power output
  • Lean mass gain alongside resistance training
  • Cognition during sleep deprivation
Typical daily dose
3–5 g
Time to effect
2–4 weeks
Usually taken
Any time, daily

Electrolytes (sodium, potassium, magnesium)

Minerals

Not one ingredient but a ratio. Sweat carries roughly a gram of sodium per litre, along with smaller amounts of potassium, magnesium and chloride — water alone does not replace that.

What it does in the body

Electrolytes set the osmotic gradient that decides whether water stays in the bloodstream or is passed out. Sodium in particular drives the reabsorption of water in the kidney.

What the research looks at

  • Rehydration after sweat loss
  • Endurance performance in heat
  • Cramping during prolonged exercise
Typical daily dose
500–1500 mg sodium per litre
Time to effect
Minutes to hours
Usually taken
Before and during exertion

Geranylgeraniol (GG)

Energy

A compound found in annatto and in small amounts in the body. It sits downstream in the mevalonate pathway — the same pathway statins interrupt.

What it does in the body

GG is required for prenylation, the process that anchors certain proteins to cell membranes so they can carry signals. It is also a precursor to CoQ10 and to MK-4.

What the research looks at

  • Endogenous CoQ10 and MK-4 synthesis
  • Muscle protein synthesis
  • Testosterone production in Leydig cells
Typical daily dose
150–300 mg
Time to effect
8–12 weeks
Usually taken
With a fat-containing meal

L-Carnitine

Energy

A compound the body makes from lysine and methionine, and takes in from red meat. The name comes from carnis, Latin for flesh.

What it does in the body

Carnitine ferries long-chain fatty acids across the mitochondrial membrane, which is the step that has to happen before fat can be burned for energy.

What the research looks at

  • Fatigue and recovery after exercise
  • Fat oxidation during exercise
  • Muscle carnitine content, which is hard to raise
Typical daily dose
1–2 g
Time to effect
12–24 weeks
Usually taken
With a carbohydrate-containing meal

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

L-Glutamine

Gut & digestion

The most abundant free amino acid in the body. It is conditionally essential: production keeps up under normal conditions but not during severe illness, burns or trauma.

What it does in the body

Glutamine is the preferred fuel of enterocytes, the cells lining the small intestine, and of rapidly dividing immune cells. It is also a nitrogen shuttle between tissues.

What the research looks at

  • Intestinal barrier integrity
  • Immune function under heavy training load
  • Recovery in catabolic states
Typical daily dose
5–15 g
Time to effect
4–8 weeks
Usually taken
On an empty stomach

Magnesium

Minerals In the Blueprint protocol

A cofactor in more than three hundred enzyme reactions, and one of the minerals European diets most often fall short on. The salt matters: citrate and glycinate absorb well, oxide largely does not.

What it does in the body

Magnesium stabilises ATP — the molecule cells actually spend — and regulates calcium flow across membranes, which is why it affects both muscle relaxation and nerve excitability.

What the research looks at

  • Sleep quality and night-time cramping
  • Blood pressure
  • Muscle function and recovery
Typical daily dose
200–400 mg elemental
Time to effect
2–6 weeks
Usually taken
Evening, with food

Pea Protein

Protein In the Blueprint protocol

Isolated from yellow split peas. It is the plant protein that comes closest to animal protein on leucine content, though it is comparatively low in methionine.

What it does in the body

Digests at a moderate rate and reaches roughly the same muscle protein synthesis response as whey when the dose is raised somewhat to compensate for the lower leucine density.

What the research looks at

  • Muscle thickness alongside resistance training
  • Comparison with whey on strength outcomes
  • Amino acid profile and complementary pairing with rice protein
Typical daily dose
25–40 g
Time to effect
8–12 weeks
Usually taken
After training or with meals

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

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

Whey Protein

Protein

The liquid fraction left when milk is curdled. It was a waste product from cheese-making until its amino acid profile turned out to be close to ideal for muscle protein synthesis.

What it does in the body

Whey is high in leucine, the amino acid that switches on mTOR signalling, and it digests fast — blood amino acids peak within an hour, which is why it is used around training.

What the research looks at

  • Muscle protein synthesis after resistance training
  • Lean mass retention during weight loss
  • Satiety compared with other protein sources
Typical daily dose
20–40 g
Time to effect
4–12 weeks
Usually taken
After training or between meals

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.