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.

9 ingredients

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

Bone Broth Protein

Protein

Protein extracted by simmering bones and connective tissue, then dried. The amino acid profile is dominated by glycine, proline and hydroxyproline rather than the branched-chain amino acids.

What it does in the body

That profile is the opposite of muscle protein's, which makes it a poor choice for hypertrophy and an interesting one for connective tissue and for the glycine-dependent pathways in the gut lining and liver.

What the research looks at

  • Glycine intake and collagen synthesis
  • Gut barrier integrity
  • Amino acid profile compared with muscle meat
Typical daily dose
15–20 g
Time to effect
8–12 weeks
Usually taken
Any time of day

Bovine Colostrum

Immunity

The first milk a cow produces after calving, collected in the window before it turns into ordinary milk. It is dense in immune factors because a newborn calf is born without any.

What it does in the body

Colostrum carries immunoglobulins, lactoferrin, and growth factors including IGF-1 and TGF-beta. These act locally in the gut rather than being absorbed intact, supporting the epithelial lining and the immune tissue beneath it.

What the research looks at

  • Intestinal permeability, including exercise-induced
  • Upper respiratory infections in athletes
  • Gut immune signalling
Typical daily dose
1–3 g
Time to effect
4–8 weeks
Usually taken
On an empty stomach, in cold water

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

Collagen Peptides

Skin In the Blueprint protocol

Collagen broken into short chains of two or three amino acids so they survive digestion intact. Whole collagen would simply be dismantled into its constituent amino acids like any other protein.

What it does in the body

Specific di- and tripeptides, particularly prolyl-hydroxyproline, appear in blood after ingestion and are thought to act as signals to fibroblasts and chondrocytes rather than as raw material.

What the research looks at

  • Skin elasticity and hydration
  • Joint comfort in athletes
  • Tendon and ligament properties
Typical daily dose
10–15 g
Time to effect
8–12 weeks
Usually taken
Any time, with vitamin C

L-Lysine

Protein In the Blueprint protocol

An essential amino acid, and the one that most often limits protein quality in cereal-based diets. Pulses are rich in it, which is why beans and grains complement each other.

What it does in the body

Lysine is cross-linked into collagen by lysyl oxidase, and it is the precursor to carnitine. It also competes with arginine for the same transporters, which is the basis of its traditional use.

What the research looks at

  • Collagen cross-linking and wound healing
  • Calcium absorption
  • Recurrence of cold sores
Typical daily dose
1–3 g
Time to effect
4–12 weeks
Usually taken
On an empty stomach

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

Spirulina

Protein

A blue-green cyanobacterium rather than an alga, grown in alkaline lakes. It is around sixty per cent protein by dry weight, which is higher than any common food.

What it does in the body

Phycocyanin, the blue pigment, is the main antioxidant and gives spirulina its colour. It also supplies iron and, notably, no usable B12 — the form it contains is a pseudo-vitamin the body cannot use.

What the research looks at

  • Blood lipids and blood pressure
  • Exercise-induced oxidative stress
  • Iron status in anaemia
Typical daily dose
3–10 g
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.