Stop Buying Supplements From This Major Online Retailer

I’m Brandon Wilson. I am constantly working toward improving my mind, body, and spirit using various ancient techniques and cutting-edge biohacking tools and devices. I want to be healthy, but not at the expense of being happy. This simple idea is what it means to be wellthy.

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Do you know how you have to scroll two-thirds into most articles to get the answer to the headline? I’m not here to waste your time. I stopped buying supplements on Amazon.

I discovered a post on X from Dan Go, who shared examples of counterfeit supplements purchased on Amazon.

Can you tell the difference between these two bottles?

Courtesy of Dan Go on X

How is this happening? Amazon has an inventory system that combines identical products from different sellers. Amazon pools these products together in the same bins at warehouses. You might think you’re getting a product from your chosen seller, but the co-mingled inventory means Amazon ships whichever unit is closest, regardless of the seller.

The NOW supplement company offers tips for spotting fraudulent NOW products.

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According to this article, Amazon isn’t exactly taking a proactive approach to address this problem.

NOW also conducted testing of various supplements purchased from Amazon and uncovered many quality issues. Not only are there fake supplements, but we may not be getting what we expect, even from the manufacturer.

Where is the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in all this? The FDA regulates supplements more like foods than drugs. The burden of proof is on the manufacturers to ensure safety and accuracy. The FDA regulates the following for supplements:

• Labeling requirements - Supplements must have accurate labeling, ingredients, and proof of any health claims.

• Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) - GMP regulations ensure supplements are processed consistently and meet quality standards.

• Post-market safety monitoring - The FDA monitors adverse event reports (via MedWatch) and can take action after a product is on the market, including issuing warnings, mandating recalls, and banning ingredients.

• Oversight of specific claims - The FDA reviews structure/function claims (like "supports immune health") for accuracy but does not pre-approve them.

The FDA does not review or approve supplements before they go to market. The FDA does not independently verify ingredient identity, potency, or purity unless it suspects violations. The bottom line is that it’s up to us to research supplement quality.

Tools For Evaluating Supplements

• Consumerlab (paid) - Independent testing of supplements

• Labdoor (free) - Independent testing of supplements

• Wetestyoutrust (free) - Independent testing of supplements

• Prove It app (paid) iOS, Google Play - The Yuka app for supplements

• Examine.com (basic info free and paid) - Evidence-based research for supplement efficacy

• NatMedPro (basic info free and paid) - Authoritative resource on supplements, natural medicines, and integrative therapies

Some of My Trusted Brands

• Global Healing

• Water & Wellness

• Quicksilver Scientific

• Paleovalley

• BEAM Minerals (use code BRANDON51920 to save 20%)

• Suppgrade Labs

• Choose to be Healthy

• Mito Life

• BiOptimizers

• Vital Health (I recently became a distributor and will share more in an upcoming newsletter.)

Sneak Preview of the Newest Supplement I’m Taking

Just launched—The Cellergize Morning formula from LifeWave

I’ve written about the incredible phototherapy patches from LifeWave that I have been using since October. I’m thrilled that the company just released a supplement formula designed to support the patches. With a tasty lemon-ginger flavor and a science-backed blend of essential vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and sea buckthorn fruit extract, it supports healthy stem cell activity and helps fuel your body and mind. Here’s a short video that provides a summary of the ingredients and benefits.

Visit the LifeWave website to learn more.

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The Daily Habit is where I share my habits related to the fundamentals: sleep, diet, physical activity, mindfulness, and stress management.

Here are more tools to help you become an informed consumer.

Yuka App - Food and cosmetic scanner

Bobby Approved App - Grocery scanner

Open Food Facts - Non-profit, open-sourced food database

Environmental Working Group Healthy Living App - Personal care and home products

Mamavation - Independent testing of grocery and home products

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Last week’s answer

Be Wellthy Club entrants: Scott L., Ariel E., Scott S., Veronica C., Renata B.

Raffle prizes are for Be Wellthy Club Members only. Club members can email bewellthy@substack.com with the correct answer to each week’s brain training and be entered into a monthly raffle to win one of two prize packages every month. I do respond to every email.

This week:

Given a list of words, find the one word that follows each of them to make a compound word or two-word phrase. For example, the answer for knuckle, moth, and basket is ball.

1. Wiggle, Elbow, Hotel

2. Air, Hip, Pick

3. Bull, Pillow, Dog

4. Half, Sand, Silver

See the answer.

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A year ago, I wrote about a revolutionary, non-invasive test that identifies heavy metals and vitamin and mineral status. It’s called the Oligoscan and should be in every doctor’s office.

Please help me by sharing this newsletter with someone you think would benefit.