Ryker Black put together this tier list of supplement companies. I generally agree although there are some I would move up in the rankings. Bulk supplements wasn’t listed. I’d put it at A.
I would move NOW up to A+ and Doublewood to A.
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Beth
#2
Super helpful and surprised to see I have only heard of do not age in his A+ group!
And hmmm, on Renue by science being only a b… i am buying 2 things from them… and no reason to spend that if they are not A+ (maybe he addresses this in the video and I’ll soon watch)
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I like www.consumerlabs.com as they do the testing.
“Brands” are not always a reliable way to rate supplements.
Brand driven purchasing does not always provide the best product for the best price.
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I think you can use it as a rule of thumb though. I think we can all agree that NOW is better than Centrum or Kirkland.
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Alpha
#5
I like Da Vinci Labs, which often has formulations more closely aligned with what I need.
Thorne, Da Vinci, and Carlson my main sources.
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rickyf
#6
My thoughts, exactly. Spot on.
I trust and miss hansensupplements on the list. A rather unknown European brand. But it came out on top when the University of singapore tested supplements. I also trust bulksupplements, NOW, DrBest, Lifeextension, Thorn, Swanson.
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I completely agree that ConsumerLab do a good job on the supplements they test but they don’t cover the whole market. I subscribe to them, US$5/mth, to help support good 3rd party assessments. Just to be clear, they don’t sell product, rather they are an independent organisation that tests, reviews, and rates health and nutrition products, including vitamins, minerals, herbal and supplements, to help consumers and healthcare professionals identify high-quality products.
The key problem is that the supplements market is almost completely unregulated world-wide. The annual revenues were approximately USD 180 billion in 2023 and projected to reach USD 327.42 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate 9% from 2024 to 2030. About one third of that market is in the USA. The Now Foods study on Astaxanthin really brought home the problem. Many of the companies reviewed had little or no Astaxanthin in their product! I see nothing in the future that will improve this situation so I’ll support ConsumerLab and pay attention to the worldly wise folks on sites like this.
My personal “go to” suppliers: Now Foods, Thorne, Swanson, Jarrow, Bulk Supplements and Doublewood. They all have a good portfolio, they’ve been around for a decent amount of years and built a reputation that is hard won and easily lost.
There are a few specialist companies that I’d add, Real Mushrooms for Ergo, and Primeadine for Spermadine.
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The biggest takeaway from this video for me is to avoid C supplements and keep my purchases in the A to A+ range as much as possible. Although I do like Nutricost which is a B.
I’ll also give California Gold more credit. That’s iHerbs in house brand and it’s quite cheap.
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Do Not Age mostly sells products sourced from China. They have made misleading claims in the past - for example about SIRT6 studies - and are primarily focused on marketing rather than science. Their CEO is not a supplement expert but a marketing specialist.
I know this because I run a supplement company myself and used to be a Do Not Age customer and had a call with the Do Not Age CEO.
Life Extension is an interesting case — they sold their company to an investment firm (IIRC).
If I had to recommend a company other than my own, I’d go for Hansen (which, by the way, is one of our direct competitors).
Their is also a NL-based company from a scientist which is really okay - I just forgot the name.
So what makes a supplement company better in my opinion?
- they do not sell snake oil like resveratrol.
- They sell genuinely high-quality products and disclose the country of origin — instead of always picking the cheapest (Chinese!) manufacturer. (Do Not Age does this, which means they end up with more heavy metals in their products. Not so great.certificates (which Do Not Age did NOT in the past!).
- They provide reliable third-party test certificates (which Do Not Age failed to do in the past
- Having responsive, transparent customer support.
One example for point #1: I do sell Ca-AKG in my company, but NOT for its supposed effects on extending female lifespan. There is a real case for AKG supplementation — but it has nothing to do with longevity. So I told my customers that truth. And when it comes to trustworthiness, I just don’t trust anyone — especially not influencers.
It really frustrates me that these companies keep pushing AKG (and other supplements) as a miracle longevity hack — when it’s simply not true
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Beth
#11
I appreciate all of this. I also respect you recommending a brand other than your own.
Btw, what is your brand?
And I found myself checking out Hansen the other day (and ha, they DO sell resveratrol 
… but so many companies do, so while I always give a side eye, I don’t ignore a brand just due to that one item. I probably won’t be buying from them because they mostly offer powders and I’m such a wimp that I can’t even take creatine powder, so….
I would love to hear your explanation on the benefits of CA AKG
And your take on Do Not Age is interesting because I’ve never heard anything but glowing things. I’ve taken their hylauronic acid but nothing at the moment… no fillers is a appealing, however that might just be physiological
And while I always used to think if it’s from china it’s automatically bad, I have recently learned a large amount of the chemicals we source for our pharmaceuticals comes from china.
@CronosTempi I had not heard of that brand, so thank you. Any others in your A+ category to share? I know you research thoroughly, so if you do something, I can be a lemming…
Absolutely true. Do Not Age is pushed by that guy, because they sponsor him. It’s not a very good company. In the excellent category there’s also Advanced Orthomolecular Research, a Canadian company where Michael Ray (longevity researcher used to be active on CR Society, then SENS) used to work. A bit pricey, but worth it - it’s your health. I didn’t know Life Extension was sold, it’s one of my go to brands. But yes, just because some brand used to be reliable doesn’t mean it will remain so, companies get sold all the time, for example Jarrow Formulas, another company that I used, got sold.
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Probably can’t go wrong with either Thorne or Pure Encapsulations. It’s always nice when a supplement actually contains the advertised molecule(s) and in the claimed dose. Thorne supplements have been used in NIH-funded studies and collaborations with the Mayo Clinic and the U.S. Olympic Committee. Pure Encapsulations have been used in clinical and academic settings as well for studies.
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Pure Encapsulations underdosed some ingredients. Not acceptable in such an overpriced brand. I am happy to pay a lot, but in exchange I want the full dose, so now I avoid them, but to each their own. YMMV.
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I don’t trust any reviews from a YouTuber that places a brand as an A+ when he is a paid endorser of that brand. I’m sure there is some basis of truth, but just lost my trust. Plus, I have my own supplement brand and know how the industry works.
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Right now, AOR, NOW, Jarrow Formulas, Life Extension. But the key thing to remember, is that you have to go not just by brand, but by supplement. For example, even though AOR is a good company, I may not buy a particular supplement from them, say citicholine, because they add choline bitartrate which I absolutely don’t want, so instead, I’ll by the citicholine from Jarrow. Or a given supplement from only one company, like my EPA only from Ingennus (PharmEPA Restore), molybdenum from KAL and so on. So selectively I might buy a supplement from a company, but that’s the only supplement or a few supplements I’ll buy from them - I’ll only buy a couple of things from Bulk Supplements, or a few from Swanson’s. A lot of things must align: dosage, form, fillers, ingredients sourcing, testing certificates and so on. And then, everything changes because the company got sold and their product deteriorated - happened many, many times. Then the search starts all over again.
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Consumer Labs has disapproved several Swanson products: Maca, St Johns Wort, Ashwagandha, Lion’s Mane, Valerian. I can’t consider them A-list.
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Does anybody have any efficacy stats on Purebulk.com? This is where I purchase some supplements
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A few of my fave companies not named so far:
Emerald Laboratories - FANTASTIC!
BioOptimizers
GAIA
PureEncapsulations
Mercola
In addition, I am partial to PureEncapsulations, NOW, Jarrow, Doctor’s Best, Life Extension, EmeraldLaboratories, Mercola and BioOptimizers (a brand not mentioned here yet)… Once in a while, some items from Thorne - wish there were not as expensive. And Paradise herbs and Gaia for herbs, mostly.
I pick amongst these by the supplement forms and ingredient combinations that I’m looking for.
I like Swanson, NOW, Life Extension and Jarrow. California Gold Nutrition is also ok. I use Nutricost sometimes though I prefer the other brands.
I’ve also been using Bulk Supplements and Pure Bulk lately.
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