#21

You can find everything at NOW, and they are pretty cost-effective. When you open my supplement cupboard, it’s a sea of NOW with a few BulkSupplements and NutriCost scattered here and there (the ConsumerLab approved supps. - Astaxanthin and the aminos)

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#22

Nootropics also failed the Ashwagandha testing.

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#23

I was very surprised by that given ND owner’s mission is largely related to supp quality and they have a lab they test everything in.

The owner spoke about this and basically claims the ConsumerLab test is only testing for a subset of withanolides, so found less than they should have for extracts high in withanolides not tested for.

This could also explain other typically good brands scoring badly. In combination with the fact many brands purchase a proprietary extract like “KSM-66” from the same original manufacturer.

Notably the owner comments on Nature’s Way being high in withaferin A. He says this is actually a sign of low quality, but I know some here were interested in that particular molecule since it scored highly on the possible metformin and rapamycin mimetics paper.

Their most recent commentary: https://www.reddit.com/r/NootropicsDepot/comments/1czoe7l/comment/l5i5ho9/

Their comment from apparently the same failure 5 years ago is more constructive: https://www.reddit.com/r/NootropicsDepot/comments/dmlck9/consumerlabs_ashwagandha_testing_results/

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#24

That is some interesting criticism about consumerlab’s testing methodologies, and quite frustrating that it’s next to impossible for consumers to know if the methods for testing any given supplement are actually valid. 40 withanolides and only testing for 8? Sounds pretty bad, ASSUMING the other 32 withanolides have demonstrated biologic activity (and I don’t know if they have or haven’t).

He definitely makes an eloquent case for Nootropics Depot being stringent on their testing and supplement quality.

1 Like
#25

I have yet to subscribe to Consumer labs but I pay attention to them and have read some of their Q and A blogs. I remember reading one where the main Docs made some statements that did not coincide with my research nor address the nuance to refute either and I thought “ok, they try to be good but they may not be fully aware of the substances they are testing.”
I can’t remember what the point I felt that they missed was, but just that I concluded to always carefully consider their testing parameters and assumptions as well as the test results That they may miss the mark on occasion.

This may very well be the case here. If one were to ascribe any motivation (not sure I do) it is clear that reporting inconsistencies among tested products drums up attention and supports the need for testing

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#26

I’ve been in and around the supplement business for 50 years. I trust NOW, Thorne, and Montiff, and I mostly trust Bulk Supplements based on their tested results recently. Also, Arthur Andrew Medical for a number of products, particularly Floraphage, which is the #1 supplement I would choose if I could only take one to a desert island.

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#27

Although I like NootropicsDepot and have bought a lot of their products, it is a smaller company than Thorne, for example. But ND has more products so not everything is there. The owner of the company has also tested Thorne’s products and they have passed the tests.

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#28

Anyone know if Now supplements is same company as “now sports”?

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#29

The NOW logo on their homepage appears to be the same as the non sports line

And now I see they sell both on the same site, so yes!

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#30

Yes. NOW and NOW Sports are different parts of the same company. I’d assume the suppliers and quality would be the same.

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#31

Do tell. What’s all the hubbub?

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#32

Of all the prebiotic or probiotic supplements I’ve used over the past few decades, this has improved my gut health more than any. In others, I’ve seen it cure the symptoms of IBS within a few days. Given that gut health affects so many systems in the body, from neurotransmitters to the immune system, if I could only take on supplement, this would be it. You can read more about it on the website, but essentially, it “weeds the garden” in the gut. If I’m having any digestive or elimination issues, or if I’m starting to come down with something, I up my intake. I take 2-3 capsules a week as a maintenance dose. Everyone’s different so your mileage may vary of course.

3 Likes
#33

Thanks. Good to have something to turn to.

#34

I have been taking Ashwa-70 from Triquetra. It’s 35% withanolide concentration for a total of 70mg per capsule. Definitely the strongest I have seen on the market and I notice a big difference when I take these. My dreams are crazy vivid, memory is better and my testosterone levels go up.

#35

@Charles_Richardson Have you tried Pendulum Akkermansia for comparison?

#36

Yes, I have tried it and added that 2-3 days a week. Floraphage gets rid of the bad bacteria (turns it into food for the good bacteria, reportedly), and Akkermansia adds good bacteria. I think they’re complementary. I saw what it would do for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) when I was in communication with the company that produces Floraphage when they were developing it. They sent me a sample, which I passed along to a friend who was having a bad IBD attack that had lasted weeks. It stopped the attack within a few days after nothing else had worked. Later, the salesperson for that company told me it did the same thing for her.

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#37

Methdology limitations notwithstanding, it’s very normal for random plant extracts to have huge variability in phytochemical constituents. Growing conditions and extraction process is where a lot of the difference comes from. There is also a paper that demonstrated even different specimens/samples from the same botanical breed of Cannabis can have a wildly different chemotype (which completely undermines how the different breeds are being marketed). Plant extracts are inherently unreliable and make very little sense from the point of view of modern pharmacology. The best option (which is still far from ideal) is standardised extracts using patented processes: at least you have some quantitative assurance for one or two phytochemicals (tho the other biologically active ones will still be present in arbitrary amounts) and there is a degree of consistency in manufacturing. So you can have a little bit of hope for predictable effects.

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#38

Hi. I’m new here. I was wondering where you get the rapamycin? I’m traveling to the Washington state next month and have been thinking about taking a day trip to Canada to purchase some. Is that a bad idea?

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#39

You’ve come to the right place to ask. I started with gethealthspan.com but there are many ways that are listed on this site somewhere. You can search for “how to get rapamycin” on this site to find lists.

#40

Once you get a prescription, you can find various sources here. I used good rx and got 181 pills for $111 at cvs last week!

1 Like