I've worked with enough women who are already buying supplements — spending real money, doing their best — to know that the label-reading skills most people have aren't enough to protect them from products that don't work.
The supplement industry in the United States operates under a different regulatory framework than pharmaceuticals. Companies are largely responsible for their own quality control. The FDA can take action against products that cause harm, but pre-market approval isn't required. That context matters when you're trying to evaluate what you're buying.
Red Flag #1: "Proprietary Blend" on the Label
This phrase means the individual ingredient amounts are hidden inside a total blend weight. A product can list 10 ingredients in a "500mg proprietary blend" without disclosing that nine of them are at near-zero doses and one accounts for 490mg.
There is no legitimate reason a quality product needs to hide individual ingredient amounts. Transparency here is a minimum bar, not a bonus.
Red Flag #2: No Elemental Disclosure on Minerals
This is especially relevant for magnesium, calcium, and zinc. "500mg magnesium glycinate" sounds substantial. The elemental magnesium in that amount is roughly 50mg — one-sixth of what the sleep research used. Effective products list both the compound weight and the elemental amount. If only the compound weight is listed, you need to do the math yourself — or assume the company is hoping you won't.
Red Flag #3: No Standardization on Botanical Extracts
"500mg Lion's Mane" means nothing without a standardization percentage. Dried mushroom powder can be included in that weight without any guarantee of active compound content. Extracts standardized to specific percentages — "40% polysaccharides" — are what the clinical research used. The same principle applies to Black Cohosh, Red Clover, Ashwagandha, and most other botanical ingredients.
Red Flag #4: Vague Third-Party Testing Claims
"Third-party tested" is on many labels. What matters is which third party. NSF International, USP, and Informed Sport are the certifications with meaningful standards and public databases. A vague claim without a named certifier and accessible certificate of analysis is marketing language, not a quality guarantee.
Red Flag #5: Massive Doses as a Selling Point
More isn't better for most nutrients. Vitamin C at 5,000mg doesn't provide more benefit than 500mg — it costs more and gets excreted. Magnesium at 1,000mg doesn't absorb better than 300mg at the right form — you'll just have digestive side effects. Products that lead with massive doses are often playing to consumer psychology rather than research.
Red Flag #6: Unspecified Ingredient Forms
"Magnesium" without specifying glycinate, citrate, malate, or oxide is incomplete information. "Vitamin K" without specifying K1 or K2 (and which form of K2) is incomplete. "Folate" and "folic acid" are not the same compound. The form determines absorption, mechanism, and appropriate dose. A quality company knows this and tells you.
The Short Version
You're looking for: individual ingredient amounts disclosed, elemental mineral content listed, botanical extracts standardized to specific percentages, named third-party certifications, and forms of every ingredient specified.
The Mendi products list every ingredient, every dose, every form — including elemental mineral content. See the full stack here — every label is transparent and every dose is traceable to the research it came from.
References:
Sax, JAMA Internal Medicine 2012 — FDA Oversight of Dietary Supplements
Schuchardt & Volpe, Nutrients 2017 — Magnesium Bioavailability
NIH Office of Dietary Supplements — Dietary Supplement Fact Sheets