HOW TO READ A LABEL SERIES - Part 2: Non-Medicinal Ingredients

Non-medicinal ingredients include things like flavours, anti-caking agents, thickeners, colour enhancers (such as titanium dioxide), capsule materials, and more.

But let’s be clear: the idea that supplements should contain zero non-medicinal ingredients is (usually) false.

It really depends on the product. For example:

• If it’s a capsule, the material used to make the capsule must be listed.
  

• If the product contains ingredients that taste absolutely awful on their own (like many amino acids), some flavouring is usually necessary—and will appear under non-medicinal ingredients.
  

Many supplements on the market include far too many non-medicinal ingredients...

How can you tell? You don’t need to understand the chemistry behind every additive. Simply make a habit of scanning the non-medicinal ingredient list and comparing similar products.

For example:

• Compare 'discount' multivitamins with multivitamins from a reputable brand

• Make sure you compare equivalent products — not with a completely different supplement (e.g. comparing an multivitamin to an adaptogen)
  

You'll notice patterns - certain cheap additives often appear in lower-quality supplements but are absent in products from reputable brands. Some of these are added to prevent ingredients from clumping together or to help powders move more easily through manufacturing equipment. Here's a few examples to look out for:

🚫 Titanium dioxide
🚫 Magnesium Stearate
🚫 Vegetable oils
🚫 Artificial dyes or colorants – these are major red flags

Attention Hybrid Athletes

This isn’t just a general quality concern—it’s a performance one.

Some non-medicinal ingredients can cause bloating, nausea, or stomach discomfort. If you're training for both strength and endurance, you're already pushing your body hard. You might be:

• Eating on the go
  

• Taking supplements right before or after training
  

The last thing you want is to feel sick mid-session because of unnecessary additives.

That’s why atplab uses only absolutely essential, well-tolerated non-medicinal ingredients!