{"id":3567,"date":"2017-07-14T12:44:50","date_gmt":"2017-07-14T12:44:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/?p=3567"},"modified":"2017-07-14T13:27:01","modified_gmt":"2017-07-14T13:27:01","slug":"why-should-you-avoid-proprietary-blends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/why-should-you-avoid-proprietary-blends\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Should You Avoid Proprietary Blends?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You&#8217;ve decided that you want a good quality supplement. One that&#8217;ll boost your muscle mass, ramp up your strength and supercharge your endurance.<\/p>\n<p>And it&#8217;s testosterone boosters that are coming out top. Get a good one and you&#8217;ll lean up, pack on slabs of muscle and burst with energy.<\/p>\n<p>But like many supplements, not all are built the same. Whilst some contain only natural, high quality ingredients, others take the more deceitful route &#8211; <strong>proprietary blends<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In this article we look at why these aren&#8217;t a good choice&#8230; and tell you exactly why you should avoid them.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s what we&#8217;ll cover:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What is a proprietary blend?<\/li>\n<li>Why should you avoid them?<\/li>\n<li>What&#8217;s the FDAs stance on proprietary blends?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>What is a Proprietary Blend?<\/h2>\n<p>You might have noticed when researching test boosters that while some supplements have a comprehensive ingredient profile, others do not.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, these &#8216;proprietary blends&#8217; only include the manufacturer brand name for the blend, a total ingredient amount, and a list of what makes that total up.<\/p>\n<p>For example, let&#8217;s say that a manufacturer decides to call their blend <em>&#8216;test boost Z&#8217;. <\/em>And in that blend are 2 g of ingredients.<\/p>\n<p>All that you&#8217;ll see on the product label is &#8216;test boost Z 2 g&#8217; and then under that you&#8217;ll see a breakdown of the ingredients &#8211; hopefully effective ones such as &#8216;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/d-aspartic-acid-and-testosterone\/\">D-aspartic acid<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/vitamin-d3-and-testosterone\/\">vitamin D<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/zinc-and-testosterone\/\">zinc<\/a><\/strong>&#8216;.<\/p>\n<p>But what you&#8217;ll not see is what makes that 2 g up. <em>How much of each individual nutrient is there?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Well, we&#8217;ve no idea, because it&#8217;s not stated on the label.<\/p>\n<h3>Are proprietary blends limited to testosterone boosters?<\/h3>\n<p>No. You&#8217;ll find them in fat burners, protein blends, pre workouts and loads of other supplements too.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<div class=\"group infobox infobox-blue mtop20 mbottom20\">\n<p><strong>Key Point:<\/strong> For want of a better explanation, a proprietary blend is a secret combination of supplement ingredients.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Chances are it&#8217;s under-dosed<\/h2>\n<p>Because the only useful information is the total product weight, you&#8217;ve not idea how much of each individual is in your supplement.<\/p>\n<p>That could mean that some, if not all of the nutrients, are under-dosed &#8211; there just isn&#8217;t enough to have an effect.\u00a0And that&#8217;s even before you factor in that some ingredients might not be any good in the first place (<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/mucuna-pruriens-testosterone\/\">mucuna pruriens<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/can-forskolin-boost-testosterone\/\">forskolin<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0for example).<\/p>\n<p>So for all you know, there may be one or two nutrients in your test booster that work when the dose is right. But you don&#8217;t know exactly how much is in the proprietary blend to be able to tell. It might well be packed with less effective fillers as far as you&#8217;re aware.<\/p>\n<h3>Label decoration<\/h3>\n<p>There&#8217;s probably very little bioactive ingredients included in a proprietary blend. The long list of what appears to be impressive nutrients are more than likely dosed in a way that makes them cheap to include, but ineffective to you as a consumer.<\/p>\n<p>This is what&#8217;s called &#8216;label decoration&#8217; in the industry and is very much its dark, unethical side.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3572\" src=\"https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Supplement-pills-and-tablets.jpg\" alt=\"A range of different pills and tablet supplements on a spoon. Fresh vegetables and fruit in the background\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Supplement-pills-and-tablets.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Supplement-pills-and-tablets-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Supplement-pills-and-tablets-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Supplement-pills-and-tablets-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Why Do Manufacturers Choose to Use Proprietary Blends?<\/h2>\n<p>The stock answer you&#8217;ll get from a pharmaceutical company that makes blend supplements is that it stops rivals from stealing their testosterone booster recipe.<\/p>\n<p>That their product is so cutting edge that if another company gets a sniff of their ingredients ratios that they&#8217;ll drop their own product and plain copy it.<\/p>\n<p><em>Is this true?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s very doubtful. The real reason is less honest and has to do with the fact that as a mysterious product hiding behind a brand name, these companies can skimp on the premium nutrients and bulk out the test booster with inexpensive substitutes.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Is This Even Allowed?<\/h2>\n<p>Surprisingly, <strong>yes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires all manufacturers are open and honest about both the types of ingredients in their supplements, as well as the exact quantities.<\/p>\n<p>But a propriety blend <strong>doesn&#8217;t have to state that<\/strong>. Not the ingredients, nor the amounts. It&#8217;s a brand and therefore exploits a loophole in the system.<\/p>\n<h3>So what are the FDA rules?<\/h3>\n<p>The FDA state that any mysterious, branded-blend must be identified as a proprietary blend on the ingredients label, or an <em><strong>&#8220;appropriately descriptive terms or fanciful name&#8221;<\/strong><\/em>. So basically, you can call it whatever you like.<\/p>\n<p>The only weight that needs to be recorded is the total weight of the blend, along with a list of which nutrients make it up. And if this is the case, the term <em><strong>&#8220;daily value not established&#8221;<\/strong><\/em> must also be included.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3573\" src=\"https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Test-pills.jpg\" alt=\"Bodybuilder with muscular arms holding a range of different pills and supplements\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Test-pills.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Test-pills-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Test-pills-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Test-pills-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>So How Do You Choose a Good Proprietary Blend?<\/h2>\n<p><strong>You can&#8217;t<\/strong>, that&#8217;s the frustrating thing. And if a company has an effective ingredient ratio they&#8217;ll want to tell you, because they know it will help you achieve their goals.<\/p>\n<p>There just isn&#8217;t any reason why a legitimate manufacturer would choose a proprietary blend over an open and honest ingredient list, unless they had something to hide.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Summary &#8211; Why Should You Avoid Proprietary Blends?<\/h2>\n<div class=\"group infobox infobox-blue mtop20 mbottom20\">\n<p><strong>Key Points:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A proprietary blend is a secret combination of supplement ingredients.<\/li>\n<li>You don&#8217;t know how effective the nutrients will be as the doses are not labelled.<\/li>\n<li>Ingredients are often under-dosed and use lots of filler ingredients.<\/li>\n<li>Proprietary blends are rarely to do with &#8216;hiding&#8217; a secret formula so rivals don&#8217;t steal it.<\/li>\n<li>They exploit FDA loopholes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>TestoFuel<\/h2>\n<p>As an open and honest testosterone booster, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.testofuel.com\">TestoFuel<\/a><\/strong> contains only premium-quality, all-natural nutrients.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Exhaustively research<\/strong><\/span> and <strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">optimally dosed<\/span><\/strong>, this muscle building, libido-boosting supplement will smash down your testosterone barriers and <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>accelerate your progress<\/strong><\/span>, both in the gym, and out of it.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>Real muscle growth &#8211;<\/strong><\/em> increase protein synthesis and lay down new muscle<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Increase strength &#8211;<\/strong><\/em> crush your PRs<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Drop body fat &#8211;<\/strong><\/em> shred excess fat and get lean<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Boost your mood &#8211;<\/strong><\/em> get motivated and smash your goals<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You&#8217;ve decided that you want a good quality supplement. One that&#8217;ll boost your muscle mass, ramp up your strength and supercharge your endurance. And it&#8217;s testosterone boosters that are coming out top. Get a good one and you&#8217;ll lean up, pack on slabs of muscle and burst with energy. But like many supplements, not all [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[54],"tags":[545,542,546],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.2.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why Should You Avoid Proprietary Blends? - TestoFuel Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When choosing your fitness supplements you want the best, premium products. Why should you avoid proprietary blends? 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