Pharmacologist John-Paul Andersen, Ph.D., says recognizing an ingredient is only part of understanding a supplement. The amount matters, too.
LEHI, Utah— Consumers may recognize magnesium, CoQ10, L-theanine and B vitamins on a supplement label. John-Paul Andersen, Ph.D., said the more important information is often found in smaller print: the amount of each ingredient.
Andersen, a pharmacologist, formulation scientist and co-founder of Lehi-based brain health company &Mind, said an ingredient's presence on a label does not show whether the product contains an amount that reflects the research behind it.
The supplement industry commonly refers to the practice of including small amounts of recognizable ingredients as "fairy dusting."
"You can put a recognizable ingredient on a label without putting very much of it in the formula," Andersen said. "It looks good on the bottle. But the question I care about is whether the dose has any relationship to the research behind that ingredient. Those are two very different standards."
That question helped shape &Mind, which takes a day-and-night approach to supporting overall brain health. &Mind AM is formulated to support mental clarity, focus and steady daytime energy. &Mind PM is formulated to support relaxation and a healthy nighttime wind-down routine.
Dose Over Ingredient Count
Supplement companies often promote the number of ingredients in a product. Andersen said a longer list does not necessarily mean a stronger formula. The form and amount used in a product may differ from those evaluated in research, which may also have involved a different population.
"More ingredients doesn't mean more science," Andersen said. "Sometimes it just means a longer label."
Before choosing an ingredient, Andersen said he considers why it is being used, the amounts evaluated in published research and whether the dose fits the purpose of the formula.
"I would rather formulate with intention than win an ingredient-count contest," Andersen said. "If something is in the formula, we should be able to explain why it's there and why we're using that amount."
The company describes that process as research-informed formulation. &Mind AM contains 500 milligrams of acetyl-L-carnitine, 120 milligrams of ginkgo biloba extract and 100 milligrams of CoQ10, along with glucoraphanin and a B-vitamin complex. &Mind PM contains 200 milligrams of L-theanine, along with magnesium glycinate, lemon balm, zinc glycinate, vitamin D3, vitamin E and Rosa roxburghii extract.
The company says those formulation decisions were informed by research on the individual ingredients. The finished &Mind formulas themselves were not used in those studies.
"Science doesn't need to be stretched to make a good story," Andersen said. "Be clear about what was studied, what wasn't and why you made the formulation decisions you made. People can handle that level of transparency."
A Day-And-Night Approach
&Mind AM is taken in the morning with water and a meal. &Mind PM is taken in the evening with water, 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime. Andersen said the AM-PM system reflects the different demands people place on their brains during the day and at night.
"At 9 a.m., you want your brain switched on. At 10 p.m., you need to be able to switch off," Andersen said. "Those are different biological priorities. We didn't think it made sense to ask one formula to do both."
Andersen earned a Ph.D. in physiology and pharmacology from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, now known as UT Health San Antonio. His published research includes work in mitochondrial biology, lipid metabolism, cellular trafficking and signaling.
"Consumers hear 'science-backed' all the time, but that phrase should mean something," Andersen said. "We don't need people to take our word for it. Look at the ingredients. Look at the doses. Look at the research. Ask us why we made the choices we made. That's exactly the conversation we want to have."
About &Mind
&Mind is a Lehi, Utah-based brain health company focused on everyday cognitive wellness and healthy aging. Its AM-PM system includes &Mind AM, formulated to support mental clarity, focus and steady daytime energy, and &Mind PM, formulated to support relaxation and a healthy nighttime wind-down routine. Pharmacologist and formulation scientist John-Paul Andersen, Ph.D., developed the formulas using an approach centered on purposeful ingredient selection, peer-reviewed research and label transparency.