Lab Notes

It grows on trees, has been used for 3,000 years, and western science just spent two decades proving it works.

THE PROBLEM The global supplement industry is worth over $150 billion. A significant portion of that is built on a practice so widespread, so normalised, and so deliberately obscured that most consumers have no idea it's happening to them. It's called label dosing. And it's why most supplements you've ever bought probably did very little. THE MYTH "If it's on the label, it's in the product at an effective dose." This assumption is so reasonable that it barely feels like an assumption. You read the ingredients panel. You see ashwagandha listed. You assume you're getting a meaningful amount of ashwagandha. You pay accordingly. The supplement industry has built a multi-billion euro business on the gap between what that assumption implies and what is legally required. THE REALITY Here's how label dosing works: regulatory frameworks for supplements require that manufacturers list every ingredient - but in most jurisdictions, they are not required to disclose the exact quantity of each ingredient within a proprietary blend. This means a manufacturer can include 500mg of a "focus blend" containing Lion's Mane, Bacopa, and Ginkgo - and the actual breakdown could be 490mg of the cheapest ingredient and 5mg each of the ones that appear impressive on the label. Even outside proprietary blends, many supplements contain ingredients at doses that are a fraction of what clinical research requires to demonstrate an effect. Ashwagandha has been shown to reduce cortisol meaningfully at doses of 300-600mg of a standardised KSM-66 extract. Many products on the market contain 50-100mg of a non-standardised extract - enough to list it on the label, not enough to do anything measurable. The same pattern repeats across magnesium (oxide form, 10% absorption, vs bisglycinate at 40%), zinc (sulphate vs bisglycinate), Vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin vs methylcobalamin), and dozens of other nutrients where the form and dose determine whether you're buying a supplement or an expensive placebo. At FormuLabs, we built the brand around a single counter-principle: if an ingredient is on our label, it is there at a dose that matches the clinical evidence for its efficacy, in the most bioavailable form available. No proprietary blends. No label dosing. No hiding. We believe you deserve to know exactly what you're taking — and exactly why it's going to work. THE TAKEAWAY Before buying any supplement, check two things: the exact dose of each active ingredient, and the form it's delivered in. If either is missing or vague, put it back on the shelf. THE FORMULABS COMMITMENT 👉 Shop All Products — Full Ingredient Transparency Every ingredient. Every dose. Nothing hidden.

THE PROBLEM There is one supplement that regulates over 200 genes, governs your immune system, controls calcium absorption, influences your mood, affects your testosterone levels, and is deficient in nearly half the European population. You almost certainly need more of it. And you almost certainly don't know you're low. THE MYTH "I get enough sunlight. I don't need Vitamin D." This is the most comforting and most dangerous assumption in European health culture. The reality is that unless you live below the 35th parallel - roughly the latitude of North Africa - and spend meaningful time outdoors with significant skin exposure between April and October, you are almost certainly not producing enough Vitamin D from sunlight to maintain optimal levels year-round. In Paris, London, Berlin, or Amsterdam? Your skin cannot synthesise Vitamin D from sunlight between October and March regardless of how much time you spend outside. The sun simply isn't strong enough. THE REALITY Vitamin D3 is technically a prohormone, not a vitamin. Your skin synthesises it from UVB radiation, and it then undergoes conversion in the liver and kidneys into its biologically active form, calcitriol. In this active form, it binds to Vitamin D receptors present in virtually every tissue in the human body - regulating gene expression, immune cell activity, calcium metabolism, muscle function, and neurotransmitter synthesis. The consequences of deficiency are wide-ranging and insidious precisely because they develop slowly and overlap with symptoms most people attribute to other causes: persistent fatigue, low mood, reduced immunity, muscle weakness, poor sleep quality, and impaired cognitive function. A 2022 review of European population data estimated that approximately 40% of Europeans have insufficient Vitamin D levels, with rates rising to over 70% in northern countries during winter months. Despite this, it remains dramatically under-supplemented - partly because deficiency doesn't feel like anything obvious until it becomes severe, and partly because most people genuinely believe the sunlight myth. The solution is straightforward: Vitamin D3 - not D2, which is significantly less bioavailable - taken daily with a meal containing fat, since it is a fat-soluble vitamin and requires dietary fat for absorption. This single daily habit, costing pennies per day, addresses one of the most consequential and correctable deficiencies in modern European health. THE TAKEAWAY If you live in Europe and don't supplement Vitamin D3 daily between October and March - and probably year-round - the statistical likelihood is that you're deficient without knowing it, and your immune system, mood, and energy levels are paying the price. THE FORMULABS PRODUCT 👉 Vitamin D3 Softgels Daily. Fat-soluble. Non-negotiable.

Creatine has a reputation problem. Over 500 peer-reviewed studies disagree with everyone who avoids it.

Millions of people take melatonin for sleep. Most of them are doing it wrong, and missing the real root cause entirely.

THE PROBLEM You buy Vitamin C. You take it religiously every morning. You feel virtuous. And then your body quietly flushes most of it straight out — and you never know it happened. This isn't a scare story. It's basic biochemistry. And once you understand it, you'll never buy a cheap Vitamin C supplement again. THE MYTH "Vitamin C is Vitamin C. They're all the same." Walk into any pharmacy and you'll find shelves of Vitamin C supplements ranging from €3 to €25. Most people grab the cheapest one, assume the molecule is identical regardless of price, and move on. Logical, right? Wrong. THE REALITY Standard Vitamin C supplements are made from ascorbic acid — a highly acidic compound that, at doses above 200mg, starts to overwhelm your intestinal absorption capacity. What your gut can't absorb in time gets excreted. Not metabolised. Not stored. Excreted. This is called saturation kinetics, and it's the dirty little secret the cheap supplement industry doesn't advertise. There's a second problem. High-dose ascorbic acid is notoriously hard on the gastrointestinal tract. Nausea, stomach cramps, and digestive discomfort are so common that many people simply stop taking it — which means they're getting no benefit at all. Buffered Vitamin C solves both problems simultaneously. By binding ascorbic acid to a mineral salt — in the FormuLabs formula, that mineral is magnesium — the acidity is neutralised, absorption rate increases significantly, and the gastrointestinal side effects virtually disappear. You also get the added benefit of the mineral itself, since magnesium is one of the most prevalent deficiencies in modern adults. One capsule. Two essential nutrients. Actually absorbed. THE TAKEAWAY The form of Vitamin C matters as much as the dose — buffered Vitamin C delivers more of what you paid for, without the stomach upset that makes standard ascorbic acid supplements so hard to take consistently. THE FORMULABS PRODUCT 👉 Buffered Vitamin C 500mg + Magnesium