Most supplements are not lying about what is in the bottle. They are lying about how much. And they do it legally, right on the label, in a way designed for you not to notice. Once you see the trick, you cannot unsee it.
The proprietary blend scam
Flip over most pre-workouts, nootropics, or test boosters and you will see a line like "Proprietary Blend, 2,000mg" followed by ten ingredients. Notice what is missing: the amount of each one. That is the entire point.
A proprietary blend lets a brand list an impressive ingredient with real research behind it, without telling you they used 5mg when the studies used 500mg. The ingredient is technically in there. The dose that actually does something is not. It is the supplement version of a restaurant advertising steak and serving you a crouton that once sat near one.
It is legal because the FDA only requires the total blend weight, not the breakdown. So brands hide behind that.
Why they do it
Two reasons, neither helps you. One, it is cheaper, they sprinkle in a pinch of the expensive stuff and bulk up the rest with fillers. Two, they claim it hides the recipe from competitors. In reality any lab can reverse-engineer a formula. The only person a blend actually hides the recipe from is you, the one paying for it.
How to read a label in ten seconds
- Look for individual doses, not a blend total. Every ingredient with its own milligram amount is a good sign. Lumped under "proprietary blend," walk away.
- Check the dose against the research. Creatine's studied dose is around 5g. If they list 1g, that is a sticker, not a serving.
- Count the "other ingredients." A short list is good. A long list of fillers and things you cannot pronounce means they are padding.
- Ignore the front of the label. The front is marketing. The truth is on the back.
What "clinically dosed" should mean
Every active ingredient at the amount the research actually used, not a fraction of it. That is a higher bar and it costs more to hit, which is exactly why most brands skip it. There is no honest reason to hide the number. If a dose works, you put it on the label. If it does not, you bury it in a blend and hope nobody flips the bottle.
The one habit that saves you money
You do not have to become a chemist. Build one reflex: before you buy any supplement, flip it over and look for individual doses. That single move filters out most of the junk on the market in about ten seconds.
Read the back. Trust the number. Not the trend.
WOLV supplements do not hide behind blends. Every ingredient is listed with its own dose, at the amount the research actually used. See the lineup.
The Pack
