Proprietary Blends Explained: Reading the Math Behind the Label
One number for many ingredients. A two-minute calculation tells you most of what the label is not saying.
What a proprietary blend is
A proprietary blend lets a supplement label show one combined weight for a group of ingredients instead of each one's amount. The ingredients must still be named, in descending order of weight. Companies say it protects their formula from copying; critics note that it also hides whether any ingredient is present at a useful dose [1].
How to do the math
Divide the blend weight by the number of names to get an average share. Remember that the first names are heavier and the last are often present in token amounts. Then compare each ingredient's maximum possible share (the whole blend) with its study dose. If even the whole blend falls short of one ingredient's dose, every ingredient falls short.
Example: a 200 mg blend with 22 names averages about 9 mg per name. Gymnema studies used about 400 mg [3]; African mango's best-known trial used 300 mg [4]. Neither can be reached inside 200 mg.
Questions to ask the company
- How many milligrams of each active are in a serving?
- Are the extracts standardized, and to what?
- Can you share a certificate of analysis for the current lot [2]?
Companies with well-dosed formulas usually answer readily. Silence is an answer too [5].
Quick answers
Are proprietary blends legal?
Yes. The law allows one combined weight if the ingredients are listed in descending order by weight.
Is a proprietary blend a red flag?
Not always, but it prevents you from checking doses. Long blends with low total weights are the most concerning.
Records cited on this page
Links go to the original abstract or agency page. Every trial below gave one ingredient on its own, mostly at doses far above what a 200 mg blend shared by 22 names could hold; nobody has published a trial of Olivaro itself.
- 1U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Questions and Answers on Dietary Supplements. www.fda.gov/food/information-consumers-using-dietary-supplements/questions-and-answers-dietary-supplements
- 2Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. 21 CFR Part 111: Current Good Manufacturing Practice in Manufacturing, Packaging, Labeling, or Holding Operations for Dietary Supplements. www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-111
- 3Baskaran K, Kizar Ahamath B, Radha Shanmugasundaram K, Shanmugasundaram ER. Antidiabetic effect of a leaf extract from Gymnema sylvestre in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients. J Ethnopharmacol. 1990;30(3):295-300. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2259217/
- 4Ngondi JL, Etoundi BC, Nyangono CB, Mbofung CM, Oben JE. IGOB131, a novel seed extract of the West African plant Irvingia gabonensis, significantly reduces body weight and improves metabolic parameters in overweight humans in a randomized double-blind placebo controlled investigation. Lipids Health Dis. 2009;8:7. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19254366/
- 5National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Using Dietary Supplements Wisely. www.nccih.nih.gov/health/using-dietary-supplements-wisely
Give Olivaro a measured 60-day trial
Checkout happens on the vendor's BuyGoods page. Note a week of morning readings before the first dropper; if the numbers have not moved by day 50, write to the vendor while the refund window is still open, opened bottles included.