Something to Consider ~ Excipients + Additives in Supplements

Before you buy that supplement, consider this…

➳ Whether you’re buying herbs or dispensing them like me, the main priorities are purity and the ethos behind the manufacturer. Purity means certified organic or biodynamically grown without the addition ofsynthetic substances or harmful chemicals. You only want the cleanest, purest and carefully prepared substances in your body. Most of the brands I recommend are ethically aware and use sustainably harvested herbs. Look for things like where the plants are grown (ideally they’re sourced from organic farms or at least from their native countries), and the language used to describe the harvesting and manufacture process (words like certified organic, hand-picked, sustainable, fair-trade, ethical and environmentally responsible).

🎔 These words and values really speak to me as a herbalist and naturopath.

What does it mean when the active ingredients in supplements are ‘plant derived’?

If you see the active ingredient in a product comes from a plant it means it’s created by nature just like you and I, and it retains the healing dynamic of the original plant. It’s not created in a lab artificially. It’s truly ‘natural’ medicine. In my practice I only use natural, organic medicines from the earth.

Another thing I look for is whole-plant extracts so you’ll see the names of the plant on the label (rather than specific chemicals). We’re becoming much more aware these days of the power of using whole-plants as medicines. Herbalists call it the Galenic approach, where the healing power of a whole plant is more than the sum of its parts. Not just in the West, in Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine this is the preferred way to use herbs as well. So look for extracts listing the plant on the label, rather than individual chemicals on their own.

What an excipient is

Excipients are chemicals added to ingestible medicines for a variety of reasons. They can stabilise ingredients and act as dilutants or carriers for active ingredients. Sugar compounds like glucose and lactose are commonly used to bulk up products. Swelling agents like alginate and starch act as disintegrants. Acid-insoluble phthalates are used to prevent some tablets from being absorbed in the stomach, and phthalates are something we want to avoid. Some natural dyes are used as colourings, but synthetic dyes are common. There are natural excipients too but remember that anything you put in your body can have a physiological effect, including an adverse effect.

What do we need to be mindful of with excipients or ‘fillers’?

The problem with excipients is they’re thought to be inert, but once you ingest them you just don’t know what effects they’re having internally. And they make up around 90% of most medical drugs. It’s not always about the medicinal effect or product stability either. Excipients in some tablet coatings (‘glidants’) are only added to help the product glide through manufacture machinery. Symptoms of adverse reactions to excipients include hypersensitivity in children, skin rash and a host of digestive issues like indigestion, gut sensitivity and malabsorption of food. Bronchoconstriction is also an adverse reaction to excipients.

What’s a better solution than choosing a supplement with fillers or excipients? 

Part of my work is making informed decisions about possible adverse effects or interactions. Try to avoid excipients like binders, fillers and lubricants if you can. The best plant medicines are those that are as close to natural as possible. Herbal teas are actually the safest option provided you buy reputable and organic dried herbs. I use herbal teas a lot in clinic, they’re cheaper, easier to control dosage with and often they taste nice. On another level they provide a healing ritual that many of us enjoy. Brewing tea is calming, it switches on your feel good neurochemicals and drinking it is a pleasure. It can fill you up and reduce snacking, and it hydrates you at the same time. Win Win 🙂

Then there are liquid extracts of herbs which are also unlikely to contain excipients, and that’s what I use when I need stronger doses and quicker results. They just don’t need excipients because they’re stable enough on their own and usually well preserved with ethanol or glycerine (or a combination of both).