In the world of biohacking, choosing the right nutritional supplements is one of the most important steps in optimizing performance and tracking health metrics. But with thousands of supplement brands competing for attention — many relying on marketing more than science — even experienced biohackers struggle to determine which formulas actually deliver.
Especially for students of wellness, supplements are not optional extras — they’re strategic tools. As we all know, the modern supplement market is crowded and often misleading. Labels promise “clinical results,” without matching attribution. They shout “cutting-edge science,” but no science is attached to discover. Often, products claim “doctor formulated” but there are no names or backgrounds to be found anywhere. We often hear about “breakthrough ingredients” but nothing to back up what that breakthrough is, never mind verification of anyone but that brand making a claim.
Below is a biohacker’s guide to identifying supplements that actually have science, the dosing, and the integrity needed to support personal performance goals.
1. Choose Supplements Created by Real Medical Experts
One of the most overlooked criteria in the supplement world is who designed the formula.
Many companies use anonymous “formulation teams,” marketing consultants, or private-label manufacturers. Others rely on celebrity doctors who may have little involvement in the actual science.
Expertise matters; look for supplements formulated by:
- Board-certified physicians
- Specialists in the relevant system (cardiologists for heart formulas, gastroenterologists for gut formulas, etc.)
- Researchers with published work
- Doctors with actual clinical experience
Why this matters:
Most medical doctors receive only 19 hours of nutrition education in their entire medical school training. The few who deeply understand clinical nutrition — and use it in everyday practice — are rare and so passionate about it, they pursue this education post medical school. When they design a formula, it’s based on real physiology, not marketing trends.
Checklist:
✓ Is the formulator named?
✓ Are they board-certified?
✓ Does their specialty match the formula?
✓ Do they have credible academic or clinical backgrounds?
If the company can’t answer those questions clearly, the formula probably isn’t built on true expertise.
2. Verify That the Ingredients Are Backed by Real Clinical Trials
The phrase “clinically studied” is one of the most abused claims in the industry. Many ingredients rely on:
- Small studies with fewer than 10 participants
- Company-funded research lacking independent review
- Short-term trials lasting days or weeks
- Studies not published in peer-reviewed journals
- Research unrelated to the dose or ingredient used in the final product
For a biohacker, this means unpredictable outcomes at best — and complete ineffectiveness at worst.
Look for ingredients supported by:
✓ Large trials
✓Patents and trademarks
✓ Double-blind, placebo-controlled designs
✓ Peer-reviewed, published studies
✓ Standardized ingredient forms
✓ Clear, measurable outcomes relevant to your goal
If a company cannot provide citations, transparency, or ingredient documentation, that’s a red flag.
3. Make Sure the Product Uses Clinical Dosing (Not Fairy Dusting)
Even when a supplement contains excellent ingredients, if the doses are subtherapeutic, this is known as “fairy dusting.” Adding too small an amount of a hyped ingredient just to list it on the label, does not help you attain your goals and is a waste of money.
Elements to look for:
- Exact match to clinical-trial dosages
- Standardized ingredient forms
- If it’s a formula, look for patented or trademarked ones
If the dose doesn’t match what worked in research, it doesn’t matter how good the ingredient is.
Red Flags:
✗ Proprietary blends without trademarks or patents
✗ Ingredients without listed amounts
✗ Very long ingredient lists with tiny quantities
✗ Claims that don’t match the formula
4. Look for Clean Manufacturing, Purity Standards & Third-Party Testing
And, then there’s safety – nothing matters if the formula isn’t safe, pure, or accurately dosed. Biohackers who track biomarkers know that impurities or inconsistent dosing can sabotage progress.
Look for supplements that are:
- GMP-certified
- NSF- or SQF-certified
- Third-party tested from laboratories that are used in medical science
- Free from major allergens (wheat, dairy, shellfish, peanuts)
1MD Nutrition: A Rare Example of a Company That Meets All Four Standards
After looking at what biohackers should expect from their supplements, one company stands out for meeting — and often exceeding — every criterion. It’s a company that is not in retail and one that is more expensive than the rest: 1MD Nutrition. This company is one of the most respected supplement companies in the field for a rare and powerful trio they employ for all of their “condition-specific” products that were created, expressly for the largest health and wellness issues in America:
THE TRIO THAT MAKES 1MD NUTRITION DIFFERENT
1. Physician-Formulated by Specialists in Their Exact Fields
Each formula is created by a board-certified physician specializing in the system they support. We have included links here for these products for your research that match the physicians and their educational backgrounds:
- Rheumatologist → MoveMD
- Interventional cardiologist → CardioFitMD
- Gastroenterologist → LiverMD
- Immunologist → ImmuneMD
- Ophthalmologist → VisionMD
- Brain Neurologist → MindMD
And these are not ordinary physicians — they come from Harvard, Tufts, Mayo Clinic, UCLA, and other elite institutions. This level of authentic medical involvement is almost unheard of in the supplement industry.
2. Ingredients Supported by Large, High-Quality Clinical Trials
1MD Nutrition uses patented, trademarked, and heavily researched ingredients backed by:
- Double-blind studies
- Large sample sizes
- Peer-reviewed publications
- High citation counts
3. Clinical-Level Dosing (The Most Important Part)
Unlike companies that use trace amounts, 1MD matches the exact dosages used in the clinical trials, dramatically increasing the odds of measurable results.
This single factor puts them in a category that most supplement companies never reach.
The bottom line: if you’re looking for supplements to do the thing that you want and expect, choose doctor-formulated products, verify real clinical research, demand clinical dosing and ensure you can find manufacturing transparency. Very few supplement companies meet these standards.
Full transparency, this writer has included links from Amazon and is part of Amazon Creators Connection.