The PricePlow Podcast

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/matt-karich-soul-performance-nutrition-068 At the end of May of 2022, Team PricePlow went live with Matt Karich of Soul Performance Nutrition, a young upstart brand that has a lot of deep-thinking built into its core. Matt explains his background as an engineer, and how he used that not only to formulate his supplements, but to find his contract manufacturer. His process is more intense than most brands magnitudes greater than his size, and it led him to a place where he could formulate incredibly unique supplements that suited his needs while obtaining coveted BSGC Drug-Free Certified status. In this episode of the PricePlow Podcast, we cover this and far more, digging into his first four products: Electrolyte Endurance Powder Essence Active Greens Oasis Midnight Dream Bliss Revitalize Collagen We also have a live taste test of his Milk Tea flavored collagen listed above, which is unlike anything we’ve ever experienced! All of Soul’s formulas lean heavily on natural flavoring, various mushroom and/or adaptogens, NuLiv Science ingredients, and use zero artificial coloring. We even get a great lesson in the different forms of stevia used across his products – not all stevia extracts are the same! Matt’s a regular in the PricePlow Discord community, where we encourage you to jump in and share your knowledge and questions. This is a fun one, and despite Matt’s recent entry into the market, everyone including industry vets will stand to learn something here. Video: PricePlow Goes Live with Matt Karich of Soul Performance Nutrition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x_00wPy3GQ

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/npa-vs-dick-durbin-s4090 On April 26, Senators Dick Durbin (IL) and Mike Braun (IN) proposed a bill titled Dietary Supplement Listing Act of 2022, which would have serious ramifications on the way business and commerce is done in the dietary supplement industry. We invited a powerhouse team of industry veterans and experts to discuss what this bill would mean for the industry: Daniel Fabricant, Ph.D – CEO/President of the Natural Products Association (NPA) Joe Weiss – President of branded ingredient developer Nutrition21 and NPA Board Member Doug Kalman, Ph.D – Senior Vice President of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs for The Natural Products Association All Dietary Supplements would now need FDA pre-approval? The discussion centers around the text of the bill, and how its subtle wording would effectively create a situation where supplement manufacturers would require pre-market approval in order to enter the marketplace, otherwise they’d be deemed misbranded and subject to legal action. Quick links before listening Read the bill’s text – https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/4090/text Compose a message to your representatives – https://www.votervoice.net/NPA/Campaigns/94238/Respond Video: PricePlow Invites the NPA to Discuss Dick Durbin’s S.4090 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl5gDfFFGpQ Detailed Show Notes (0:00) – Introduction to the situation (0:40) – Guest introductions (3:30) – Dan Fabricant’s opening statement: (4:35) – Pre-Market Approval (5:00) – NDI (New Dietary Ingredient) (6:15) – The bill’s vagaries: (7:45) – There are no specifics and no protection for what gets on the list. (7:50) – FDA’s recent activity (9:20) – Joe Weiss talks about the consumer-facing side (11:30) – There’s precedence for FDA malfeasance (12:20) – The bill is sneakily-worded (12:50) – Commerce in America (13:45) – Supplements aren’t pharmaceuticals (14:05) – Tianeptine?! Dick Durbin’s presentation of this bill (16:55) – This bill does not enhance or improve consumer safety (18:40) – FDA correct action? (20:30) – Joe discusses how DSHEA 1994 affected the industry (22:20) – What would you say to Dick Durbin? What’s the NPA’s negotiation line? (24:20) – Opening the door for frivolous lawsuits (24:50) – Senator Durbin and the Supplement Industry (27:15) – The bill’s aim (28:00) – The listing of retailers?! (29:45) – New flavors require pre-market registration! (31:15) – Opens the door for politicization (34:00) – The manpower required for this (35:00) – FDA’s facility inspections are down! (37:00) – Potential FDA improvements and comparisons to the food industry (42:30) – Many companies are more brazen these days (45:00) – Giving FDA ability to remove existing products through this bill (48:00) – Take Action Take Action! If you’re against this bill, then see NPA’s Voter Voice page and compose a message to your representa… Read more on the PricePlow Blog

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/dan-lourenco-ryan-hughes-ghost-tmnt-collabs-066 On April 18, 2022, Team PricePlow flew into Chicago, IL to visit the Ghost Lifestyle headquarters, celebrating the Ghost Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles collaboration launch. After meeting up with CEO Dan Lourenço, CMO Ryan Hughes, and the rest of the team, we received a tour, then got down to business. You can see much of our trip in the incredible Building The Brand episode (S8:E27) named “Turtle Power”, where we got to participate in “mailtime”, doming a scoop (or two) of the new OOZE flavor, and celebrating in this launch. But most importantly, our podcast with Dan and Ryan, where we talk about branding, the future of collabs, Ghost Energy’s insane success, and where Ghost goes from here. Detailed show notes are below, and you can find the episode on our audio feeds or watch on YouTube: Video: PricePlow Visits the Ghost HQ with Dan and Ryan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmgEIiNDjDw (1:00) – The official announcement of Ghost’s collaboration with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Dan comments that there were some frustrating leaks, but when was the last time people were so excited about a sports nutrition release that they couldn’t wait to leak it? (2:15) – Ghost is now strategic about when they release collaborations. They don’t just want to trot everything under the sun. (4:10) – Mike backs things up and explains the entire collaboration – four different supplements, a new one in Ghost Gamer Non-Stim, and a new flavor named OOZE. (4:45) – In the late 80s and early 90s, Mike explains that the Ninja Turtles were everything. They sold over a billion dollars worth of action figures (in 1990s money)! (5:00) – Dan’s first exposure to the Ninja Turtles were the legendary Konami video game. (5:45) – Dan loves to force that nostalgia on the younger folks in the office. Whether it’s Sour Patch Kids and Swedish Fish, Oreos and Chips Ahoy, Space Jam, Ninja Turtles… they like to have a lot of fun with what they do. (6:15) – It’s become an easier story to tell to new partners. When pitching a new idea to a potential partner, Ghost already has social proof. They pitch their idea, and can essentially ask “Are you guys in or out?” — and then they get feedback and dial things in. (7:30) – Any content with licensed products needs to be extremely well planned and curated – you can’t always have humans or objects next to the cartoons… but Space Jam could do that. Turtles didn’t have that, because that’s not how the brand ever worked. (8:30) – Which Ninja Turtle are you? Dan, Ben, and Mike all gravitated towards Donatello as a kid, and Ryan liked Michaelangelo — none of this is not surprising. As a side note, if we had to move things in person now, we’d make Ben into Raphael and Dan into Le… Read more on the PricePlow Blog

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/drew-peters-alpha-lion-065 Drew Peters is now the formulator for Alpha Lion, so we cover some of their supplements launched in early 2022 like SuperHuman Sport and SuperHuman Scorch It’s time we caught up with Drew Peters, the new formulator (or VP of Scientific Affairs) at Alpha Lion, whose recently come out with a couple of unique supplements! Drew has previously been on episodes 044 and 045 with other formulators, but this time, we got him to ourselves to talk about Alpha Lion’s new supplements. In this conversation, we zero in on SuperHuman Sport, an athlete-based pre-workout supplement with under 100 milligrams caffeine, and SuperHuman Scorch, an enhanced thermogenic L-carnitine liquid. Both of these supplements contain novel ingredents from NNB Nutrition, including RhodioPrime 6X in SuperHuman Sport and MitoBurn + CaloriBurn GP in SuperHuman Scorch. We also get into the recurring topics of beta alanine and creatine in pre workouts, synthetic vs. natural caffeine sources, hydration supplements, and working as a formulator remotely. Drew Peters is now at Alpha Lion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBBtn_Gdl_8 The SuperHuman Sport Label In this podcast, we compare this to other “Sport” pre-workout supplements like Pre-Kaged Sport. You can read more about Rhodiola in our article titled Rhodiola: The Salidroside-Powered Adaptogen of the Vikings and about RhodioPrime 6X specifically in our article titled NNB RhodioPrime 6X: The Strongest Rhodiola Extract (6% Salidroside). The SuperHuman Scorch Label You can read more about the key NNB ingredients in our articles titled BAIBA: Weight Loss Ingredient Generates Exercise in a Pill?! and Grains of Paradise: Fat Fighting Spice of the Goddesses. The SuperHuman Hydration Label In the video, we compare this to products like Ghost Hydration, which is naturally sweetened, another topic of discussion. Synthetic vs. Natural Caffeine? A recurring topic, some of the arguments against synthetic caffeine are discussed and linked in our article on PurCaf caffeine. You can sign up for our Alpha Lion news alerts on PricePlow.com/alpha-lion#news

SmartPrime-OM is a novel omega-3 amplifying dietary supplement from Nutrashure, so we interview Dr. Hector Lopez to understand how it boosts EPA/DHA!Show notes at https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/dr-hector-lopez-nutrashure-smartprime-064 Are you one of the tens of millions of Americans who have taken an omega-3 supplement? Are you a supplement formulator looking for a new innovation in the fatty acid / fish oil space that might actually improve health? If so, read on… this podcast and series of show notes is for you. Optimizing Omega-3 Fatty Acids with Nutrashure’s SmartPrime-Om We sat down with Brandon Sojka, founder and CEO of Nutrashure (website, Instagram, news alerts), and Dr. Hector Lopez, a specialist in sports medicine and nutritional biochemistry, to discuss Nutrashure’s new ingredient, SmartPrime-OM, which is designed to help optimize the omega-3 levels of those who take it. This is a novel, naturally-sourced dietary supplement ingredient technology that is one of the most promising things we’ve seen in years. One of the many interesting things about SmartPrime is that it can raise omega-3 levels independently, without the use of other supplements – but it can also be combined with an omega-3 supplement for an even bigger effect size. Watch the Video: SmartPrime-Om with Dr. Hector Lopez https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b43Qpulu7h0 SmartPrime Show with Dr. Hector Lopez and Brandon Sojka (0:43) – Brandon discusses his professional background starting his own brand, doing consulting, and working logistics in the supplement industry. (1:37) – Dr. Lopez discusses his professional and personal background, which includes biochemistry and medicine, medical research, consulting with major supplement brands like Nordic Naturals, performing clinical research on ingredients like creatine, vitamins D and K2, collagen, and fish oil, and beginning Supplement Safety Solutions. (8:39) – Background on Nutrashure SmartPrime, the main topic of today’s interview. SmartPrime grew out of a collaboration with its lead inventor Dr. Ryan Yates, who had a special interest in the metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and is author of a study published on SmartPrime’s constituents. (10:02) – An overview of different fatty acid lengths, and the characteristics of each. (11:38) – Longer-chain PUFAs are typically found in cold-water fish or other marine organisms, like algae. This category includes the famous EPA/DHA combination that most consumers of fish oil supplements will be familiar with. (12:06) – Characteristics of PUFAs: the more unsaturated a fat, the more prone it is to oxidation, but also the more powerful it is as a signaling agent in the body. (12:47) – Discussion of AI and how it relates to nutritional research. In the opinion of Dr. Lopez, AI is not of much inherent use – AI models and algorithms need to be in the hands of competent researchers who understand the regulatory environment and the current state of nutritional research. (14:25) – Having access to the Oakridge National Laboratory’s AI tools was a “powerful opportunity” for Dr. Lopez and his team to ask some importan… Read more on the PricePlow Blog

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/ben-hartman-2-morphogen-nutrition-063 Nearly two years after his introductory podcast in Episode #033 titled The Rise of Morphogen Nutrition, Ben Hartman re-joins the PricePlow Podcast to talk about his major re-launch and re-brand! We talk about the major changes since the last episode, dig further into the history of the brand, and show some of these interesting and semi-controversial labels below in our show notes. If you’re interested in trying ten grams of L-tyrosine in a pre-workout supplement, then we have a treat for you! Ben Hartman #2 on PricePlow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36IQteIo7Nk Morphogen has a tighter look! Ben is a big picture conceptualist who launched Morphogen on a desire to go all-in on formulas. He did that, but never went hard on label designs. With this next generation of formulas, that all changes, and it starts with the incredibly unique ALPHAGEN pre-workout supplement: With ten grams of L-tyrosine, this one is definitely going to hit harder. But how will it feel? Only one way to find out!! Ben also explains why he used citrulline malate when most are using L-citrulline. We also get into MORPHOCALM, which has a huge (and expensive) dose of phosphatidylserine combined with RhodioPrime 6X, a high-salidroside form of Rhodiola: Excellent conversation from a very like-minded individual who has an extreme amount of talent!! These show notes were posted at https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/ben-hartman-2-morphogen-nutrition-063

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/dr-cameron-sepah-maximus-062 On February 2, 2022, we hosted Dr. Cameron Sepah of Maximus on the PricePlow Podcast to talk about male hormones and self improvement. This was an incredible episode covering a wide variety of health-based topics, and everyone is sure to come away with some new knowledge. Meet Dr. Cameron Sepah Cam, as we call him, competed as a track athlete. is a clinical psychologist, with a fellowship training in behavioral medicine, working at the intersection of psychology and medicine. He competed as a collegiate track athlete, racing in mid-distance to distance events. After his academic training (specializing in psychoneuroendocrinology amongst other fields) and publishing of several papers, he created Omada Health, an online weight loss program. All in all, he’s a clinician-scientist who’s treated people for over a decade. In addition, he’s an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCSF School of Medicine. Maximus: Mind, Body, and Masculinity Cam recently founded Maximus, a consumer telemedicine company for men’s health and hormone optimization. Using at-home blood testing and online coaching, Maximus has put together the King Protocol, which is a clinically-validated process to safely increase testosterone and vitality in men – even healthy and young men. This is not testosterone replacement therapy — it’s testosterone restoration. Prepare to learn about enclomiphene citrate Jumping right to hormone optimization, Maximus utilizes enclomiphene citrate — the isomer from clomid that’s safer and more useful in men — to meaningfully boost testosterone levels anywhere from 1.5x to 2.5x. Combined with group health coaching for nutrition, exercise, sleep, and focus, alongside some adjunct supplements, Maximus is changing men’s lives at an astonishing rate. The full show notes with timestamps are covered below – and we have a separate article detailing enclomiphene citrate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M35bIYvPLwA Our Discussion with Dr. Cameron Sepah of Maximus (0:45) – Dr. Cam’s Introduction (2:50) – A couple of Dr. Cam’s legendary Twitter threads: (3:50) – Dr. Cam’s Background in medicine and psychiatry (4:45) – The problem: Human testosterone and sperm levels are tanking (5:45) – Body fat is one culprit… but not the only one (6:45) – Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (7:45) – It’s happening to dogs too! (9:20) – “We essentially have a hormonal handicap these days – and it’s the public health tragedy that no one’s talking about” (9:45) – Mike: polyester clothing and synthetic fabrics are a vastly underrated endocrine disruptor (10:15) – ACTION Plan – Where do we begin? (14:40) – The pareto principle – 20% of your efforts produce 80% of your results. (15:15) – DUMP THE PROCESSED SEED OILS / VEGETABLE OILS! (18:00) – Note that age-related testosterone decline is not necessarily inevitable. (20:00) – How do we “fight fire with fire”? Can supplements help? Not much… (22:00) – Going to need to go the pharmaceutical route (23:05) – Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) and its major issues (24:00) – Primary hypogonadism vs. secondary hypogonadism (26:20) – SERMs – Selective Estrogen Receptor … Read more on the PricePlow Blog

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/2021-supplement-awards Better late than never, it’s time to publish our 2021 Supplement Awards. Mike and Ben sat down to review 2021 at large, and then doled out a smaller batch of awards — all brand-based — compared to what we did for 2020’s year-end awards. In general, 2021 was a continuation of 2020, but with some added wrinkles due to the ongoing supply chain issues. The brands that came ready to deal in 2020 were the same ones that kept momentum in 2021. In addition, given the supply chain situation, this was not a great time to start a new brand, and few new ones were started – but one is definitely on our radar as a brand to watch in 2022. Finally, we have a new award that we’ll continue to award in the future: MVP of the year! This will go to a person who contributed incredible talents to the industry, beyond what any single brand or product accomplished. This is posted as Episode #061 on the PricePlow Podcast. Video and audio versions are below, with the details after that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LTqArSYgnM There are five awards: Best Supplement Innovator of the 2021 This year’s innovation of the year goes to Glaxon, hands down. Going through our Glaxon News page, you can see the numerous product releases, but also consider the new ingredients they brought to market too: BioNMN (in NAD+ Synergy) PeptiStrong GG-Gold (both in Glaxon Anomaly) NeoShield (in Protos Whey) Care4You ioCollagen DracobelleNu (both in Wonder Collagen) Pep2dia (in Xerion) MyoSeq and MyoSeq Vegan (in Xeno Amino and Protos Vegan) aXivite Sichuan Peppercorn These products are all innovative due to these ingredients and beyond. We discuss specifics behind Wonder Collagen, Protos Whey, Goon Mode, Neuro 365 and more. Note that the above list is not all-inclusive – there are even more new ingredients in those formulas! Looking forward, Glaxon is partnering heavily with GNC, who’s making major moves to push innovation forward. Since seeing Beyond Raw, we’ve become quite bullish on GNC, and are bullish on this partnership as well. More coverage to come on that in 2022 – but for 2021, the innovator is hands down Glaxon. Further details can be learned in Podcast Episode #057: with Glaxon’s CEO Michael Bischoff and chief science officer / formulator Joey Savage. 2021 MVP of the Year During Podcast #057 linked above, Mike joked that his “brand of the year” was actually a person — a man whose products were all over Mike’s supplement stack, yet across several brands. Of course, a person can’t win brand of the year, but they can win MVP of the year. That man’s name … Read more on the PricePlow Blog

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/ryse-supps-tj-humphreys-nic-stella-060 Our first podcast of 2022 came with some excellent news: TJ Humphreys has joined Nic Stella at RYSE Supps. Many supplement industry veterans know TJ from his days as CEO and owner of ProSupps, but now he’s taken on a leadership role in Dallas, TX as President and Partner. From a distance, TJ has been watching RYSE Supps punch its way into the space and then become a best-selling brand at a top retailer in the country (Vitamin Shoppe). This follows previous power moves where creative superstar Greg Helton also joined RYSE as VP. In this episode, we first introduce TJ and then have him talk about his background. After that, we discuss the new stuff coming from RYSE (which includes an energy drink!), and then get into distribution and RYSE’s incredible social media strategy that’s taken them to the next level. Video and audio versions are below, and then more details after that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXW_qflS2No TJ Humphreys now at RYSE Supps TJ’s been in the industry for over 20 years, starting at Lone Star Distribution (which was subsequently merged with Europa Sports). He started ProSupps in early 2012, coming out with the famous Hyde pre workout. It was eventually time for a new, more aggressive endeavor: “I love to lead, I love to inspire, I love high-growth opportunities. Not afraid of challenges, not afraid of adversity. And thankfully, Nic has created a soft spot for me to land here, because he’s really done things well.” — TJ Humphreys, RYSE President and Partner Experience: “Dumb tax” is paid TJ explains how much “dumb tax” he’s paid in his 20 years of learning experience – he’s become an expert in dealing with retailers, international sales opportunities, shipping, manufacturing, distribution, and more. This is the expertise that he can pass down to Nic. At RYSE, Nic has created a rocket ship, and TJ is making sure he has the right people on the train, and a lot of it will be with his retail expertise. They already have meetings lined up with some major FDM (Food, Drug, and Mass Market) companies and are going in with a serious tailwind due to Nic’s incredible job on the web and in social media. The trifecta of Nic, TJ, and Greg Helton covers numerous parts of the market, ranging across social media, retail, international, design, compliance, manufacturing, and supply chain. New product development at RYSE RYSE is putting out an energy drink (named RYSE Fuel on their social media page), and while TJ recognizes that many energy drink consumers are brand-agnostic, they can make a better approach through specialty stores first. This will eventually lead to larger energy drink sales at FDM — but TJ’s sure to note that major chains are already very interested. RYSE’s collabs with SunnyD and Ring Pop (which are currently the top two selling pre workouts at Vitamin Shoppe) are definitely driving much of the international and big-business interest, but it’s important to note that these products are most often first popular at supplement-specific stores before major players get involved. RYSE Fuel Similarly, RYSE Fuel will first be driven by these flavor collabs – the SunnyD flavor will get its own unique can. It will have 200 milligrams of caffeine and 500 milligrams of CDP-choline, so it will definitely feel very good but not hit overly hard. The cans look incredible, just like RYSE’s supplements, so the retailers that have seen th… Read more on the PricePlow Blog

At the end of 2021, we had Gerhard Hoermann of NuLiv Science on the PricePlow Podcast to discuss the novel ingredient developer’s back-half of the year, recent international travels, and what’s coming in the future. Key takeaways from this discussion are that NuLiv Science has many more ingredients going above and beyond the ones we frequently cover here (such as the astragalosides and ginsenosides in AstraGin, Senactiv, InnoSlim, and Astrion), and NuLiv Science is doing a fantastic job building more content, as can be seen on their @NuLivScience page on Instagram. Gerhard (commonly known as ‘G’ in the industry) kicks it off by talking about their recent trip to Germany, as well as SupplySide West. He explains that the American market (as seen at SupplySide West) is currently stronger for novel ingredients, while European markets are behind on technology, presenting more opportunity for innovation. Watch the full video and podcast subscription links are below, with details following: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZZUaZy_f4I Talking novel ingredients with NuLiv Science After covering Gerhard’s background in sports nutrition (he worked in retail and then in online media), he gets into the transition of working with NuLiv Science, who generally operates more behind the scenes. He now helps brands put the right ingredients into new supplements, providing them with an edge against their competition. ‘G’ tells us that NuLiv has a new ingredient coming in 2022, and it will get coverage here on PricePlow, so sign up for our NuLiv Science news alerts. Don’t miss the NuLiv Science social media content One of the things G has done incredibly well since beginning at NuLiv Science is to help drive and provide more content on NuLiv Science’s social media properties. They’re doing more behind-the-scenes content, new collaborative taste-testing and product breakdowns, and making it cooler to be talking about ingredient science. Since most companies are already aware of AstraGin (absorption-amplifier – find our blog’s AstraGin tag page to see how many product articles have included it), NuLiv already has great relationships that are bolstered at conventions such as SupplySide West. However, it’s their team’s job to educate brands and consumers about their other ingredients. More than just AstraGin: Other NuLiv Science Ingredients Senactiv and InnoSlim both made a great push in sports nutrition in 2021, while Astrion and Verbasnol are getting more heavily into skin care. Beyond that, a highly underrated ingredient is Zylaria, which is a relaxing ingredient based upon xylaria with a few recent tweaks made last year. As Mike mentions during the podcast, an easy way to test out the anxiety-relieving capabilities of Zylaria is in Avani Health Stress + Sleep Support, which has 1 gram of Zylaria with absorption boosted by both 50 milligrams of AstraGin and 10 milligrams of black pepper extract in two capsules. A major mushroom supplier Most users also don’t know that NuLiv has several mushroom based ingredients, such as CordycepsPrime, ABMPrime, ChagaPrime, ReishiPrime, ShiitakePrime, MaitakePrime, Cor… Read more on the PricePlow Blog