Ep. #625: Kurtis Frank on the Art and Science of Making Science-Based Supplements

What does it take to make good supplements? How do you decide what types of products to make, what goes into them, and how much of each ingredient to include? While many supplement companies haphazardly pixie dust their products with minuscule amounts of mediocre ingredients and pad their ingredient lists with fancy herbs and compounds, there is a flip side of that coin. That is, if you want to be better than your run of the mill supplement company, there’s a true art and science to formulating good supplements. And that’s what I’m talking about with Kurtis Frank on this episode of the podcast. In case you’re not familiar with Kurtis, he’s the Director of Research for my sports nutrition company, Legion, which means he’s responsible for creating new products and improving existing formulations. And he knows what he’s talking about too--Kurtis is the co-founder and former lead researcher and writer of Examine.com, a ubiquitous supplement resource in the science-based fitness community. In this episode, Kurtis explains exactly how he goes about creating a supplement formulation for Legion, and he discusses . . . What it means to be “science-based” The importance of testing and trusting your manufacturer Patented forms of ingredients and why standardization matters Ingredient list length Manufacturing costs and “elite” formulations And more . . . So, if you’ve ever wondered what goes into the process of creating a supplement here at Legion, this is an episode you don’t want to miss. Press play and let me know what you think! Timestamps: 13:12 - What does it mean to be a science-based supplement company? 36:14 - What are your thoughts on companies that say they are a better company because they use patented ingredients compared to companies that don’t use patented ingredients? 41:11 - What does it mean if something is water extracted compared to oil extracted? 47:15 - What is standardization and why is it important? 52:37 - What are your thoughts on products with a long ingredients list? 59:27 - What about the kitchen sink approach for pre-workouts? --- Mentioned on The Show: Shop Legion Supplements Here: https://legionathletics.com/shop/ --- Want to get my best advice on how to gain muscle and strength and lose fat faster? Sign up for my free newsletter! Click here: https://www.legionathletics.com/signup/