Other Ingredients and Their Purpose

The ingredients listed here are "Other Ingredients", which are defined as ingredients that have a non-nutritional purpose, generally to aid in manufacturing, ensure even distribution of nutrients in each serving, and sometimes to support shelf-life/freshness. Other ingredients are extremely important for supplements, as they help to protect the consumer from ingesting unwanted microbes or spoiled ingredients, inconsistent dosing of nutrients between servings, or lower potency that label claim (breaking down of ingredients).  

"Other" Ingredient	Purpose	Derivation	Additional Notes
Ascorbyl Palmitate	Prevent degradation of nutrients	Corn oil (no corn proteins remain
Cellulose	Holds tablet together	wood pulp (pine tree)
Citric acid	Natural preservative	corn or sugar cane (product dependent)
Glycerin	Acts as a coupling agent for the phospholipid-nutrient bond. It also can act as a "creaming" agent to increase viscosity.	palm
Gum Arabic	Makes product thicker	acacia tree sap
Guar gum	Texturing makes product thicker	Guar Bean
Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose (HPMC)	Makes up the capsule encasing	white pine
L-leucine	Even distribution of nutrients, prevent clumping/sticking	Glucose
Magnesium Stearate	Prevent sticking to manufacture equipment	magnesium and stearic acid	Magnesium stearate is present in only a couple of our chewable tablets. There is not a good alternative (depending on the formula), and we use only when absolutely necessary. It is part of the FDA's Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS ) food list. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfCFR/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=184.1440
Malic acid	Flavoring (sour)	synthetic
Maltodextrin	Even distribution of nutrients prevents clumping/sticking	corn (no corn proteins remain)
Medium-chain triglycerides	Natural preservatives, mixing aid	coconut
Microcrystalline cellulose	Anti-caking agent	wood pulp (pine tree)
Potassium Sorbate	Preservative in liposomals	synthetic	We use under 0.1%, which is used in accordance with good manufacturing practices (GMP). We consider potassium sorbate to be tolerated better than alcohol, polysorbate, or benzoate. It is Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) by the FDA. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=182.3640
Shellac (in Histamine Block)	Stabilizer	Beetle Laccifer lacca
Silicone dioxide/Silica	Even distribution of nutrients prevents clumping from sticking	mineral extracts and water
Sucrose (in Histamine Block)	Stability, even dispersal, and flow of ingredients	cane sugar
Xanthan gum	Texturing makes product thicker	Xanthomonas campestris bacteria (fermentation)
Xylitol	Flavor, holds tablet together, carrier (carries the nutrient)	North American Hardwood, including birch