I came back from Dave Asprey’s Beyond Biohacking Conference with a notebook full of things I want to share with you. I am starting here — because this one affects you every single day.

Dave Asprey’s Beyond Biohacking Conference. I just got back. And my jaw is still on the floor.

And I was not easy to shock. I have been in women’s health for decades. I have studied functional medicine, genomics, and longevity science. I counsel women every day on what to take, what to avoid, and why quality matters.

But when I sat in on a panel moderated by Dave Asprey — with some of the most respected formulation scientists and researchers in the field — I was shocked.

Not because the science was new to me. Because the scale of fake and substandard products that women are unknowingly swallowing — and paying good money for — was so much worse than even I had realized.

And here is the kicker: there are no required standards. None. [1] The FDA does not approve supplements before they hit the market. A company can put anything in a bottle, slap a label on it, and sell it to you today. No testing required. No proof required. Just a label and a price tag.

Here is what I heard at that panel. And here is what you need to know.

Here is what that looks like in practice.

A panelist whose company regularly tests competitor products shared this number:

Approximately 75% of supplements on the market are either fake or functionally useless. — Biohacking Conference Panel, 2026 [3]

Not slightly underdosed. Not a little off. Either containing none of what the label says, or so poorly formulated that your body cannot absorb or use what is there.

Let that land for a moment.

Creatine

The top 10 creatine brands were tested. Nine of them had no detectable creatine at all. The tenth had about 50% of what the label claimed. [3] Creatine is one of the most researched supplements in existence. And most of what is on the market is delivering absolutely nothing.

C15:0 (Pentadecanoic Acid)

This one is worth a brief primer, because the story behind it explains exactly why the knockoffs appeared so fast.

C15:0 is widely described as the first essential fatty acid to be discovered in over 90 years — since omega-3. That is a monumental scientific finding. Over 100 peer-reviewed studies have followed the original 2020 discovery, and the buzz in longevity circles has been enormous. [7]

Which means the supplement industry moved in immediately.

One of the panelists — Dr. Stephanie Venn-Watson, the scientist who actually discovered C15:0 — described testing approximately 30 products claiming to contain it from grass-fed cows. Ninety percent had zero C15:0. Not a little. Zero. [3]

When the discoverer of an ingredient is standing on a stage warning you that most products claiming to contain it are empty — that tells you everything.

Vitamin E Tocotrienols

An independent analysis tested the top products on Amazon. Seventy percent were entirely fake — no active ingredient whatsoever. [4] A 2024 review found that 80% of supplement manufacturers are engaging in some form of unethical labeling or marketing practice. [4]

That is not a fringe problem. That is the norm.

But here is what is actually happening on that platform.

In 2023, NOW Foods — one of the most reputable supplement companies in the industry — discovered 11 counterfeit versions of their own products being sold by a single Amazon seller. [5] That same year, Fungi Perfecti found 23 different Amazon sellers offering counterfeits of their Host Defense mushroom products — some containing undisclosed allergens. [5]

In late 2024, counterfeit versions of TruNiagen — a popular NAD precursor — were found on Amazon. When tested, five of the seven counterfeit products contained zero of the active ingredient. [6] Zero.

Amazon has a brand protection program. It does not work well enough. And many of these operations set up as anonymous Wyoming LLCs — specifically because Wyoming allows anonymous company ownership, making it extremely difficult to pursue the people responsible, even when the fraud is documented. [3]

So no. Not Amazon. Not the impulse buy at Walgreens or CVS. Not the Facebook ad with the celebrity photo of someone who has probably never heard of the product.

Honestly? In this day and age, I believe we need them more than ever. The nutritional quality of our food supply has become so depleted that food alone simply cannot fill the gap. Our soils are stripped. Our produce is picked before it ripens. Our animals are raised in conditions that change the nutritional profile of what ends up on our plates. We are eating more and nourishing less.

Supplementing is not a luxury. For most women, it is a necessity.

But — and this is the whole point — I want you to get the best return on that investment. Think of it as physical compound interest. Every dollar you spend on a quality supplement that your body can actually absorb and use is compounding your health over time. Every dollar spent on a bottle of nothing is compounding nothing.

You deserve the real thing. Here is how to find it.

Buy from practitioner-grade dispensaries.

I use and recommend Fullscript for my patients. The templates I have created on my Fullscript page are products I have personally used for years — and recommended professionally with great results. Fullscript has standards. They vet the brands they carry. That matters — and it is one of the reasons I trust them with my patients and with you.

Buy direct from the manufacturer.

When I recommend a specific product —Cellgevity for glutathione support, Magnesium Breakthrough for magnesium, Fatty15 for C15:0 — I link directly to the company. Not a reseller. Not a marketplace. Directly. Counterfeit products exist even for the best brands, and buying direct is your strongest protection.

Ask for a Certificate of Analysis (COA).

Any reputable supplement company will provide third-party testing documentation on request. This is the lab report confirming that what is on the label is actually in the bottle, in the stated amount, and free of contaminants. If a company cannot or will not provide this — that is your answer.

Look for third-party verification.

NSF Certified for Sport, USP Verified, and ConsumerLab approval all require independent testing. They are not a perfect guarantee, but they are meaningful signals that a company is not cutting corners.

Be especially cautious with trending ingredients.

The more buzz an ingredient has, the faster the knockoff market moves. The panelists were unanimous: the moment something becomes popular, the counterfeits follow within months. If you are buying the hottest new thing from the cheapest source you can find — you are almost certainly buying nothing.

The products you will find on my Fullscript page, especially the templates I have created, are products I have used personally for years and recommended professionally with great results. Fullscript has standards. They vet the brands they carry. That matters — and it is one of the reasons I trust them with my patients and with you.

I do not put my name behind anything I have not lived in my own body first. That is not just a policy. It is a personal commitment.

The supplement industry has extraordinary potential to support women’s health in ways that conventional medicine has not caught up to. The science is real. The tools are real.

But none of that matters if what you are swallowing is nothing but a capsule full of promises that were never filled.

You deserve better. And now you know how to demand it.

  Consider This

• Pull out the top five supplements you take right now. Where did you buy them? Can you find a Certificate of Analysis for any of them?
• Are there products in your medicine cabinet that came from Amazon or a Facebook ad? It may be time to replace them with a vetted source.
• What one swap could you make this week — moving from a retail or marketplace purchase to a practitioner-grade or direct-from-manufacturer source?

One more thing. You may notice my posts coming a little less frequently over the next few weeks. I am in the middle of a move — and I am practicing exactly what I preach. Capacity over capability. Floors, not ceilings. I will keep showing up. Just not at Mach speed. And honestly — neither should you.

For the women who refuse to let their lifespan outrun their vitality span,

Lori Finlay, NP, CNS

References

1.  U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2024). Questions and answers on dietary supplements. FDA.gov

2.  Durbin, R. (2024, July 29). Durbin introduces legislation to improve safety and ensure transparency of dietary supplements. United States Senate. durbin.senate.gov

3.  Asprey, D. (Moderator), Shade, C., Venn-Watson, S., Achacoso, T., & Schmachtenberger, J. (2026, May). Supplement quality and consumer safety [Panel discussion]. Biohacking Conference.

4.  Fitzpatrick, K., & Dass, R. (2025, October 27). How supplement fraud threatens consumer safety and what’s being done about it. Qredible. Qredible.com

5.  ConsumerLab. (2026, March 19). How to avoid buying counterfeit supplements online. ConsumerLab.com

6.  Niagen Bioscience. (2025, June). Quantitative analysis of nicotinamide riboside consumer products and counterfeit Tru Niagen. NiagenBioscience.com

7.  Venn-Watson, S., Lumpkin, R., & Dennis, E. A. (2020). Efficacy of dietary odd-chain saturated fatty acid pentadecanoic acid parallels broad associated health benefits in humans: Could it be essential? Scientific Reports, 10, 8161.