According to SuppCo, they are the first comprehensive digital tracker and optimizer for supplement routines. At the time of writing this, the app is in Beta mode and actively soliciting feedback from the community as they refine the app. This review is not sponsored and I have not been asked to write this review by the company. I did however share abbreviated thoughts in line with what I have included below in a recent survey they sent out to app users.
But before we dive into SuppCo, we should first briefly discuss why an app like this is even needed.
It should be no surprise to anyone that the supplement industry has exploded in recent decades, with more than 50,000 supplements on the market as of 2021 (this number was closer to 4,000 in 1996). The supplements have turned into a multi-billion dollar industry with minimal regulations, especially in the United States. In Canada, there are a few additional hurdles, but relative to the pharmaceutical or medical device industries, the supplement industry truly feels like the wild west at times.
And while the market is growing, a general desire from consumers to live healthier, live longer, and optimize health has grown too. And people don’t want cookie cutter solutions (at least I don’t). We’ve seen it with the popularity of wearable tech like Whoop and Oura, and more recently, a desire for personalized advice based on our own data and bodies (enter Function Health and Zoe). And while all this information has upside, there are some downsides we need to consider, like the burden placed on the consumer to evaluate and sift through all this information.
This review is for anyone who feels overwhelmed by supplements, doesn’t know how to see beyond good marketing tactics, and needs a solution they can trust to pick the best supplements for themselves.
This review is ALSO for supplement enthusiasts who know their stuff but want an easy way to track, optimize, and find the highest quality products.
What is SuppCo?
As mentioned previously, SuppCo is a digital app that lets you track, find, and evaluate supplements. Depending on your needs or goals, the app may accomplish one or all of those features for you.
Tracking: SuppCo allows you to upload all your current supplements to your “stack” and set the cadence and dosage of each so you can track your compliance. The app allows you to set reminders, has a convenient “log all” button so you don’t have to manually check off each one (great if you take all your supplements at the same time). I personally don’t use the actual tracking feature much, but it could certainly be good for those who struggle to stay consistent. What I do use within this part of the app is the overview that gets generated based on your stack. If you navigate to the “Nutrients” tab, you will see how much of each nutrient you are getting each day based on your inputs. I like this especially for supplements where I take two different forms (i.e. magnesium) or if the nutrient is present in a couple of supplements, it can add both doses together (i.e. for me CoQ10 is in two different supplements I take with another nutrient).
Protocols: SuppCo has partnered with several healthcare professionals to develop a range of protocols based on different health goal(s). You can opt to follow one of these protocols generated by an expert and it will give you not only recommended products, it will also give you a recommended dosing schedule. This is not a feature I actively use because I am currently supplementing to address specific deficiencies that were identified in my recent bloodwork, with addressing anemia my top priority.
Product Evaluation: The reason I wanted to test SuppCo was for this feature and it did not disappoint. With this feature, you can search or scan your existing supplements and the app will give you a score based on the following factors: safety of inactive ingredients, manufacturing standards, testing benchmarks, product quality, product certifications, technical innovation, and brand certifications. This feature has far exceeded my expectations and makes evaluating and finding new supplements far less time consuming. In the event one of your supplements scores on the lower end, the app will recommend swaps that have higher overall scores. I have manually checked a few of my supplements against what the app reports and thus far, I haven’t found major discrepancies. The most common discrepancy I have noticed is on product price, which can vary depending on the retailer and time of year.
Education: SuppCo’s community tab includes featured articles on a variety of topics to educate users on supplements and the industry as a whole. From NAD+ to creatine, their latest articles have hit on popular topics and highlight important issues in the industry. Their viral creatine report that found 4/6 of the most popular creatine gummies had no or next to no creatine in them at all and led to products being removed from retailers.
Stack Score: A major feature of SuppCo that harmonizes a lot of the features mentioned previously is their stack score. This score is generated based on five sub-categories, scored from 0-20: brand trust score, value, health goal relevance, demographic essentials, and dosage. These subscores get combined to give you a score out of 100 for your total regime. When you are onboarded to the app, you are asked to pick your top 3 goals based on order of importance. This is an important step because it will drastically impact how your stack is scored by the algorithm and it will generate additional supplement recommendations based on gaps in your stack. To test how health goals impacted the overall score, I swapped out my health goals for new ones and swapped the order of my existing goals. These changes dropped my overall stack score from a score of 81 to 63, with my health goal relevance score dropping drastically.
User Experience & Interface
Overall, SuppCo is easy to use and the onboarding process was very easy. It was also easy to change health goals, update products, and dosages. While on the whole this app is extremely user friendly, it is not without glitches.
The biggest annoyance thus far has been difficulty with the search feature. I have found it to be difficult at times to find the exact supplement you are looking for by searching by name and brand.
For example, when I was adding my supplements, I had two areas of difficulty. 1) Thorne has two different Omega-3 supplements and when searching only the first showed up in the results. To get my specific Omega-3 in my stack, I had to scan the barcode. 2) When adding my Promix creatine, the app originally identified it as not found when searched. However, when I manually added the details of the product and the URL, the app noted that it already existed in the app and then it was added to my stack.
What I Didn’t Like
As you can probably tell, on the whole I do really like this app and the glitches I have experienced, especially knowing the app is in beta, have not deterred me. But, there are a couple things that I am not the biggest fan of and in some cases, could be net negative for some.
First, the app isn’t well optimized for supplementing based on deficiencies which is my biggest priority right now, specifically to manage my anemia. Where this impacts the overall experience most is with the Supplement Score. Because I am deficient in iron, my needs are much higher than what would typically be advised as a safe limit so my overall score is negatively impacted. To get around this, I have removed my iron supplements from the app so the app can score my remaining stack. There also isn’t an option to choose deficiencies as a top health goal during onboarding. It would be great to be able to choose this and manually enter what deficiencies you have or what biomarkers you are actively tracking so that you can easily see how your routine may be impacting your biomarkers.
Second, the app seems to continue to recommend more supplements every time you update your stack to make your score stronger. While I can appreciate why this is done and may be a pro for some users, I have found this to be a con. As someone who is trying to be extremely intentional about the number of supplements I take, I don’t need more external influence to inflate my routine further. If there were only 1-2 additional supplements recommended, I wouldn’t have as much of a problem with the feature; however, in my case I made updates for several rounds and continued to get served new recommendations.
Final Verdict
SuppCo is a no brainer, especially for a free app. The time I have saved evaluating brands and finding new companies I can trust far overpowers the handful of complaints or areas of improvement I have identified. As someone who is well versed in clinical research and the supplement industry, I may use this app differently than the intended audience. Regardless, my takeaway is that this app is extremely versatile and could be useful for beginners, experts, and everyone in between. Moving forward, I will be recommending SuppCo as a resource to anyone who is looking to make more informed choices about their supplements.
In the future, I would love to see the app integrate with bloodwork for a more personalized approach.
