If you've ever flipped over a greens powder container and tried to figure out exactly what you're consuming you've probably encountered a term called a proprietary blend. It sounds technical. It sounds like it might be protecting some sophisticated secret formula. What it's actually protecting is something far less impressive.
This post explains exactly what proprietary blends are, why supplement brands use them, what the research says about their implications, and what full ingredient transparency actually looks like in practice.
What Is a Proprietary Blend
A proprietary blend is a listing on a supplement label that groups multiple ingredients together under a single name with a single total weight. The individual ingredients within the blend are listed but their individual amounts are not disclosed.
For example a label might show something like this. Superfood Complex 3,500mg. Spirulina. Wheatgrass. Chlorella. Moringa.
That label tells you the blend weighs 3,500mg total and contains those four ingredients. It does not tell you whether the blend is 3,000mg of spirulina and 167mg of everything else or whether the ingredients are distributed more evenly. You simply cannot know.
This practice is legal under current FDA regulations for dietary supplements. Brands are required to list all ingredients but are not required to disclose individual amounts within a proprietary blend as long as the total blend weight is shown.
Why Brands Use Proprietary Blends
There are two arguments supplement brands make for using proprietary blends. The first is competitive protection. If a brand has developed a genuinely unique and effective formula they may want to prevent competitors from exactly replicating it by reverse engineering the label.
The second reason, the one brands don't advertise, is cost management and marketing flexibility. A proprietary blend allows a manufacturer to use very small amounts of expensive or efficacious ingredients while still listing them prominently on the label. You can include 5mg of ashwagandha in a blend and list ashwagandha as a featured ingredient. At 5mg ashwagandha has essentially no physiological effect. The research on ashwagandha's stress reducing benefits uses doses of 300-600mg. But 5mg is enough to put it on the label and in the marketing materials.
This is the fundamental problem with proprietary blends. They create a gap between what is implied and what is delivered that the consumer has no way to evaluate.
At $79 per month on subscription or $100 for a one time purchase of AG1 for example, consumers are paying premium prices without the ability to verify whether the formula justifies that premium. That information asymmetry is by design.
What the Research Actually Says
The efficacy of greens powder ingredients is genuinely supported by research when those ingredients are present at meaningful doses. Here is what the evidence shows for some of the most commonly featured ingredients.
Ashwagandha has multiple randomized controlled trials supporting its effects on cortisol reduction and stress management at doses of 300-600mg daily. Below 100mg the evidence for meaningful effect essentially disappears.
Spirulina has research supporting its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties at doses of 1,000-3,000mg daily. At trace amounts the effects are negligible.
Bacillus Coagulans as a probiotic strain has research supporting its gut health benefits at doses as low as 1 billion CFU daily. The key requirement is that the strain must be viable meaning it must survive to reach the gut.
When a brand uses a proprietary blend you have no way to verify whether any of these ingredients are present at doses supported by the research. The marketing can cite the studies. The formula can include the ingredients. But without dosage transparency you cannot evaluate whether you're getting a research supported dose or a marketing dose.
What Full Transparency Looks Like
Full ingredient transparency means every ingredient listed with its exact milligram amount. No proprietary blends. No hidden dosages. Just a complete honest label that treats the consumer as an intelligent adult capable of evaluating what they're consuming.
At Claro Greens every ingredient is listed with its exact amount. Organic Wheatgrass 1020mg. Organic Moringa 510mg. Organic Spirulina 229.5mg. Organic Ashwagandha 76.5mg. Bacillus Coagulans 5.1mg. All 23 ingredients. All milligram amounts. Published on the label and on our website for anyone to read and evaluate.
And we charge $55 per month for it. $660 per year. Not $948. Because transparency and fair pricing are not mutually exclusive.
This is not a differentiator that should be rare in the supplement industry. It should be the standard. The fact that it isn't is why proprietary blends deserve the scrutiny they're increasingly receiving from both consumers and nutrition researchers.
What To Look For When Choosing a Greens Powder
When evaluating any greens powder ask these four questions.
Are all ingredients listed with individual dosage amounts or are they grouped into proprietary blends. If they're grouped you cannot evaluate the formula.
Are the doses of key ingredients within ranges supported by published research. A formula can be technically transparent but still use sub-therapeutic doses of key ingredients.
What certifications does the product hold. GMP certification indicates manufacturing quality standards. Organic certification indicates ingredient sourcing standards. These are verifiable third party validations that provide meaningful assurance.
What is the probiotic strain and what evidence exists for its viability. If the label lists a Lactobacillus strain ask how the manufacturer ensures viability through manufacturing and storage. If they don't have a clear answer the probiotic content may be largely inactive by the time you consume it.
The Bottom Line
Proprietary blends are a legal mechanism that allows supplement brands to market ingredients without disclosing how much of those ingredients are actually present. For consumers trying to make informed decisions about their daily nutrition this is a fundamental problem.
Full ingredient transparency is not a marketing claim. It is a minimum standard of respect for the consumer. When you're putting something in your body every single day you deserve to know exactly what it is and exactly how much of it is there.
That's the standard Vital Blends holds itself to. $55 a month. Every ingredient listed. Every milligram shown. No exceptions.
See every ingredient and every milligram amount at vitalblends.co/blogs/ingredients-2/our-formula.