Apothékary is an herbal supplement brand that sells liquid tinctures. The company tells consumers that “it’s time to ditch the pharmacy for the farmacy,” and that they “prefer plants over pills.”
But does Apothékary Blue Burn contain research-backed ingredients for weight loss? Are the herbs dosed effectively? What was our personal experience testing an Apothékary supplement for 30 days? And is Blue Burn better or worse than other popular weight loss supplements like Leanbean?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Apothékary Blue Burn to give our take on whether or not it’s likely to support weight loss, and whether or not it’s healthy.
We’ll also discuss the risk of side effects, share our dosing concerns, feature our experience testing an Apothékary supplement personally, and compare Blue Burn to other popular weight loss supplements to pick our winners (and losers).
Key takeaways:
- Clean inactive ingredient profile
- Proprietary blend hides every ingredient dose
- We do not currently recommend Apothékary Blue Burn
Blue Burn Ingredient Analysis
The active ingredients in Apothékary Blue Burn are shown below:
image source: https://apothekary.com/
Blue Burn contains eight herbs in a proprietary blend, and that blend is declared as 1 milliliter (mL), which is a measure of volume rather than weight.
This means the supplement doesn’t disclose how much of any individual herb it contains, and doesn’t disclose a total weight for the blend either.
We consider this a significant transparency problem, because the doses used in clinical research on most of these herbs are measured in grams. This is also non-standard based on similar products we've reviewed to date on Illuminate Health.
Maca root is included for energy, but a 2025 clinical trial found that 2,000 milligrams (mg) daily failed to improve performance or fatigue compared to placebo.
Gymnema leaf is clinically shown to reduce sugar cravings and sugar-sweetened beverage intake.
Oregon grape root contains berberine, a compound shown in multiple clinical trials to support fat burning, as we documented in our does berberine cause weight loss article.
The berberine content of Oregon grape root varies widely by plant part and sourcing, and Apothékary doesn’t publish a standardized berberine content for this ingredient.
Ashwagandha root reduced body weight, food cravings and serum cortisol in adults under chronic stress, in a clinical trial published in the Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine journal.
That trial used 300 mg twice daily, and we cannot determine whether Blue Burn contains anything close to that amount.
The inactive ingredients in this formulation, shown below, should be safe and non-toxic:
image source: https://apothekary.com/
Overall, we consider Blue Burn potentially effective for weight loss given that it contains research-backed active ingredients.
We do not currently recommend Apothékary Blue Burn, because the proprietary blend makes it challenging to determine whether or not these active ingredients are effectively dosed.
We Tested Apothékary
As the author of this article, I wanted to try Apothékary myself to share my thoughts on the brand quality and product effects.
I tried the brand's ginseng energy product, which has since been discontinued:
The flavor was rich and nutty, and the texture/consistency was fine and not clumpy.
I used this product for 30 days, in place of the ginseng capsule supplement I usually take when I want a natural energy boost.
Because this was a raw powder and not a more concentrated extract, I was underwhelmed by the effects: it improved my energy, but to a more mild degree than ginseng extract.
However, I also have a relatively high tolerance for natural stimulants (can easily drink 3-5 coffees without issue), so it may be well-suited for a stimulant-sensitive individual.
I did not experience any side effects while using this product.
Overall, I rate Apothékary 6/10, but that's just for the one product I personally tried.
Is the Lead Content Concerning?
In October 2021, Apothékary received a 60-day notice of violation under California’s Proposition 65, filed by a private enforcement group.
The notice alleged that five of the brand’s Signature Superfood Blend products exposed consumers to lead without the warning California requires.
The products named were Do Not Disturb, Better Than Botox, Follow Your Gut, Seal The Deal and Slay The Day. Blue Burn was not among them.
The matter was resolved in a settlement signed in October 2022, in which Apothékary paid a $1,000 civil penalty and agreed not to sell the named products in California above a daily lead exposure of 0.5 micrograms unless they carry a warning label.
Apothékary denied the allegations, and the settlement contains an express statement that it is not an admission of any violation.
We want to note that lead occurs naturally in soil and is detectable in many botanical products, the penalty was small, and this action is now several years old.
The lead levels were not published in the above-linked report, so we have no information about whether the lead levels in the referenced Apothékary supplements are higher or lower than similar products.
Questionable Clinical Claims
Apothékary publishes clinical claims on their product page:
image source: https://apothekary.com/
There is no citation to a clinical trial in this marketing material.
We located a registered clinical trial that's sponsored by Apothekary, but it doesn't appear to be published with accessible results.
We consider it to be a questionable marketing practice for a brand to make clinical claims without publishing or citing the full clinical trial, because it prevents consumers from accessing the full set of information and coming to their own conclusion.
As we've stated in many Illuminate Health reviews, we recommend that consumers entirely disregard clinical claims made by supplement companies based on anything other than fully accessible clinical trial results published in peer-reviewed journals.
Does it Cause Side Effects?
Blue Burn doesn’t appear to have been studied in a published clinical trial, which makes it challenging to determine whether or not it causes side effects.
However, we can make an educated guess based on the stated ingredients.
We do not consider Blue Burn likely to cause side effects in healthy adults, because the herbs in this formulation have well-characterized safety profiles and the doses appear to be low.
Gymnema can temporarily suppress the perception of sweetness, which some users may find unpleasant.
This effect generally resolves within an hour, and gymnema rinsing did not meaningfully change blood glucose, insulin or gastric emptying in a clinical trial on the topic.
Ashwagandha is not appropriate for everyone, and we consider that ingredient the most likely of the eight to cause an adverse reaction in sensitive individuals.
At the time of publishing this article, there is no mention of side effects on the Blue Burn product page.
Blue Burn vs. Popular Weight Loss Supps
Here’s how Apothékary Blue Burn compares to other popular weight loss supplements in terms of formulation quality, in our opinion:
Leanbean
Leanbean also failed to convince us that its actives are effectively dosed for weight loss, and its primary active is glucomannan, which did not produce statistically significant weight loss in a meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition journal.
However, Leanbean publishes the dose of every active ingredient, so a consumer can actually evaluate the formulation, unlike Blue Burn.
Neither product contains unhealthy ingredients, so this comparison comes down to dose transparency.
Winner: Leanbean
Biocol Labs
Biocol Labs is another herbal brand that positions itself against conventional pharmacy, and its active ingredients are both research-backed and effectively dosed, as we documented in our Biocol Labs reviews article.
Blue Burn has the cleaner inactive ingredient profile of the two, because Biocol Labs contains artificial flavor and a synthetic preservative.
Biocol Labs wins from a potential efficacy perspective, because it publishes effective doses while Blue Burn publishes none.
Winner: Biocol Labs
Hydroxycut
Hydroxycut contains some effectively dosed active ingredients, so it has the stronger case from a potential efficacy perspective.
However, the FDA has published a health hazard evaluation concluding that Hydroxycut exposure can cause liver injury, and the formulations contain titanium dioxide, corn syrup and citric acid.
Blue Burn is the far safer and healthier option, and safety outweighs dosing here.
Winner: Apothékary Blue Burn
Apothékary Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Blue Burn has clean inactive ingredient profile
- Organic inactive ingredients
-
Research-backed active ingredients
- Unlikely to cause side effects
- Healthier than some competitors
- Registered clinical trial
- We tested the ginseng supplement and liked the taste and consistency
Cons:
- Blue Burn has proprietary blend which hides ingredient doses
- Blend declared by volume rather than weight
- Questionable clinical claims on product page
-
We can't identify full clinical trial results
- No standardized berberine content disclosed
- California settlement over lead in other products
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We can't find third-party testing
- Doesn’t appear clinically tested in a peer-reviewed trial
- We tested the ginseng supplement and were underwhelmed by the potency
