Standard Process is one of the oldest supplement companies in the US, having been founded in 1929. The brand sells products through health care practitioners as well as online, and describes their products as “high-quality, whole food-based nutritional supplements.”
But do Standard Process supplements contain research-backed ingredients? Does the brand use any questionable additives? Which retailer sells Standard Process for the best price? And how do real users rate and describe the effects of Standard Process supplements?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in two of Standard Process’ most popular supplement categories (Cleanse and vitamins) to give our take on whether or not they're likely to be effective, and whether or not they're healthy.
We’ll also document which retailer sells Standard Process for the best price, and feature real Standard Process customer reviews.
SP Cleanse Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in SP Cleanse, which is arguably Standard Process' most popular supplement, are shown above.
The brand describes this supplement as "designed to support the body's normal toxin-removal processes."
This supplement is composed of a proprietary (prop) blend of 21 different botanical ingredients, with a total dose of 2,680 milligrams (mg).
This equals an average ingredient dose of only 128 mg, which may be underdosed for any specific health effect.
To provide an example of how low a 128 mg dose is of a raw plant powder, consider the ingredient broccoli.
We know that broccoli is a nutrient-rich vegetable that can be part of a healthy diet, but 128 mg of broccoli is equivalent to less than 0.1% of one single stalk of broccoli, according to the USDA.
While we consider all of the active ingredients in this formulation to be safe, and these plant ingredients may provide some nutritional benefits, we haven’t come across any clinical evidence that healthy individuals benefit from “detoxification” supplements.
The entire concept is relatively unscientific in our opinion, because the liver and kidneys already detoxify the body, as discussed in our Rescue Detox reviews article.
On the product page on Standard Process’ website, the brand doesn’t cite any clinical trials proving this supplement or any of its active ingredients effectively detoxify the body, so we don’t understand the purpose of this supplement, and consider it a waste of money.
The good thing about this product is that it’s free of any unhealthy additive ingredients.
Real People Try Standard Process
A YouTube creator named “Wanderlusting Lawyer” reviewed the Standard Process 21-Day Purification Cleanse Program:
A TikTok creator named Katie claims that one of Standard Process' supplements has helped with her anxiety:
@heykatieejay truly a blessing I found this 🥲 #anxiety #anxietytips #mentalhealth #naturalsupplements #tipsforanxiety #anxiousmom #lifetips #tipsforyou ♬ original sound - Katie
Standard Process Vitamins Analysis
Vitamins are one of the more popular categories of supplements sold by Standard Process.
Rather than selling single-ingredient vitamins, the brand primarily sells vitamin and mineral blends such as “Cataplex D;” ingredients shown below:
We don’t understand why these specific nutrients are combined in this supplement, and we would recommend that consumers speak with their doctor prior to taking any vitamin blend.
It may be illogical to take supplemental vitamins without a documented deficiency in those vitamins, because overconsumption of vitamins and minerals from supplements and fortified foods can cause toxicity as documented by a 2022 recall of another vitamin-fortified consumer health brand.
We do not consider any of the doses in this blend likely to cause toxicity, but this is a warning we mention in many vitamin-related articles on Illuminate Health.
Sucrose (table sugar) is included as an inactive ingredient in this supplement, but the sugar content is not published.
We know from medical research that consuming refined sugar in excess is associated with a host of negative health effects including increased risk of cardiovascular disease and obesity, and it seems logical to avoid added sugar in supplements.
Overall, we do not see any particular benefit to the unique vitamin complexes sold by Standard Process.
We don't currently recommend this blend due to the inclusion of sucrose as an inactive ingredient.
Our Clean Vitamin Picks
Ritual Men's Multi and Ritual Women's Multi is our top value multivitamin brand.
The brand is clinically shown to be effective, and uses absorbable vitamin and mineral formats.
Performance Lab NutriGenesis Men and Performance Lab NutriGenesis Women is our top premium multivitamin brand.
This brand contains a complete set of vitamins and minerals in absorbable formats, and we tried it ourselves and noted subjective energy improvements.
All of the products recommended in this section are entirely free of additive ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.
Where to Get the Best Price
Standard Process supplements are not currently sold on the brand’s website, because the brand retails through health practitioners.
They are sold online at various third-party retailers, including Amazon.
We would recommend that consumers intent on purchasing Standard Process supplements use Amazon, because the other third-party retailers are smaller sites that we cannot verify the legitimacy of (and have never heard of prior to publishing this review), such as “Journeys Holistic Life,” “Pine Street Clinic” and more.
The risk of counterfeit products may be higher when purchasing from unverified third-party retailers.
Here are the prices for some popular Standard Process supplements on Amazon:
Standard Process Cataplex D: $53.86 (link to official Amazon listing)
Standard Process Magnesium Lactate: $43.88 (link to official Amazon listing)
Standard SP Cleanse: $36.45 (link to official Amazon listing)
Standard Process Zinc Chelate: $34.63 (link to official Amazon listing)
Customers Rate Standard Process
Amazon is a better resource for honest customer reviews than a brand’s website in our opinion.
Standard Process’ purification kit has been reviewed over 200 times on Amazon at the time of updating this article, with an average review rating of 4.5 out of 5.
A top positive review from a verified purchaser of the purification kit comes from a user named “Tom” who gave the product a 5/5 rating:
“So I completed the 21 days and have carried through the good habits for 28. I am 16 lbs. lighter and feel great. My body processes are more efficient and I started doing some short runs, the first time in a decade.”
A top negative review from a verified purchaser is written by a user named “Chev Chelios” who gave the product a 1/5 rating:
“Girlfriend and I both did this 21-day cleanse…We followed the instructions exactly: no stimulants, no dairy, no gluten, no carbs, no meat, etc…Did nothing for us. Didn't lose weight, feel better, reduce gastrointestinal issues -- nothing! Truly a waste of hundreds of dollars.”
Standard Process SP Cleanse currently has an average review rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars on Google.
Standard Process Pros and Cons
Here are the pros and cons of Standard Process in our opinion:
Pros:
- SP Cleanse contains nutritious active ingredients
- Cataplex D contains effective vitamin doses
- SP Cleanse has no unhealthy inactive ingredients
- High rating on Amazon
- High rating on Google
Cons:
- We can't find evidence that SP Cleanse will provide "detox" effects
- Cataplex D contains sucrose
- We can't find evidence for the unique formulation of Cataplex D
- Supplements don't appear to be clinically tested
