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? Do they contain any unhealthy ingredients? Why do we take issue with the brand's "Cleanse" supplement? And is Standard Process better or worse than popular vitamin supplement brands like Olly?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in two of Standard Process’ most popular supplements (Cleanse and vitamins) to give our take on whether or not they're effectively formulated.
We’ll also compare Standard Process to other popular vitamin supplement brands, in terms of formulation quality, to pick our winners (and losers).
Key takeaways:
- We do not consider SP Cleanse effectively-formulated for detox
- Cataplex D contains an inactive ingredient we consider unhealthy
- We do not currently recommend Standard Process
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 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.
SP Cleanse Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in SP Cleanse, which is arguably Standard Process' most popular supplement, are shown below:
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 consider this supplement likely to be effective.
The good thing about this product is that it’s free of any unhealthy additive ingredients.
Standard Process vs. Popular Vitamin Brands
Here's how Standard Process' vitamin supplements compare to other popular vitamin brands in terms of formulation quality, in our opinion:
MaryRuth's
Beyond vitamins and minerals, contains additional research-backed ingredients like MSM, which is clinically shown to have anti-inflammatory effects.
Higher-quality formulations on average.
Winner: MaryRuth's
Immuno 150
Both brands contain a vitamin and mineral blend, but Immuno 150 contains an inactive ingredient which is banned in the EU over toxicity concerns, as we documented in our Immuno 150 review article.
Standard Process is the healthier option.
Winner: Standard Process
Olly Vitamins
This brand primarily sells gummy supplements, which contain unhealthy flavoring ingredients like refined sugar and manufactured citric acid.
Standard Process has a healthier inactive ingredient profile.
Winner: Standard Process
Our Clean Vitamin Picks
Performance Lab NutriGenesis Men and Performance Lab NutriGenesis Women is our top 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.
This product line is free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.
Standard Process Pros and Cons
Pros:
- SP Cleanse contains nutritious active ingredients
- Cataplex D contains effective vitamin doses
- SP Cleanse has no unhealthy inactive ingredients
- Healthier than some competitors
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
