Daily Basics
The foundational stuff — vitamins and minerals most people are quietly low on.
Super B-Complex
Igennus Healthcare Nutrition
Methylated B-vitamins (the active forms the body doesn't have to convert) plus vitamin C, in a sustained-release tablet. One a day.
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Vitamin K2 + D3
Bronson
5,000 IU D3 with 90mcg K2 (MK-7) in one capsule. D3 is the single most common gap in adult men's diets; K2 directs calcium toward bone instead of arteries.
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ConcenTrace Trace Mineral Drops
Trace Minerals Research
Concentrated Great Salt Lake mineral brine — magnesium, chloride, potassium, boron, and more, added to water.
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Lugol's Solution of Iodine 2%
J.Crow's
Classic Lugol's iodine, the formula that's been around since 1829. Switched to this from a nascent-iodine drop because it delivers iodine for a fraction of the cost per mg — same element, much better value.
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High Absorption Magnesium Glycinate
Nature's Bounty
240mg elemental magnesium per serving in the glycinate form — well-absorbed and non-laxative, with glycine itself adding a mild calming effect. Genuinely cheap for this form.
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Niacinamide (Vitamin B3)
Nutricost
500mg, flush-free form of Vitamin B3. Feeds into NAD+ production (the coenzyme cells use for energy metabolism and DNA repair) through the body's salvage pathway.
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Performance & Recovery
Protein, connective tissue support, and the two additions that actually round this section out.
Gold Standard 100% Whey
Optimum Nutrition
24g protein per scoop, tested for banned substances. Compared against several pricier "premium" whey brands and this still comes out as the best value for the quality. Also sold at Costco — same 5.64lb size, usually a bit cheaper than buying direct.
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Collagen Peptides
Sports Research
Hydrolyzed Type I & III collagen, unflavored, mixes into anything. One of the most independently verified products in this stack — NSF Certified for Sport, ConsumerLab tested.
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Creatine Monohydrate
Momentous
NSF Certified for Sport and made with Creapure® creatine from Germany — most creatine on the market is unverified bulk supply, this one's traceable. 10g/day.
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Ubiquinol (CoQ10)
Momentous
100mg Kaneka Ubiquinol®, the active/reduced form of CoQ10 — roughly twice as bioavailable as standard ubiquinone. Supports mitochondrial ATP production and cellular antioxidant defense. NSF Certified for Sport.
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Omega-3 Fish Oil
Sports Research
Wild Alaska Pollock oil, 690mg EPA + 260mg DHA per softgel — a clinically meaningful dose, MSC Certified Sustainable and third-party tested.
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Zinc Picolinate
Momentous
15mg, NSF Certified for Sport. Zinc deficiency directly affects testosterone, and nothing else in this stack covers it.
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Omega-3 Krill Oil
Sports Research
Antarctic krill oil (Superba2), 1000mg per softgel — omega-3s bound to phospholipids for easier absorption than standard fish oil triglycerides, plus naturally occurring choline and astaxanthin (krill's own antioxidant, no added preservatives needed). IFOS 5-Star Certified and MSC Certified Sustainable.
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Cognitive
Two versions of the same nootropic, used for different situations.
Alpha BRAIN®
Onnit
Stimulant-free, no caffeine. The everyday nootropic in this stack — cheaper than Black Label and covers most days.
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Alpha BRAIN® Black Label
Onnit
The fully-dosed, no-proprietary-blend version, with a small amount of caffeine. For days that call for actual performance, not as a daily driver.
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Energy & Adaptogens
Cordyceps-M®
Real Mushrooms
Single-species extract of Cordyceps militaris (the "M" in the name) — real fruiting-body extract, not myceliated grain filler like a lot of the cordyceps on the market. Used traditionally for energy and endurance; the fruiting-body form is what most of the human research is actually based on.
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Ancestral / Organ Nutrition
Grass-Fed Beef Liver
Ancestral Supplements
Freeze-dried, desiccated beef liver from New Zealand and Australia. One of the most nutrient-dense single foods, in capsule form. Optional — a real addition for anyone not already eating organ meat, but not a core gap for everyone.
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Neurotransmitter & Mood Support
Three separate compounds, each marketed by its own maker as "neurotransmitter support" — not interchangeable, and not all doing the same job.
L-Theanine 200mg
Nature's Trove
Amino acid from green tea that promotes calm without drowsiness or loss of focus. 200mg is the standard dose used in most theanine research. Non-GMO Project Verified, made in a GMP facility in the USA.
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GABA 750mg
NOW Foods
Marketed for relaxation, but the evidence is mixed: whether oral GABA meaningfully crosses the blood-brain barrier is scientifically disputed, and the small positive trials used 100mg of a specific fermented form (PharmaGABA), not generic 750mg.
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5-HTP 100mg
NOW Foods
Sourced from Griffonia simplicifolia seed extract, raises serotonin. Real caution, not a quality issue: combining with SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs, or other serotonergic medications carries a risk of serotonin syndrome without medical guidance.
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— see caution note
Methylene Blue
Not currently recommended
Researched and deliberately left off this list. Methylene blue is a genuine MAO inhibitor — combined with 5-HTP (above), an SSRI, SNRI, or any other serotonergic medication, it carries a real risk of serotonin syndrome. Do not take it alongside 5-HTP or an SSRI/SNRI without medical guidance. Separately, the brand landscape here is unusually untrustworthy: one of the most visible sellers has documented customer-service and fake-review complaints, and most other options on the market are unverifiable small-batch brands with no track record. If pursued, the safer route is USP pharmaceutical-grade product from a licensed compounding pharmacy, not a wellness storefront — and only after talking to a doctor given the interaction above.
Liver & Hormone Support
Two products that don't fit anywhere else on this page — one's an organ-support herb, the other is an actual steroid hormone precursor.
Milk Thistle + Dandelion Extract
Bronson
111.1mg milk thistle seed extract + 12.5mg dandelion leaf extract per capsule — a lighter-dose formula than Bronson's own flagship 1,000mg silymarin product. The label doesn't list a standardization percentage, while most clinical research uses 140–800mg of extract standardized to 70–80% silymarin. Fine as a light-touch product; a higher-potency, standardized version would better match the studied doses.
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DHEA 50mg
Nutricost
Not a vitamin — DHEA is a steroid hormone precursor the body converts toward testosterone and estrogen. 50mg is a substantial daily dose; some clinical protocols for men use as little as 5–25mg. A DHEA-S blood test is the real way to know whether this dose is correcting a deficiency or pushing above a natural range.
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