What makes nikalab unique?

After analyzing a large number of dietary supplements available on the Polish market, the founders of nikalab stated that they were against supplementation with most of them. In response to these shortcomings and flaws, the nikalab philosophy was created. Katarzyna Godlewska, president of nikalab , told us what it is and what distinguishes the brand from others . We invite you to listen and watch the conversation at this link . And its text is below.

There is no shortage of dietary supplements on the Polish market. Why was the nikalab brand created anyway?

It's true, there are many manufacturers, many brands and products available on the Polish market. However, after analyzing most of them, we came to the conclusion that we would not want to supplement with these products. However, before we even start talking about supplementation, it is worth emphasizing that we should get most of the nutrients through our diet. This is absolutely the best way to take care of your well-being, health and beauty. However, it is worth supplementing what is difficult to obtain even from a well-balanced diet.

But if we eat a well-balanced diet, do we need any supplementation at all?

Yes, we need supplementation of what is difficult to obtain in sufficient quantities from the diet , and we know from clinical studies that it has a multidimensional impact on our health. Let me give you an example of vitamin D. To provide the appropriate amount of vitamin D (and most of us know how much impact vitamin D has on our health), we would have to eat, for example, half a kilogram of mackerel a day . And of course the question arises, what quality would this mackerel be? More and more of us have started to pay attention to where the food we eat comes from. And we should pay the same attention to the quality of the ingredients that are enclosed in capsules as in the dietary supplements we take.

I must admit that until recently I did not wonder where the ingredients of dietary supplements come from, sometimes 10 of them in one product, and sometimes even more. And it is not known under what conditions they were combined into the final product.

Indeed, producers don't talk about it. And as with everything, the difference in quality can be huge. We at nikalab have devoted a lot of work to getting to know the suppliers of active ingredients in order to select those with the highest quality products . That's why today we openly say on our website who supplies a given ingredient in our products. The second thing you said is also very important, which is the quality of the conditions in which these ingredients were combined. Because dietary supplements do not have to be produced in the same conditions as medicines. They also do not have to be tested to the same extent as drugs. And I think it is obvious that the less rigorous the production process is, the narrower the scope of tests, the higher the risk that something will be wrong with this product.

And what could be wrong?

Information about products that are withdrawn from the market regularly appears on the website of the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate (GIS), which supervises the dietary supplements market . Why? Because, for example, they are contaminated or their composition is not consistent with what is declared on the label. This is a big problem, also because GIS has limited possibilities of communicating with customers who have purchased such a product. Once he has come to us, there is a high risk that we will accept him. That's why at nikalab we decided to produce and test our products according to the GMP standard that applies to medicines. This is a much broader standard than that required by law for dietary supplements.

Unfortunately, information about the origin of ingredients and production conditions is usually not found on the packaging or on the manufacturers' websites. What can we read from the label and product packaging when looking for a good dietary supplement?

All these nuances are difficult to catch, it's true. Another thing we need to be aware of as consumers is that doses are often ineffective .

In the sense that they are too small?

Both too small and too big. Let's use an example again - let's take a healthy vegetable - e.g. a tomato. Will we be healthier if we eat 30 kg of tomatoes a day? And if we eat 1 tomato a year, is that enough to reap the benefits? Doses must be optimal . And it is clinical trials that show what doses of a given ingredient for supplementation are optimal. These things are difficult to spot just from the label. That's why at nikalab we try to educate and talk so that the consumer can make this choice consciously and wisely.

How are these optimal doses determined?

In clinical trials , they show whether a given ingredient actually has a multidimensional impact on our health. And only such ingredients are worth supplementing, in appropriate doses , paying attention to their chemical form . Many popular products contain "right" ingredients, but they are in a form that we as humans simply cannot absorb. For example, folic acid . It is needed not only for pregnant women (although at the beginning it is critical for the development of the fetus). Synthetic folic acid found in popular products may not be absorbed by up to 60% of us. When we do not absorb it, it can accumulate in the blood and instead of having health-promoting properties, it may even be harmful . Nikalab products contain the active form of folic acid - the latest fourth generation folate, which is absorbed by all of us and is safe and stable.

Dosages, chemical form, production conditions, origin of ingredients... Is there anything else that should attract our attention?

Yes, all extras . Unfortunately, manufacturers of dietary supplements and medicines add a huge amount of additives to their products. These are not active substances, they are excipients that are intended to extend the shelf life, make the product look better, etc. On the labels of popular products we can find, for example, magnesium salts of fatty acids, xanthan gum, titanium dioxide, diphosphates, phosphates, guar gum... These are huge amounts of additives that can be harmful to our bodies . They can irritate the intestinal mucosa, cause allergies, inflammation and premature aging.

I would also like to cite one example of such a substance that is no longer available, but was added to a large number of products - titanium dioxide (E171) . Until 2021, it was legal and could be found in medicines, dietary supplements, cosmetics and toothpastes. It is currently banned due to its carcinogenic properties. But it is still on store shelves because all E171 products that were produced until the ban came into force remain on sale. The question we should ask ourselves today is how many of the excipients that remain legal today will follow the path of titanium dioxide E171 in the future? Will they also be banned in some time due to their harmful properties? Therefore, nikalab products do not contain any unnecessary additives . Our products are also vegan . This does not mean that we only target vegans and vegetarians, it means that we target everyone. At the stage of selecting ingredients, we came to the conclusion that these vegan raw materials are of better quality and that is why we want to have them in our products.

And why is the quality of the vegan ingredients you use better?

I will give 2 examples. Most of us believe that Omega-3 acids, both DHA and EPA, can only be obtained from fish, and from there they go into capsules that we then swallow. However, Omega-3 fatty acids are actually produced by the algae that fish eat. Omega-3 acids found in nikalab supplements are obtained directly from the source - from algae that grow in controlled conditions, away from any contamination. The second example is vitamin D3. Even fewer of us know where it comes from than Omega-3. In fact, it is most often obtained from lanolin, i.e. sebum, the fat of sheep's wool. It goes through a long purification process before it ends up in capsules of popular dietary supplements. At nikalab, we obtain vitamin D3 from microalgae . It is the same chemical form - cholecalciferol, but obtained more ethically in a different place.

What research confirms the highest quality of production and ingredients of Nikalab supplements?

The scope of testing is another thing that is imposed on producers by the regulator. Popular dietary supplements usually undergo a much narrower scope of testing than that required for drugs. However, we at nikalab decided to test our products in accordance with the standard applicable to medicines . The test suite is much broader. We raised the bar even higher. Additionally, we also test our products in terms of ethylene oxide content . This isn't even required for medications. In recent months, it has been widely reported that many products, including medicines, have been contaminated with this substance. The product was withdrawn and removed from the market. Many manufacturers also use the marketing slogan that their products are "tested in independent laboratories" . You have to be careful with this, because this slogan may mean only that these products have been tested to a basic extent that allows them to be placed on the market and nothing more. This may just be the bare minimum. The second thing is that plants producing medicines standard must test a lot and on an ongoing basis, which is why they must have their own laboratory facilities . Small plants that often produce only dietary supplements do not have this facility and this is the reason why their products must be sent to independent laboratories. Therefore, let's not be fooled by this slogan, we don't know what it means. It may mean only minimal testing, absolute standard.

Who develops the formulations of nikalab dietary supplements?

The formulations are developed by an interdisciplinary team . We connected doctors, dieticians, scientists and food technologists. This team relies not only on its own experience, but to a large extent on the results of clinical trials conducted in centers around the world. And since there are many such studies, this team wisely extracts only those that are of high quality, that are representative and reliable. This is a very important thing to do.

Are nikalab dietary supplements produced in Poland?

No, we produce them in France because we use very modern technologies to enclose active ingredients in a capsule. These are DUOCAP (capsule-in-capsule) and DRcaps (delayed-release capsule) technologies. Our capsule is resistant to stomach acids and dissolves in the small intestine. Because the small intestine has optimal conditions for the absorption of active substances, which are then distributed throughout the body.

All these things that we have discussed cannot but affect the price of dietary supplements. How does nikalab products compare to other companies?

Of course, there are many factors that contribute to the cost of supplements. This is the value of what is enclosed in the capsule itself, packaging, sales, marketing, etc. Another thing we see on the market - manufacturers often pay relatively little attention to the capsule itself. They focus a lot on packaging, I'm sure many of us know this "matryoshka doll": a jar, a box, another box... The goal is to create a feeling of "premium". But this generates costs, it is ecologically irresponsible. The question arises whether the packaging creates maximum value for people taking capsules? Manufacturers can spend as much as 80% of the cost of producing a product in the packaging. At nikalab, we decided to enclose as much value as possible in the capsule itself - in top forms of raw materials from top European suppliers. That doesn't mean we haven't paid attention to packaging. We did it very consciously, we limited the amount of materials we had to buy and we gave up the "matryoshka". At the same time, our packaging is of very high quality, used in pharmacy, and is of plant origin and can be composted .