Afera, Camden Medicals' encyclopaedia
Supplements
Food supplements are concentrated sources of vitamins, minerals or other substances with a nutritional or physiological effect, sold in measured doses — capsules, tablets, powders or gummies — and regulated in the UK as foods, not medicines.
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5-HTP (5-Hydroxytryptophan)
5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) is the immediate biochemical precursor to serotonin. Sold in the UK as a food supplement; no authorised UK food-supplement health claims. Serious interaction risk…
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Acerola
Acerola (Malpighia glabra), also called the Barbados or West Indies cherry, is a small tropical fruit with one of the highest vitamin C contents of any…
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Akkermansia muciniphila (next-generation probiotic)
Akkermansia muciniphila is a gut bacterium that lives in the mucus lining of your colon, accounting for roughly 1-5% of the bacteria in a healthy adult's…
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Alfalfa (Medicago sativa, lucerne)
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa, also called lucerne) is a leguminous forage plant used as an animal feed crop, and a fresh sprout in salads. It is sold…
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Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA / thioctic acid)
Alpha-lipoic acid (also called ALA or thioctic acid) is a substance the body makes for itself and uses in the way cells turn food into energy.…
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Apple Cider Vinegar (with the Mother)
Apple cider vinegar (ACV) is fermented apple juice — a two-stage fermentation that converts sugars first to alcohol (yeasts) and then to acetic acid (Acetobacter bacteria).…
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Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)
Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) is a small evergreen shrub in the Solanaceae family, native to India and parts of the Middle East and North Africa. It has…
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Bacopa Monnieri (Brahmi)
Bacopa monnieri (also called Brahmi or water hyssop) is a creeping perennial herb native to wetlands across India, Australia, and southern Africa. It has a long…
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Berberine
Berberine is an isoquinoline alkaloid found in several plant genera — Berberis (barberry), Coptis (goldthread), Hydrastis (goldenseal), Mahonia, and Phellodendron. It is sold in the UK…
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Beta-Glucan (β-glucan)
Beta-glucan is a family of soluble polysaccharides that occur in two biochemically and regulatorily distinct classes. Beta-(1-3,1-4)-D-glucan from the cell walls of oats and barley is…
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Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis (BB-12, HN019, DN-173 010)
Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis is one of the most- studied probiotic bacteria in the world — the strain that put Danone's Activia yoghurt on supermarket shelves…
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Bifidobacterium longum
Bifidobacterium longum is one of the dominant bacterial species in the breastfed infant gut and a common adult gut resident. It appears in many probiotic supplements,…
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Biotin
Biotin (vitamin B7, sometimes called vitamin H) is a water-soluble B-vitamin the body uses as an enzyme co-factor for fat, sugar, and protein metabolism. The UK…
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Black Pepper (Piper nigrum)
Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is a flowering vine of the Piperaceae family whose dried unripe berries are the world's most-traded spice. Piperine, the principal alkaloid, is…
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Blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum)
Blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum) is the small dark-purple berry of a cool-climate European shrub, widely grown in the UK, Poland, and New Zealand and best known to…
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Calcium (Ca)
Calcium is the main mineral your bones and teeth are built from — about 1 kg of it stored in the skeleton — and is also…
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Chaga
Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) is a polypore fungus that grows as a black, cracked sterile conk on the trunks of birch trees in cold-temperate forests across Russia,…
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Chlorella (Chlorella vulgaris, Chlorella pyrenoidosa)
Chlorella is a single-celled green algae sold in the UK as a food supplement, principally as a plant-based protein and "greens" source. It is often confused…
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Choline
Choline is a nutrient your body needs every day. The richest UK food sources are eggs (about 150 mg per large egg) and liver; salmon, chicken,…
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Chondroitin Sulphate
Chondroitin sulphate is a sulphated glycosaminoglycan (GAG) that is a major structural component of cartilage matrix. It is sold in the UK as a food supplement,…
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Coenzyme Q10 (Ubiquinone / Ubiquinol)
Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a vitamin-like substance the body makes for itself and that is found in every cell, where it helps turn food into the…
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Collagen
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body, providing the structural scaffold for skin, joints, bones, and tendons. Supplemental collagen (mostly hydrolysed bovine or…
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Cordyceps
Cordyceps is a genus of parasitic ascomycete fungi traditionally used in Tibetan and Chinese medicine. The two commercial supplement species are Cordyceps sinensis (now formally Ophiocordyceps…
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Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon)
Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) is the small red berry of a North American evergreen shrub. As a food supplement it is used primarily for urinary-tract-health support, by…
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Creatine
Creatine is a small molecule built from three amino acids (glycine, arginine, methionine). Around 95% of the body's creatine sits in skeletal muscle as phosphocreatine, where…
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D-Mannose
D-Mannose is a simple sugar (a hexose monosaccharide) found naturally in cranberries, peaches, apples, and some other fruits. It is sold in the UK as a…
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Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea / E. angustifolia / E. pallida)
Echinacea (purple coneflower) is a North American flowering herb sold in UK pharmacies and supermarkets. UK MHRA registers most Echinacea products as Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products…
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Elderberry (Sambucus nigra, Black Elder)
Elderberry (Sambucus nigra, or black elder) is a small European tree whose dark-purple ripe berries are widely used in traditional cold-and-flu remedies — Sambucol syrup is…
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Evening Primrose Oil (Oenothera biennis)
Evening primrose oil (Oenothera biennis seed oil) is a botanical oil whose distinguishing fraction is gamma-linolenic acid (GLA, 18:3 n-6) at 8–10% of total fatty acids.…
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Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (next-generation butyrate-producing probiotic)
Faecalibacterium prausnitzii is one of the most abundant "good" bacteria in your large intestine — typically 5-15% of the bacteria in a healthy adult's stool sample.…
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Fish Oil (Long-Chain Omega-3 EPA / DHA, Marine Source)
Fish oil supplements deliver long-chain marine omega-3 fatty acids — EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) — pressed from oily fish (anchovy, sardine, mackerel, herring,…
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Flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum) — whole seed, oil, and lignans
Flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum, also called linseed) is a small oilseed with three distinct supplement uses that this encyclopaedia keeps deliberately separate: (1) the whole or ground…
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Gelatin
Gelatin is a protein derived from animal collagen — most commonly bovine (cow) or porcine (pig) skin and bones. In food supplements it is best known…
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Ginger (Zingiber officinale)
Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is the rhizome of a flowering plant in the Zingiberaceae family, native to Maritime Southeast Asia and cultivated globally. It has dietary, culinary,…
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Ginkgo Biloba (leaf extract)
Ginkgo biloba is a "living fossil" — the sole surviving species of a tree lineage roughly 200 million years old. Its leaf extract is one of…
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Glucosamine
Glucosamine is a naturally occurring amino sugar that is a building block of the cartilage matrix. It is sold in two distinct UK regulatory categories: as…
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Glutathione (GSH, gamma-glutamyl-cysteinyl-glycine)
Glutathione is an antioxidant the body makes naturally in every cell. There is no UK NHS recommended supplemental amount — the body makes its own, and…
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Green-Lipped Mussel (Perna canaliculus)
Green-lipped mussel (Perna canaliculus) is a New-Zealand-endemic bivalve commercially supplemented as freeze-dried whole-mussel powder or as the patented stable lipid fraction (Lyprinol® / Pernaette®). The compositional…
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Griffonia (5-HTP source)
Griffonia simplicifolia is a West African woody climber whose seeds are a natural source of 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), the immediate precursor to serotonin. Sold in the UK…
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Hops (Humulus lupulus)
Hops are the female flower cones (strobiles) of Humulus lupulus, a climbing plant in the Cannabaceae family — the bittering and flavouring agent in beer. Medicinally,…
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Hypromellose (HPMC)
HPMC — short for hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, also called hypromellose — is a plant-derived material used as a vegan capsule shell, a tablet binder, and a controlled-release…
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Inositol (Myo-Inositol, D-Chiro-Inositol)
Inositol is a sugar-like nutrient your body makes from glucose and also takes in from food (citrus fruits, beans, grains, nuts — roughly 1-2 g/day from…
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Iodine (I)
Iodine is a nutrient your body needs to make thyroid hormones — the hormones that set your metabolic rate, and are critical for a developing baby's…
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Iron
Iron is an essential trace mineral the body uses to make haemoglobin in red blood cells, which carry oxygen, and for energy production in every cell.…
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Kefir (Multi-strain fermented milk)
Kefir is a fizzy, slightly sour fermented milk drink that originated in the Caucasus mountains and is now widely sold in UK supermarkets (Biotiful, Yeo Valley,…
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Kelp (brown seaweed)
Kelp is the common name for several large brown seaweeds, most commonly Ascophyllum nodosum (UK / Atlantic coasts), Laminaria digitata, Saccharina japonica, and Fucus vesiculosus (bladderwrack).…
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Kombucha (Fermented sweetened tea)
Kombucha is a fizzy, slightly sour fermented sweetened tea drink — black or green tea brewed with sugar, then inoculated with a "SCOBY" (a thick cellulose…
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KSM-66® Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera root extract)
KSM-66® is a specific branded form of Withania somnifera (ashwagandha) root extract, manufactured by Ixoreal Biomed (Hyderabad, India) under a patented milk-extraction process. It is the…
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L-Glutamine
L-Glutamine is a conditionally essential amino acid — the most abundant free amino acid in human plasma (~500–900 µmol/L) and skeletal muscle (~60 % of the…
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L-Theanine
L-Theanine (γ-glutamylethylamide) is a non-proteinogenic amino acid found almost exclusively in the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) and in trace amounts in a few mushrooms (notably Boletus…
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L-Tryptophan
L-tryptophan is one of the nine essential amino acids — the body cannot synthesise it and must obtain it from dietary protein. Metabolically it is the…
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Lactobacillus plantarum / Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (299v / CECT 7484/7485)
Lactobacillus plantarum is a beneficial bacterium that grows naturally in fermented vegetables (sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles, sourdough), some dairy products, and the human gut. It is one…
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Lactobacillus reuteri
Lactobacillus reuteri is a lactic-acid bacterium with the most consistent published evidence for one specific clinical application: the strain L. reuteri DSM 17938 in breastfed infants…
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Lactobacillus rhamnosus
Lactobacillus rhamnosus is a lactic-acid bacterium widely used in probiotic supplements and in some dairy fermentation. It is one of the most-studied probiotic species, but the…
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Lecithin (Phospholipid Mixture, E322)
Lecithin is a natural mixture of fat-like substances called phospholipids that your body uses to build cell membranes. It is also one of the most common…
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Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)
Lemon balm is a lemon-scented herb in the mint family, used traditionally as a calming evening tea. In the UK it is sold both as an…
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Lion's Mane
Lion's Mane (Hericium erinaceus) is an edible white mushroom with a long history of culinary and traditional use, particularly across East Asia. It is sold in…
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Magnesium
Magnesium is an essential mineral the body uses in over 300 enzyme reactions — including muscle function, nerve signalling, and energy production. UK NHS reference intakes…
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Magnesium stearate
Magnesium stearate is a magnesium salt of stearic acid. It is one of the most widely used tablet and capsule lubricants in the global pharmaceutical industry…
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Maitake (Grifola frondosa)
Maitake (Grifola frondosa, "Hen of the Woods") is a culinary-medicinal mushroom widely eaten in East Asia and sold in the UK as a food supplement, usually…
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Melatonin (oral, UK regulatory context)
Oral melatonin in the UK exists in a regulatory duality that often confuses consumers. AS A MEDICINE, oral melatonin is Prescription- Only (POM) — Circadin® (prolonged-release…
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Methyl Folate (5-Methyltetrahydrofolate)
Methyl folate (5-methyltetrahydrofolate, 5-MTHF) is the biologically active form of vitamin B9 (folate). It is the molecule the body actually uses — folic acid (the synthetic…
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Methylcobalamin (active vitamin B12)
Methylcobalamin is one of the two active forms of vitamin B12 that the body's cells use. It is often marketed as the form that needs no…
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Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum)
Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) is a flowering plant whose mature seeds have been used in European herbal medicine for "liver complaints" since classical Greek and Roman…
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MSM (Methylsulfonylmethane)
MSM (methylsulfonylmethane, also called dimethyl sulfone) is a small organosulfur compound found in trace amounts in some foods and in the metabolism of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO).…
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N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC)
N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) is a stable form of the amino acid L-cysteine. In plain terms: NAC's recognised, authoritative uses in the UK are medicinal. It is…
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NAD+ (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide)
NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is a coenzyme present in every living cell, central to energy metabolism and to several signalling pathways. It is not absorbed intact…
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Niacinamide (Topical, Vitamin B3 amide form)
Niacinamide is a form of vitamin B3 used in skincare. It is also called nicotinamide. It is not the same as nicotinic acid, the form of…
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NMN (β-Nicotinamide Mononucleotide)
NMN (β-nicotinamide mononucleotide) is a nucleotide the body uses to make NAD+, a coenzyme every cell needs for energy-producing reactions. The regulatory picture comes first here,…
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Panax Ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer)
Panax ginseng — also called Korean ginseng or Asian ginseng — is the dried root of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer (Araliaceae family). It is one of…
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Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)
Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is the familiar bright-green Mediterranean culinary herb used as a garnish, a salad ingredient (tabbouleh), and a finishing herb across European, Middle Eastern,…
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Pterostilbene (trans-pterostilbene)
Pterostilbene (3,5-dimethoxy-4'-hydroxy-trans-stilbene) is a methylated analogue of resveratrol found in blueberries, grape leaves, and Pterocarpus heartwood. The two methoxy groups raise oral bioavailability to roughly 80%…
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Quatrefolic® L-5-MTHF (Glucosamine salt of (6S)-5-methyltetrahydrofolate)
Quatrefolic® is a specific branded form of (6S)-5-methyltetrahydrofolate (L-5-MTHF) — the active, naturally-occurring form of vitamin B9 (folate) — manufactured by Gnosis by Lesaffre (Italy) as…
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Quercetin
In plain terms: quercetin is a natural plant compound (a flavonol, one of the flavonoids) found in everyday foods such as onions, capers, apples, berries, kale,…
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Reishi
Reishi (Ganoderma lingzhi, formerly Ganoderma lucidum in much commercial labelling) is a polypore mushroom with thousands of years of use in East Asian medicine. It is…
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Resveratrol (trans-resveratrol)
Resveratrol (3,5,4'-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene) is a polyphenol found in grape skins, red wine, peanuts, and Japanese knotweed (the principal commercial supplement source). Trans-resveratrol is the bioactive isomer. Sold…
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Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea)
Rhodiola rosea is a high-altitude perennial of the Crassulaceae family with long traditional use in Russian, Scandinavian, and Tibetan herbal practice as an adaptogen. Sold in…
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Roseburia intestinalis (next-generation butyrate-producing probiotic)
Roseburia intestinalis is a beneficial gut bacterium that — alongside Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (a separate entry) — produces most of the butyrate in your large intestine. Butyrate…
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Rosehip (Rosa canina)
Rosehip is the small red-orange fruit of the wild dog rose, Rosa canina, used for centuries across Northern and Eastern Europe as a tea, jam, syrup.…
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Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis / Salvia rosmarinus)
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis, recently reclassified as Salvia rosmarinus) is a culinary and medicinal herb of the Lamiaceae (mint) family, native to the Mediterranean. The leaf contains…
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Saccharomyces boulardii
Saccharomyces boulardii is a probiotic yeast (not a bacterium) with the strongest specific clinical evidence base of any probiotic for preventing antibiotic-associated diarrhoea and for shortening…
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Sage (Salvia officinalis)
Sage (Salvia officinalis) is a culinary and medicinal herb of the Lamiaceae (mint) family, native to the Mediterranean. It has a long ethnobotanical history in menopausal-symptom…
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Saw Palmetto
Saw Palmetto is the dried fruit of Serenoa repens, a small palm native to the south-eastern United States. It is sold in the UK as a…
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Sea Moss (Chondrus crispus / Eucheuma cottonii)
"Sea moss" is the common name covering several species of red marine algae sold as a food supplement in capsules, gels, and powders. The two most…
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Selenium
Selenium is an essential trace mineral the body uses to build the 25 known selenoproteins — including enzymes that protect cells from oxidative stress. UK NHS…
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Shiitake (Lentinula edodes)
Shiitake (Lentinula edodes) is a culinary-medicinal mushroom widely eaten in East Asian cuisine and sold in the UK as a food supplement, usually as dried fruiting-body…
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Soy Isoflavones (Genistein, Daidzein, Glycitein)
Soy isoflavones are a family of phytoestrogen polyphenols — chiefly genistein, daidzein, and glycitein — found in soybeans. They have been studied for menopausal hot flushes…
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Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis, Arthrospira maxima)
Spirulina is the dried biomass of a blue-green photosynthetic bacterium (Arthrospira platensis and A. maxima), sold in the UK as a food supplement, principally for plant-based…
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St John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum)
St John's Wort is a yellow-flowered plant traditionally used for low mood. In the UK it has an unusual regulatory status: at higher strengths it is…
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Tart Cherry (Montmorency)
The tart cherry (Prunus cerasus), most commonly the Montmorency cultivar, is a sour cherry naturally rich in anthocyanin polyphenols and containing small amounts of melatonin and…
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Trimethylglycine (TMG / Betaine anhydrous)
Trimethylglycine (TMG, also called betaine anhydrous) is an amino-acid derivative present in beetroot, spinach, whole grains, and seafood. It is the principal dietary methyl-group donor for…
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Turmeric (Curcuma longa)
Turmeric is the bright-yellow root (rhizome) of the Curcuma longa plant — the same spice that colours curry. The part most studied is a family of…
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Valerian (Valeriana officinalis)
Valerian is a flowering plant whose dried root has been used for centuries. In the UK it is sold as an MHRA-registered Traditional Herbal Medicine (look…
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Vegan Omega-3 (Algal EPA + DHA)
"Vegan omega-3" in this entry refers to long-chain omega-3 fatty acids — eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) — extracted from cultivated marine microalgae rather…
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Vitamin A (retinol and provitamin-A carotenoids)
Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that exists in two main forms — preformed retinol (retinyl esters from animal-source food and supplements) and provitamin-A carotenoids (beta-carotene,…
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Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)
Thiamine, also called vitamin B1, is a vitamin the body uses to turn food into energy and to keep the nervous system working normally. It dissolves…
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Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is a water-soluble B vitamin found almost exclusively in animal foods. The body uses it for red-blood-cell formation, normal nervous-system function, and energy…
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Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
Riboflavin (vitamin B2) is a water-soluble vitamin and the precursor of two coenzymes — flavin mononucleotide (FMN) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) — that the body…
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Vitamin B3 (Niacin / Nicotinamide)
Niacin (vitamin B3) is the umbrella term for nicotinic acid and nicotinamide — two forms that share the same vitamin activity but have different non-vitamin properties.…
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Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid)
Pantothenic acid, also known as vitamin B5, is a water-soluble vitamin found in almost every food — its name comes from the Greek for "from everywhere".…
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Vitamin B6
Vitamin B6 is a water-soluble B-vitamin the body uses for amino-acid metabolism, neurotransmitter and haemoglobin synthesis, and immune function. UK NHS reference intakes are 1.4 mg/day…
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Vitamin C
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is a water-soluble vitamin the body uses for collagen synthesis, immune function, antioxidant protection of cells, and to help absorb iron from…
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Vitamin D3
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin the body uses for normal calcium and phosphorus absorption, bone and muscle maintenance, and immune function. UK NHS guidance recommends…
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Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)
Vitamin E is a family of fat-soluble compounds (four tocopherols and four tocotrienols) of which alpha-tocopherol is the form humans use. UK adult NRV is 12…
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Vitamin K2 (Menaquinone)
Vitamin K is the umbrella name for a family of fat-soluble compounds needed for the normal synthesis of clotting factors and for the activation (γ-carboxylation) of…
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Zinc
Zinc is an essential trace mineral the body uses as a co-factor in over 300 enzymes — including those involved in immune function, DNA synthesis, protein…
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