Thorne Research

The Sports Products

With a 30-year experience in the nutraceutical industry, Thorne is also trusted by (and is also the exclusive provider of nutritional supplements) a total of 11 U.S National Teams for its extensive line of NSF* Certified for Sport products, manufactured at the Thorne NSF, GMP-certified facility at South Carolina. Their mission is to provide athletes with quality supplements that meet their unique needs, along with useful information about how an athlete’s lifestyle can find use of nutritional supplements. With respect to the personalized requirements of every athlete, Thorne offers nutritional supplement programs cut for their specific demands with pure products that contain no banned or harmful compounds; products with an NSF mark, whose label fully corresponds to the ingredients listed on the bottle. Bearing an NSF approval mark means that the particular product has met the extremely strict NSF Certified for Sport program guidelines which tests supplement products for over 270 substances banned by the US Anti-Doping Agency and the World Anti-Doping Agency. *NSF is an independent accredited agency that develops certification programs and public health standards to test and verify systems and products designed to protect and improve global human health.

Certifications

Besides an FDA, cGMP (Current Good Manufacturing Practices) accreditation, the Thorne shipping centers, warehouses, and manufacturing facility regularly undergo scrutinizing inspections and are compliant with FDA regulations and standards. The company is also the first US nutritional supplement company to have received an A1 rating from the Australian TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) – perhaps the strictest regulatory agency worldwide. Finally, Thorne’s facility is NSF Certified and now manufactures over 30 NSF Certified for Sports products.

Product Testing Procedures

The company invests 5% of sales back into quality control and quality assurance. It has stellar $1.7 million-worth laboratories where they conduct four rounds of testing for their products, which is twice as many tests compared to the majority of other nutritional supplement manufacturers in the USA. In detail, the four rounds are as follows: 1 Testing raw materials for contaminants (tested for >1,000 contaminants). 2 Testing every batch that is being processed for identity and homogeneity. That way, they guarantee the consistency of the formula. 3 Testing the finished product to ensure purity, potency, and identity and exclude any possibility of microbiological contamination during the manufacturing phase. 4 Testing products to confirm that they indeed deliver 100% of the label claim until the time of expiration. This is how they check for product stability.

Other Noteworthy Facts About Thorne Research Products

• The products intended for use by Olympic and professional athletes undergo an additional round of testing via an independent 3rd-party (NSF-International), where they are tested for over 200 banned substances. A section of the Thorne production warehouse is dedicated to quarantining and testing the cotton the goes into the bottles to avoid contamination.
• Before incoming ingredients are used, they are quarantined until tested for 760 unique items, including heavy metals, arsenic, cadmium, E-coli, pesticide residues, salmonella, and mercury.
• The company retests supplements for efficacy and safety. They have invested millions in clinical studies with world-class research and medical institutions to validate the effectiveness of their products through follow-up testing.
• The company refuses to use any ingredient that can inhibit absorption, such as magnesium stearate, despite the fact that this increases the difficulty factor of the manufacturing process.

Environmental Initiatives

Thorne has taken several measures to help protect the environment. For instance, they gladly and immediately discontinue the use of a botanical ingredient if it is becoming endangered or when the existing supplies of the particular compound have been reduced due to over-sourcing. Then, they will recommend an alternative raw ingredient of the same quality profile and a similar mechanism of action. The organization also prefers to use recycled materials for everything related to their operations, from their shipping boxes to the padded packs inside their paper air-filled pillows. The goal is to minimize the use of paper and ink toner as much as possible, which finds man applications when processing customer orders.

Thorne At-Home Tests

Thorne customers can purchase the company’s at-home tests and get valuable information about their health. They simply collect biosamples, such as saliva, a few drops of blood or a small sample of urine, at the comfort of their home and drop the free-return envelope in any mailbox. Thorne then reviews the data and creates a customized plan for the customer with the help of proprietary, medically-supervised algorithms while providing recommendations about how to exercise, eat, and supplement to improve health and/or athletic performance. The plan, the recommendations, and the test results are sent back on a mobile or desktop device within 3-5 days and include easy-to-understand and easy-to-follow visuals, without technical terms and hard-to-comprehend numbers. A health analysis is also conducted based on the results of the test to help the individual identify potential areas of improvement or red flags (health risks). Over time, Thorne is able to provide patients with a visualization of their biomarkers and detailed information about what each biomarker shows about their overall health – the explanations are displayed in a simplified manner with the help of Mayo Clinic. Patients may choose to consult their physician after receiving the results. If they don’t have one, Thorne can help them find the right healthcare professional from the large network of physicians on the Thorne website. This initiative is an industry-first and aims at enabling patients to prevent chronic disease and achieve their optimal health with a scientific approach and medical evidence-backed products and solutions. At the moment, there are five at-home tests to try – for thyroid, sleep, fertility, metals, and stress.

Assisting the Healthcare Practitioner

Thorne allows healthcare practitioners to reduce overhead costs by using the Thorne platform, which simplifies online dispensing. The platform enables them to send personalized prescriptions via email, ensure each patient complies with their protocol, be more flexible when offering individual patient discounts, review at-home tests, create and share custom protocols and educational resources with patients, recommend products that can be delivered with free shipping fees, be discovered by new clients, and more. Thorne also has a wide array of videos and articles about the latest research on products and compounds and also organizes webinars, seminars, and events related to the latest advances in integrative medicine, and many more.

Most Notable Products

Adrenal Cortex - A formula that contains components of the bovine adrenal cortex tissue to help support a balanced stress response and promote adrenal health. It fuels individuals with higher energy levels too. Amino Complex - A product comprised of a blend of essential amino acids that boosts the production of energy and fosters lean muscle mass and strength. An NSF Certified for Sport product that should best be consumed after working out to stimulate the recovery procedure. Basic Prenatal - It provides women trying to get (or are) pregnant as well as women that are lactating with essential multi-vitamins and minerals while lacking the additives found in most mainstream prenatal supplements. Choleast™ - It supports the health of the cardiovascular system and helps sustain cholesterol within normal levels. For enhanced antioxidant support, the red-yeast-rice formula contains CoQ10. EnteroMend® - A formula containing amino acids and botanical compounds that aids in a healthy inflammatory response in the gastrointestinal tract. It also relieves the mucous membranes of the GI tract and fosters bowel regularity and colonic permeability. FloraSport 20B® - An NSF Certified for Sport probiotic blend that contains 20 active cultures in every capsule. It supports the immune and digestive system and is best suited to athletes and travelers or people under stress. Heavy Metals Test - An at-home test to help determine the levels of heavy metals in the body alongside the essential elements in the bloodstream. The results come with a personalized health plan to help enhance overall health. Meriva 500-SF (120's) - A product that contains the most clinically studied curcumin which comes with an almost 30-fold greater absorption than ordinary curcumin. It provides relief from occasional muscle and joint pain and helps maintain a healthy inflammatory response. Methyl-Guard Plus® - It provides active folate and vitamins from the B complex (B2, B6, and B12) to support the health of the bones, brain, blood vessels, and the heart. It also promotes normal methylation. NiaCel-250® - An assistant to combat aging and improve cognitive function. The product also provides muscle endurance support and fosters a healthy metabolic and neurological function while also boosting energy levels. Vitamin D-5,000 - The vitamin D-packed full formula helps support the immune and cardiovascular function. It also promotes healthy muscles and bones and contains no preservatives or lactose, unlike most vitamin D supplements on the current market. An NSF Certified for Sport product; hence, suitable for athletes too.