U.S. authorized SodaPeak merchant60 capsules · 30 days1,200 mg shared by 8 ingredientsSupports healthy muscle
SodaPeakSodapeakwellnessSee the packs

The budget

One number, eight ingredients, and no split. Here is what the printed order will allow anyway.

Written by SodaPeak Editorial DeskMedical review Dr. James Bateman III, MD, MPHRevised Reading time 14 min

Quick answer

The label prints the ingredients in descending order of weight, because the regulation requires it. That makes position quantitative: if eight weights are in descending order and add up to 1,200 mg, the one in position k can weigh no more than 1,200 divided by k.

Four of the eight have a lowest studied dose to test against. Three sit in positions that allow it. One — nettle root, position four — sits in a position that forbids it, at any split the label’s own order permits.

Every position, every ceiling

The chart

The budgetWhat the printed order alone will allow each position to weigh

The label gives one number for eight ingredients, so nothing here can be divided. But the order is not decoration: 21 CFR 101.36(c)(2) requires descending predominance by weight, which means the ingredient in position k can weigh no more than 1,200 mg divided by k. That is the bar. The vertical rule is the lowest dose at which anyone has reported an effect.

GrantedThe dose to beat is the lowest in each ingredient’s literature, never a typical one.
GrantedEach ingredient is credited with the largest share its position permits, which is the most generous reading the label allows.
GrantedNo deduction for standardization. The label states an extract ratio for nothing, so each is treated as if it were the active material itself.
Ingredient, in printed order0 mg3006009001,200 mgWhat follows from it
1. Horny Goat Weed Extractno oral human dose establishedceiling 1,200 mgNo dose to test. Nothing published to compare against.
2. Tongkat Ali Powder100 mg a day for 12 weeksceiling 600 mg6.00× headroom. Position 2 allows up to 600 mg; the dose needs 100 mg.
3. Saw Palmetto Extract320 mg a day, as 160 mg twice dailyceiling 400 mg1.25× headroom. Position 3 allows up to 400 mg; the dose needs 320 mg.
4. Nettle Extract360 mg a day for six monthsceiling 300 mgShort by 1.20×. Position 4 allows at most 300 mg; the dose needs 360 mg.
5. Wild Yam Extractno supplement dose establishedceiling 240 mgNo dose to test. Nothing published to compare against.
6. Sarsaparillano human trial of any kindceiling 200 mgNo dose to test. Nothing published to compare against.
7. Orchic Substanceno human trial, no established dosenot in the brief or the marketingceiling 171 mgNo dose to test. Nothing published to compare against.
8. Boron Amino Acid Chelateabout 60 mg of a 5% chelate, giving 3 mg of elemental boronnot in the brief or the marketingceiling 150 mg2.50× headroom. Position 8 allows up to 150 mg; the dose needs 60 mg.
Ceiling, where the dose fits inside itCeiling, where it does notCeiling, with no dose to testThe lowest studied dose

Four of the eight have a dose to test at all. Three of those four sit in positions that allow it. One — nettle root, in position four — does not, and no split of this blend can make it.

Those four lowest doses add up to 840 mg of the 1,200 mg total, which would leave 360 mg for the remaining four ingredients. That is the whole budget, and it is why the next section exists.

The derivation

Where the ceiling comes from

This is two lines of arithmetic and it is worth doing slowly, because everything else on this site rests on it.

  1. The regulation makes the order a measurement

    21 CFR 101.36(c)(2) requires the ingredients in a proprietary blend to be listed in descending order of predominance by weight. So if the printed order is w1, w2, … w8, then w1 ≥ w2 ≥ … ≥ w8.

  2. The total is printed

    The panel declares the blend at 1,200 mg per serving. So w1 + w2 + … + w8 = 1,200.

  3. Take the first k of them

    Because the list is descending, each of the first k weights is at least as large as wk. So w1 + … + wk ≥ k × wk.

  4. And they cannot exceed the total

    The first k weights are part of the same 1,200 mg, so w1 + … + wk ≤ 1,200. Putting the two together: k × wk ≤ 1,200.

  5. Which gives the ceiling

    Divide both sides by k. The ingredient in position k weighs at most 1,200 ÷ k milligrams. Position one: 1,200. Position four: 300. Position eight: 150. No assumption about the split was used anywhere in that.

What a ceiling is, and is not

A ceiling is an upper bound. It says an ingredient cannot be more than this. It does not say it is anywhere near it, and in practice most ingredients in a blend sit far below their ceiling, because a blend with eight names in it has to fit all eight.

That asymmetry is exactly what makes the method useful. A ceiling can never prove an ingredient is present at a useful dose. It can prove one is not. Everything this site concludes is of the second kind.

Where the rules land

The four with a dose to test

The lowest human dose we could verify for each, against the ceiling its position allows. Every choice here favours the product.
PositionIngredientCeilingLowest studied doseVerdict
2Tongkat Ali Powder600 mg100 mgAllowed — 6.00× headroom
3Saw Palmetto Extract400 mg320 mgAllowed — 1.25× headroom
4Nettle Extract300 mg360 mgForbidden — short by 1.20×
8Boron Amino Acid Chelate150 mg60 mgAllowed — 2.50× headroom

Scroll this table sideways →

Read the third row carefully. Saw palmetto’s ceiling is 400 mg and its studied dose is 320 mg, so its position allows it — with 1.25× of room, which is the thinnest margin on the label. That thinness is not a curiosity. It is what makes the next page possible.

What the thin margin implies →Where each dose comes from →

A different finding

The four with nothing to test

Half the panel cannot be assessed this way at all, and that is a distinct result from failing an assessment. These four have no established human dose to compare a ceiling against.

Position 1 — Horny Goat Weed Extract
The heaviest thing in the blend, and the one with the weakest human record. A 2019 dose-escalation study of its marker compound found “very low or undetectable blood levels” at every dose from 100 mg to 1,680 mg. No oral human dose established.
Position 5 — Wild Yam Extract
Sold on a claim that is specifically refuted: its diosgenin is a laboratory starting material for making hormones, and the human body does not perform that conversion. No supplement dose established.
Position 6 — Sarsaparilla
Memorial Sloan Kettering’s monograph is unambiguous: “clinical studies have not been conducted.” There is no dose to compare against because there is no trial. No human trial of any kind.
Position 7 — Orchic Substance
Bovine testicle extract. It is absent from the seller’s brief and from both marketing images, it has no human evidence, and it is one of two reasons this product cannot be vegetarian. No human trial, no established dose.

Note what this does to the arithmetic. Those four still occupy positions in the blend and still take weight out of the 1,200 mg. Position one alone — horny goat weed, the heaviest thing on the panel — could be taking half the blend, and nothing published would let anyone say whether that is good or bad, because there is no dose at which it has been shown to do anything in a person.

What is left over

The budget, added up

840 mgthe four lowest studied doses, added together
360 mgleft for the other four ingredients
150 mgthe average, if 1,200 mg split evenly
1 of 8positions that forbid their own studied dose

Suppose, generously, that the four ingredients with a studied dose are each at that dose. That is 840 mg of the 1,200 mg, leaving 360 mg to be shared by horny goat weed, wild yam, sarsaparilla and orchic substance — an average of 90 mg each.

But horny goat weed sits in position one, which means it weighs at least as much as everything below it. If it is at 90 mg, then nothing in the blend exceeds 90 mg, and the 320 mg of saw palmetto we just granted is impossible. The generous assumption contradicts itself.

That contradiction is not a flaw in the method. It is the method working: the printed order constrains the blend from both ends at once, and on this label the constraints collide.

Where exactly they collide →

Limits, stated plainly

What the method cannot do

A method that only ever pointed one way would not be worth trusting. Here is what this one cannot establish.

It cannot tell you what is in the capsule

Every figure on this page is an upper bound. The actual weights could be anything consistent with the order and the total, and nothing published narrows them further.

It cannot account for standardization

An extract standardized to 20% of a marker compound is not the same material as a raw powder at the same weight. This label states a ratio or a marker for nothing, so every ceiling here treats the ingredient as if it were the active material itself — which flatters the product.

It cannot tell you whether a dose matters

A studied dose is the dose used in a trial, not a threshold below which nothing happens and above which something does. Reaching one is a necessary condition for expecting the trial’s result, not a sufficient one.

The one thing it can do, it does cleanly: where a ceiling sits below a studied dose, the studied dose is out of reach at every split the label permits. Nettle root is that case, and no further information about this product could change it.

On any blend

Doing this yourself

The method needs a phone calculator and about two minutes, and it works on any proprietary blend that prints a total.

  1. Find the blend total and the ingredient count

    Both are on the panel. Here: 1,200 mg and eight names.

  2. Number the ingredients in printed order

    Do not reorder them alphabetically or by how interesting they are. The printed order is the data.

  3. Divide the total by each position number

    That is the ceiling for that position. Write them down; there will be fewer interesting ones than you expect.

  4. Look up the lowest dose each has been studied at

    The lowest, not a typical one. Using the lowest is what makes a negative result mean something.

  5. Compare, and only trust the negatives

    Where the ceiling is below the studied dose, that dose is out of reach. Where it is above, you have learned nothing except that it is not impossible.

The full guide →Why order is a measurement →

The two left outThe one result on this site that is a proof: two ingredients that cannot both be at a studied dose.Read it →The eight ingredientsWhat each has been studied for, and the trial each dose comes from.Read it →Proprietary blendsWhy a label is allowed to print one number for eight things.Read it →
Sources

References

The sources behind the numbers on this page.

  1. U.S. Government Publishing Office21 CFR 101.36 — Nutrition labeling of dietary supplements, including the proprietary blend and descending-order requirements — Code of Federal Regulations · source
  2. Chinnappan, Rahmat, Mohamed et al. — 2021Efficacy of Eurycoma longifolia (Physta®) on testosterone and quality of life in men aged 50 to 70 — Food & Nutrition Research · DOI 10.29219/fnr.v65.5647 · source
  3. Leisegang, Finelli, Sikka, Panner Selvam — 2022Eurycoma longifolia and male infertility and hypogonadism: a systematic review and meta-analysis — Medicina (Kaunas), volume 58 · DOI 10.3390/medicina58081047 · PMID 36013514 · source
  4. Bent, Kane, Shinohara et al. — 2006Saw palmetto for benign prostatic hyperplasia — New England Journal of Medicine · DOI 10.1056/NEJMoa053085 · PMID 16467543 · source
  5. Franco, Trivisonno, Sgarbossa et al. — 2023Serenoa repens for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms due to benign prostatic enlargement — Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · DOI 10.1002/14651858.CD001423.pub4 · source
  6. Safarinejad — 2005Urtica dioica for treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia: a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study — Journal of Herbal Pharmacotherapy · DOI 10.1080/J157v05n04_01 · PMID 16635963 · source
  7. European Medicines Agency — 2012Assessment report on Urtica dioica L. and Urtica urens L., radix (EMA/HMPC/461156/2008) — EMA.europa.eu · source
  8. Nielsen, Hunt, Mullen, Hunt — 1987Effect of dietary boron on mineral, estrogen, and testosterone metabolism in postmenopausal women — The FASEB Journal, volume 1 · DOI 10.1096/fasebj.1.5.3678698 · PMID 3678698 · source
  9. Naghii, Mofid, Asgari et al. — 2011Comparative effects of daily and weekly boron supplementation on plasma steroid hormones and proinflammatory cytokines — Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology · DOI 10.1016/j.jtemb.2010.10.001 · source
  10. NIH Office of Dietary SupplementsBoron — Health Professional Fact Sheet — ods.od.nih.gov · source
  11. Brown, Wang, Hajduczok et al. — 2019Pharmacokinetics and safety of icariin in healthy adults: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled dose escalation — Natural Product Communications · DOI 10.1177/1934578X19856789 · source
  12. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterWild Yam — integrative medicine herb monograph — MSKCC.org · source
  13. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterSmilax glabra (sarsaparilla) — integrative medicine herb monograph — MSKCC.org · source
  14. WebMD / Natural MedicinesOrchic Extract — uses, evidence and dosing — WebMD.com · source

See the SodaPeak packs

One, three or six bottles. The price is on the seller’s checkout page, because it is the one figure this site was never given — and a figure we were not given is not a figure we will print.

See the priceSee the budget

Shipping and the guarantee term are shown at checkout. This site publishes no number it was not able to verify.

SodaPeak — 60 capsules, 30 days1,200 mg, 8 ingredients · price shown at checkoutSee the packs