When it comes to supplements and which brands you use there are several factors to consider before making a purchase. Naturally of course, we are drawn to consumer products, through marketing, branding and aesthetics, but what’s in the product matters most.
Does the product use clean ingredients? Are the dosages correct? What’s the comparable price point? Does the product add unwanted fillers? Does it taste good? Is it third-party tested? These are all questions you should be asking yourself when researching supplements before you make a purchase.
Today we are going to discuss the differences between 1st Phorm vs Swolverine to see how we stack up! Not only are the supplements that both these brands offer and formulate very different, but their core values, and their “why” for starting the brands are different as well.
What Is 1st Phorm
1st Phorm states that they are a premier supplement line in the industry. They offer a variety of products, ranging from supplements like protein, protein bars, and functional foods, like beef jerky, to a wide array of apparel and accessories.
What Is Swolverine
Swolverine is an athlete and active lifestyle brand.
Swolverine much like 1st Phorm, offers a wide variety of supplements, ranging from protein and functional foods, in addition to personalized nutrition coaching to help with overall health and wellness, as well as competitive functional fitness programming, training programs, apparel, and accessories.
The biggest difference is within their mission, or the “why” behind starting the brands, and the specific product formulations and quality of their products.
Swolverine started their brand to improve the performance of athletes. If you go to the gym five days a week, run, cycle, or even play tennis on the weekends, you are an athlete at some level. How they improve that performance, is through clinical doses with proven ingredients, that provide evidence-based outcomes. This is a very big differentiator in the supplement industry, as the majority of brands, under dose ingredients, to make a larger profit margin. Most consumers have no clue what doses are correct, and supplement manufacturers take advantage of that. “Evidence-based” and “clinical dosing” translates to having scientific research that backs their manufacturing claims, which again, most brands do not do.
Most people are concerned or distracted with the wrong things. Part of that distraction is if a supplement is third-party tested, do they use Informed Choice, or NSF, when in fact, the real problem with supplements are the ingredients used and the dosage of those ingredients. NSF and Informed choice certifications don’t really matter when the product has a ton of added fillers and not enough of the proven ingredients you need to help improve your athletic performance. Don’t get me wrong, third-party testing is important, i’m simply emphasizing the fact, that your product needs to provide efficacy before you consider the testing and quality assurance standards.
Swolverine also combines raw whole superfoods, with proven sports nutrition, very different than 1st Phorm. Often you will find ingredients like pomegranate, tart cherry, or coconut water in their formulations.
1st Phorm Vs Swolverine
Which leads us into 1st Phorm. In their mission, they state that “1st Phorm is an established industry-leading brand that is fed up with the crap the supplement industry has been pushing on the very people that support the industry; people like you.”
This would be a great statement, if it were true.
For example, their Whey Protein Isolate, contains added ingredients, which you don’t need and that could provide negative harmful health effects, otherwise known as “fillers” such as
Creamer Powder
Coconut Oil
BHA
FD&C Yellow #5
FD&C Blue #1
FD&C Red #40
Corn Syrup Solids
Diglycerides
Soy Lecithin
Acesulfame Potassium
and titanium dioxide.
Not to mention, the added artificial colors, like FD&C Yellow #5, FD&C Blue #1, FD&C Red #40 and BHA. Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA) is a chemical preservative in food for human consumption. As a synthetic antioxidant, it is used to extend shelf life and is a listed chemical to avoid. Studies have linked BHA to be a human carcinogen.
BHA can be harmful and lead to various health impacts. This chemical has been linked to the following health risks:
Carcinogenic – Exposes to malignant or benign tumors
Disrupting hormones and inducing dysfunction
Underdevelopment of the reproductive system including:
Thyroid hormone changes
Testosterone level changes
Sex organ weights
Sexual maturation
One study found that Acesulfame potassium, also known as Ace K, a synthetic calorie-free sugar substitute caused weight gain and shifts in the gut microbiome, which could potentially lead to obesity and chronic inflammation.
In their mission, 1st Phorm says they are tired of crap supplements, but they still add ingredients like this to their products. Seems a bit hypocritical and dishonest, doesn’t it?
They also add artificial dyes to their supplements. Food dyes are chemical substances that were developed to enhance the appearance of food by giving it artificial color.
While most food dyes did not cause any adverse effects in toxicity studies, there is some concern about possible contaminants in the dyes [R] Red 40, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 may contain contaminants that are known cancer-causing substances. Benzidine, 4-aminobiphenyl and 4-aminoazobenzene are potential carcinogens that have been found in food dyes [R, R, R, R, R]
These contaminants are allowed in the dyes because they are present in low levels, which are presumed to be safe [R].
Now let’s take a look at Swolverine’s Whey Protein Isolate.
In addition to the “other ingredients” or fillers found in 1st Phorm products, their protein only contains 20g of protein compared to 26g of protein found in Swolverine’s Whey Protein Isolate. Swolverine also uses Grass-Fed Whey and 1st Phorm does not. Big quality and value differences already. Another big difference, is that Swolverine’s Whey Protein Isolate is non-gmo, gluten free, soy free, and contains no artificial color or dyes. Swolverine also adds digestive enzymes, papain from papaya and protease to help with digestion and rapid protein delivery.
1st Phorm Vs Swolverine: Takeaway
As a consumer it is your responsibility to research a product before you use or purchase it. No matter your choice, at Swolverine we believe in complete transparency, and these are simply just the facts. That’s why we also list our certificates of analysis on our website for you to clearly see our testing results. Your health and happiness is important and your drive and motivation, to be better, eat healthier, and optimize your potential, is what drives us to innovate and make products that are unrivaled in quality and efficacy.
SWOLVERINE IS AN ENDURANCE ATHLETE AND ACTIVE LIFESTYLE BRAND. MADE FOR THE ELITE ATHLETE, AND THE STRONG-WILLED OUR PRODUCTS WERE DESIGNED TO FUEL YOUR ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE. WE PERFORM WHEN YOU PERFORM.
We believe that everyone can optimize not only their athletic performance but their human potential. The way we believe we can optimize performance is through transparency, clinically effective doses, and clinically proven ingredients with evidence-based outcomes. We provide the nutrients you need to power your active lifestyle.
