Glycine supplements with the fewest additives
Glycine may be an underrated amino acid, but some glycine supplements can have undesirable excipients.
I try to avoid those extra ingredients because they may have questionable health effects. If you want to do the same, my recommendations for glycine supplements are:
Suggestion for zero-additive glycine capsules:
This brand uses vegetable capsules made with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, which probably isn't a big deal, but makes me prefer the powders in the next section if you don't need the convenience of a capsule.
- silica-free / silicon-dioxide-free
- contains hypromellose / hydroxypropyl methylcellulose
Glycine, vegetarian cellulose capsule (Metabolic maintenance told me this is pine tree bark-based, which almost certainly means hydroxypropyl methylcellulose).
Metabolic Maintenance has promised me a Certificate of Analysis, I will post it when I receive it.
Suggestion for zero-additive glycine powders:
Glycine doesn't taste unpleasant, so a powder form can be convienently added to drinks.
- silica-free / silicon-dioxide-free
- hypromellose-free / hydroxypropyl methylcellulose-free
Glycine powder.
Certificate of Analysis available (for lot #12101222). The country of origin is Cambodia. I'm not sure whether it's from an independent lab or not.
- silica-free / silicon-dioxide-free
- hypromellose-free / hydroxypropyl methylcellulose-free
USP Glycine powder.
The country of origin is Japan.
- silica-free / silicon-dioxide-free
- hypromellose-free / hydroxypropyl methylcellulose-free
Glycine powder.
Metabolic Maintenance has promised me a Certificate of Analysis, I will post it when I receive it.
These sticks let you conveniently get 3 grams of pure glycine at a time.
- silica-free / silicon-dioxide-free
- hypromellose-free / hydroxypropyl methylcellulose-free
Glycine powder.
Metabolic Maintenance has promised me a Certificate of Analysis, I will post it when I receive it.
- silica-free / silicon-dioxide-free
- hypromellose-free / hydroxypropyl methylcellulose-free
Glycine powder.
Now Foods was unable to send me a Certificate of Analysis, but told me that the product is tested for purity. The country of origin "includes Japan/Korea/China".
- silica-free / silicon-dioxide-free
- hypromellose-free / hydroxypropyl methylcellulose-free
Glycine powder.
Other glycine supplements
The following are other glycine supplements I'm aware of, sorted alphabetically.
| Name | Ingredients |
|---|---|
| Carlson Glycine (Powder) | Glycine powder. COA unavailable ("company policy states that we are not to share these CofAs with the public"). Country of origin unavailable ("We do not specify a country of origin for our raw materials"). |
| Country Life Gluten Free Glycine (Tablets) | Cellulose, stearic acid, cellulose & glycerin coating, silica, magnesium stearate, vegetable glaze. |
| Solgar Glycine (Veggie Capsules) | Vegetable cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, vegetable magnesium stearate, vegetable stearic acid. The capsule is probably hypromellose / hydroxypropyl methylcellulose. |
| Source Naturals Glycine (Gelatin Capsules) | Gelatin (capsule), microcrystalline cellulose, colloidal silicon dioxide, and magnesium stearate, hypoallergenic: contains no yeast, dairy, egg, gluten, corn, soy or wheat. The glycine is from China (based on correspondence in September 2015). It was previously from Japan. |
| Thorne Research Glycine (Veggie Capsules) | Hypromellose (derived from cellulose) capsule. May contain silicon dioxide. |
| Life Extension Glycine (Veggie Capsules) | Glycine, vegetable cellulose (capsule), ascorbyl palmitate. The capsule is probably hypromellose / hydroxypropyl methylcellulose. The glycine itself is made in the US. |
| Nutrabio Glycine (Capsules) [DISCONTINUED] | Glycine, vegetable capsule (NutraBio told me this is hydroxypropyl methylcellulose and water). |
| Nutrabio Glycine (Powder) [DISCONTINUED] | Glycine powder. |
| Powder City L-Glycine [now out of business] | Glycine powder. Certificate of Analysis available (for lot #141202, reported July 6, 2015). The country of origin is China, as of September 2015. |
| Pure Encapsulations Glycine (Veggie Capsules) | Glycine (free-form), vegetable cellulose (capsule), ascorbyl palmitate, hypo-allergenic plant fiber (cellulose from pesticide-free Southern pine, probably hydroxypropyl methylcellulose), vegetarian capsule (cellulose from pesticide-free Southern pine, probably hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, water). |
| Now Foods Glycine | Glycine (free-form), gelatin (capsule), magnesium stearate (vegetable source), silica. |
