Urolithin A News Update
Some major news has come out as of July 15.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts has permanently banned 19 online sellers from marketing, distributing, or selling products advertised as containing urolithin A, and ordered them to pay more than $5.3 million in damages.
Which means if you bought a urolithin A product from one of these suppliers, there’s a good chance you’ve been paying full price to swallow supplements full of filler ingredients.
Here’s What the Laboratory Found…
This case was part of an ongoing global enforcement program by Timeline (the creators of Mitopure®, and one of my brand partners) to protect consumers from counterfeit and mislabeled urolithin A products.
Independent laboratory testing showed that the products these sellers pushed contained either no detectable urolithin A whatsoever, or a fraction of the amount printed on the label.
Sellers also claimed their products were made in the USA, third-party tested and certified, and vegan, which are all claims the evidence did not support. Some also used false business addresses, while others filled capsules with undisclosed ingredients.
The Wider View
It would be comforting to write this story off as a fluke.
But nineteen sellers, all caught in the act at the same time, is a stark reminder of what the less-regulated end of the supplement market is willing to sell you.
The court record for this case shows us exactly how badly the market can fail us. And urolithin A is a case where the fraud is worse than just a wasted purchase.
Urolithin A clears damaged mitochondria out of your muscle so healthier ones can take their place, which helps keep your muscle strong as you age.¹ ²
However, a large amount of the population (including myself) cannot manufacture a meaningful dose of it from food.³ For this group, there is no alternative to direct supplementation.
Looking To The Future
This ruling is good news.
But the supplement market is not going to police itself on our behalf.
This ruling is the exception, not the norm, and no one knows what other companies are getting away with similar false promises right now.
The burden of vetting your supplements ultimately falls to you.
My recommendation remains as always:
Treat the ingredients on the label as unverified claims, not facts. Demand evidence. And be diligent about only buying products with clinically studied, standardized ingredients from verified sources.
References:
Ryu, D., et al. (2016). Urolithin A induces mitophagy and prolongs lifespan in C. elegans and increases muscle function in rodents. Nature Medicine, 22(8), 879–888. (PMID 27400265) Singh, A., et al. (2022). Urolithin A improves muscle strength, exercise performance, and biomarkers of mitochondrial health in a randomized trial in middle-aged adults. Cell Reports Medicine, 3(5), 100633. (PMID 35584623)
Singh, A., et al. (2022). Direct supplementation with Urolithin A overcomes limitations of dietary exposure and gut microbiome variability in healthy adults to achieve consistent levels across the population. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 76, 297–308. (PMCID PMC8821002)