Fillers

Rice extract blend and brown rice flour are ingredients in a supplement I want to get. Are they ok for Hashimotos/thyroid conditions?

[helvella Administrator]

It is not really used as a filler but as a lubricant. (The term excipients covers all non-active ingredients.)

Obviously, it has been developed expressly to address the uneasiness about magnesium stearate that has been widespread.

2nd Generation Clean Label Lubricant

Nu-MAG® offers manufacturers and formulators a clean label ingredient that provides enhanced lubrication (greater than Nu-RICE®) in the production of both organic and natural dietary supplements.

Using “Rice Extract Blend” on your label statement gives you a clean, consumer-friendly label while also providing similar lubrication as stearic acid. Nu-MAG is a blend of four ingredients (Rice Extract, Rice Hulls, Gum Arabic and Sunflower Oil) that is helping manufacturers eliminate synthetic ingredients without compromising the quality or efficacy of their formulations.

Nu-MAG offers formulators a Certified Organic alternative to Magnesium Stearate, so organic tablets requiring a lubricant can now be produced. Nu-MAG (stearate replacer), is the clean label lubricant. To see Nu-MAG in action, check out our digital usage guide with step-by-step suggestions on how best to integrate Nu-MAG into your formulation.

ribus.com/nu-mag/

I notice that it claims "Yes, organic product is available. USDA and EU certified organic." Just wondering if UK certification of organics is in place? Surely we can't expect to use EU certification forever?

Gum arabic, according to Wiki, is:

Gum arabic, also known as gum sudani, acacia gum, Arabic gum, gum acacia, acacia, Senegal gum, Indian gum, and by other names, is a natural gum consisting of the hardened sap of two species of the acacia (sensu lato) tree, Acacia senegal (now known as Senegalia senegal) and Vachellia (Acacia) seyal.

[Hidden in reply to helvella]

Thank you. I’m not eating rice so still not sure whether to get a supplement with rice in it. 🤔

[helvella Administrator in reply to Hidden]

But why are you not eating rice?

If it is on calorific grounds, I suggest that the amount used in this extract used would be small enough to be ignorable.

[Hidden in reply to helvella]

I’m grain free because of Hashimotos.

[helvella Administrator in reply to Hidden]

In which case, if you want to follow a strict grain-free path, then you cannot accept it.

You could try contacting the manufacturers!

[Hidden in reply to helvella]

Yes I will to check the amounts. May be minuscule. 🤔

[Hidden in reply to helvella]

I’m trying to avoid magnesium stearate. Is it really so bad?

[helvella Administrator in reply to Hidden]

I have my doubts that magnesium stearate is quite such a major issue as some claim.

There is a tendency for some to ignore it because it is only in very small quantities. But if you are taking lots of tablets which are made with it, there would obviously be more than if you are only taking one or two!

[humanbean in reply to helvella]

Nu-MAG (stearate replacer), is the clean label lubricant.

By "clean label" do they mean it won't scare the horses?

[helvella Administrator in reply to humanbean]

Quite.

I read that as "enables a list of ingredients which does not contain what are seen as trigger words in those likely to read them". No "E-numbers". No long "chemical" names. No "magnesium stearate". So long as the names of ingredients appear to be unobjectionable non-triggers, we can include them.

I note that the ingredient contains sunflower oil and there have been reports, albeit very rare, of allergy to sunflower:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

However, it might be that this magnesium stearate replacement is wonderful and we will see it everywhere. I'll be fair, they do provide lots of detail.