Safety & Use Guidance
This page documents what you should know before, during, and after
taking a Unived supplement. Drug interactions, special populations,
adverse event reporting — all on this page, no soft-pedalling.
Important
This page is the safety information we can give you in writing. It is not a substitute for the conversation with your doctor — but it is more specific than most supplement-company safety pages, because we believe specificity is what safety actually requires.
If you are pregnant, nursing, taking prescription medications, or have a diagnosed health condition, the right action is to speak with a clinician who knows your case. The information below is intended to support that conversation, not replace it.
What we can —
and can't — tell you here.
What you can find on this page: the drug interactions Unived takes seriously, the populations we ask you to take extra care with, the adverse event reporting protocol, and the dose, form, and contraindication information for ingredients across our catalogue.
What you cannot find on this page: a substitute for medical judgment in your specific case. Supplements interact with medications, with diet, with diagnosed and undiagnosed conditions, and with each other. The literature is not always settled. Where it isn't, we say so on the relevant product page.
Per-ingredient and per-product safety detail lives on the product pages themselves, under each product's Safety & Tolerance section. The page below is the gateway.
General Principles
Ten questions, answered honestly.
The questions we hear most often, with the precision the topic demands.
Before starting any supplement if you have a diagnosed health condition, take prescription medications, or are pregnant or nursing. Supplements can interact with medications and may affect laboratory test results. The drug interaction table below covers the most material interactions across our active ingredients; the conversation with your doctor should cover the specifics of your case.
Most Unived products are designed to be taken together safely. The exception is overlapping ingredients — if you are combining multiple products containing the same ingredient (for example, vitamin D3 in a multivitamin, a separate D3 product, and a bone-support formula), sum the total daily dose and verify it remains within safe limits. Each product page lists ingredient overlaps with other Unived products under the Stacking Considerations section.
Discontinue the product. If symptoms are serious, seek medical care. To report the event to Unived, see the Adverse Event Reporting section below. We investigate every report and we publish what we learn at the catalogue level when an issue is confirmed.
Not all Unived products are appropriate during pregnancy. Adaptogenic herbs (Ashwagandha) and any product containing Red Yeast Rice are contraindicated. Standard prenatal-grade vitamins and minerals at appropriate doses are generally safe. The detailed position by product is in the Special Populations section below. Consult your obstetrician before using any supplement during pregnancy.
The pregnancy contraindications generally extend to lactation. Active ingredients pass into breast milk. Stimulant ingredients (caffeine in our gels) and adaptogens require particular care. The detail is in Special Populations below.
Most Unived products are formulated for adult dosing and are not recommended for children under 12 without paediatric medical supervision. Specific formulations intended for younger users are clearly labelled. Vitamins and minerals for children require dose adjustments that are different from adult dose-fractioning — children's nutritional needs are not simply scaled-down adult needs.
Yes, generally — at least 7 to 14 days before any planned surgery. Supplements with anticoagulant or antiplatelet effects (Algal Oil DHA, Vitamin K2, Curcumin at higher doses) should be stopped per your surgeon's instructions. Tell your anaesthesiologist about every supplement you are taking, even if you have stopped them.
Yes. High-dose biotin (B7) interferes with several common immunoassays — TSH, troponin, hCG — producing falsely high or low readings. Vitamin C affects certain glucose meter readings. Always tell the testing laboratory which supplements you are taking, and stop biotin at least 72 hours before a blood draw if your test panel includes assays known to be affected.
Most general-wellness supplements are intended for ongoing use as part of a daily routine. Adaptogens, hormonal-support formulas, and high-dose botanical extracts should be reassessed every 8 to 12 weeks — either with a clinician, or by pausing the supplement and observing whether symptoms return. Continuous supplementation is not always better than cycled supplementation.
Unived does not formulate with substances on the WADA Prohibited List. However, supplements are not subject to mandatory anti-doping certification, and contamination at the raw material level is a known industry risk. Athletes subject to in-competition or out-of-competition testing should consult their sport's anti-doping authority and consider Informed Sport / Informed Choice certified products as an additional layer of risk reduction. Unived's current third-party testing covers contamination and identity but is not a WADA-certification programme.
Where extra care is required.
Three populations where the standard adult dosing assumptions do not apply, and where consultation with a clinician is the operative requirement, not a footnote.
The following ingredients are contraindicated during pregnancy and lactation:
- Ashwagandha (Shoden®, KSM-66®)
- Red Yeast Rice
- Tribulus, Karela, and other hormone-modulating botanicals
- High-dose vitamin A (preformed retinol)
- Caffeine-containing gels above 200 mg/day total caffeine
Standard prenatal-formulated vitamins and minerals at conventional doses are generally safe. Consult your obstetrician before using any Unived product during pregnancy or while nursing. The position by individual product is on each product page.
Most Unived products are formulated for adults and are not recommended for children under 12 without paediatric medical supervision.
Specific products intended for younger users are clearly labelled.
Adaptogens, ergogenic aids (creatine, beta-alanine), and herbal extracts are not recommended for children.
Standard vitamins and minerals for children require dose adjustments that differ from adult dose-fractioning — children's nutritional needs are not simply scaled-down adult needs. Consult a paediatrician.
Caution and dose review for users with:
- Hepatic impairment (Red Yeast Rice, Ashwagandha, Curcumin)
- Renal impairment (high-dose Magnesium, Potassium, Calcium)
- Diagnosed cardiovascular disease (anticoagulant interactions)
- Polypharmacy (≥5 prescription medications)
Geriatric users on prescription medications should review the full Unived product list with their physician or pharmacist before starting. Many supplement-drug interactions are clinically silent until lab results show them.
Twelve interactions to take seriously.
The catalogue-level interactions Unived's formulation and clinical reviewers consider material. The list is not exhaustive — per-product detail lives on each product page — but the entries below cover the highest-priority alerts across our active ingredients.
| Ingredient | Potential Interaction | Caution |
|---|---|---|
| Vitamin K2 | Reduces efficacy of warfarin and other vitamin-K-antagonist anticoagulants. Patients on warfarin should not take supplemental K2 without anticoagulation team supervision. |
High |
| Red Yeast Rice | Same molecule as pharmaceutical lovastatin. Contraindicated with concomitant statins, ciclosporin, gemfibrozil, and certain antibiotics (clarithromycin, erythromycin). Grapefruit juice elevates plasma levels. CoQ10 co-supplementation recommended to offset parallel suppression of the mevalonate pathway. |
High |
| Ashwagandha | May elevate thyroid hormone — caution in hyperthyroidism and with thyroid medications. Potentiates sedatives (benzodiazepines, alcohol). Contraindicated with immunosuppressants. |
Moderate |
| Algal Oil DHA | Additive antiplatelet effect with anticoagulants and aspirin at total Omega-3 doses above 3 g/day. At standard supplementation doses (≤1 g/day), bleeding risk is small. Stop 7–14 days before surgery. |
Moderate |
| Curcumin | Inhibits CYP3A4 — may alter plasma levels of drugs metabolised by this pathway. Mild antiplatelet effect at higher doses. Caution with anticoagulants and pre-surgically. |
Moderate |
| Magnesium | Reduces absorption of bisphosphonates, fluoroquinolone and tetracycline antibiotics, and levothyroxine. Separate dosing by 4 hours. High-dose magnesium contraindicated in severe renal impairment. |
Moderate |
| Iron | Reduces absorption of levothyroxine, fluoroquinolones, tetracyclines, and bisphosphonates. Calcium and zinc reduce iron absorption. Caution in haemochromatosis. Separate dosing by 2–4 hours from interacting medications. |
Moderate |
| Calcium | Reduces absorption of bisphosphonates, levothyroxine, fluoroquinolones, iron, and zinc. May potentiate digoxin toxicity. Thiazide diuretics increase calcium retention — risk of hypercalcaemia. Separate dosing by 2–4 hours. |
Moderate |
| Vitamin D3 | Combined with thiazide diuretics: synergistic risk of hypercalcaemia. Combined with digoxin: hypercalcaemia potentiates digoxin toxicity. Risk is dose-dependent — significant at supplementation above 4,000 IU/day; minimal at standard doses. |
Moderate |
| Caffeine | Contraindicated with MAOIs. Caution with stimulant medications (ADHD treatments), theophylline, and clozapine. Athletes consuming multiple caffeinated gels in a single race day should monitor total daily intake — Unived's caffeinated gels deliver 35–100 mg per sachet. |
Moderate |
| Zinc | Reduces copper absorption at doses above 40 mg/day — long-term supplementation should include copper. Reduces absorption of fluoroquinolone and tetracycline antibiotics; separate dosing by 2 hours. |
Low |
| Probiotics | Caution in severely immunocompromised patients (post-transplant, advanced HIV, neutropenia, central venous catheters) — rare reports of probiotic-associated bacteraemia in this population. Generally safe in immunocompetent users. |
Low |
Per-product contraindication and tolerance detail is on every product page under the Safety & Tolerance section. The table above covers the most material catalogue-level interactions; product pages cover the rest.
If something goes wrong,
we want to hear from you.
Every report is reviewed. Every report is logged against batch records. The role of an AE programme is to surface the things we did not anticipate — which means we treat reports as data, not as complaints.
What happens when you report
Every adverse event report is reviewed by Unived's QA/QC Manager. Reports are logged against the product, the batch number, and the date — the same batch traceability we maintain for COA records.
Acknowledgement — every report receives a reply confirming receipt and asking any clarifying questions.
Initial investigation — batch record, COA, and any cluster of related reports are reviewed. If a quality concern is identified, the affected batch is held pending fuller investigation.
Final response — every reporter receives a final response describing what was found and what was done. Where a quality issue is confirmed, the action — recall, batch destruction, formulation change, customer communication — is described.
What we do not do: dismiss a report because we cannot find a mechanism. The role of an AE programme is to surface the things we did not anticipate.
How to report
- Your name and contact email
- Product name and the batch number (printed on the sachet, bottle, or carton)
- Date of purchase and date the issue began
- Description of the reaction, including timing relative to dose
- Other supplements or medications you were taking
- Whether you sought medical care
Submit an adverse event report
Required fields marked with *. You will receive an automated confirmation email on submission, followed by an acknowledgement from our QA/QC Manager within 48 hours.
This page documents the catalogue-level safety position. Per-product contraindication, dose-by-population, and tolerance information is published on every individual product page, under the Safety & Tolerance section.
If you cannot find what you need — for your medication, your condition, or your case — write to wecare@unived.com. The team will route you to whichever member of the formulation, QC, or clinical advisory side can answer your specific question.