I Built a Supplement Stack Compatibility Checker — Here's What I Learned About Competition for Absorption

I Built a Supplement Stack Compatibility Checker — Here's What I Learned About Competition for Absorption When you take 5-10 supplements a day, you might think more is better. But what if your supplements are competing for the same absorption pathways? What if you're taking things that directly cancel each other out? I built a free tool to solve this: the Stack Checker at Botánica Andina — it analyzes interactions between 78 supplements and flags dangerous combinations. The Problem: Supplement Stacks Are Often Suboptimal Most supplement apps focus on what you should take. But they ignore how you take them. Here's what I learned building this: 1. Calcium Blocks Iron Absorption The most common issue: calcium and iron supplements taken together. Calcium competes with iron for absorption — you can reduce iron uptake by 50-60%. The solution? Take them 2+ hours apart. 2. Antioxidants Can Reduce Probiotic Effectiveness Taking vitamin C + probiotics at the same time? The acidic environment can