Marc Lobliner of CleanForm Nutrition and Ketone Labs discusses TruShield Certified banned substance testing, Conor McGregor's MAC Energy drink, and the future of goBHB on Episode #232 of the PricePlow Podcast.
Marc "The Machine" Lobliner returns to the PricePlow Podcast for Episode #232, catching up on everything happening at CleanForm Nutrition and Ketone Labs since his last visit on Episode #186. This episode is sponsored by TruShield™ Certified, the WADA-level banned substance testing program from Eagle Diagnostics and SMRTL, and Marc explains why CleanForm chose it to certify the CleanForm Nutrition goBHB Energy Shot.
Mike, Marc, and Ben also crack open cans of Conor McGregor's new MAC Energy drink, which runs on the same goBHB ketone ingredient that built Marc's career, alongside PurCaf natural caffeine and Cognizin citicoline. Marc walks through his history fighting amino acid spiking, CleanForm's full product lineup, a new Purest Creatine partnership with NNB Nutrition, and lessons from his recent hip replacement.
TruShield™ Certified App: Easier to Track New Drug-Tested Supplements
TruShield™ Certified is also proud to announce the creation of the TruShield™ Certified App,[1] so you can get notified when new products get certified.
It's a wide-ranging catch-up covering testing standards, celebrity-backed formulas, and three decades of supplement industry stories. Subscribe to the PricePlow Podcast on your favorite platform and sign up for alerts before diving in.
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https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/marc-lobliner-trushield-certified-shots-232
Video: TruShield™ Certified, MAC Energy, and Marc Lobliner’s goBHB Update
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:19:21 — 76.7MB)
Detailed Show Notes: Marc Lobliner on TruShield™ Certified, MAC Energy, and CleanForm Nutrition
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0:00 - Introductions and Cracking Open MAC Energy
Mike welcomes Marc Lobliner back roughly 40 episodes after Episode #186, and the two catch up while cracking open cans of Conor McGregor's new MAC Energy Drink. Marc, now President of Ketone Labs, says the goBHB category hit a tipping point between April and May, with more research and bigger names in sports and science taking notice.
Marc also gives a quick update on his recent total hip replacement, joking that his doctor's six-week recovery timeline hasn't fully sunk in yet. It's a fast catch-up before the conversation turns to testing standards, new products, and three decades of industry history.
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1:15 - BHB, Brain Health, and Recovery Stories
Mike shares a story about PurCaf natural caffeine (from Applied Food Sciences) landing in MAC Energy cans right as PricePlow's own Spencer reached for the ketone-containing drink after a minor nighttime head injury from rucking. Marc follows with an anecdote about BHB's effect on a customer's wife's migraines, and says goBHB carries medical food status for migraine and kidney conditions.
Marc adds that a handful of NFL teams have already started ordering goBHB products for their athletes, and contrasts the ingredient's growing base of human research with less-studied trends like ecdysterone and turkesterone. He points to Dr. Jose Antonio's research as an example of real data separating goBHB from more anecdotal ingredient trends.
NFL teams using goBHB shots is why they're getting TruShield™ Certified, which prompted this episode.
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4:00 - An Avocado Oil Scare Puts Testing Front and Center
Mike brings up a new UC Davis analysis showing that most avocado oil products, including many mayonnaises and salad dressings, failed lab testing while pure olive oil products held up better. With 26 of 28 products failing, Mike jokes that the CPG world needs something like TruShield™ Certified outside of sports nutrition too.
The story becomes a launching point for a wider conversation with Marc about ethics and testing standards across the supplement industry, a topic Marc has built much of his career around.
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5:00 - The Amino Spiking Crusade
One of Marc's industry moments was calling out amino acid spiking, where companies used cheap, non-protein amino acids to inflate protein counts on labels without a full amino acid panel to catch it. Marc says some products claiming 30 grams of protein tested closer to nine.
Most supplement certification programs screen around 290 banned substances. TruShield™ Certified covers 480+, and that standard now extends to certified ingredients. ReDaxin™ and AstaReal® Astaxanthin softgels are the first ingredient inputs to complete the process.
His public videos on the topic connected him with class action attorneys pursuing the resulting lawsuits, which Marc views as having served the industry's greater good rather than being frivolous. Mike recalls covering amino spiking through blog posts rather than video at the time and calls it a regret in hindsight, wishing he also put it to video (the article received millions of views).
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9:00 - Inside CleanForm Nutrition and the Case for TruShield
Mike asks Marc to explain his working relationship with Mike Cernovich at CleanForm Nutrition and why the brand pursued third-party testing at all. Marc says it comes down to trust: even with a good contract manufacturer, brands need a way to prove to consumers they haven't cut corners with adulterants.
Marc shares that his son, a wrestler, passed concussion protocol without missing a match after taking goBHB, and says that story shapes how he thinks about testing for kid-safe, parent-trusted products. When a product like the goBHB Energy Shot can be bought by a parent for their child, Marc says a third-party seal like TruShield Certified provides peace of mind that generic label claims can't.
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13:30 - Choosing TruShield Over BSCG and NSF
Marc clarifies that choosing TruShield Certified isn't a knock on other programs. He uses BSCG for his Ambrosia Collective brand and NSF Certified for Sport elsewhere, calling both excellent organizations. For CleanForm, TruShield stood out for speed, since the brand needed certification in place for a pending NFL team order and TruShield moved faster than some alternatives.
Ben adds that TruShield fills a specific gap: even a trusted contract manufacturer with strong mixing and quality processes isn't always testing for banned substances specifically, so certification adds a dedicated layer of protection for tested athletes.
You can learn more about TruShield Certified in Episode #193 with TruShield™ Certified's Lori Bestervelt & Thane Campbell.
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18:00 - Inside CleanForm's Product Lineup
TruShield™ Certified brings WADA-level banned substance testing to supplements. Led by Lori Bestervelt (who created NSF 173 & Certified for Sport), it tests for 400+ banned substances using the same lab sports organizations trust when athletes test positive.
Marc describes CleanForm Nutrition as a better-for-you brand for an older audience, roughly 35 to 65, that wants function over stimulant overload. He runs through Birds of Prey, a stim-free pre-workout built around goBHB, citrulline, HydroMax, and Pürest Creatine, plus PureBlood, a nattokinase-based heart health formula, and Nulla, the brand's snack bar line.
Mike curiously asks who came up with the PureBlood name, and Marc says it's Mike Cernovich's idea, acknowledging the wordplay without leaning into the specific reading of it, though it's pretty easy to figure out what the guys are talking about from five years ago. Marc calls the name a fitting double meaning for a heart-health product either way.
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24:00 - Pürest Creatine by NNB Nutrition and Creapure
Marc talks through his long relationship with Creapure and its German manufacturing standard, saying he was one of the first people in the industry to publicly champion it after seeing inconsistent early Chinese creatine. He remains a fan, but points to recent Creapure supply shortages as the practical reason CleanForm and other Marc-affiliated brands added NNB Nutrition's Pürest Creatine to their lineup.
Marc credits his close working relationship with NNB for the switch, calling Purist a slightly different, not necessarily superior, alternative that solved a real supply problem. He also touches on giving his kids three to five grams of creatine daily alongside goBHB, citing emerging safety data on creatine use in children.
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34:30 - Marc's Hip Replacement and Recovery Protocol - No Ice!
Marc walks through his total hip replacement recovery, joking that he's doing things at three weeks that doctors typically expect closer to week eight or ten. He credits daily use of a Marc Pro EMS device, a high BHB intake for cellular energy, and a peptide-based recovery protocol he used under his own judgment, while noting plainly that he isn't a doctor and isn't offering medical advice.
WADA's 2026 prohibited list is now in effect. New banned substances include BAM15, flmodafinil, and fladrafinil--all found in supplements. One contaminated product can end an Olympic career. Testing depth matters more than ever.
He adds that skipping ice entirely, against standard post-surgical guidance, made a noticeable difference for him personally. His main motivation for a fast recovery is being able to get back on the mat with his kids and eventually coach grandkids.
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43:15 - The MAC Energy formula by Conor McGregor
Marc discusses MAC Energy's formula, McGregor's new energy drink built around goBHB, PurCaf natural caffeine, and Cognizin citicoline. Marc says the combination of three well-studied, human-data-backed ingredients (rather than a crowded proprietary blend) sets it apart, and credits the brand's flavor team and packaging partner Elite Packaging for a standout consumer experience.
Marc says McGregor was personally involved in every step of formulating it and genuinely uses the product, which he thinks matters for how a celebrity-backed formula performs long-term. He predicts the brand will pass a billion-dollar valuation within 18 months and teases an upcoming cola flavor.
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55:15 - BHB, Women's Health, and Being Early to the Category
The conversation turns to BHB and female health, with Marc pointing to early research suggesting ketones may offer added benefit for women navigating PMS, menstruation, or menopause, tied to how the brain uses glucose differently during hormonal shifts. Marc says the company is continuing to fund independent studies on BHB as new use cases keep surfacing.
Marc also reflects on being early to non-ketogenic BHB use, revisiting a 2017 PricePlow article on his old Ritual A.M. product that questioned its value outside of ketosis. He says his own 2017 video made the case for BHB as a standalone energy source well before it caught on.
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59:45 - Marc's Business Partners Named Mike
Lori Bestervelt, Ph.D., creator of the NSF 173 standard, and Thane Campbell from SMRTL introduce TruShield Certified, testing supplements for over 400 banned substances using WADA-level methodologies on Episode #193 of the PricePlow Podcast.
Mike jokes about Marc's long history of business partners all coincidentally named Mike, alluding to Mike McCandless from his Scivation days, Mike Rashid at Ambrosia Collective, and now Mike Cernovich at CleanForm. Marc laughs it off and says every one of those partnerships ultimately worked out. Mike Roberto is unsure if he should be scared or not.
Marc credits his outlook to a grounded home life in Brentwood, Tennessee, with his wife and three kids, saying wealth is relative and he's known plenty of happy people with very little money and miserable people with a great deal of it.
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1:02:00 - Rob Rogers and the Ketone Labs Comeback
Marc's daughter reminds him of Rob Rogers, his Ketone Labs co-founder, prompting Mike to recap Rob's appearance on Episode #131, where he explained goBHB's return to the market after an earlier setback. Marc credits Rob as the operational engine behind Ketone Labs, calling him one of the hardest-working and most generous people he's met.
Marc says he sees himself as the front-facing voice for the brand while Rob runs the day-to-day, and that watching Rob operate has taught him a lot about running a mission-driven company.
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1:04:15 - Sourcing, Marketing, and Old Industry War Stories
Ben asks about sourcing ingredients from China, and Marc explains that brand positioning around origin (Europe, the U.S., or elsewhere) is often more about marketing differentiation than actual quality differences, pointing to Celtic sea salt versus sodium chloride as an example most consumers respond to. He notes CleanForm's Vitamin D3 comes from lichen rather than the more common sheep's wool lanolin source, another case where the story behind an ingredient shapes how it sells.
Marc also recalls an old industry stunt from competitor Axis Labs, which once claimed a rival's amino acids came from duck feathers and human hair to cast doubt on fermented aminos. He calls the tactic clever even though it targeted his own product at the time.
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1:14:00 - Closing Thoughts: NFL Dosing and Thanks to This Episode's Sponsor
Mike confirms that the goBHB Energy Shot is currently the only CleanForm product carrying the TruShield™ Certified mark, driven largely by interest from an NFL team. Marc says without breaking any NDA that pro athletes are generally using one to two shots before practice, with additional shots during games for bigger hits, up to around six shots on a multi-game day.
Mike and Marc close out talking mineral ratios for BHB-based pre-workout powders and electrolyte blends before thanking TruShield Certified for making the certification happen and Perfect Shaker for sponsoring the show.
Where to Follow and Learn More
Connect with Marc Lobliner, CleanForm Nutrition, and TruShield™ Certified
- Marc Lobliner on Instagram: @marclobliner
- Marc Lobliner on LinkedIn
- CleanForm Nutrition on Instagram: @cleanformnutrition
- TruShield Certified Website
- TruShield Certified on PricePlow - Sign up for news alerts
- CleanForm Nutrition on PricePlow - Sign up for news alerts
Resources Mentioned
- TruShield™ App on the Apple App Store (Press Release)
- TruShield™ Certified: WADA-Experienced Lab Launches Comprehensive Banned Substance Testing Program
- TruShield™ Certified Ingredients: How ReDaxin and AstaReal Set the Drug-Tested Standard
- Test for 400+ Banned Substances with TruShield™ Certified - Lori Bestervelt & Thane Campbell | Episode #193
- Marc Lobliner - Why goBHB Will Be Bigger Than Creatine | Episode #186
- Rob Rogers - goBHB is Back! Business, Baseball, and BHB | Episode #131
- Mike McCandless - How to Sell a Supplement Brand | Episode #106
- Darren Thompson: Inside PerfectShaker | Episode #209
Products Discussed
- CleanForm Nutrition goBHB Energy Shot
- CleanForm Nutrition Birds of Prey Pre-Workout
- CleanForm Nutrition Pürest Creatine
- CleanForm Nutrition PureBlood
- CleanForm Nutrition Nulla Protein Bar
- CleanForm Nutrition goBHB Powder
Marc brought his usual energy to catch us up on everything from third-party testing to a certain UFC legend's new energy drink. Thanks to Marc for the conversation, and we'll be watching to see how TruShield™ Certified's app and CleanForm's testing partnership grow from here.
Thank TruShield Certified for making this episode possible. Learn more about their WADA-level banned substance testing program at TruShieldCertified.com, and see their certified products page for the full list of brands they've verified.
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