How We Evaluate Products and Research
What we do, what we deliberately do not do, and how to tell the difference.
Most wellness sites tell you what to buy. Far fewer tell you how they decided, or what they were unable to check. This page is the second kind of disclosure. If a claim on this site is weaker than it sounds, we would rather you learn it here than discover it after spending money.
What We Do Not Do
Starting here, because it is the part most often left out.
- We do not physically test supplements. We have no laboratory and we do not run assays. Nobody here can tell you what is actually inside a capsule. Where a supplement’s contents matter, we point you to third-party verification such as IFOS, NSF or USP rather than pretending to have checked.
- We do not accept free products. No review units, no gifted samples, no sponsored placements. This removes the most common source of quiet bias in product recommendations.
- We do not publish star ratings or review counts. We have no verified source for that data, and inventing it — or copying it from a marketplace without being able to audit it — would be a fabricated signal. Our product cards deliberately show specifications only.
- We do not use product photographs we cannot license. Which is why our cards are text-based. We would rather look plainer than misrepresent a product.
How We Choose Products
Product selections are made on published, checkable criteria — the things you could verify yourself from a label or a certificate of analysis:
- The active dose, not the headline number. A “1,200 mg krill oil” softgel may contain 150 mg of the ingredient that actually does something. We compare on the active amount per serving.
- Cost per unit of active ingredient, not cost per bottle.
- Third-party testing and certification where it exists, named explicitly rather than implied.
- Single-ingredient formulas over proprietary blends that hide quantities.
- Whether the product suits a specific person, rather than ranking everything against one imagined buyer.
Specifications come from manufacturer labels and published documentation. Where a figure is not disclosed, our comparison tables say so instead of estimating.
How We Handle Research
- We cite primary sources. Where an article names a study, the References section links that specific paper — NIH, EPA, WHO, Cochrane, PubMed or the journal itself.
- We report null and negative results. If a well-designed study found that something did not work, that belongs in the article. A 2026 cohort study using polysomnography found no notable effect of magnesium on sleep quality; we say so on our magnesium pages rather than quietly omitting it.
- We distinguish mechanism from outcome. A compound binding the right receptor is not evidence that it works in people.
- We check that every citation is the paper we think it is, by opening it and matching the title. A working link is not the same as a correct one.
- Some articles carry no References section. That is deliberate. It means we could not find primary literature that genuinely supports the specific claims, and we would rather leave the gap visible than attach loosely related papers.
How Affiliate Links Work Here
This site earns commission through the Amazon Associates Program when you buy through our links, at no additional cost to you. Two commitments govern that:
- Commission never determines a recommendation. Products are chosen on the criteria above and then linked, never the reverse. Several of our articles conclude that the cheaper non-affiliate option is the better buy — concentrated fish oil over krill oil, food over supplements, behaviour change over any product.
- Some articles carry no affiliate links at all, because recommending a purchase would not serve the reader. Our guide on mouth taping is unmonetised for that reason.
Full terms are on our disclaimer page.
Corrections and Updates
Every article shows when it was published and last updated. When evidence changes, we change the article — including when that means retracting a recommendation. If you find an error, tell us on the contact page; we would rather be corrected than confidently wrong.
Our Limitations
This is a small independent publication, not a testing laboratory or a medical practice. We read the research carefully and write about it honestly. We cannot tell you what is in a specific bottle, and nothing here is a substitute for advice from a clinician who knows your history — particularly for dosing decisions, pregnancy, or anything you take alongside prescription medication.
Learn more about this site and who writes it.