Start here

  • Magnesium

    The dose ranges that show up in trials, and the forms that were actually used in them.

    Read the file 

  • Ashwagandha

    Stress and sleep scores, the trial sizes behind them, and where industry funding sits.

    Read the file 

  • Creatine

    What the trials measured outside strength sports, including work in older adults.

    Read the file 
Button label

Latest evidence files

View all
  • Plain crackers and a glass of water beside amber capsules on a tray

    Berberine and Digestive Side Effects: What the ...

    What the trials count as a side effect Pooled safety data beat anecdotes, and there's a fair amount of it. A meta-analysis of 17 randomized double-blind trials, covering 646 people...

    Berberine and Digestive Side Effects: What the ...

    What the trials count as a side effect Pooled safety data beat anecdotes, and there's a fair amount of it. A meta-analysis of 17 randomized double-blind trials, covering 646 people...

  • A wooden bowl of ashwagandha root powder beside a folded chart, text blurred

    Ashwagandha and Cortisol: What Was Measured

    The measurement decides half the answer Cortisol can be measured as total hormone in serum, as free hormone in saliva, as the fraction excreted over 24 hours in urine, or...

    Ashwagandha and Cortisol: What Was Measured

    The measurement decides half the answer Cortisol can be measured as total hormone in serum, as free hormone in saliva, as the fraction excreted over 24 hours in urine, or...

  • Amber vitamin E softgels beside a small plate of sunflower seeds and almonds

    Vitamin E 400 IU: What the Trials Found

    What 400 IU means on a label An international unit of vitamin E is defined against a chemical form, so 400 IU can be two different doses. For synthetic dl-alpha-tocopheryl...

    Vitamin E 400 IU: What the Trials Found

    What 400 IU means on a label An international unit of vitamin E is defined against a chemical form, so 400 IU can be two different doses. For synthetic dl-alpha-tocopheryl...

  • A glass of cloudy water with powder settling beside dried figs and oats

    Magnesium and Constipation: Which Form, What Dose

    How the osmotic effect works Magnesium that isn't absorbed stays in the intestinal lumen, where it holds water by osmosis. The water softens stool and increases volume, and the extra...

    Magnesium and Constipation: Which Form, What Dose

    How the osmotic effect works Magnesium that isn't absorbed stays in the intestinal lumen, where it holds water by osmosis. The water softens stool and increases volume, and the extra...

1 4
View all

How this desk works

  • 01 / We name the funding

    When a trial was paid for by the company that sells the ingredient, the file says so in the body text rather than in a footnote.

    How we source evidence 

  • 02 / We print the dose

    Every file carries the dose and the trial length. An effect at 600 mg is not the same finding as one at 60 mg.

    Editorial policy 

  • 03 / We correct in public

    When a page changes because of a reader note or new data, the change lands on the corrections page with a date on it.

    Corrections 
Button label

Questions readers ask

Do you sell supplements?

No. There is no cart here and no storefront. A file points to the trial it came from, not to a product page.

Where do the numbers come from?

From the trial reports. We open the abstract and the methods section before a number goes on a page, and we do not copy a dose from a site that cites a study it has not linked.

Why does one file sound positive and another sounds cautious?

Because the trials are not the same size or quality. A file says what was measured, how many people were in it, and who paid for it. Sometimes the honest answer is that the evidence is thin.

How often does a file change?

When a new human trial publishes, or when a reader sends something we got wrong. The corrections page lists what changed and when.