Sources Policy

Where Our Information Comes From

This page explains what kinds of sources we use when researching a product, and how we prioritize them when sources disagree.

Source Priority

We rank sources roughly in this order of trust:

1. Primary product information — the manufacturer’s official label, ingredient list, and seller page, used to establish what is actually being sold and claimed.
2. Regulatory sources — agencies such as the FDA, for guidance on labeling, ingredient safety, and manufacturing standards.
3. Peer-reviewed research — studies published in indexed journals (accessed via databases such as PubMed), evaluated for whether they tested the ingredient or the finished product, and in what form (oral, topical, etc.).
4. Recognized clinical bodies — organizations such as Cochrane, whose systematic reviews summarize the state of evidence across multiple studies.
5. Verifiable customer feedback — used cautiously, and only to describe patterns, not as a substitute for clinical evidence.

Sources We Avoid Relying On

We do not treat the following as evidence of effectiveness, though we may reference them to describe marketing claims:

• Seller-published testimonials or “before and after” claims without independent verification
• Unsourced blog posts or other affiliate review sites
• Influencer or social media endorsements
• Studies that were not conducted on the specific ingredient, dose, or product form being discussed

How We Cite

Where we reference a specific study, we aim to name it clearly enough that a reader can locate and verify it themselves (for example, by including a PubMed identifier). Where a claim comes from the seller rather than independent research, we say so directly rather than presenting it as an established fact.

Limitations We’re Upfront About

Absence of evidence is not the same as evidence of harm or ineffectiveness. When we say a formula lacks a clinical trial, that reflects what we could find in publicly available sources at the time of writing — not a claim that no such research could ever exist. We update pages when new, credible information becomes available.

Last updated: August 30, 2026