How We Review
The method is deliberately narrow: we report what is printed, what is missing, and what is known — and we stop there.
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How we choose which products to cover
We cover formulas that people are already searching for by name. If a product has an audience asking whether it works, that audience deserves a page that reads the label instead of repeating the sales copy.
We do not cover a product because it pays more, and we do not decline one because it pays less. What we earn is described in our disclosure.
What we read on the label
- Every ingredient, in the order printed, with the form as stated — citicoline is not the same as choline bitartrate, and the label usually says which.
- The amount per serving for each ingredient, where the label gives one.
- What sits inside a proprietary blend, and therefore what amount is not disclosed.
- Serving size and servings per container, which is how a monthly cost becomes a daily cost.
- Everything after "Other ingredients" — capsule material, fillers, allergens.
When a label discloses more, the review has more to show. When a label discloses less, we say what is disclosed and what is not, and the page leans on mechanism and fit instead. That is a description of the label, not a verdict on the company.
How we treat evidence
Most direct-to-consumer supplements have no published trial on the finished formula. That is normal in this industry and it is not, by itself, a red flag. What exists is research on individual ingredients, usually at a stated dose in a stated population.
So we separate three things and never blur them:
- What the maker claims — taken from their own page.
- What research exists on the ingredient — human studies, with the amount used.
- What that does and does not tell you about this product — usually less than the marketing implies, in both directions.
We cite studies published in 2020 or later, we go to the study itself rather than someone's write-up of it, and every citation is checked against the published record — title, journal, year and the conclusion the authors reported — before it reaches the reference list at the foot of the page. If we cannot verify a claim, it does not appear.
We also say plainly when the honest answer is "nobody knows yet". In this category that answer comes up often, and pretending otherwise is how readers get burned.
Why we do not give scores
A score is a single number standing in for a decision that is not one-dimensional. The formula that suits someone taking no medication is not the formula that suits someone on a blood thinner. A number compresses both into one figure and hides the part that matters.
Scores also invite a ranking, and a ranking invites the reader to trust our judgement instead of their own. We would rather hand you the label, the research, and the fit, and let you decide. So this site publishes no ratings, no stars, and no leaderboards — and our build fails if one ever slips in.
What never counts against a product
Some things look like flaws and are not. We do not treat any of these as a mark against a formula, and we do not write them as criticism:
- Time to result. Four to twelve weeks is the honest window for most compounds in this category. A product that takes time is behaving normally.
- A proprietary blend. It limits what we can report. It is not evidence of a bad formula, and we do not present it as one.
- A short guarantee. Guarantee length is a commercial decision, not a measure of quality. We state the term and move on.
- Price. We publish the list price and the cost per day as plain numbers. Whether that is worth it is your call, not ours.
- Marketing style. A loud sales page is not a bad formula, and a calm one is not a good one. We review the label, not the funnel.
What does get flagged
One thing is never left out, regardless of how it reads: what to ask your prescriber. Where an ingredient is studied for an effect that overlaps with a common medication, the review names it and names the drug class, so you can bring something specific to the appointment rather than a bottle and a question.
How pages stay current
Formulas get reformulated and prices change. Every page carries the date it was last updated. When a label changes materially, we rewrite the page rather than patching a line, and the date moves.