Database & Scoring Methodology
The scoring system is designed to reward auditable product information, not loud marketing. A remarkably radical concept for the supplement industry.
Data collection rules
- Prefer official manufacturer product pages and current official collections.
- Record only fields supported by the reviewed source.
- Use “Not captured” instead of inferring a missing dose, price, COA or certification.
- Snapshot the date because formulas, availability and prices change.
- Separate manufacturer claims from independent clinical evidence.
- Do not treat a higher milligram number as a higher-quality product.
Transparency Score: 0–10
Points are awarded for explicit active dose, third-party testing, visible COA, GMP disclosure, serving clarity, captured current price and clear ingredient source/form. It measures auditability, not biological effectiveness.
Evidence Match Score: 0–10
This estimates how cleanly the commercial product maps to the ingredient being discussed in human research. Single-active products with disclosed dose and form generally score more cleanly than proprietary or multi-active stacks. It does not predict health outcomes.
Stack Complexity Score: 1–5
1 means a focused single-active product. Higher values indicate more active ingredients or bundled components. Complexity is not automatically good or bad; it simply increases the burden of proof.