Human trial data on creatine, omega-3, vitamin D, magnesium and more: effective doses, bioavailability and what the marketing leaves out.
Three COSMOS sub-studies found a daily multivitamin nudged memory scores in adults over 60. How big the effect is, why an earlier trial found nothing, and where cancer, heart and lifespan data stand.
Oral glutathione is largely broken down before absorption. Liposomal forms and the precursors NAC and glycine have better human data for raising cellular levels. The doses studies used.
Human trials link bovine colostrum to lower gut permeability, fewer respiratory symptoms in hard-training athletes and modest lean-mass gains. The doses used, the limits and the safety picture.
Turkesterone has no human trials. Its cousin ecdysterone has a 10-week trial showing modest lean-mass gains and a later one showing none. Mechanism, study doses and the product-quality problem.
Astaxanthin has replicated trials for skin elasticity, eye-focus fatigue and exercise recovery; lipid and cognition data are smaller. Trials used 4–12 mg a day.
EGCG, green tea's main catechin, has modest trial effects on fat loss, post-meal glucose and blood pressure. The doses studied, why absorption is poor, and the liver-safety ceiling around 800 mg a day.
Fadogia agrestis went viral after a Huberman Lab mention. The evidence is entirely from rodents, it includes testicular and liver toxicity at high doses, and no human trials exist.
Quercetin has modest trial evidence for blood pressure, inflammation markers and allergy symptoms, but plain powder absorbs poorly. Which forms absorb, the doses studies used, and safety.
NAC restores glutathione. The strongest evidence is hospital acetaminophen-overdose care and fewer COPD flare-ups at 1,200 mg a day; psychiatric uses rest on small trials. Plus the FDA dispute, correctly dated.
Sulforaphane switches on the NRF2 pathway. What human studies show, why cooked broccoli delivers little of it, and how sprouts or mustard-seed powder restore the missing enzyme.
What trials show for tongkat ali, ashwagandha, zinc and boron individually on testosterone and SHBG, the doses studies used, safety limits, and why the four have never been tested together.
Rhodiola rosea has randomized-trial evidence for stress-related fatigue and mental performance under pressure. The doses trials used, how it differs from ashwagandha, and safety.
Ashwagandha lowered cortisol and stress scores in placebo-controlled trials; sleep, testosterone and thyroid data are smaller. The trials worth knowing, the doses they used and who should avoid it.
Creatine raises brain phosphocreatine. Trials show working-memory gains under sleep deprivation and in vegetarians; in rested omnivores the effects are small. Evidence, dose and who responds.
Red light therapy has randomized-trial support for wound healing and muscle recovery; skin, brain and sleep claims rest on weaker data. Why dose and wavelength matter more than wattage.
Vitamin D supplements help people who are deficient — bone health, fewer respiratory infections — but add little when levels are already adequate. How to test, and what doses trials used.
Slow, exhale-focused breathing lowered stress and lifted mood in a 12-trial meta-analysis and a Stanford randomized trial. The evidence, the mechanism, a five-minute technique and where the risks are.
Berberine went viral as "nature's Ozempic." It does have real metabolic evidence, though the comparison is overblown. Here is the honest picture.
Almost every supplement claims to be 'clinically proven'. Five questions — human trial, randomized, sample size, who paid, effect size — separate real evidence from marketing dressed as science.
Adaptogens are herbs said to help the body resist stress. Ashwagandha lowered stress and cortisol in a meta-analysis; rhodiola's evidence is thinner. Liver, thyroid, pregnancy and drug cautions.
CBD has one FDA-approved use — Epidiolex, for rare epilepsies — and much thinner evidence for anxiety, pain and sleep. What the trials show, where the law stands, and why drug interactions matter.
Creatine monohydrate has decades of safety and strength data, plus newer trials on memory under sleep loss and physical function in older adults. What the evidence covers beyond the weight room.
Dietary nitrate from beetroot becomes nitric oxide and lowers the oxygen cost of exercise. The endurance effect is real but modest, and larger in non-elite athletes than in the elite.
Electrolyte powders promise faster hydration, but for most people water and salted food do the job. When sodium matters, how much, and a cheap homemade mix that works.
Curcumin shows real anti-inflammatory promise in studies, but plain turmeric powder is so poorly absorbed that most of it never reaches your bloodstream — the entire game is in the formulation.
Zinc is genuinely essential for immune function and may shorten a cold by a day or so — but the timing, dose, and form determine whether it helps at all, and more is decidedly not better.
Vitamin D3 raises calcium absorption; vitamin K2 activates the proteins that steer calcium toward bone. The biochemistry is solid, the outcome trials are mixed, and warfarin users need care.
Collagen gets digested into ordinary amino acids, so how could it target your skin and joints? The answer involves signaling peptides and evidence better than skeptics expect but weaker than marketers claim.
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