The Supplement Filter
What the Evidence Backs and What It Doesn't
The concept. I wanted a plain answer to a plain question: which of the supplements on the shelf have science behind them, and which are sold on evidence that does not exist. Along the way a bigger answer turned up, which is why the question falls on the buyer at all. Since 1994 the United States has treated supplements as food, so nothing has to prove it works before it is sold, and your own body becomes the experiment.
How it was built. From research reports on regulation, clinical trials, product quality and the influencer market, checked claim by claim against primary studies before any chapter was written. Figures that failed were dropped. Podcasts and supplement-industry books appear only as examples of how demand is made, never as evidence.
What it covers. How the 1994 law works, and how the European Union and Australia handle the same shelf by approving claims first. Supplements that large trials overturned, and how to read a study. Then energy, sleep and mood, gut, detox, immunity and longevity, performance, and the lab tests sold alongside them, ending in a short list and five questions for judging any bottle yourself.
It is not medical advice and gives no protocol to follow. It is for anyone with a cabinet of bottles who suspects nobody checked them.
