The Signal Report // SUPPLEMENTS
Supplements.
What the studies actually measured versus what the label claims, from a formulator who holds his own category to the bar. All reports →
33 in this beat · page 3 of 4
Does NMN Actually Do Anything?
The NMN pitch is built from three true statements, which is what makes it worth taking apart slowly. Take the capsule and a blood marker really does rise: two independent meta-analyses agree. Look at what that marker was supposed to predict and the same two find nothing. One writes it out plainly: an exaggeration of the benefits may exist in the field.
Read the report → Report 070 · Supplements · 2026-08-06 · 9 minDoes Collagen Actually Work for Skin?
Twenty-three randomized trials of collagen supplements, pooled, show significant gains in skin hydration, elasticity and wrinkles. Then two researchers sorted the same trials by funding source, which nobody had done before. In the studies without industry money the effect was not there, and the same thing happened when they sorted by study quality.
Read the report → Report 064 · Supplements · 2026-08-03 · 9 minDoes Berberine Actually Burn Belly Fat?
A UCLA dietitian asked for gold-standard trials on the supplement nicknamed nature's Ozempic. Three months later one landed: 337 people, six months, placebo controlled, with CT scans measuring visceral and liver fat directly instead of a tape measure. Both primary outcomes came back null, and both arms lost the same 1.9 kg.
Read the report → Report 058 · Supplements · 2026-07-31 · 9 minWhat's Actually in the Bottle
Two federally funded case series ran 60 supplements through a mass spectrometer and compared the results against the label. Most labels were wrong, including 83% of weight-loss products sold with military discounts. But the test asked a narrower question than the headline suggests, and the gap between presence and potency is where the real problem lives.
Read the report → Report 052 · Supplements · 2026-07-28 · 7 minDoes Magnesium Actually Help You Sleep?
Magnesium is the most reasonable-sounding thing on the supplement shelf. In 2025 it got the trial it deserved: 155 people, placebo controlled. The result cleared significance by a hair, every other measure came back null, the capsule held 1.5 g of glycine nobody separated out, and nobody's magnesium was ever measured. A formulator reads it.
Read the report → Report 045 · Supplements · 2026-07-25 · 7 minDo Height Supplements Work?
A brand sold "The Only Supplement Clinically Proven to Help Height Growth" to parents. The FTC opened the study behind it, one company-sponsored trial of 32 kids, and listed every reason it failed. A supplement founder on why that list is the best shopper's checklist published this year.
Read the report → Report 039 · Supplements · 2026-07-22 · 7 minDo Mushrooms Boost Your Vaccine Response?
A UC San Diego trial paired a polypore mushroom supplement with a COVID vaccine, and the press release said it improved vaccine response. The paper says it was a safety and feasibility study, and the headline finding lives inside a subgroup of 30 people. A formulator reads his own category hard.
Read the report → Report 033 · Supplements · 2026-07-18 · 6 minDoes Ashwagandha Really Work for Stress?
A 2026 meta-analysis pooled 22 trials and reported that ashwagandha improves stress, anxiety, and depression. The catch is the size: the published effect is roughly ten times larger than any antidepressant ever measured, which is not a miracle, it's a units problem. A formulator on how to read an effect size.
Read the report → Report 028 · Supplements · 2026-07-15 · 6 minDoes Creatine Really Boost Your Brain?
Creatine is a great muscle supplement, and it's now sold hard for your mind. That pitch leans on one 2024 meta-analysis. Read it closely and its overall result was null, and in 2026 a peer reviewer showed it counted the same people more than once. A formulator on how to read a meta-analysis.
Read the report → Report 021 · Supplements · 2026-07-12 · 6 minWhat 'Clinically Proven' Really Means
"Clinically proven" and "scientifically backed" aren't regulated phrases, but the evidence behind them is. The FTC spent 2026 suing companies whose words ran ahead of their studies. A formulator on what the standard actually is, and five questions that pressure-test any label.
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