Supplements
How are dietary supplements actually regulated?
Supplements reach shelves without FDA approval, but they are not unregulated — here is what the FDA and NIH say manufacturers actually have to do, before and after a product goes on sale.
Coverage
Supplements
Supplements grades products by the strength of evidence behind them: creatine, caffeine, beta-alanine, nitrates, protein powders and a long tail of unproven blends. Entries list effective dose, timing, expected effect size and third-party testing status. For athletes and coaches deciding what deserves shelf space and what does not.
Creatine, beta-alanine, caffeine, nitrates and the rest ranked by trial quality and effect size, with dosing, timing and third-party testing status stated.
Supplements
What does creatine actually do? The evidence, weighed
Creatine is one of the few supplements with strong evidence behind it — for short-duration strength and power, in trained and untrained adults alike — and weaker evidence for the newer claims on its label frontier.
Supplements
DMHA, higenamine and the hidden stimulants on banned lists
Synthetic stimulants and plant-derived beta-2 agonists keep appearing in supplements labeled as natural — and both sport and regulators treat them as prohibited or unlawful.
Supplements
Contamination and banned substances in supplements: what the data show
From a 2004 IOC-lab study finding undeclared prohormones in about 15 percent of samples to modern stimulant adulteration, contamination is documented, category-specific and manageable.
Supplements
Collagen supplements and joint pain: what the trials actually show
Small trials report collagen peptides raising markers of collagen synthesis and easing activity-related joint pain — the evidence base stays thin and short-term.
Supplements
Beta-alanine meta-analyses converge: real gains, narrow window
Recent pooled analyses put beta-alanine's benefit near 2.85 percent — concentrated in efforts lasting about one to ten minutes.
Supplements
Creatine market calms after the price spike as gummies reshape demand
Raw monohydrate prices have eased from their 2024 peak while a boom in creatine gummies pulls the market toward new formats, per industry data.
Supplements
Proprietary blends: what supplement labels are allowed to hide
US rules require a proprietary blend to list its ingredients by weight order and its total weight — but not a single individual amount.
Supplements
How FDA supplement warning letters actually work
Warning letters are public, dated enforcement documents — and reading them directly is more reliable than any summary of enforcement trends.
Supplements
Heavy metals in protein powders: what the testing found
Independent tests of protein powders have detected cadmium, lead, arsenic and mercury at varying levels — mostly trace, occasionally elevated, and never zero.