How we grade evidence
A million sites call themselves “evidence-based.” Almost none will tell you what the evidence doesn’t prove. This page is our receipts — the badge system behind every guide and every claim.
THE SHORT VERSION
Every claim gets a grade that matches the strength of the human evidence behind it — not how exciting the finding is, not how well it sells. If the data is early, we say early. If it’s animal-only, we say animal-only. If we don’t know yet, we say that too.
The badge system
On this site you’ll see colored badges. On Substack Notes we use emoji. Same grades, two surfaces:
🟢 Strong human evidence. Multiple large trials or consistent clinical results. We can say what the research shows with confidence — still not personal medical advice.
🟡 Promising / early human. Small trials, early human data, or strong mechanism with incomplete human proof. Interesting enough to ask a clinician about. Not settled.
🔵 Emerging / animal & cell. Preclinical or very early data. Useful for understanding the science. Too soon to treat as a personal protocol.
Expert / context only. Reviews, commentary, or background that helps you understand a topic — not primary evidence for a claim.
Not enough evidence yet. The honest answer when the literature doesn’t support a clear conclusion. We’d rather leave a gap than invent certainty.
What happens before anything publishes
Every guide and article runs through an AI claim-review system that flags unsupported medical claims, hype language, and missing evidence labels. A human still approves full articles before they go live. Short educational notes and quotes can auto-publish only after they clear the same safety checks — and never when they push a partner product category in a sales context.
What we will not do
We don’t invent PubMed citations. We don’t upgrade animal data into “proven in humans.” We don’t write dosing protocols or tell you what’s right for your body. When you’re ready to explore options, that conversation belongs with a licensed clinician — through EllieMD’s platform if you choose that path.
See the grades in practice
Start with a guide, or read this week’s research roundup with a grade on every finding.