Ingredients.
Graded, not praised.
One page per ingredient, with every claimed benefit graded separately against published criteria. Grades are assigned per claim because evidence strength varies by use — an ingredient can be well supported for one thing and unsupported for another.
L-theanine
L-theanine is an amino acid found almost exclusively in tea. The best-supported use is short-term: taken with caffeine, it reliably changes how the caffeine feels, reducing jitteriness while attention improves.
3 graded claimsGlucomannan
Glucomannan is a soluble fibre from konjac root that absorbs water and forms a gel, which is why it is sold for appetite control and weight loss. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements concludes it has little to no effect on weight loss.
3 graded claimsVitamin D
Vitamin D controls how much calcium you absorb, which keeps bones and muscles working, and your skin makes most of it from summer sunlight. The evidence is strong for preventing and treating deficiency, which is why the NHS advises 10 micrograms (400 IU) a day in autumn and winter.
5 graded claimsFolic acid
Folic acid is the manufactured form of folate, a B vitamin the body needs to make DNA and new cells. Its best-proven use is one of the strongest in nutrition: taken every day from before conception until 12 weeks of pregnancy, it prevents most neural tube defects such as spina bifida.
4 graded claimsVitamin B12
Vitamin B12 keeps nerves and red blood cells healthy, and it is found naturally only in animal foods. Most people who eat meat, fish, eggs or dairy get enough, but three groups often do not: vegans, people over 50 — many of whom absorb less from food — and people on long-term metformin or stomach-acid medicines.
6 graded claimsCreatine monohydrate
Creatine monohydrate is the best-studied sports supplement there is. Taken at 3 to 5 grams a day, it tops up the creatine your muscles use for short, hard efforts, and alongside resistance training it reliably adds a little extra strength, power and muscle — a 2025 analysis of 69 trials put the gain at about 1.4 kg on the bench press and 5.6 kg on the squat.
8 graded claimsAshwagandha
Ashwagandha is a root used in Ayurvedic medicine and sold today mainly for stress and sleep. Trials of 250 to 600 mg of extract a day for eight weeks report lower stress scores, lower cortisol and slightly better sleep, but most are small, short and funded by extract makers, and a 2022 meta-analysis rated the certainty low.
6 graded claimsPsyllium husk
Psyllium husk is a soluble fibre from the seeds of Plantago ovata. It is one of the few supplement ingredients carrying an FDA-authorised health claim: soluble fibre from psyllium may reduce the risk of heart disease when eaten as part of a low-fat diet.
4 graded claimsGreen tea extract
Green tea extract is a concentrated preparation of the catechins in green tea, principally EGCG. The NIH states it might help with a small amount of weight loss — an effect too small to matter much in practice.
4 graded claimsOmega-3 (EPA and DHA)
EPA and DHA are the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids found in oily fish. The evidence that high doses lower triglycerides is strong and clinically established.
5 graded claimsPink Himalayan salt
Pink Himalayan salt is rock salt mined in Pakistan, and it is 96 to 99 per cent sodium chloride — chemically the same substance as table salt. The trace minerals that give it its colour are real but nutritionally negligible.
5 graded claimsRebaudioside A (stevia)
Rebaudioside A is one of several sweet molecules — steviol glycosides — purified from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana. It is 200 to 400 times sweeter than sugar, adds no calories and does not raise blood glucose, and it is genuinely good at those things.
4 graded claimsFruit and vegetable juice powder
Fruit and vegetable juice powder is dehydrated juice or pulp, used in supplements for colour and flavour and sold on the suggestion that it stands in for produce. Taken as the product itself, at the capsule doses used in trials, concentrates do raise plasma carotenoid and vitamin levels and show modest movement in some cardiovascular markers.
4 graded claimsWhey protein blend
Whey is the protein fraction of milk, sold as concentrate, isolate, hydrolysate or a blend of all three. For building and keeping muscle alongside resistance training it has about the strongest evidence of anything covered on this site — but that evidence is about eating enough protein in a day, not about whey specifically or about any brand.
6 graded claimsMaca root
Maca is a turnip-like root from the high Andes, sold as a powder or capsule for libido, energy, fertility and menopausal symptoms. A handful of small trials suggest it may modestly improve sexual desire and some menopausal symptoms, but the reviews that pooled them called the evidence limited.
5 graded claimsGrape seed extract
Grape seed extract is a concentrate of the polyphenols found in the seeds of wine grapes, mainly compounds called proanthocyanidins. Its best-supported use is blood pressure: a meta-analysis of 16 trials found a modest average fall, clearest in younger people and those carrying extra weight.
4 graded claimsCapsicum annuum (capsaicin)
Capsicum annuum is the chilli pepper, and capsaicin is the compound that makes it hot. It appears in fat burners because it slightly raises energy expenditure and can slightly reduce appetite.
4 graded claimsGymnema sylvestre
Gymnema sylvestre is a climbing plant used in Ayurvedic medicine, where its Hindi name, gurmar, means "sugar destroyer". Chewed or taken as a lozenge, it temporarily stops you tasting sweetness, and in controlled studies that cut how many sweets people ate.
3 graded claimsGABA
GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) is the brain’s main calming chemical messenger, which is why it is sold as a supplement for stress and sleep. The catch is that it is not clear how much swallowed GABA reaches the brain at all.
3 graded claimsAkkermansia muciniphila (WB-STR-0001)
Akkermansia muciniphila is a mucus-eating bacterium found in most healthy guts, and people with obesity and type 2 diabetes tend to carry less of it. That link is real; whether swallowing it helps is far less settled.
5 graded claimsChicory inulin
Chicory inulin is a fibre from chicory root that you cannot digest but your gut bacteria can. Its most reliable effect is on those bacteria: it consistently raises bifidobacteria.
5 graded claimsHypromellose, microcrystalline cellulose, L-leucine and silica
These four are the capsule and the machinery aids, not active ingredients. Hypromellose is the plant-derived cellulose that replaces gelatin in vegetarian capsules; microcrystalline cellulose bulks out a small dose so the capsule fills; L-leucine and silica keep the powder flowing through the filling machine.
5 graded claimsWhy grade by claim
A single letter for a whole ingredient hides the distinction that actually matters. Glucomannan is a reasonable fibre with acceptable support for regularity and effectively none for weight loss — the use it is almost always sold for. Averaging those into one grade would reassure exactly the reader who needs warning. So every claimed benefit gets its own grade, and the criteria are published rather than asserted.
A site where nothing ever scores below B is not being rigorous, it is being polite. Some of these grades are deliberately low.