The four grades
Every graded claim on this site carries one of these four, and the rule beneath it is the same wherever it appears. The grade describes the maturity of the published science for that ingredient on that pathway — not a claim that the product treats, cures, or is clinically proven for any goal.
Randomized human trials, or a meta-analysis of them, measuring this pathway's own endpoint — either a clinical outcome or a validated biomarker. It opens a pathway on its own. 106 of the 957 ingredient pages on this site carry grade A as their strongest.
Human data, or animal evidence replicated by an independent laboratory. It opens a pathway only alongside an independent corroborating driver. 291 of the 957 ingredient pages on this site carry grade B+ as their strongest.
Mechanistic, cell or animal evidence. No single preclinical driver opens a pathway on its own. 514 of the 957 ingredient pages on this site carry grade B as their strongest.
Shown alongside the graded drivers, never opening a pathway. 46 of the 957 ingredient pages on this site carry grade C as their strongest.
What it takes to open a pathway
A pathway opens only on graded, published evidence, under a standard fixed before the evidence was gathered. The rule each grade carries is the whole of it:
- A grade A driver opens a pathway on its own.
- A grade B+ driver opens one only alongside an independent corroborating driver.
- No single grade B driver opens a pathway. It is shown, and it counts toward corroboration, but it does not open anything alone.
- A grade C entry never opens a pathway. It is shown alongside the graded drivers.
The grade is read against this pathway's own endpoint. A randomized trial measuring something else is not grade A evidence for this pathway, however strong that trial is.
Why one ingredient can carry two grades
A grade is recorded for one ingredient, on one pathway, inside one blend — because the evidence is specific to that pairing. The same botanical may hold human trial evidence on one pathway and cell evidence on another. The grade shown on an ingredient's own page is the strongest grade it holds anywhere on the site; the per-pathway grade is on the blend page where that pairing is claimed.
Where to check it yourself
Every graded claim is published with its source at the ingredient level: 3,488 DOIs, PMIDs and PMCIDs across 567 pathway pages, 68 blends and 957 ingredient pages. Nothing is cited that cannot be opened.
- llms.txt — the machine-readable index of this site
- llms-full.txt — the full plain-text corpus, carrying every study cited anywhere on the site
- sitemap.xml — every page, including all 567 pathway pages
- The pathway atlas — each pathway with what reaches it and the studies behind it
These grades describe the maturity of the published science for each ingredient — not a claim that the product treats, cures, or is clinically proven for any goal. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.