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Evidence Standards

How we evaluate and grade the research behind every recommendation on CreusLife.

CreusLife Editorial Team
Evidence reviewed · Peer-reviewed sources cited
Last updated: May 2026 · Affiliate disclosure
✦ Applied across all CreusLife content

Why explicit evidence grading matters

Health content is uniquely prone to confidence inflation — where preliminary findings get presented with the same certainty as established science. We use an explicit three-tier system on every supplement and intervention recommendation so readers always know what kind of evidence sits behind a claim.

The three tiers

1
Tier 1 — Strong evidence
Randomized controlled trials, meta-analyses, consensus statements from major medical bodies
  • Multiple independent RCTs with consistent findings
  • Meta-analyses and systematic reviews of RCT data
  • Consensus position statements (ESC, AHA, Endocrine Society, ISSN)
  • Long-term cohort data with mechanistic plausibility
  • Examples: creatine for muscle, omega-3 for triglycerides, vitamin D for bone density
2
Tier 2 — Moderate evidence
Some RCT evidence, mechanistic studies, expert interpretation of biomarker data
  • Limited RCT data (1–3 trials) with directionally consistent findings
  • Strong mechanistic evidence without full clinical trial confirmation
  • Expert consensus without systematic review
  • Observational data with biological plausibility
  • Examples: urolithin A for mitochondrial health, collagen for joint tissue
3
Tier 3 — Emerging evidence
Animal studies, mechanistic signals, early human data, practitioner field experience
  • Animal or in vitro studies without human confirmation
  • Single small human trials
  • Practitioner field experience without published data
  • Biologically plausible mechanisms without clinical evidence
  • Examples: ecdysterone (limited human RCTs), most nootropic compounds

How we apply the tiers

Every supplement and intervention on CreusLife carries an explicit evidence badge: Strong evidence, Moderate evidence, or Emerging evidence. These map directly to Tiers 1, 2, and 3 respectively.

We only recommend Tier 3 compounds in the context of structured experimentation — with a baseline, a defined intervention, and a retest. We never recommend Tier 3 as a core protocol component.

What we do with uncertainty

Where the evidence is genuinely uncertain, we say so explicitly. We prefer acknowledged uncertainty over false confidence. We also prefer directing readers toward established Tier 1 interventions before exploring the frontier of Tier 3.

Evidence evolves. A compound that is Tier 3 today may be Tier 1 in five years as the research base develops. We update content when the evidence picture changes. Each page carries a last-updated date.

Sources we use

🔬
PubMedPrimary research database for all cited studies
🏛️
ESC / AHACardiovascular guidelines and lipid consensus
🏛️
Endocrine SocietyHormone and vitamin D guidelines
🏛️
ISSNSports nutrition position statements
📖
CochraneSystematic reviews and meta-analyses
📊
JAMA / Lancet / NEJMHigh-impact clinical trial publications