Claims checked

232 verdicts
2.8 mg/dLfall in fasting blood sugar over 12 weeks on 2.4 g of moringa leaf a day, against a 2.0 mg/dL rise on a dummy pill, in a double-blind trial of 65 adults with prediabetes (Madrid, 2021)MAYBEPreliminary

Moringa Benefits: A Nutritious Leaf With Small, Mixed Blood Sugar Trials

Data graphic: fasting blood sugar over 12 weeks in a Madrid trial of 65 adults with prediabetes, 103.4 to 100.6 mg/dL on moringa and 104.2 to 106.2 on a dummy pill; beside them the figure 2.8 mg/dL

Moringa leaf is genuinely nutritious, gram for gram. Sold as a blood sugar remedy, it put fasting sugar a few mg/dL below placebo in some small trials and not in others, and a 2025 pooling of randomised trials found no significant difference. Weight did not move; the breast milk evidence is small and mixed; pregnancy and contaminated powders are the real cautions.

24% lowerdeath rate from heart disease and stroke, men eating the most natto against men eating none (hazard ratio 0.76; women 0.79, 21% lower), 92,915 Japanese adults; an association, not a testMAYBEPreliminary

Natto Benefits: Linked to Fewer Heart and Stroke Deaths. No Trial We Found Has Tested It

Data graphic: in a Japanese study of 92,915 adults followed for 14.8 years, people eating the most natto against none had death rates from heart disease and stroke 0.76 times as high in men (range 0.65 to 0.90) and 0.79 in women (0.65 to 0.95), both clear of the no-difference line; beside them the figure 24% lower

In two large Japanese studies, people who ate the most natto died of heart disease and stroke at about a fifth to a quarter lower rate than people who ate little or none. That is an association, not a test. The enzyme pill sold from natto, nattokinase, lowered blood pressure a few points in two small trials tied to its makers but not significantly in two others, and in its three-year trial did not significantly slow artery thickening. If you take warfarin, natto's vitamin K works against your drug.

2small tests of biotin alone, with a comparison, that we found in people without a deficiency: 46 women for four weeks (1966, against a dummy pill) and 10 healthy men for 14 days (2024, each against himself). Neither found a significant gain: in 2024 hair length went from 2.50 to 2.47 mm a week and hair cover from 2.22% to 2.68% of a shaved patch a day, each not a significant changeNOUnsupported

Biotin for Hair Growth: It Regrows Hair Lost to a Deficiency. Without One, the Two Small Tests of Biotin Alone We Found Showed No Significant Gain.

Data graphic: the two tests of biotin alone in people without a deficiency, a 1966 trial of 46 women against a dummy pill for four weeks and a 2024 test of 10 men for two weeks, each marked as finding no significant gain in hair; beneath, no longer controlled test found in people with thinning hair; beside them the figure 2

Biotin brings back hair lost to a biotin deficiency, which is rare. In people who are not short of it, the two small tests of biotin alone we found showed no significant gain, and doses sold for hair can make some blood tests wrong, including one used to diagnose heart attacks.

2 yearsthe longest placebo-controlled trial of DHEA we read, in 144 people aged 60 and over, 56 of them on DHEA: strength and quality of life did not significantly improve, and body composition did not change significantly in men or women analysed separatelyNOUnsupported

DHEA Benefits: Two Years Restored the Hormone, Not Strength or Quality of Life

Data graphic: a two-year axis for a placebo-controlled trial of 144 people aged 60 and over, 29 men and 27 women on DHEA, 31 men and 30 women on a dummy pill and 27 men on testosterone; the hormone level was raised throughout, and strength and quality of life were not significantly better than on the dummy pill; beside them the figure 2 years

DHEA pills reliably raise hormone levels, testosterone mostly in women. In trials of older adults up to two years long, strength and quality of life did not significantly improve, and older men lost 0.9 lb of fat in a year. The prescription vaginal form is a different product.

181people analysed in the biggest trial we found to measure inflammation and oxidation markers: three months of electrolysed hydrogen water or filtered water from look-alike machines; CRP, IL-6, TNF and five other blood and urine markers, all side outcomes, were not significantly different between the groupsMAYBEPreliminary

Hydrogen Water Benefits: Small, Mixed Shifts in Blood Markers, and No Significant Win in the Three Biggest Trials

Data graphic: one dot per person in a 2024 Japanese trial of 181 adults with or near metabolic syndrome, 91 on electrolysed hydrogen water and 90 on filtered water for three months; eight inflammation and oxidation markers, all side outcomes, none significantly different between the groups; beside them the figure 181

Hydrogen water is real: the gas is in fresh water, and it leaks out within hours. Small trials found small, mixed shifts in blood markers of inflammation and oxidation; the three biggest, of 700, 200 and 178 people, found no significant difference on their main outcome.

196 vs 248rise in coronary calcium score over two years on K2 with D3 vs a dummy pill, 398 people with heavy calciumMAYBEPreliminary

Vitamin D3 and K2: Artery Calcium Still Rose, a Fifth Slower in the Largest Trial

Data graphic: in a two-year Danish trial of 398 people with heavy calcium in the heart's arteries, the calcium score rose by 196 units on vitamin K2 with D3 and by 248 on a dummy pill; beside them the figure 196 vs 248

Sold to steer calcium into bone and out of the arteries. In the largest trial of the pair, 398 people with heavy artery calcium, it still built up, about a fifth more slowly than on a dummy pill; in a trial of 365 men it did not build up significantly more slowly. On warfarin, K2 is a drug interaction.

14 mg/dLlower LDL cholesterol on black seed than on a dummy capsule, pooled from 16 comparisons in placebo-controlled trials (2016), a figure an independent overview graded very low in certainty; the range the true average probably sits in runs from about 9 to 19MOSTLYSupported

Black Seed Oil Benefits: Slightly Lower LDL, and Blood Sugar in Diabetes

Data graphic: in a 2016 pooling of 16 comparisons in placebo-controlled trials, LDL cholesterol came out 14.1 mg/dL lower on black seed, with a range of 8.9 to 19.3, clear of no difference; an independent overview graded the figure very low in certainty; beside it the figure 14 mg/dL

Black seed (Nigella sativa) lowered LDL cholesterol by about 14 mg/dL against a dummy capsule across 16 comparisons, a figure an independent overview graded very low in certainty, and HbA1c by about 0.4 to 0.7 points in people with diabetes. The trials are small and short, and the largest pooling we found counts two of them twice. For weight, asthma, joints, skin and hair, the evidence is early.

11.2%average weight lost in 72 weeks on the top dose (730 adults without diabetes); 2.1% on a dummy pillYESEstablished

Orforglipron (Foundayo): The GLP-1 Pill’s Top Dose Took Off 11.2% in 72 Weeks, Against 2.1% on a Dummy Pill

Data graphic: in a 72-week trial of 3,127 adults with obesity or overweight and no diabetes, the top dose of the daily GLP-1 pill orforglipron took off an average of 11.2% of body weight, against 2.1% on a dummy pill; beside them the figure 11.2%

Yes, it causes real weight loss. In a 72-week trial of 3,127 adults without diabetes, the top dose of the GLP-1 pill took off 11.2% of body weight, against 2.1% on a dummy pill. It has not been tested head to head against injected semaglutide or tirzepatide; compared across trials, it does less than tirzepatide.

126 vs 128 mg/dLpeak blood sugar after a glucose drink in 30 adults, preceded by 250 mg of sucralose (about 20 packets' worth) or by plain water; NIH test, difference not significantNOUnsupported

Does Sucralose Raise Blood Sugar? Not on Its Own. Whether Weeks of It Change How You Handle Sugar Is Still Split.

Data graphic: in an NIH test of 30 adults, peak blood sugar after a glucose drink was 126 mg/dL when 250 mg of sucralose in water came first and 128 when plain water came first, a difference that was not significant; beside them the figure 126 vs 128

Not on its own. In most tests, sucralose drunk alone or before a glucose drink left blood sugar where water did: 30 adults given 250 mg peaked at 126 mg/dL, against 128 on water. Some small trials found people handling sugar a little worse after weeks of it, more found no significant difference, and A1C was not significantly higher than on a dummy, water or nothing in any trial we read.

0 of 6seed-cycling studies we found that compared the rotation with a dummy or with the same seeds eaten every day. All six reported improvements; five were in women with PCOS, and each added a diet, a drug, exercise or supplements, or had no comparison groupMAYBEPreliminary

Does Seed Cycling Work? A Few Small Studies, Mostly in PCOS, Lean Its Way. None We Found Tested the Timing.

Data graphic: the six studies in people under the name seed cycling, of 290, 60, 45, 40, 30 and 1 people, each marked as reporting improvements; beneath, an empty row for studies that set the rotation against the same seeds eaten every day or against a dummy; beside them the figure 0 of 6

Not yet shown. The studies of seed cycling are few and small, nearly all in women with PCOS, and each mixed the seeds with a diet, a drug, exercise or a herb, or had no comparison group. None we found compared the rotation with the same seeds eaten all month.