Most supplement and gadget marketing gets written before anyone checks it against the underlying research, then it stays online long after better data shows up. The gap between what a label promises and what the cited study actually measured is where most of the confusion in this category lives. The Cognitive Report exists to sit in that gap: read the manufacturer's claim, pull whatever research actually backs it, and say plainly whether the two line up.
Every report starts with the product's own marketing — the bottle, the landing page, the ad copy — laid next to whatever published research exists on the ingredients or mechanism involved. Where a real human trial exists, we read it. Where the only evidence is a rodent study, an in-vitro assay, or a manufacturer-funded pilot with a handful of subjects, we say so instead of letting a stronger-sounding phrase carry more weight than the study behind it. Formula transparency, dosing versus the amounts actually used in the cited research, and manufacturer disclosure all factor into the writeup before a letter grade goes on it.
Grade A — the core claim is backed by real human clinical trial data, not just plausible biology.
Grade B — human evidence exists but is thinner, older, smaller, or funded by an interested party, or the science is sound while a dosing or bioavailability detail deserves a caveat.
Grade C — the evidence is preliminary, animal-only, or in-vitro, or there's a formula, sourcing, or marketing red flag serious enough to lower confidence no matter how the ingredients read on paper.
Right now the index covers two lanes: dietary supplements, and the wellness-adjacent hardware people buy alongside them — air circulators, thermostats, and similar gear where a manufacturer makes a measurable claim about performance or savings. A newer lane, filed as briefings rather than dossiers, takes a specific health condition and lines up viral home-remedy advice against what an actual clinical guideline says. We don't cover prescription drugs, and nothing here is written or reviewed by a licensed clinician — it's evidence-literacy work, not medical practice.
Running the index costs real time and hosting, and that's funded through affiliate relationships: where it's relevant, we link to authorized retailers and may earn a commission at no extra cost to you if you buy through one of those links. That relationship is disclosed in full on the Disclosure page, but the short version is this — the commission structure is never part of the grading conversation. A product can carry an affiliate link and still land a Grade C if the evidence or the formula disclosure warrants it, and several entries in the index do exactly that today.
When research turns up a real problem — a manufacturer who won't say who actually makes the product, a formula that doesn't match what shipped in an earlier batch, an ad campaign built around a synthetic or misattributed endorsement — that finding gets published as part of the entry, not smoothed into a footnote. A low grade earned that way stands next to the disclosure link on the same page. That's the trade we've made deliberately: a smaller, less flattering index that's actually worth trusting over one that reads better and means less.
Grades and findings on this site are editorial judgments about publicly available evidence. They are not medical advice and not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Talk to a healthcare provider before starting any new supplement.