Research review priorities

Supplement research priorities

These are research priorities, not recommendations. We selected decisions where public interest, plausible benefit, evidence maturity, and safety stakes make a careful synthesis especially useful.

priority dossiers
148
claim-level questions
444
study extraction underway
148

01 / PRIORITY

How priorities were selected

Priority reflects relevance to healthy aging, frequency of real-world use, maturity of human evidence, the cost of a wrong decision, and the need to separate a valid narrow use from broader marketing claims. It does not rank efficacy or imply that everyone should take the product.

02 / EXTRACTION

What happens next

For every question, we screen the PubMed candidate set, connect multiple publications from the same trial, extract population, dose, comparator, duration, outcomes, harms, and funding, then synthesize supportive, mixed, negative, and safety findings together.

Only screened studies enter audited study and participant totals. Search-result counts and the papers listed here as questions never become evidence by themselves.
61

Cyanocobalamin

Review stage
Extracting studies
audited research papers
3

Why this is a research priority

Cyanocobalamin is a well-studied replacement form, but oral-versus-injection equivalence depends on dose, loading and maintenance schedules, cause, severity, and adherence.

Questions being reviewed
  1. How effectively does oral cyanocobalamin correct confirmed biochemical, hematologic, and neurologic deficiency?
  2. When are high-dose oral schedules comparable with intramuscular treatment, and how durable is correction?
  3. Which deficiency causes or urgent neurologic presentations still require clinician-directed parenteral treatment?
Open evidence dossier
62

Algal DHA

Review stage
Extracting studies
audited research papers
3

Why this is a research priority

Algal DHA is a non-fish source that raises DHA and alters lipids, but biomarker bioavailability is often extended to unproven cognitive, pregnancy, or cardiovascular outcomes.

Questions being reviewed
  1. How does algal DHA change triglycerides, HDL, and LDL, and what clinical meaning follows?
  2. Does algal DHA prevent or slow cognitive decline rather than merely increasing DHA exposure?
  3. Which maternal and infant outcomes improve consistently, and which findings are subgroup-only?
Open evidence dossier
63

EPA/DHA fish oil

Review stage
Extracting studies
audited research papers
4

Why this is a research priority

Combined EPA/DHA fish oil reliably lowers triglycerides at multi-gram doses, but ordinary supplement doses have not consistently prevented cardiovascular events and higher doses may raise atrial-fibrillation risk.

Questions being reviewed
  1. Which EPA/DHA doses lower triglycerides, and how do LDL and formulation affect interpretation?
  2. Does combined EPA/DHA prevent clinical cardiovascular events in primary- or high-risk populations?
  3. How do dose and baseline cardiovascular risk modify atrial-fibrillation and bleeding concerns?
Open evidence dossier
64

Krill oil

Review stage
Extracting studies
audited research papers
4

Why this is a research priority

Krill oil changes omega-3 biomarkers, but matched-dose absorption superiority is unproven and larger joint-pain trials conflict with earlier industry-supported findings.

Questions being reviewed
  1. Is krill oil more bioavailable than dose-matched fish oil over clinically relevant durations?
  2. Does krill oil lower triglycerides at a defined dose without unfavorable lipid changes?
  3. Does krill oil improve clinically meaningful knee pain and function across independent trials?
Open evidence dossier
65

Whey protein

Review stage
Extracting studies
audited research papers
3

Why this is a research priority

Whey can help close a protein gap during resistance training, but added benefit is small or absent when baseline intake is adequate and varies by age, training, dose, and comparator.

Questions being reviewed
  1. How much lean-mass or strength benefit does whey add beyond resistance training?
  2. Who benefits when habitual protein is low versus already adequate?
  3. Are apparent advantages driven by protein source, total dose, leucine, calories, or product combinations?
Open evidence dossier

03 / SOURCES

Research standards

The review begins with federal evidence summaries and PubMed records, then moves to trial-level extraction. Product claims or another publisher’s evidence grade are not copied into the ledger.

NIH Office of Dietary Supplements ↗PubMed / NCBI ↗NCCIH ↗