Herbs and compounds evaluated one at a time, for whether they earn a place at all.
This is a different list from Nutrients. That index covers essential and near-essential nutrients — things the body requires or clearly benefits from at known intakes. This page is about optional additions: herbs and isolated compounds with interesting mechanism stories, graded honestly for how thin the human evidence usually still is, with practical notes on form, dose, and sourcing for the ones that seem worth taking.
Same evidence grading as the rest of the series: Strong / Moderate / Animal–in-vitro / Inferred / Contested / Speculative. Most entries here lean toward the weaker end of that scale — broad preclinical evidence with limited human trial data is the norm for this category, not the exception.
Dots show evidence strength: strong some human data early
| Supplement | Category | Verdict | What it does | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Seed (Nigella sativa) | Herb / Seed | Whole seed, not oil | Modest drops in blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressureLowers inflammation and oxidative stressHelps recycle cellular energy | ● written |
| Chinese Skullcap (Scutellaria baicalensis) | Herb / Root | Situational, not daily | Eases anxiety without sedationFights bacteria and fungiLowers blood sugar and LDLCalms brain inflammation | ● written |
| Beet Juice (Nitrate & Betalains) | Vegetable / Juice | Worth taking | Lowers blood pressureBetter enduranceLowers oxidative stress | ● written |
| Pomegranate Juice (Ellagitannins) | Fruit / Juice | Qualified: use it situationally | Lowers blood pressureProtects LDL from oxidation | ● cited |
| Orange Juice (Fructose & Flavanones) | Fruit / Juice | Good in moderation | Better blood sugar and cholesterol markersLowers uric acidBlunts inflammation after a heavy meal | ● cited |
| Citrus Peel (Polymethoxyflavones) | Fruit / Peel | Unproven at food doses, but free | Protects against fatty liver and insulin resistanceBreaks down the estrogen receptor in breast-cancer cellsAbsorbs better than juice flavonoids | ● cited |
| Mastic Gum (Pistacia lentiscus Resin) | Resin / Chewed or capsule | Adjunct, not a cure | Eases indigestion, bloating and heartburnCuts cavity-causing bacteria and plaqueBoosts salivaMay help ulcers heal | ● cited |
| Molecular Hydrogen (H2 Water & Baths) | Gas / Dissolved | Promising, thin base | Neutralizes only the most damaging free radicalsFaster hangover recoverySharper when sleep-deprivedLess soreness after exercise | ● cited |
Eight entries so far, and evidence quality varies a lot between them — Black Seed and Chinese Skullcap lean on preclinical (animal/cell-study) evidence with human data limited to small trials on adjacent endpoints, Beet Juice has the strongest and most direct human trial support, Pomegranate is the odd case where the mechanism is better established than the clinical literature (which is largely industry-funded and subject to an adverse FTC ruling on its advertising), Orange Juice is the one entry written as an adjudication between two loud public positions rather than an evaluation from scratch, Citrus Peel is the clearest case on the index of a genuinely interesting mechanism with a dose gap wide enough that the human relevance is unresolved, Mastic Gum is the second adjudication entry, and the clearest case of a supplement with a genuine evidence base being promoted for the one indication where its evidence fails, and Molecular Hydrogen sits in between: real small human RCTs exist, but the citation list is dominated by two research groups and was sourced from a tablet retailer's own blog rather than an independent review. That spread is disclosed inline on each page rather than smoothed over.
TODO — neither entry has a numbered reference list yet; the specific figures (TQ variability range, baicalin/wogonin pharmacology) are carried over from source notes. Worth an audit pass to attach citations where the underlying studies can be pinned down.
TODO — Black Seed's NQO1/NAD⁺ mechanism section named three other NQO1-substrate quinones worth their own entries: ubiquinone (CoQ10), PQQ (pyrroloquinoline quinone), and beta-lapachone (Pau d'arco). All three feed the same riboflavin-dependent enzyme and inherit the same NRF2-upstream framing; worth writing up as a group rather than one at a time so the shared mechanism isn't repeated four times.
TODO — Skullcap's cardiometabolic section describes its AMPK effect as "a mild version of berberine." Berberine has a much larger human evidence base (AMPK activation, LDL/glucose-lowering) and probably deserves its own entry rather than only existing as a comparison point on the Skullcap page.
All pages, including this index, sit flat at the site root (no supplements/ subfolder), matching how Nutrients is deployed.