Herbs, capsules 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. The juices, teas and other things you'd eat or drink anyway now have their own index, Health Foods.
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 Oil (Nigella sativa) | Herb / Seed & Oil | Worth taking | Eases allergies and asthmaLowers inflammationBetter blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressureHelps a fatty liverSettles indigestionCalms eczema and acne when rubbed onHelps pass kidney stonesSharper memory and attentionBalances the immune systemSupports fertility and hormonesDeeper sleepFaster recovery from a viral illnessFights candida, parasites and gut overgrowthProtects the eyes and bonesSwitches on energy and longevity pathways | ● cited |
| Chinese Skullcap (Scutellaria baicalensis) | Herb / Root | Situational, not daily | Eases anxiety without sedationFights bacteria and fungiLowers blood sugar and LDLCalms brain inflammation | ● written |
| 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 |
| Creatine (Monohydrate) | Compound / Powder | Worth taking daily | More strength and power from trainingKeeps muscle as you ageSharper memory, especially when tiredFaster response to antidepressantsHelps immune cells fight tumors (in mice)Firmer skin (as a cream) | ● cited |
| NAC (N-Acetylcysteine) | Amino acid derivative | Targeted use, not daily | Rescues the liver after a Tylenol overdoseFewer COPD flare-upsEases compulsions and cravingsRestores glutathione in older adults (with glycine) | ● cited |
| Milk Thistle (Silymarin) | Herb / Seed extract | Reasonable for fatty liver | May reverse liver scarring in fatty liverLowers blood sugarProtects the liver from toxins and alcohol | ● cited |
| DHM (Dihydromyricetin) | Flavonoid / Capsule | Promising, mostly unproven | Less drunk, milder hangoverProtects the liver from alcoholBetter blood sugar and liver markers in fatty liver | ● cited |
| L-Theanine | Amino acid | Worth trying | Calmer under stressSmoother focus with caffeineBetter sleep quality | ● cited |
| Nattokinase | Enzyme / Capsule | Promising — dose decides | Thins the clotting side of bloodMay shrink artery plaqueImproves blood flowMay improve cholesterol | ● cited |
| BPC-157 (Body Protection Compound) | Peptide / Synthetic | An experiment, not a supplement | Faster tendon, ligament and muscle healingProtects and repairs the gut liningProtects the brain after injuryEases benzodiazepine tolerance and withdrawal | ● cited |
| Freeze-Dried Oyster | Whole food / Capsule | Worth taking if you skip shellfish | Zinc and copper in a sensible ratioB12, selenium and heme ironSupports testosterone if zinc is lowStronger muscles in older women | ● cited |
| Freeze-Dried Acerola Cherry | Fruit / Powder | Good vitamin C source | Covers your vitamin CMay be retained better than a pillSlows sugar absorption | ● cited |
Twelve entries. Eight others (Beet Juice, Pomegranate, Orange Juice, Citrus Peel, Chamomile and the three teas) moved to Health Foods in October 2026. Evidence quality varies a lot among the ones left. Black Seed Oil has dozens of small human trials behind its main uses, with physiology and animal work carrying the rest. Chinese Skullcap leans on preclinical (animal/cell-study) evidence. Mastic Gum is an adjudication entry, and the clearest case of a supplement with a genuine evidence base being promoted for the one indication where its evidence fails. 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.
The September 2026 batch (Creatine, NAC, Milk Thistle, DHM, L-Theanine, Freeze-Dried Oyster, Acerola) was written with every numbered reference checked against its PubMed abstract. Creatine is the clear standout, with the strongest human evidence of anything on this index. It lives on the Nutrients index too, as the same page. DHM is the reverse: marketed hardest for hangovers, with nothing but rat data for that use. NAC and Milk Thistle both have one genuine hospital-grade use (Tylenol overdose, death-cap poisoning) that says little about taking them daily. Freeze-dried oyster and acerola are really food-composition entries: concentrated sources of zinc/copper/B12 and vitamin C, rather than compounds with their own trial literature. They stay here because they come as capsules and powder.
BPC-157 is the other adjudication entry, from seven posts (Dalton, Abud Bakri, Bryce Hanna, Jack Kruse, Noah Ryan) plus the May 2026 Undark history, and the first entry that is an unapproved drug candidate rather than a food or herb. Every benefit is graded early: the animal results are broad, but more than 80% of the literature comes from one Zagreb lab, and fewer than 30 people have been studied, none against placebo. Dalton’s thread holds up. Bakri’s “mouse melanoma model” is a cell-line conference abstract, Hanna’s key citation is one 1999 mouse seizure study, and Noah Ryan’s study list has mostly invented findings. The biggest finding came from the history, not the posts: PLIVA ran a placebo-controlled colitis trial in 2005, judged it underwhelming, dropped the compound and never published it in full.
TODO — Chinese Skullcap has no numbered reference list yet; the specific figures (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.