About

Mission

Educate readers in an easy-to-understand manner about the observed effects of health supplements on the human body, backed by unbiased scientific studies.

Values

  • Integrity: Objective health supplement information based on factual scientific data.
  • Passion: Genuine interest for health supplements, shared with fellow fitness enthusiasts.
  • Simplicity: Summarize complex studies about supplements, in easy to digest categories.

Vision

Gain the trust of all readers by providing a good experience and valuable information, and become one of the top health supplement resources on the internet.

General Questions about this website

What is it?

First, we can start by defining the meaning of “cost-effectiveness”. According to the Oxford dictionary, it means “Effective or productive in relation to its cost.” But what makes something effective? the Oxford dictionary defines effective as “Successful in producing a desired or intended result.” Considering these definitions, it can now be said that a supplement should be able to achieve its intended effects in order to be considered effective.

But how can one know if a particular supplement its indeed achieving these effects? One way would be to try the supplement first hand. However, this would be impractical since nobody has enough money or time to try a lot of different supplements by himself or herself. Another way would be to get advice from other people whose opinions we trust. In this case, however, their opinion might not necessarily be grounded in proven facts.

So how can we make sure that a result is based on factual information? A reliable way would be to make use of the scientific method. When performing research, scientists use the scientific method to gather empirical evidence that’s also measurable in an experiment related to a hypothesis, and its results aim to support or contradict that hypothesis.

CESupplement.com gathers the results of thousands of scientific studies about many different health supplement ingredients, and their observed effects on the human body. This information is then grouped (depending on their effects) in user-friendly categories, aimed for the general population without a need for a scientific background.

Why was it created?

How many times have you heard that some supplement helps to achieve a specific goal? For example, it is well known that whey protein promotes muscle building, or that caffeine gives you more energy. Supplement effects are usually considered as given, since they are well-known facts that are shared by word of mouth, or they are advertised by supplement companies, and thus have persisted for decades. But if you are inquisitive in nature, you might have wondered, what if any of these long touted facts were wrong? What if those supposed effects were not as potent as they are thought to be?

Trusted sources like celebrities or successful athletes will often promote a supplement in “good faith”, truly believing that said supplement will fulfill its desired effects. In some cases, the supplement will indeed turn out to deliver its marketed claims, but other times the effect is so small it might as well be considered null. In most cases though, the claimed effects have been proven as wrong time and again by scientific studies. Sometimes, these popular sources might promote their supplements for more personal reasons, such as financial gain or more influence on the health and fitness market.

Due to the high number of supplements circulating the market, it’s hard to decide which ones are actually effective and which ones are only a waste. And because every year more products and fads come into the market, this decision only gets harder as time goes by.

If you ever had a sliver of doubt in your mind when acquiring any supplement, you might have asked yourself the following question: Are there any other sources where you can confirm the claimed effects of this supplement? A source that is both unbiased and reliable?

If you take this task upon yourself, after some minutes of googling you could probably find websites that link to medical studies that mention the effects you were looking for. However, this information will most likely be uncategorized, and you might need some time to fully sink into the study and get the summarized information you really need. This time is wasted going through details that aren’t really relevant to your search.

You might also find a couple of websites that try to gather all this information and present it in a more informal language to make it easier to digest, but many times this information is displayed in a dull or plain manner, using long walls of text without any breaks in between, breaks which should include pictures related to the subjects in the study, to bring some sort of visual relief and keep the reader’s interest. Also, the link structure of the website should be visible at all times and easily lead the viewer to find the information they need, something that is often absent from these websites.

After witnessing a lack of authoritative resources that gather research-based information about actual supplement effects that go straight to the point while avoiding minutiae, it became clear that a new resource was needed. This resource should arrange supplement effects in simplified categories while giving readers an engaging page design that encourages them to clarify all terms related to their search.

Thus, “Cost Effective Supplement” was created to help you decide which supplements are really worth it. You will be presented with summarized results of thousands of scientific studies and only show relevant information about the effects of supplements on every system of the human body, which bodily functions they support, and if they help to ease the symptoms of any health condition. This way, after reviewing these results you will have a clearer understanding of the functionality of each supplement, and hopefully will be able to make a more educated guess about your choices.

When was it created?

The website’s idea was conceived in March 2019. The research for scientific studies, effect scrubbing and categorization, database creation, and web design went on for over one year; finally going live in August 2020.

 

How does it work?

The website is divided in the following categories:

Supplements

A list of ingredients that are commonly found in health supplements. Only the supplements with studies that validate their effects are listed. If a supplement is not showing, it means this website’s database contains no studies that back up the claimed effects it has. Each supplement page includes the following info:

A.K.A (Also Known As): other names it is known for.

Intake information: how much of it should be consumed each day. This intake is described as shown below:

Recommended total daily intake range: The first value of the range is the lowest total daily dose recommended to get the desired effects. The second value is the highest recommended total daily dose that shouldn’t be exceeded to prevent undesired side effects. A dose with ‘/kg’ means per kilogram of bodyweight.

Recommended total daily doses: The total number of daily doses that can be consumed throughout the day to spread out the total daily intake.

Synergy: a list of additional effects. Each effect shows a list of all the other supplements that need to be combined with this supplement to achieve this effect.

Conditions: a list of diseases whose symptoms can be addressed by this supplement. For each condition there’s a list of studies that show in what ways the supplement has alleviated that condition. Also, for each study there is an effectiveness icon. This icon has 6 grades, depending on the conclusions of the study, ranging from highly negative, moderately negative, slightly negative, slightly positive, moderately positive or highly positive.

Functions: a list of functions that can be assisted by this supplement. For each function there’s a list of studies that show in what ways the supplement has supported that function. Also, for each study there is an effectiveness icon. This icon has 6 grades, depending on the conclusions of the study, ranging from highly negative, moderately negative, slightly negative, slightly positive, moderately positive or highly positive.

Systems: A list of body systems that interact with this supplement. For each system, there’s a list of study conclusions that verify the effects obtained after using this supplement.

Picture: high-resolution pictures have been selected to better describe the nature of each page. For supplements, the picture selected will attempt to depict one of the natural food sources for that supplement. If no natural food source was found, a picture of the capsule/powder/chemical form of that supplement will be shown instead.

Studies

Studies can be accessed after clicking any of the study conclusions located on other pages. Each study page includes the following info:

Conclusion: a summary of the results obtained in the study. This will show all details, like the study type, the sex and age of participants, the duration of the study and whether it increased or decreased a certain effect, and in what amount. You can then use this knowledge to create your own judgment about the supplement’s effectiveness and verify if it’s intended for your gender, health status, and age group.

Supplements: a list of supplements analyzed in this study.

Conditions: a list of health conditions analyzed in this study. Each condition shows a list of all the supplements that had an effect on it during the study. Also, for each supplement there is an effectiveness icon. This icon has 6 grades, depending on the conclusions of the study, ranging from highly negative, moderately negative, slightly negative, slightly positive, moderately positive or highly positive.

Functions: a list of bodily functions related to this study. Each function shows a list of all the supplements that had an effect on it during the study. Also, for each function there is an effectiveness icon. This icon has 6 grades, depending on the conclusions of the study, ranging from highly negative, moderately negative, slightly negative, slightly positive, moderately positive or highly positive.

Systems: A list of body systems related to this study. Each system shows a list of all the supplements that had an effect on it during the study.

Link: click on it to access the source of the study.

Functions

A list of bodily functions that can be enhanced by supplementation. Each function page includes the following info:

Description: a brief explanation about its benefits of the function.

Health conditions: a list of diseases that might affect the function.

Supplements: A list of supplements that might enhance the function. For each supplement there’s a list of studies that show in what ways the supplement has supported that function. Also, for each supplement there is an effectiveness icon. This icon has 6 grades, depending on the conclusions of the study, ranging from highly negative, moderately negative, slightly negative, slightly positive, moderately positive or highly positive.

Systems: A list of body systems related to this function.

Body Systems

A list of 13 systems of the human body. Each system page includes the following info:

Description: a brief explanation of the system properties and characteristics.

Health conditions: a list of diseases that might affect the system.

Supplements: A list of supplements that might have an effect on the system. For each supplement, there’s a list of studies that verify the effects obtained after using it.

Functions: a list of bodily functions related to this body system.

Synergies

A list of additional or enhanced effects that occur when combining different supplements. Each synergy page includes the following info:

Description: a brief explanation of the effects this synergy has on the body.

Supplements: A list of the supplements that can be combined to promote this synergistic effect.

Functions: a list of bodily functions related to this synergistic effect.

Systems: A list of body systems related to this synergistic effect.

Health Conditions

A list of illnesses or diseases whose symptoms could be addressed with supplementation. Each condition page includes the following info:

Description: a brief explanation of the effects the condition has on the human body.

Supplements: A list of supplements that might have an effect on the condition.  For each supplement there’s a list of studies that show in what ways the supplement has alleviated that condition. Also, for each study there is an effectiveness icon. This icon has 6 grades, depending on the conclusions of the study, ranging from highly negative, moderately negative, slightly negative, slightly positive, moderately positive or highly positive.

Blog

Here you will find a more in-depth explanation about the studies for each supplement. The technical and medical language is toned down to make it more accessible to all readers. Each study is broken down to show the following information, in order to make them more readable:

Study Information
  • Title: Transcript of the study title.
  • Duration: Study length in days/weeks/months. 
Subject Information
  • Number of Subjects: how many patients/subjects/participants took part on the study.
  • Gender: gender of the participants of the study.
  • Health Status: mentions if the patients suffered from any health conditions when starting the study.
  • Age: age in years of the participants, may mention the age range as well.
Method used

Describes the supplement used, dosages, and the symptoms that will be measured in the study.

Results

Describes the effect of the supplements used, if it decreased any of the symptoms measured, and any possible side effects.

Conclusions

Describes the outlook of this supplement usage on the treatment of the disease, and its degree of effectiveness.

Linked pages: Links to all related pages are fully implemented on every page, to aid in navigation and make it easier for readers to find information related to their search. The related study links are found in a simple “accordion” type menu. 

For example, on each Supplement’s page, you can find a link to every Function of that supplement. You can then click on any of those Functions to go to that Function’s page, and then see all Supplements that aid in that Function. Clicking on any of those Supplements will take you back to that Supplement’s page.

Who created it?

I’m William Quijada. I started my fitness journey in late 2008 when I joined a local gym. Since then, I gradually moved forward in my fitness journey, starting at a “skinny-fat” 155 lbs body weight, all the way up to a “built fat” peak of 206 lbs, and finally settling in at a leaner and healthier weight of 175 lbs at around 15% body fat.

In my search for a healthier body and mind, I have tried many different health supplements, ranging from effective to ineffective ones, including cheap and expensive ones. After spending so much time with supplementation, I grew frustrated that I couldn’t find any authoritative resources that showed evidence-based information about actual supplement effects, in a simple and straightforward manner.

My main focus at the start of this fitness journey was powerlifting, a sport that consists on lifting the most amount of weight possible in 3 lifts, the squat, bench press, and deadlift. So I tried several supplements that are aimed to increase strength and muscle gain, including but not limited to creatine, whey protein, beta-alanine, glutamine, aminoacids, and testosterone boosters; each with varying degrees of effectiveness.

After over 5 years of powerlifting training, I sustained several injuries related to joint overuse. This led me to search for joint-related supplements, such as glucosamine, chondroitin, fish oil, turmeric, black pepper, boswellia serrata, and Vitamin D. Due to these injuries, I’m currently retired from powerlifting

Now, I’m training in hopes to transition to a Bodybuilding career that is friendlier on the joints. Since this sport requires lower levels of bodyfat, I have tried some fat-loss supplements like green tea extract, green coffee beans, caffeine, and l-carnitine. I have also tried other supplements that are meant to enhance overall health, including melatonin for sleep, ginkgo biloba for brain health, soy lecithin, and pycnogenol for male health, among many others. As you can see, supplementation has been a passion of mine and a part of my life for over 10 years straight.

Regarding my personal education, I hold a bachelor’s degree in computer science. This helped me to learn the basics of website development. It was among my goals to use this knowledge to create a website, solely dedicated to demystify the supplement industry and help other fitness enthusiasts in their journey to a healthier lifestyle and avoid wasting their time on ineffective supplements the same way I did in the past.

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