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What the research describes.

Proco's editorial team translates published health research into accessible content. No advice. No claims. Just what the studies measured, with citations.

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Research-based sleep optimisation

Sleep

Sleep is the most-studied recoverable health system. Below: what the published research describes about the highest-effect-size interventions, with ci…

5 posts
Healthspan and lifespan research

Longevity

Healthspan and lifespan are different metrics. Below: what the published research describes about the markers, mechanisms, and interventions linked to…

4 posts
Cognitive and physical performance research

Performance

Performance research spans cognition, recovery, training, and the interventions studied for each. Below: what the published research describes.…

5 posts
What the research describes

Nutrition

Nutrition science is one of the noisiest fields in consumer health. Below: what the published research actually describes — frame, not prescription.…

5 posts
Consumer health AI landscape

AI in Health

AI tools are moving from research into consumer products. Below: what the published research describes about current capabilities and limitations.…

4 posts
How to read the literature

Research

A reader's guide to evaluating clinical research — hierarchies of evidence, methodology, common pitfalls in consumer translation.…

4 posts
The wellness landscape

Category

Industry context. Market analysis, regulatory comparison, and how the consumer health category actually operates.…

4 posts
Latest posts
Sleep · Supplements

The Sleep Stack: Research-Backed Supplements for Sleep Quality

Magnesium glycinate, L-Theanine, and melatonin at clinical doses. Why most sleep supplements are underdosed, and what the evidence describes about combining them safely.

11 min read · 2026-06-30
Longevity · Supplements

The Longevity Stack: Research-Backed Supplements for Healthspan

Berberine, vitamin D3, omega-3, and magnesium at research doses. What the evidence describes about their combined use for metabolic health and biological age.

13 min read · 2026-06-29
Performance · Supplements

The Performance Stack: Research-Backed Supplements for Training

Creatine monohydrate, omega-3, and magnesium at evidence-based doses. What the research describes about combining them for strength, recovery, and cognitive performance.

12 min read · 2026-06-28
Nutrition · Dosing guide

Omega-3 Dosing Guide: EPA, DHA, and What the Evidence Shows

What 80+ RCTs describe about omega-3 dosing — the EPA+DHA research window, triglyceride effects at high dose, fish vs algal oil, and how to read supplement labels.

11 min read · 2026-06-27
Longevity · Dosing guide

Vitamin D3: Complete Dosing Guide & Evidence Review

What 50+ studies describe about vitamin D3 dosing — deficiency thresholds, 2,000–4,000 IU maintenance doses, and why toxicity risk starts above 10,000 IU/day.

11 min read · 2026-06-26
Longevity · Dosing guide

Berberine: Complete Supplement Guide, Doses & Evidence

What 47 RCTs describe about berberine's effects on blood glucose, lipids, and metabolic health — the 500mg research dose, bioavailability limits, and safety considerations.

12 min read · 2026-06-25
Sleep · Dosing guide

Magnesium Glycinate: Complete Supplement Guide & Dosing

Magnesium glycinate vs oxide, citrate, and malate — what absorption data shows, the research dose range (300–400 mg elemental), and what 40+ studies describe about sleep quality and muscle recovery.

10 min read · 2026-06-24
Sleep

NREM Sleep: What the Published Research Describes

What the published research describes about NREM sleep stages — N1, N2, and slow-wave sleep — their function, duration, what disrupts them, and the role of magnesium.

9 min read · 2026-06-15
Longevity

Biological Age Testing: What the Research Describes

What the published research describes about biological age tests — epigenetic clocks, telomere length, and proteomic clocks — how they work, what they predict, and their current limitations.

10 min read · 2026-06-15
Research

The State of Supplement Underdosing 2026

We checked the 50 best-selling pre-workouts against published clinical dose ranges. 94% hide a key dose or underdose a disclosed one; 92% of citrulline doses fall below the clinical floor.

15 min read · 2026-06-05
Research

How to Read a Clinical Trial: A Primer for Non-Scientists

A reader's guide to evaluating clinical research: the hierarchy of evidence, PICO framework, p-values, effect size, conflicts of interest, and red flags in popular coverage.

10 min read · 2026-06-01
Category

The Wellness Economy in 2026: Size, Segments, and the Science Gap

The global wellness economy is approximately $6.3 trillion. This page describes its segments, growth drivers, geographic distribution, and the persistent gap between marketing claims and underlying research.

9 min read · 2026-06-01
Category

How Supplements Are Regulated: EU vs US vs UK

The US, EU, and UK regulate supplements under different frameworks: DSHEA in the US, the Food Supplements Directive and EFSA in the EU, and the FSA's evolving post-Brexit regime in the UK. This page compares them.

10 min read · 2026-06-01
Longevity

Healthspan vs Lifespan: What Longevity Research Actually Measures

Longevity research distinguishes lifespan (total years lived) from healthspan (years lived in good health). This page describes the definitions, measurement, and current state of the field.

10 min read · 2026-06-01
Research

Health Misinformation: What the Research Describes About the Scale

Research on health misinformation reports approximately 25-50% inaccurate content rates across major platforms. This page summarises what studies have measured.

10 min read · 2026-06-01
Category

Wearables: What They Can and Can't Measure

Consumer wearables measure some things accurately, estimate others, and overpromise on a few. This page describes what validation studies have reported about Apple Watch, Whoop, Oura, Garmin, and similar devices.

11 min read · 2026-06-01
AI in Health

The State of Consumer Health AI in 2026

Consumer health AI spans symptom checkers, image recognition, conversational agents, wearable interpretation, and document scanners. This page describes what validation studies have measured across categories.

11 min read · 2026-06-01
Research

Why "Evidence-Based" Gets Misused

The term "evidence-based" had a precise methodology when it entered medical practice in 1992. In consumer markets it has been diluted to a marketing label. This page describes the gap.

10 min read · 2026-06-01
Sleep

How Sleep Apnea Is Diagnosed: What the Research Describes

Sleep apnea is diagnosed via polysomnography (sleep lab study) or home sleep apnea testing. This page describes what each measures, why home tests miss most mild cases, and AHI diagnostic thresholds.

11 min read · 2026-06-01
Nutrition

Why Nutrition Research Is Uniquely Hard

Nutrition research is methodologically harder than almost any other field of human study. This page describes why: blinding is impossible, self-reported intake is unreliable, long durations are infeasible, and confounding is everywhere.

11 min read · 2026-06-01
Performance

VO2 Max: Lab Tests vs Watch Estimates

Laboratory VO2 max testing directly measures oxygen consumption during exercise. Wearables estimate it from heart rate and pace data. This page describes the methods and the accuracy gap.

11 min read · 2026-06-01
Sleep

Sleep Stages: What NREM and REM Actually Are

Sleep is not a single state but a cycle of physiologically distinct stages — N1, N2, N3 (deep sleep), and REM. This page describes what researchers measure to identify each stage and what each does.

10 min read · 2026-06-01
Longevity

The Hallmarks of Aging: What the Research Describes

Research has identified twelve specific cellular and molecular processes that together produce aging. This page describes the López-Otín hallmarks framework and what each contributes.

11 min read · 2026-06-01
Performance

HIIT vs Steady-State Cardio: What the Research Describes

Controlled trials have compared HIIT and moderate-intensity continuous training across VO2 max, metabolic outcomes, body composition, and adherence. This page describes what each comparison has actually measured.

11 min read · 2026-06-01
Nutrition

Ultra-Processed Food Research: What's Been Measured

Observational research consistently associates ultra-processed food intake with adverse health outcomes. The single controlled trial (Hall 2019) demonstrated calorie overconsumption on UPF diets. This page describes what each has measured.

11 min read · 2026-06-01
AI in Health

FDA-Cleared AI Medical Devices: What They Actually Do

More than 950 AI-enabled medical devices have FDA clearance, mostly in radiology. This page describes the clearance pathways, what clearance guarantees, and how to read the difference between regulated AI and wellness apps.

11 min read · 2026-06-01
Sleep

Sleep Deprivation: What the Research Has Measured

Decades of controlled trials have measured what happens when sleep is restricted. This page describes cognitive, metabolic, immune, cardiovascular, and mental health effects as the research literature reports them.

11 min read · 2026-06-01
Longevity

Epigenetic Clocks: What Biological Age Tests Measure

Epigenetic clocks use DNA methylation patterns to estimate chronological age, biological age, and rate of aging. This page describes the three generations of clocks and what each actually predicts.

11 min read · 2026-06-01
Performance

What "Recovery" Means in Performance Research

Recovery is multi-dimensional — different physiological systems recover on different timescales. This page describes what research has measured about recovery processes, HRV-based scores, and the role of sleep.

11 min read · 2026-06-01
Nutrition

The Mediterranean Diet: What the Research Has Measured

The Mediterranean diet has the strongest single-pattern evidence base in nutrition research. PREDIMED and large cohort studies have measured cardiovascular, cognitive, and mortality outcomes. This page describes what the research actually shows.

11 min read · 2026-06-01
AI in Health

AI Symptom Checkers: What Validation Studies Have Measured

Validation studies have measured how accurately AI symptom checkers diagnose and triage. The best tools achieve ~70% top-3 diagnostic accuracy; all over-recommend care. This page summarises what the research describes.

11 min read · 2026-06-01
Longevity

Caloric Restriction Research: 90 Years of Studies

Caloric restriction has been studied for nearly a century. It extends healthy lifespan in multiple species. This page describes what the research has measured — from McCay 1935 to CALERIE 2023 — and the real risks.

12 min read · 2026-06-01
Sleep

How Much Sleep Do You Actually Need: What the Research Describes

Sleep research recommends 7-9 hours for most adults. This page describes the range, individual variation, what changes across the lifespan, and why duration alone isn't the full picture.

11 min read · 2026-06-01
Nutrition

Intermittent Fasting: What the Research Has Measured

Intermittent fasting protocols include time-restricted eating, alternate-day fasting, and 5:2. Trials have measured weight, metabolic outcomes, and adherence. This page describes what the research actually shows.

12 min read · 2026-06-01
Performance

What is HRV? Heart Rate Variability Explained

HRV is the variation in time between consecutive heartbeats. It reflects autonomic nervous system balance. This page describes what HRV measures, how wearables calculate it, and where the science is strongest.

11 min read · 2026-06-01
Nutrition

The Gut Microbiome: What the Research Describes

The gut microbiome research field is advancing rapidly. Consumer products often outrun the evidence. This page describes what research has established, what's provisional, and how to read microbiome marketing claims.

11 min read · 2026-06-01
Category

How Proco Scanner Compares to Other Supplement Information Tools

Several tools provide research-based supplement information — Examine.com, ConsumerLab, Yuka, FoundMyFitness, and others. This page describes what each does and where each fits.

11 min read · 2026-06-01
AI in Health

AI in Medical Imaging: What's Been Validated

Medical imaging is the strongest category of validated medical AI. This page describes what research has measured across diabetic retinopathy, skin cancer, stroke triage, mammography, and chest X-ray.

11 min read · 2026-06-01
Research

How to Evaluate a Meta-Analysis

Meta-analyses sit at the top of the evidence hierarchy but aren't all equally rigorous. This page describes how to read one — heterogeneity, GRADE, forest plots, publication bias.

11 min read · 2026-06-01
Sleep

Melatonin: What the Research Has Measured

Melatonin is among the most-used sleep supplements. The studied effective dose range is 0.3-3 mg — substantially lower than most consumer products. This page describes what the research actually measures.

12 min read · 2026-06-01
Performance

Zone 2 Training: What the Research Has Measured

Zone 2 training drives mitochondrial biogenesis and supports fat oxidation. It dominates elite endurance training programs. This page describes the physiology research and where consumer claims outrun the evidence.

11 min read · 2026-06-01
Performance

Creatine and Cognition: What the Research Shows

A descriptive review of what randomised trials and reviews have measured for creatine and cognitive function, including populations, effect sizes and limits.

10 min read · 2026-06-01
Sleep

Sleepmaxxing: What the Evidence Actually Supports

A measured look at sleepmaxxing: which sleep-optimisation practices research genuinely supports, which are fads or unproven, and where the trend outruns the evidence.

11 min read · 2026-06-04
Sleep

Sleep Hygiene: What the Evidence Actually Supports

An evidence-graded look at sleep hygiene advice: which habits are well-supported, which are weak, and why clinical insomnia needs more than hygiene alone.

11 min read · 2026-06-04
Sleep

How to Reset Your Circadian Rhythm: What the Research Supports

A measured look at what genuinely shifts the body clock, from timed light and melatonin to meal and exercise timing, and what the evidence overstates.

11 min read · 2026-06-04
Sleep

Magnesium Glycinate for Sleep: What the Evidence Says

A measured look at magnesium glycinate and sleep: what trials actually show, how forms differ in absorption, sensible doses and who should take care.

11 min read · 2026-06-04
Longevity

How to Test Your Biological Age — and What the Result Means

A practical guide to the main ways to estimate biological age — epigenetic clocks, blood-biomarker scores, grip strength, VO2 max and telomere tests — and how reliable each is.

11 min read · 2026-06-04
Longevity

Astaxanthin and Longevity: What the Research Actually Shows

Astaxanthin is a marine carotenoid sold for longevity, skin and eyes. We review what human trials measure, what is preclinical, and where the evidence stops.

11 min read · 2026-06-04
Longevity

AI in Longevity Research: What's Actually Happening

A measured look at where AI genuinely contributes to ageing research, what has reached clinical stages, and why no AI has yet been shown to extend human healthspan.

11 min read · 2026-06-04
Longevity

Health Biomarkers for Longevity: What's Actually Worth Tracking

A measured, evidence-based look at which longevity biomarkers have strong data behind them, what targets research supports, and where consumer panels overreach.

11 min read · 2026-06-04
Nutrition

Nattokinase: What the Research Actually Shows

Nattokinase is a fermented-soy enzyme marketed for circulation and blood pressure. Here is what the limited human evidence shows, plus the bleeding risks.

11 min read · 2026-06-04
Nutrition

Akkermansia muciniphila: What the Gut Research Actually Shows

A measured look at Akkermansia muciniphila, the mucin-degrading gut bacterium, and what human and animal research has actually measured about its effects.

11 min read · 2026-06-04
Nutrition

The Gut-Brain Axis: What the Research Actually Shows

A measured look at the gut-brain axis: the real mechanisms, what human trials show for mood and cognition, and where the evidence is still early.

11 min read · 2026-06-04
Nutrition

Berberine vs Metformin: What the Research Actually Compares

Berberine is sold as a natural metformin alternative. Here is what the evidence shows, why the comparison is misleading, and the safety risks to know.

11 min read · 2026-06-04
Performance

Methylene Blue: What the Evidence Says — and the Real Risks

Methylene blue is a prescription drug now sold as a nootropic. We look at what research has actually measured, and why the safety risks deserve real caution.

11 min read · 2026-06-04
Performance

Rhodiola Rosea: What the Research Actually Shows

Rhodiola rosea is marketed for fatigue, stress and performance. We review what trials measure, where the evidence is weak, and what to know before buying.

11 min read · 2026-06-04
AI in Health

How to Interpret Your Wearable Health Data: Signal, Noise and Trends

A measured guide to reading your own wearable data over time: which metrics are robust, which are noisy, how to spot trends and when a reading warrants a doctor.

11 min read · 2026-06-04
AI in Health

AI Health Apps in 2026: What They Do and How to Judge Them

A measured guide to consumer AI health apps in 2026: the main categories, what the evidence and regulators actually say, and how to evaluate any one of them.

11 min read · 2026-06-04
AI in Health

Personalised Health Optimisation: What's Real and What's Hype

A measured look at personalised health optimisation: where evidence supports tailoring advice to the individual, where claims run ahead of the data, and what to do now.

11 min read · 2026-06-04