Any good site or app that shows which supplements are actually backed by science?

As others have said, Examine is a good one. I appreciate how they have handled things over the years. It's a good place to start on your search. What we have tried to do is start setting the standard for how brands should treat scientific evidence for their claims. We put together a scientific advisory board of a double board certified physician, certified botanist, researcher with a PhD in plant biology, and personal trainer with a PhD in nutritional science. We then built out a whole back end system to store all the information about our products, including product claims, and have research citations for them all. Our scientific advisory board then reviews all claims and evidence, and either approves or requests changes to our citations or claims. Then they sign off on them. Once that is done, we create a research snapshot of the state of the science on each product, so customers can read it themselves, and come to their own conclusions on the state of the science. I'll use our Tongkat Ali page as an example.

https://nootropicsdepot.com/tongkat-ali-extract-tablets-10-eurycomanone/

Here you can see a screenshot of the relevant parts of the page.

It shows that the claims have all been reviewed by the science board, and gives a few links to explain what the board is, what their qualifications are, and how the process works.

https://nootropicsdepot.com/scientific-advisory-board/

https://nootropicsdepot.com/scientific-advisory-board-process/

That second link shows our backend database, and how all information is stored, reviewed, and approved by the board. Then the third link is to our research snapshot itself.

https://nootropicsdepot.com/tongkat-ali-research-snapshot/

You can see we tie each of our 4 primary benefit claims to actual scientific research, and give you an overview of it. Because science is not black and white, we try to show a snapshot of what the research is saying for that specific claim, with a yes, possibly, no for the available studies. This is because not all studies on a specific topic agree with each other, or get the same results. Showing consumers the actual state of the science helps them make the best decision on the currently available research out there.

You can see for the first claim, testosterone, it asks the question: "Does Tongkat Ali increase testosterone?" Based on a review of the available research, 80% of studies say yes, 13% say possibly, and 7% say no. This is because each study design is different with different participants and methodologies. Anyone that says 100% yes to any claim is not being scientifically honest with people. This helps consumers understand the complexities of scientific studies and consensus. We then highlight the top 4 studies for that claim, and have quality markers next to each one. As an example, the first study we highlight is from randomized controlled trial, in a very rigorous journal, and is highly cited by other researchers. This helps show the quality of that specific study, because they are not all the same.

Here is a screenshot to show what I am talking about.

We then give you a link to the study itself, so you can read it in full. We wanted to try to give an overview of the science, in an easy to understand fashion, but give consumers the ability to dig to the direct evidence if they wanted to. Most consumers are not sophisticated enough to find full research studies, then read and interpret them. This was our attempt at making it more user friendly for the average consumer, while allowing further research by more sophisticated customers.

Then after the highlighted studies, we have an overview of the evidence you can expand. That goes through the effects, dosage and duration, mechanism of action, additional benefits, and other considerations. We then have citations for that section. This is where I think the industry needs to go. We need to start tying in the science to claims, and forcing brands to back them up with evidence and citations. I also appreciate this structure because it holds us accountable for what we say about products. Anecdotal evidence isn't enough anymore. It needs to be tied back to actual published research, and then transparently shown to customers, so that everyone can make an informed decision about the products they buy.

Now I do realize that all of this is coming from a brand selling products. While this is a great system to help hold us to a higher standard, and give consumers more information to make proper decisions, we are not an objective source of information. Our conflict is that we are always coming at this from the position of producing and selling these products. I personally use all these things myself, and give them to my family and friends, so I have higher stakes with the validity of things. However, I am never going to be 100% objective. It's just how it is. So I encourage everyone to do their own research independently. This is where AI tools can really help. The one I would suggest the most is actually called Consensus.

https://consensus.app/

Think of this like using ChatGPT, but only looking at real published scientific research. They also do a great job of doing similar things that we did, and trying to give an overview of the science and its robustness. Let's take a look at the same question we asked above, but use Consensus instead.

https://consensus.app/search/does-tongkat-ali-increase-testosterone/A3R0Dgt4Q3m3PGLIrzIZlg/

As you can see, it looks familiar. It's similar to our research snapshot, but goes into a lot more detail. Where we only highlight 4 studies, so as to not overwhelm people, they have a ton more. This is an endless sea of data for you to parse through if you are interested in doing so. You are limited with the free account, but you can sign up and really dig into things if you want. This is what I would suggest for any supplement enthusiasts in this space. The tools we have access to now are lightyears ahead of where they were even just one year ago. I can only imagine what will happen in another year.

I can also suggest Perplexity Deep Research. Be sure to check the box to look at scientific studies when you do it, and ensure you are doing a deep research search, to ensure it is pulling from the right places. However, this will go into a lot more detail that you can then followup on in the thread. Perplexity Pro is only $20 per month, and I can tell you it is absolutely worth it for people asking questions like you are.

Here is a Perplexity Deep Research thread on the same question we have been looking at: https://www.perplexity.ai/search/does-tongkat-ali-increase-test-n4KrnO_RRyGRxDIinxnyEg#0

I am hoping that efforts like ours to tie product claims into scientific research, then transparently sharing that data with consumers, will result in some change to this industry. Most brands in this space are liars, cheats, and frauds. It can be difficult for an average consumer to cut through the bullshit. However, with the tools we have now, it can be a lot easier than in the past. Don't trust any one single source. Use multiple methods and platforms for doing your research, and ask questions of the brands you are buying from. It's your right as a consumer to know these things. Don't let any supplement band gaslight you into thinking otherwise. It's your health, and these things matter. Only buy from brands that realize that and take it seriously.