[Examine Newsletter] July 2022 Updates

See what's new on Examine for the past month!  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [Examine]( [View in browser](=) Hello! Here’s your recap of Examine's July 2022 updates. 📧 Reminder: If you would like to switch back to weekly emails instead of a monthly newsletter — just [click here](). Examine 2.0 is almost here! 🚀 [Click here to get on the Earlybird list](=) for bigger savings, early access, and a chance to win a lifetime membership! We’ve rebuilt our website from scratch. All the evidence we’ve gathered since 2011 is now organized around health conditions and goals, with grades for supplements and other health interventions. --------------------------------------------------------------- 📅 Top 5 Study Summaries for July July 28, 2022 Every month, we summarize 150+ recent studies for our [Examine Members](). You can read five of this month’s most favorited Study Summaries for free by clicking on the links below. The Study Summary marked with is also an Editor’s Pick — it provides more details about the study, mentions related studies, and includes helpful graphics. [Could betaine help you set a new personal gym record?](=) In this 14-day randomized crossover trial in athletic teenage boys, betaine improved resistance-exercise performance, raised total testosterone, and lowered cortisol and lactate. [More alcohol, smaller brains](=) In this cohort study of healthy middle-aged or older adults, decreases in brain volume were detected with as little as 1–2 drinks per day. The greater the alcohol intake, the greater the decrease in brain volume. [More fruit and veggies, less stress]( In this cross-sectional study, eating more fruit and vegetables was linked to lower stress. The greatest benefit (a stress reduction of 16–36%) was seen with a combined intake of at least 400 grams per day. [Be mindful of your sleep]( This meta-analysis of 10 randomized controlled trials found that mindfulness-based interventions improved the sleep quality of adults with depression or anxiety disorders. Some types of interventions worked better than others. [Alleviating mental fatigue: What works?]( This systematic review of 33 studies assessed various ways (caffeine, naps, exercise, sensory stimuli, etc.) of reducing the symptoms of mental fatigue. You can also check out the [most-favorited summaries from previous months](=).🔥 — So, did you find something of interest? If not, please reply to this email to let me know which topics you’d like us to tackle. And if you’re ready to stay on top of the latest research, consider becoming an Examine Member (with a [free two-week trial]()). --------------------------------------------------------------- 🍽️ Eat less fat, make less T? July 7, 2022 “Low-fat diets kill your testosterone, bro!” The claim that eating less fat means producing less T was investigated in a 2021 meta-analysis of 6 trials (which had enrolled 206 healthy men, total). Here’s our analysis of that study: [Lower fat intake, lower testosterone levels?]( Spoiler: The trials didn’t all reach the same conclusion. Genetics and the type of dietary fat may affect the results. Future research will need to explore these two factors. We’ll keep our eyes out and keep you updated! --------------------------------------------------------------- Examine Episode IV: A New Hope July 3, 2022 The brand-new, dramatically improved Examine 2.0 is launching in August! 🚀 For the past couple of years, we’ve been hard at work assembling a site that’s faster and sturdier (the underlying code is all new), with a much clearer interface and better-organized, more useful information. And a much improved search function! Want early access, bigger savings, and a chance to win a lifetime membership? [Click here to get on the Earlybird list!](=) In the weeks leading up to the launch, I wanted to give you some context by answering this question: What led up to Examine 2.0, and what can you expect from it? This email is the first of three weekly episodes (IV, V, and VI) revealing hitherto untold secrets about the birth and growth, successes and setbacks, and troubles and tribulations of the band of rebels known as Examine. Eleven years ago, the galaxy was devoid of unbiased supplement information Would you trust supplement and nutrition information from a website that also sold supplements? In 2011, the only websites with widely accessible supplement information were also selling supplements with names like Savage Muscle Builder 3000 and PreWorkout VeinPopper Deluxe. We don’t want to mention actual products, but these names aren’t far off. Research nerds used forums, and some accessed PubMed directly, but papers were (and still are) locked behind paywalls. Government websites were rarely used due to subpar design. Wikipedia articles on supplements were sparse and seldom updated. A band of rebels called Examine started hatching a plan My friend Sol Orwell, co-founder of Examine, had developed bad eating habits in the early part of his entrepreneurial career. He was eventually able to access and use scientific studies to get back down to a healthy weight without fad diets or supplements. His efforts were even covered in [People Magazine]()! As someone who had been sucked into supplement hype at the start of his weight-loss journey, Sol wanted to help others separate the wheat from the chaff. He had the foresight to nab a perfect domain name — Examine.com — and the morals to use that name for a noble purpose. The easy route would have been to get funded through venture capital, build fast, accrue revenue by selling supplements or ad space, and then sell out to a big company. Luckily, Sol didn’t take that route. Just a sec, though. Every Han Solo needs his Chewbakamal, right? Before meeting Sol, I worked at an academic hospital, in an evidence-synthesis center. On the side, I also ran a small website that covered the evidence behind pain reduction strategies — I have a painful genetic connective-tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), and if others were hurting like I was, I wanted to help, even if indirectly. Sol stumbled across my website because he has EDS too. Eventually, we built the Examine team out with like-minded people: curious science nerds who were, most importantly, kind-hearted and driven to help others. Our plan was to combat the misinformation rampant on the web, by incrementally growing our research database while we paid the bills through the sale of PDF products. As is still the case, Sol handled the tech and business sides, and I the research side. He’s bold and I’m shy, but we’re both persistent, a trait that’s needed for an independent research-focused website in a galaxy of misinformation. Our heroes fight valiantly. But will it be enough? In the first few years, the Dark Side kept trying to seduce us. It wasn’t easy to make money without selling ad space, supplements, or diet plans. The website was getting rickety, due to all the custom code that went into it. Complex web development to fix it was too expensive, and we had essentially zero marketing budget to bolster our revenue. Wouldn’t it be better to give in and link to third-party supplement stores, instead of only selling unbiased PDF products that barely kept us afloat? It wouldn’t be like recommending specific supplements, or even like promoting specific brands, so maybe it would be OK? Right? Right?... But if you need to ask yourself this kind of question, the answer is usually no. As a wise being once said, a long, long time ago, “Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you it will.” And so we held firm. And with time, things started to look up. As people like you came to realize they couldn’t trust supplement information provided by websites that profited from supplement sales, they turned to us. Little by little, our revenue grew, along with the size of our team and the quality of the evidence we offered. By not selling out, we had managed to create a virtuous circle. In 2017, the future looked bright. And then, in 2018, Examine’s ambitions were thwarted. There were small blunders. There was an epic battle. And we’ll tell you all about it in Episode V. --------------------------------------------------------------- Examine Episode V: The Search Engine Strikes Back July 14, 2022 Last we saw them, our ragtag group of heroes were filled with moxie. It was 2017, and the Force was with Examine. The plucky, independent website was recognized throughout the galaxy for its part in fighting the Misinformation Wars, and it was rocketing to the top of Google’s search results. And then, in 2018 and 2019, Google made tweaks to its search algorithm that caused Examine to very nearly crash and burn. 🚀 Examine 2.0 is prepping for launch, and we’re eager to welcome you on board. For bigger savings and a chance to win a lifetime membership, [click here to get on the Earlybird list!](=) We felt a great disturbance in the Force In theory, all a website needs in order to get greater exposure is better content. Better content ⇒ more visitors ⇒ higher placement in search results ⇒ more visitors ⇒ etc. If you keep publishing good content, you keep feeding this virtuous circle. In theory. In practice, a website’s fate is determined by secretive search algorithms. Tweaks to the algorithms are never explained and can have dire consequences for independent websites, even those that produce content of the highest quality. And when it comes to search engines, Google is the Emperor, [with a 92% market share](. In essence, this means that if Google decides to pretend you don’t exist, you soon … don’t. In 2016, a “general” tweak to Google’s search algorithm caused our first drop in our search ranking (and thus visibility), but we clawed our way back up. In 2018, however, Google started making tweaks specifically to clamp down on health websites peddling misinformation. It should have been great news: [bonebrothcuresall.com]( would get downranked, and Examine would soar! Instead, [this happened](): [Visibility index for examine.com showing how Google search engine updates affected Examine's search rankings. ](=) Source: Johannes Beus. [“The Fall of Examine.com – Is Google Allowed an Opinion?”](=) Sistrix Blog. August 14, 2019. We managed to recover from the 2018 tweak, but the 2019 tweak made us nearly invisible on Google. Most of the new visitors we got at that point found us via word of mouth and from Reddit, forums, and blogs. It was never explained to us why we were hit that way, but we suspect that Google’s algorithm saw that we had pages such as “[Do you need to detox?](” and concluded we were propagating health myths, while in fact we were debunking them. Google’s tweaks didn’t affect academic and government websites, or websites owned by large corporations. But small, independent companies like us were hit hard, and many didn’t survive. The Rebellion was in disarray It would be easy to blame Google for all our woes, but in truth, some were of our own making. We started as a website focused on bodybuilding supplements, and when we outgrew our initial project, we did it … haphazardly. What we should have done:Sit down and plan how Examine would expand into other areas of health. What we did:Just start adding pages. That’s why some sections of Examine were such a mess — why, for instance, the keto diet is classified as a “supplement”; why we have half a dozen separate pages on testosterone; and why the Study Summaries are well organized on their own … but are completely separate from the rest of the website. The content itself is solid, mind you. Everything we published was researched and triple-checked. But we clearly weren’t as rigorous when it came to presenting, organizing, and connecting everything we published. And so, ironically, the more content we added, the harder it became for our visitors to find the information they needed. Examine was turning from a treasure trove to a treasure hunt. Stuck in carbonite? New tweaks to Google’s search engine algorithm gave us back some of the lost traffic, but we’re still far from our peak. Still, unlike many websites good and not, we did survive. Because we stuck to our strength (thorough, unbiased research), our readers stuck with us, and little by little we managed to build up some room to breathe again. Until, in 2019, we were able to start planning our Return. Stay tuned for Episode VI, to see if our heroes will fail, prevail, or subject you to a series of inane prequels. --------------------------------------------------------------- Examine Episode VI: Return of the Researcher July 21, 2022 In 2018 and 2019, Google made tweaks to its search algorithm that decimated Examine’s traffic. Yet over the three years since, [our team]( has tripled in size, and we’re now getting ready for the launch of Examine 2.0. How did we not only survive, but thrive? Did we fly to a swamp planet and train under a wisecracking old master? <(°.°)> Or did we join the Dark Side and start peddling supplements? /▽皿▽\ The call of the Dark Side Our plight didn’t go unnoticed, and we received a flood of suggestions. Some were sound, but many others didn’t fit Examine’s ethos. Here are three examples of the latter: “Put third-party ads on your site.” No can do. Not just because ads are annoying, but because we’d lose our independence. When your income depends on other companies being happy with you, it influences what you write, whether you’re aware of it or not. “We’d like to offer you venture capital funding.” Venture capital isn’t inherently bad, but we decided to decline these offers. Accepting them could have led us to start prioritizing profit over quality. Imagine, not a leap into the Dark Side, but one small step after the other: our funders might first push for flashier headlines, then for more cursory analysis, then before we know it … we’d be Examine no longer. “Pssst! I can sell you a list!” Still now, once a month at least, people try to sell us thousands of email addresses — huge lists of healthcare providers we could contact (i.e., spam) about our products! Oh. Joy. Hard pass. Quicker, easier, more seductive … such is the Dark Side. Instead, we went the slow and steady route. Since we couldn’t reduce the quality of our analyses, we had to reduce their quantity, even though it meant further reducing our site traffic. And we cut costs where we could. We gave up on several projects. And we streamlined our product offering — which proved to be the first step of our recovery. You must unlearn what you have learned Do you think your general approach to life is just plain wrong? Probably not, or you’d change your approach. But who among us hasn’t ever given more weight to confirmation than to criticism? “Question everything” is our team’s motto. We couldn’t change Google’s algorithms, but we could question and change ourselves. We started by documenting [our biggest mistakes](). We got serious about customer research, spending many, many hours in email and video discussions with our fans and detractors. Then we spent over two years dissecting and rethinking nearly every part of the site and the company. We’re all very analytical; just as we spent many hours discussing with you, we spent many discussing among ourselves, debating big decisions and deliberating small details. It was exhausting … but worth it. In 2020, we streamlined our product offerings into a membership. People liked it. I mean, really liked it. Our website traffic increased (a bit), as did our revenue — which we immediately spent on pizza and cookies. And on researchers 🙂. To write and properly review our Study Summaries, we needed more people. And not just anyone, either: we needed real experts in various fields. That meant reading hundreds of applications and interviewing dozens of qualified applicants, and then training the chosen ones. This kept us extremely busy for over a year, but not in vain: the new blood brought fresh ideas and a needed boost of exuberance, and as they learned the ropes and turned into full-fledged members of the team, we started to have more time than before they joined. Time at last to eat our cookies and to … Use the Force, Examine Streamlining our product offerings was just the first step. We’d learned a lot from you — from the surveys you filled out, the emails you sent telling us what you liked and did not like, and the video chats we had. You basically told us what our next step needed to be! For reasons we confessed in [Episode IV]() and [Episode V](, our website is a mess, inside and out. Inside, a patchwork of new and old code made the site slow, clunky, and easy to break. Outside, the site is a flurry of pages that are, at best, loosely organized. This is going to change. Examine 2.0 is a complete rebuild. It loads faster, looks better, and is easier to navigate — from a computer, tablet, or phone. We’ve revamped the user experience by reorganizing the website around what matters most — your health conditions and goals. A new grading system will make it even easier for you to pinpoint the supplements or other health interventions most likely to benefit you, based on the evidence. Will it be enough to boost our search engine ranking? Who knows! Google’s algorithms are still a secret and still being tweaked, with results we can’t predict. But it’ll be worth it for you—that we can predict. And if you want to try Examine 2.0 early, [click here to flip on your hyperdrive and get on our Earlybird list](=). That will also give you an extra discount if you decide later to become a Member, plus a chance to win a Lifetime Membership. Thank you for staying with me throughout this long email. Thank you for staying with us through our trials and tribulations. We base our work on an ethic of public service instead of maximizing profit at any cost, and without you reading and using our information, and supporting our work, there is no Examine. May the Force be with you. Sincerely, Kamal PatelCo-founder, Examine P.S. This was the last episode of the Examine Saga, but worry not! Next week, we’ll start the prequel, in which I’ll tell you all about my extraordinary birth, my adventurous childhood, and my brooding teenage years. P.P.S. I won’t. Please don’t unsubscribe. Latest on Examine [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [LinkedIn]( [Instagram](=) [Negative calorie foods are foods purported to have fewer calories than the body expends to digest them. However, while some foods do contain very few calories, evidence supporting the existence of negative calorie foods is lacking. ⁠Click to learn more.]()[Each month, we summarize 150+ recent studies for our Members. You can read five of this month’s most favorited Study Summaries 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚 by following the link.](=)[𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 you eat during a meal has been shown to affect 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 you eat during the next meal.⁠⁠This study measured the caloric intake at lunch of people with overweight or obesity after they were given either cereal or two eggs for breakfast.⁠⁠You can read the full Study Summary for free through this link.]([Chronic pain is pain that continues a month or more beyond the usual recovery period for an injury or illness, or that goes on for months or years due to a chronic condition. Constant pain that cannot be sufficiently reduced is often categorized as intractable pain, and can have widespread physiological effects.⁠](=)[Play is a powerful emotional regulator in kids! Elementary-aged children experience less pain and fear during some minor medical procedures when they’re distracted by a simple kaleidoscope.⁠Read the full Study Summary through this link. ]()[Do you listen to music when you work? If so, what type?⁠Join the conversation via our social platforms this link. ]() [About Examine](=) | [Careers](=) | [Member’s Area]( [Free 2-week Membership trial](=) PO Box 592, Station-P, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2T1 [Switch to weekly emails]() | [Opt-out of all emails](