How We Research

How every article is made, how we grade evidence, and how we use AI. No black boxes.

Our process

  1. Start with a real question. Something people actually search for and feel in their lives.
  2. Trace it upstream. We keep asking "what comes before this?" until we reach a mechanism at the level of the cell.
  3. Go to the primary sources. Peer-reviewed studies, reviews and clinical trials, not other blogs.
  4. Grade every claim. Each intervention gets an evidence grade (below).
  5. Explain it simply. Every technical term gets a one-sentence definition and an everyday analogy.
  6. Check before publishing. Every cited study is checked by a human against the original source.

Evidence grades

A: Human trials

Strongest

Randomized controlled trials in people. Even here, we tell you when trials are small or short.

B: Human observational

Suggestive

Studies that watch what people do and how they fare. Useful, but they can't prove cause and effect.

C: Animal studies

Early

Results in mice, worms or other animals. Many don't carry over to humans.

D: Mechanism only

Theoretical

It makes biological sense, or works in cells in a dish, but hasn't been shown to work in living bodies.

How we use AI

We research with the help of AI tools. They help us search the literature, map out how mechanisms connect and draft explanations. But AI makes mistakes, including inventing or mixing up citations. So a human decides what questions to ask, chooses the angle, and checks every cited study against the original before anything is published.

Independence and money

Some articles may in the future include affiliate links. If we earn a commission, we say so clearly on that page. No company can pay to change our conclusions or evidence grades. See our affiliate disclosure.

Corrections and updates

Science moves. We update articles when new evidence arrives and show the "last updated" date on every page. If you spot an error, email hello@upstreamlongevity.com and we'll fix it.

Last updated Nov 7, 2026