How Peakspan Works

How we choose what to cover

Every piece of content maps to one of five pillars: Move, Measure, Eat, Recover, or Explore. We pick topics based on three questions:

1. Does the reader gain a specific capability or insight they didn't have before?
2. Is there enough evidence to say something useful — even if the evidence is incomplete?
3. Can we give a clear recommendation, a clear caveat, or both?

If the answer to all three is yes, we write. If the answer to the second one is "not yet," it goes to the Frontier section and gets labeled accordingly.

We do not cover topics solely because they trend, because a partner asked us to, or because they generate clicks. Some articles contain affiliate links. Some don't. The editorial decision comes first.

Evidence tiers

We don't pretend every piece of advice sits on the same scientific foundation. Every protocol carries an evidence tier — the same labels you'll see on the Protocols page and in our Frontier pieces:

• Established — Strong, consistent human evidence. Do this. We say: "Research consistently shows."
• Emerging — Real evidence, but early or still filling in. Reasonable to adopt. We say: "Studies suggest," or "early evidence indicates."
• Contested — Mixed or debated. Worth trying, but don't treat it as settled — and we say plainly where the disagreement is.
• Speculative — Little or no human evidence yet. Watch it; don't buy in. This is where most Frontier ideas sit.
• Skip — Widely promoted, but the available evidence doesn't support it for most people. We say: "Skip this." And we explain why.

The Skip tier is sacred. It's the reason you can trust the rest.

The Lookout

Every Field Guide and Frontier article ends with a section called The Lookout. This is the scan from the highest vantage point the evidence reaches — what's visible, what's obscured, and what the reader should do with the information.

In a Field Guide, the Lookout says: clear trail, marked route. In a Frontier piece, it says: shapes on the horizon, can't confirm yet. The name matters — it earns trust by what it reports, not by promising sincerity.

How we handle products and affiliate links

We recommend products we've researched, and in most cases, used. Every product on the site carries a verification status:

• Personally used — A member of the Peakspan team has used this product for a meaningful period.
• Certification verified — We've confirmed the product's third-party testing claims (NSF, Informed Sport, etc.) against the certifying body's public database.
• Expert reviewed — A named expert we cite has publicly reviewed or recommended this product.
• Editorially researched — We've reviewed available evidence, manufacturer claims, and user reports but haven't personally tested it.
• Included for context — We include this product because it's relevant to the topic, but we haven't verified it beyond manufacturer claims.

Some of these links earn us a commission. Some don't. The affiliate disclosure page explains the details. We will never remove a Skip rating, upgrade an evidence tier, or recommend a product we don't believe in because of a commercial relationship. If that means leaving money on the table, we leave it.

Sources and citations

Field Guides include a Sources section linking to the studies, expert resources, and data we drew from. We aim for primary sources — published studies, expert interviews, manufacturer documentation — rather than secondhand summaries.

We are not a medical journal. We don't require randomized controlled trials for every recommendation. But we do require that claims are traceable to a specific source, and that the reader can find that source and evaluate it themselves.

Where a claim rests on a single study, we say so. Where the evidence is mixed, we say that too. Where we're drawing on personal experience rather than published data, we label it.

Corrections and revisions

We get things wrong. When we do:

• Factual errors are corrected and the correction is noted at the top of the article with the date.
• Evidence updates (a new study changes the picture) are incorporated into the article, and the "Date reviewed" in the evidence note is updated.
• Product changes (a product we recommended is reformulated, recalled, or loses certification) are updated in both the article and the Tools page.

If you spot an error, let us know through our contact page with the article URL and what you think is wrong. We'll get back to you.

Who writes this

Peakspan Society is a small editorial operation, not a newsroom. Content is published under "The Peakspan Desk." We use AI tools to assist with research synthesis, formatting, and audio production. AI does not decide what we recommend, what tier a protocol receives, or whether a product earns a place on the site. The editorial judgment — what to cover, what to recommend, what to skip, and what to correct — is human.

We don't currently have a medical advisory board. We are not physicians. Our content is educational, not medical advice. When a topic crosses into territory where a reader should talk to a clinician, we say so explicitly.