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Field guides

How to read a label like an auditor.

Plain-language guides to the arithmetic behind the ratings — the panel, the doses, the blends, and the price per gram that the shelf tag hides.

Field guide Clinical Doses: What the Research Actually Used The real dose thresholds behind our ratings, with citations, why citrulline malate and L-citrulline aren't interchangeable, and why exceeding a dose isn't a bonus. 5 min · updated 2026-08-20 Field guide Cost Per Gram of Protein: The Only Price That Matters The arithmetic behind cost-per-gram-of-protein comparisons, worked with a real example, and why shelf price and count packaging both mislead on their own. 4 min · updated 2026-08-20 Field guide How to Read a Supplement Facts Panel Serving size versus servings per container, why "per serving" pricing hides the real cost, what %DV means, and what a proprietary blend legally hides. 4 min · updated 2026-08-20 Field guide Proprietary Blends — What They Hide and Why It Matters The mechanics of proprietary blends, a worked example showing why a 750 mg blend can't contain a clinical dose of its headline ingredient, and the honest counterpoint that a blend isn't automatically bad. 5 min · updated 2026-08-20 Field guide What Amino Spiking Is, and How to Spot It How nitrogen-based protein testing can be gamed with free-form amino acids, why glycine and taurine high in an ingredient list are a signal worth checking, and what third-party certification does and doesn't prove. 4 min · updated 2026-08-20