Editorial Policy

NAD Picks covers one molecule and every way it is sold — injection, IV, nasal spray, patch and oral precursor. This is how we decide what goes on a page. It sits alongside our methodology (the scoring rubric), nature of reviews (what can and cannot move a verdict), and our disclosures (how we are paid).

1. Evidence does not transfer between formats

This is the rule that does the most work on this site, because the whole category is built on ignoring it. Oral NAD⁺ precursors have randomized human trials showing they raise blood NAD⁺. Injections, IV drips, nasal sprays and transdermal patches do not have that evidence for themselves, and a seller citing the oral trials on a patch page is not offering evidence for the patch.

So we grade each format on its own data. Where a format has no published human trial, we say there is none and we say what we searched to establish that — an absence claim is worth nothing without the census behind it. Where the evidence is a biomarker rather than an outcome, we name which one it is. Raising a blood level is a measurement, not a benefit, and this category routinely sells the first as the second.

2. Primary sources, and no marketing language

Every factual claim traces to the trial publication, the FDA or DailyMed label, or the paper of record. Press releases, program descriptions, affiliate one-sheets and AI-generated summaries are not evidence. We report effect sizes, intervals and durations rather than adjectives.

We also do not repeat a seller’s claims in our own voice. “Clinically proven”, “scientifically proven” and “the fountain of youth peptide” are phrases we have read on real NAD⁺ product pages this year. When we quote one it is in quotation marks and attributed, because it is a fact about the seller, not about the molecule.

3. Citations are verified live, never from memory

Before publication every reference is checked against the source of record — PubMed, DailyMed, ClinicalTrials.gov or the journal — to confirm the authors, the year, the journal and the specific figure being cited. A citation that cannot be located and confirmed does not publish, and a plausible-looking reference written from memory is treated as a fabrication rather than a shortcut.

4. Prices are read off the seller’s page, and dated

Not from a program description, not from an affiliate feed. Those routinely disagree with the live page, and in a cash-pay compounded market the live page is the only thing a reader can actually buy from. Each price carries the month it was read, because it will change and you should be able to tell how old ours is.

Where a seller does not publish a milligram dose — which is most of them — we report that as a finding rather than quietly comparing prices as if it did not matter. A monthly rate is not a value judgment until you know what you get for it.

5. Pen names, disclosed as such

Our writers publish under consistent pen names, a normal practice in science and health journalism, so work is judged on its sourcing. We state plainly that they are pen names; each one’s page says so in its first sentence, and we do not attach credentials, degrees or institutional affiliations to them. A stable byline means a stable beat — the same name always covers the same ground. The masthead is on our writers page.

6. No clinician on staff, and we will not imply otherwise

NAD Picks does not have a licensed clinician as a named medical reviewer. We do not claim individualized clinical review and we do not present any of this as care guidance. Our standard is primary-source verification, disclosed rather than dressed up — which is also why a medical disclaimer appears on our health content. Saying so costs us something in perceived authority; claiming a reviewer we do not have would cost you more.

7. AI assistance

Where drafting tools including AI are used, the output is a draft and nothing more. Every claim is then verified by a human against the primary literature by the process above. Editorial responsibility for accuracy rests entirely with us, and an AI summary is never a source of fact.

8. Corrections

We fix errors in public and date the change. If you find a misread figure, a stale price or a broken source link, see our corrections policy or write to editorial@nadpicks.com.