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Evidence Based Longevity (EBL)
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Reproductive

Fertility, PCOS and Reproductive Health

11 entries are commonly sold for this. EBL grades them from A to D on published human trials. This page is a map to those grades, not a substitute for them.

Fertility is one of the few areas in this field with a genuinely hard endpoint An outcome that matters directly to a person and is counted without judgment, such as death, heart attack, stroke or fracture. available: a live birth. Most supplement trials here stop well short of it and measure a hormone, an ovulation rate or an egg count instead.

Two features of the grading system matter on a page like this. A grade attaches to a use, not to a molecule, so the same compound can carry different letters for different questions. And a grade is capped by the kind of outcome the trials measured: a surrogate marker A lab value or measurement used in place of the outcome that matters, such as LDL cholesterol standing in for heart attacks. Moving a surrogate does not always move the outcome. or a self-reported score cannot reach Grade A under the EBL rubric no matter how well the trial was run.

Every letter below links to its own page, where the trials, the PMIDs PubMed ID: the permanent number the US National Library of Medicine gives a published paper. Each one links to that paper's record on PubMed. and the reasons for the ceiling are set out in full.

Inositol (Myo-inositol)

Insulin resistance and reproductive measures in PCOS
B

Graded B for this use.

Grade basis and citations →

Panax Ginseng

Erectile function
C

Graded C for this use.

Grade basis and citations →

Tongkat Ali (Eurycoma longifolia)

Testosterone and related hormone measures
C

Graded C for this use.

Grade basis and citations →

DIM (Diindolylmethane)

Estrogen metabolism and related biomarkers
C

Graded C for this use.

Grade basis and citations →

CoQ10 (Ubiquinol)

Not graded for this use
NG

Graded B for chronic heart failure, adjunct to standard therapy, which is a different question. No separately graded use covers this topic.

Grade basis and citations →

Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALCAR)

Not graded for this use
NG

Graded C for cognitive aging and neuropathy, which is a different question. No separately graded use covers this topic.

Grade basis and citations →

NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine)

Not graded for this use
NG

Graded C for glutathione precursor and insulin sensitivity, which is a different question. No separately graded use covers this topic.

Grade basis and citations →

Omega-3. High-dose EPA (icosapent ethyl, 4 g)

Not graded for this use
NG

Graded B for major adverse cardiovascular events at 4 g icosapent ethyl, which is a different question. No separately graded use covers this topic.

Grade basis and citations →

Vitamin D3

Not graded for this use
NG

Graded C for fall prevention and respiratory infection, which are different questions. No separately graded use covers this topic.

Grade basis and citations →

Zinc

Not graded for this use
NG

Graded B for common cold duration and deficiency, which is a different question. No separately graded use covers this topic.

Grade basis and citations →

Folic Acid (supplemental, 1 mg/day)

Not graded for this use
NG

Graded D for colorectal adenoma prevention, which is a different question. No separately graded use covers this topic. That letter is not about the periconceptional folate evidence a reader may have in mind here, which concerns a different dose schedule and a different population and is not graded on this page.

Grade basis and citations →
Grades that do not transfer

7 of the entries above carry a letter earned answering a different question. The grade is real; it is simply not about this topic. EBL does not restate those letters on the badges above, because a badge is read faster than a sentence and a letter next to a name is taken as a verdict about that name. No separately graded use covers reproductive for these:

  • CoQ10 (Ubiquinol): graded B for chronic heart failure, adjunct A treatment tested on top of standard prescribed therapy rather than in place of it. to standard therapy.
  • Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALCAR): graded B for mitochondrial fatty acid transport and cognitive aging.
  • NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine): graded C for glutathione precursor and insulin sensitivity.
  • Omega-3. High-dose EPA (icosapent ethyl, 4 g): graded A for major adverse cardiovascular events at 4 g icosapent ethyl.
  • Vitamin D3: graded B for deficiency correction and fracture risk.
  • Zinc: graded B for common cold duration and deficiency.
  • Folic Acid (supplemental, 1 mg/day): graded D for colorectal adenoma prevention.
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Every graded supplement
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Why one supplement has more than one grade
Method
How grades are assigned