How we rate evidence
The four strength ratings Appetune uses on research briefs, what each one means, and how nutrition figures are calculated.
Nutrition evidence is uneven. Some questions have decades of consistent work behind them; others have three small studies and a lot of confident writing. Presenting both in the same voice is misleading, so every Appetune research brief carries a rating.
The four ratings
Strong — consistent findings across multiple good-quality studies, with no serious disagreement in the literature. Unlikely to reverse.
Moderate — supported, with real limitations. The direction is reasonably clear; the size of the effect, the right population, or the exact target is not.
Limited — thin, mixed, or indirect. Worth knowing about; not worth reorganising your eating around.
Emerging — early work. Interesting, plausible, and not settled. Reported because you will encounter the claim elsewhere and deserve to know how new it is.
What every brief must state
- The question, in the form a reader would actually ask it.
- Who it was studied in. A finding in supervised trial participants is not automatically a finding in someone eating a third of their usual volume.
- What is uncertain. Not a disclaimer at the bottom — a labelled part of the summary, in berry, at the top.
If we cannot state who a finding applies to, we do not publish the finding.
Extrapolation is labelled
A great deal of what is written about nutrition during GLP-1 treatment is extrapolated from research that predates it. Extrapolation is sometimes the best available reasoning, but it is not the same as evidence, and Appetune labels it as extrapolation wherever it appears.
How nutrition figures are calculated
Food values come from structured public food-composition records rather than estimates, calculated against the specific ingredients and weights a recipe lists. A recipe stays in draft until its figures have been recalculated and checked; while it is in draft, its figures are labelled illustrative and should not be relied on.
When we change our mind
An updated rating is a normal outcome, not an embarrassment. Changes are dated on the page and, where the substance changed, noted in corrections.
Last updated
Uncertainty stated, not buried.
See how the ratings read on an actual brief.