News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

richarlidad

Re:Show HN: Do your vitamins work? on Friday September 18, 2026 @07:55PM (#49761844)

Show HN: Do your vitamins work?

https://www.supplementdex.com/supplement-checker

I made a tool you can use to evaluate whether the supplements you buy are really effective?Most of this was made before the age of AI but I struggled with the technical aspect of how to implement it. So, before when people I knew asked me about supplements i'd have to answer them 1 by 1. Now I tell them to use the checker.You can request a specific supplement or brand to be researched in our...

( Read More... | 1 comment | on HN )
Re:Ask HN: What are you working on? (September 2026) on Monday September 14, 2026 @08:20AM (#49695630)
https://supplementdex.com - do ya supplements work? do they?
Re:Ask HN: What are you working on? (May 2026) on Sunday May 10, 2026 @07:51PM (#48089376)
supplementdex.com - we read (every study) to provide clinical decision support for practitioners wanting to learn about dietary supplements

tldr: we help you find good supplement

trying to become bloomberg by selling to institutions
Re:Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (April 2026) on Sunday April 12, 2026 @07:34PM (#47745633)
https://supplementdex.com

Ever been recommended supplements? Now you can find out if they work

Re:Ask HN: What are you building that's not AI related? on Thursday April 09, 2026 @04:45AM (#47700900)
https://SupplementDEX.com - helping people find out if their supplements work
Re:The Cult of Costco on Friday March 20, 2026 @01:47AM (#47450949)
There's a famous story about the old Costco CEO saying he would kill the person who raised the price of the hot dog combo. But years before that when Costco was entering talks to enter China..someone wanted a $30,000 bribe and it pissed Jim Sinegal off so much he didn't enter the Chinese market for decades..

Show HN: SupplementDEX – The Evidence-Based Supplement Database

https://supplementdex.com/

Hi this is a work in progress but it works to determine supplement efficacy for 500 conditions at the moment.Things you can do:- search for a condition -> find which supplements are effective -> see which studies indicate they are effective -> read individual study summaries- search for a supplement -> see effectiveness table, dosing, safety, dietary sources, mechanisms of action (+...

( Read More... | 2 comments | on HN )
This is so good! How did you get the first messages onboard?
Re:Two days of oatmeal reduce cholesterol level on Friday January 30, 2026 @07:08AM (#46823516)
Huh, but biome works here.
Re:Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (December 2025) on Monday December 15, 2025 @05:45AM (#46272764)
supplementdex.com - scientific supplement breakdowns + lab tested dietary supplements,
Re:Vitamin C Boosts Epidermal Growth via DNA Demethylation on Thursday July 03, 2025 @07:10AM (#44453808)
Vitamin C’s relationship with cancer risk appears complex and context-dependent. While maintaining adequate blood levels (≥60.19 μmol/L) is associated with reduced cancer mortality, supplementation may increase postmenopausal breast cancer risk by 32% in women with already high dietary intake. This suggests a U-shaped relationship where both deficiency and excess may be detrimental, emphasizing the importance of personalized approaches to vitamin C intake.

See: https://inspectsupplement.com/vitamin-c/#Cancer

Re:Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (June 2025) on Sunday June 29, 2025 @06:36PM (#44417217)
https://inspectsupplement.com/

clinical summaries of dietary supplements

Re:Make little apps for you and your friends on Wednesday June 18, 2025 @02:11AM (#44307072)
I love this.
Cash rules everything around me.
Re:Scientific Papers: Innovation or Imitation? on Tuesday June 10, 2025 @02:06AM (#44233145)
Imitation precedes creation.

Show HN: I made a tool that tells you if your dietary supplements work

https://inspectsupplement.com/

I made a tool that tells you if your supplements work.Some features:A table of RCTs you can sort by effectiveness & condition.Study breakdowns of each study in the table (summarised by me, not AI). Dose, effectiveness, participants & study details. https://inspectsupplement.com/supplements/Mechanisms of action for each supplement.Commercial product data table for data...

( Read More... | no comments | 2 points | on HN )
Even though it is water soluble, yes it can accumulate, especially at the higher doses found in supplements. The primary way this happens is via unaware supplementation. Usually people are unaware that their product contains b6 - it's in a lot of products that are not advertised to contain it.

So even though it is water soluble it can still accumulate when taken at these high doses. Most supplements contain pyridoxine, which can acumulate and damage peripheral nerves. Indeed the form of B6 is important, and manufacturers take advantage of the fact that consumers (and medical practitioners) are unaware of the difference. Taking P-5-P may be less risky than pyridoxine hydrochloride, a cheaper option that is included in most supplements.

Replying to my own comment: I've also removed the paywall on the magnesium article since someone in the thread mentioned it

Link: https://inspectsupplement.com/magnesium/

This makes sense when you consider the role that magnesium has in the body - it's involved in a lot of reactions, either directly or as a cofactor.

In fact, ATP exists typically as MG-ATP in the body.

Severe Deficiency is rare (or rarely diagnosed i should say) because the body maintains serum magnesium levels at the expense of skeletal mg.

I've removed paywall.
This is the mechanism of action:

Vitamin B6 is an antioxidant and coenzyme involved in amino acid, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. Humans cannot directly produce active vitamin B6 (pyrixodal phosphate). However, salvage pathways allow the enzymatic conversion of vitamin B6 vitamers, including pyridoxine, pyridoxal and pyridoxamine by the enzyme pyridoxal kinase, into active vitamin B6.

In the body, active vitamin B6 is involved in metabolic reactions including GABA synthesis, monoamine neurotransmitter metabolism, the metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids and phospholipids, amino acid metabolism and the conversion of tryptophan to niacin.

Vitamin B6 reduces homocysteine levels by acting as a coenzyme for both cystathionine-beta-synthase (CBS) and cystathionine-gamma-lyase (CSE) in the transsulfuration pathway following a postprandial methionine-load (after a meal). In the fasting state, homocysteine is primarily metabolised via the remethylation pathway which does not require vitamin B6.

In the transsulfuration pathway, homocysteine is converted to cystathionine by CBS, then to cysteine by CSE. During moderate vitamin B6 deficiency, CSE exhibits much greater loss of activity compared to CBS. However cysteine production is preserved due to an accumulation of cellular and plasma cystathionine in a larger substrate pool which compensates for reduced CSE activity. As CBS is a vitamin B6-dependent enzyme, CBS deficiency (typically genetic causes) can result in elevated fasting and post-methionine load homocysteine due to impaired synthesis of cystathionine from homocysteine. Elevated homocysteine levels increase oxidative stress, may inhibit nitric oxide synthesis, increase vascular endothelial cell damage and accelerate low-density lipoprotein (LDL) deposition in arteries.

Vitamin B6 may significantly decrease the rate of formation of kidney stones in patients with type I primary hyperoxaluria, a condition caused by a deficiency of the liver-specific enzyme alanine-glyoxylate:aminotransferase by reducing levels of urinary oxalate. The protective effect of vitamin B6 supplementation for kidney stones appears to only occur in women (-34% risk) and not men.

Serious side effects from long term high dose vitamin B6 include peripheral neuropathy. Doses exceeding 500 to 1000 mg per day pose the greatest risk but prolonged intake of lower doses may also result in this side effect. The Therapeutic Goods Association of Australia has found that peripheral neuropathy can occur at doses of less than 50 mg.

In pregnant adult women, vitamin B6 is likely safe at a dose of up to 100 mg per day. In adolescent pregnancy, vitamin B6 is likely safe at a dose of up to 80 mg per day.

In lactating adult women, vitamin B6 is likely safe at a dose of up to 100 mg per day. In adolescents who are lactating, vitamin B6 is likely safe at a dose of up to 80 mg per day.

In children, vitamin B6 is likely safe at a daily dose of 30 mg (1-3 yrs), 40 mg (4-8 yrs), 60 mg (9-13 yrs) and 80 mg (14-18 yrs).

The likelihood of side effects increases at doses higher than 200 mg per day.

In 2023, the European Food Safety Authority set an upper limit of vitamin B6 of 12 mg per day for adults, and 2.2 to 10.7 mg per day for infants and children.

Source: https://inspectsupplement.com/vitamin-b6 (Edited Note: My Website)

Re:Retool Database on Thursday March 30, 2023 @09:02PM (#35380984)
I think this will be a killer feature - thanks guys
Re:Retool Database on Thursday March 30, 2023 @06:23PM (#35379627)
Thanks - this will improve my life
Establishing trust is difficult as third-party. Having applied to YC with this idea last batch I believe there's potential
Appreciate it (replying to both this and the parent) but I think the comments have been pretty friendly so far :). And mostly useful feedback on things I have considered.

Older »