Two questions get collapsed into one on every supplement label. How sure are we that it does anything? is a question about evidence. How much does it do? is a question about size. An aid can score high on one and low on the other, and the most expensive mistakes live in that gap. Map twenty-two common ergogenic aids on both axes, then translate the effect into a number you can actually feel.
The evidence map
Effect size and its interval
Twenty-two ergogenic aidstap one to see what the evidence actually says
The horizontal axis is strength of evidence supporting a performance benefit — not strength of evidence overall. A substance can sit far left because it has been studied hard and come back consistently null, or because almost nobody has studied it. Those are completely different situations and the axis cannot tell them apart, so each entry says which it is.
Which performance measure
Doses shown are the doses the trials used, reported so you can read the literature — they are a description of published protocols, not a recommendation for anyone.
Grades follow the four-group framework used by the Australian Institute of Sport to sort supplements for its own athletes. It is one published system among several, and it grades the evidence, not the substance's worth.
Tap an aid
Evidence score0/ 100
This page describes published evidence. It does not recommend anything to anyone. Effect sizes are approximate central estimates pooled across heterogeneous trials in mostly healthy, mostly trained adults — individual responses vary widely, and several aids on this map have well-documented non-responders. Doses are reported as what the trials administered, not as instructions. Whether any supplement is appropriate for a particular person depends on medical history, medications, pregnancy or lactation, kidney and liver function, age, and competitive testing status — that is a conversation with a qualified clinician or sports dietitian, not a number on a chart. Nutrient supplements that correct a diagnosed deficiency are a clinical decision made on laboratory results, not a performance choice. Nothing here labels any substance, food, or eating pattern as good or bad.