Editorial Standards

This page explains who produces the health and wellness content on TheHealthInstitute.com, where it comes from, how it is sourced, how it is checked, and what we do when we get something wrong. It applies to every article in our health library.

These standards took effect on October 1, 2026. Content published before that date is being reviewed against them and updated on a rolling basis.

Who Is Behind This Content

Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CNS. Founder of The Health Institute, and a doctor of chiropractic, doctor of natural medicine, and certified nutrition specialist. He ran a functional medicine clinic in Nashville, has written multiple books on nutrition and natural health, and hosts The Dr. Josh Axe Show. The cellular health frameworks used across this site came out of that clinical work, and his teaching is a primary source for the health content we publish.

Dr. Will Cole, IFMCP, DNM, DC. Doctor of chiropractic with post-doctoral training in functional medicine and clinical nutrition, and a certified practitioner through the Institute for Functional Medicine. He opened one of the first functional medicine telehealth practices and is a New York Times bestselling author.

Dr. Austin Lake, DPT, AFMC. Doctor of physical therapy with a degree in exercise physiology and post-doctoral board certification in functional medicine through the School of Applied Functional Medicine. He has logged more than 15,000 clinical hours.

Our editorial team. Writers and editors who research, draft, source, and check articles before they publish. They are not clinicians and do not make clinical judgments. Their responsibility is limited to whether an article is accurate, properly sourced, and clearly written.

Every article is published under a named author.

Where Our Content Comes From

Our content draws on the clinical teaching of our practitioners and the published research behind it.

Most articles start from something one of our practitioners has already taught publicly, like on The Dr. Josh Axe Show, in a book, in a course, or in a talk. The frameworks and protocols we write about developed in clinical practice before they were ever written down. When an article describes what tends to happen to thyroid function under prolonged stress, or which markers move first in early insulin resistance, that is a pattern observed across patients and lab work over years of practice. Our writers work from that material and then check it against the published literature.

Research findings are cited to the study they came from. Clinical experience is labeled as clinical experience and attributed to the practitioner it came from. We do not present practice experience as published evidence, and we do not attach a citation to an observation in a way that makes it look like a trial result.

How An Article Is Made

Every article moves through the same four stages.

1. Topic selection. Topics are chosen based on the questions our practitioners get asked most often and on what readers are searching for. Sponsored articles are the exception and are labeled as sponsored on the page.

2. Drafting. The writer drafts the article, applying the clinical framework as the practitioner has taught it. Sources come from our internal citation library, described below, and from targeted searches of PubMed and the primary literature for anything the library does not cover. Every claim in the draft carries a numbered citation to a specific source.

3. Editorial check. Before an article is published, we check its factual claims against the sources cited. Anything that cannot be traced to a source is removed rather than softened.

4. Publication and updates. Published articles carry the author, the publication date, and the last updated date. We do not treat a published article as finished.

Our Sourcing Standards

We use the strongest available evidence for each claim, ranked in this order.

1. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials

2. Randomized controlled trials in peer-reviewed journals

3. Cohort, observational, and mechanistic studies in peer-reviewed journals

4. Government health agencies, including the NIH, CDC, FDA, and USDA

5. Professional medical bodies such as the Endocrine Society and the American Gastroenterological Association

6. Clinical practice experience, always identified as such

Every study we cite links to the original paper on PubMed, the journal, or the agency that published it. Citations name the author, the title, the journal, and the year so a reader can check our work. Numbered citations in the body match the source list at the end of each article, in both directions. Every citation resolves to a listed source, and every listed source is cited somewhere in the article.

Our Citation Library

We maintain an internal library of vetted sources, organized by clinical topic. Writers can draw from it rather than researching each topic from scratch, and usually prefer to, which helps keep the evidence standard consistent across the site instead of varying by writer. Each entry records the study type, the journal, the year, the sample, the plain-language finding with its caveats, and the PMID or DOI.

When we weigh a study, we do our best to look at who funded it, how it was designed, how many people were in it, how long it ran, what it measured, and whether anyone has replicated it. A large independent trial can carry a claim on its own. A small or industry-funded one is cited with its limits attached. Animal and test-tube research is used for background and mechanism, not to support a claim about what something does in humans.

Negative And Null Findings

Our citation library includes studies that cut against positions we hold or that readers expect us to hold, including trials where a popular supplement or intervention failed to show a benefit. Those studies get cited too.

When strong evidence contradicts a popular claim, we report it, including when the claim is one we have made before.

How We Describe Evidence Strength

Where an article presents a benefit, a supplement, or a protocol, we say plainly how strong the evidence behind it is. Animal and test-tube findings are described as animal and test-tube findings, not placed alongside human trial results as though the two carried equal weight. Where the research is thin, we say so, and a single small trial is described as a single small trial rather than as settled evidence.

How We Use AI Tools

We use AI-assisted tools in research, drafting, and quality checking, within the following limits.

• Any citation that cannot be traced to a real, findable study by a member of our staff, is removed.

• No article is published based on AI output alone. A person edits and checks every article before it goes live.

• Clinical frameworks, dose guidance, and safety language come from our practitioners' own teaching and published work, not from a model.

• We do not publish AI-generated practitioner quotes, AI-generated clinical experience, or AI-generated author biographies. When a practitioner is quoted describing something they saw in practice, that is their experimce, not an AI’s fabrication.

How We Handle Claims Conventional Medicine Does Not Accept

Functional medicine works with concepts conventional medicine has not adopted. Adrenal fatigue is the clearest example, a symptom pattern many practitioners recognize that conventional endocrinology does not accept as a diagnosis.

We think these concepts are worth writing about, and readers deserve to know where each one stands. The following rules apply whenever one appears.

• When a concept is not recognized by conventional medicine, we say so in the article, in plain language, near the top, and we do out best to acknowledge what the mainstream position is.

• We separate what research supports from what practitioners observe, and label which is which.

• We describe an association as an association and do not convert "linked to" into "causes."

• We do not say that a food, supplement, or protocol treats, cures, reverses, or heals a diagnosed disease.

• We do not invent numbers. If no study has quantified something, we describe it qualitatively rather than attaching a figure with no source behind it.

Safety Rules

These apply to every article regardless of topic.

• On the few times that an article gives a dose range, that range comes from published human research and maybe be enhanced by the authoring doctor’s recommendation, and readers are told to check with their own doctor before starting anything.

• Anything touching prescribed medication points the reader back to their prescriber. We never suggest stopping or adjusting a prescription.

• Articles about a condition include the red flags that mean a reader should see a doctor, and identify the serious conditions that can look similar and need ruling out first.

• Content on restrictive eating patterns carries guidance for readers with a history of disordered eating.

• Content touching mental health or serious disease is framed as complementary to medical care and never as a replacement for it.

• Content involving children or teenagers assumes parental and clinician supervision and never encourages restriction, bulking, or cutting.

• Where an article discusses faith, prayer, or spiritual practice, that material is presented as complementary to medical care, never as a substitute for it, and is never assigned a clinical evidence rating.

Sponsored And Partner Content

Some articles on this site are sponsored, and some are built partly from material a sponsor provides. Those articles are labeled on the page so you know what you are reading before you read it.

Sponsored articles follow the same safety rules as everything else on this site. We do not publish a claim we believe to be false because a sponsor supplied it, and we do not remove a safety warning at a sponsor's request. Sponsors have no say over anything outside their own article.

Dates On Our Articles

• Published is when the article first went live.

• Last updated is the most recent date the content itself changed, for substantive revisions rather than typo fixes.

Independence And Commercial Relationships

The Health Institute sells health programs, consultations, supplements, and cellular bloodwork analysis, which creates an obvious tension with publishing health content. This is how we honorably manage this tension.

When an article recommends testing or a service we sell, you are reading a recommendation from the people who sell it, and you should weigh it on that basis. Commercial relationships do not determine which studies we cite, how we weigh the evidence, or what safety guidance we give. Where an article discusses a product we sell or a company our practitioners are affiliated with, the article says so.

Some articles include affiliate links to third-party products, meaning we may earn a commission if you buy through one of them, at no additional cost to you. Any article carrying affiliate links discloses that on the page itself. Commission plays no part in which products we recommend or how we assess them, and no product appears in an article because it pays us.

Outcome Claims And Testimonials

Testimonials on this site come from real clients describing their individual results. Individual results vary and are not a promise of what anyone else will experience. We do not edit testimonials in a way that changes what the person said about their outcome.

Corrections

If you find something wrong on this site, email editorial@thehealthinstitute.com with the article title and the specific claim.

We review every correction report. When we confirm a material factual error, we fix the article, update the last updated date, and add a dated note at the foot of the page describing what changed. That note stays there permanently. Typos, broken links, and formatting are fixed without a note.

What This Content Is Not

The information on this site is educational. It is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and it is not a substitute for care from a clinician who knows your history.

Talk to your doctor before changing your diet, starting a supplement, or altering a treatment plan, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, managing a diagnosed condition, or taking prescription medication. If you think you have a medical emergency, call your doctor or 911.

Contact

Editorial questions and feedback: editorial@thehealthinstitute.com